Homemade Veggie Broth

Here's a great way to save money, and show off to your friends.  I'm not sure why, but people always seemed shocked when I tell them I do this.  When I tell them how easy it is, they're even more amazed!

If you cook regularly, and I mean cook using fresh ingredients, then you probably use vegetables.  If you're anything like me, you've probably asked yourself on a number of occasions, "What do I do with all of these scraps?".  If you have a garden you might make a compost out of them.  But if you don't, they've probably been thrown away.  So, let me help you out.

When chopping your vegetables, be sure to save all of your scraps.  And when I say all of them, I mean all of them.  This includes, but is not limited to the following:

• Onion peels and ends
• Garlic peels
• Asparagus butts
• Bell pepper ends, cores & seeds
• Tomato ends
• Carrot ends
• Avocado peel
• Squash/zucchini/cucumber ends
• Celery butts
• Any green leafy vegetables (i.e. - spinach, kale, lettuce, etc) that might be slightly brown and not fit for a salad
• Any vegetables that are going bad and may not get used

When saving and storing your scraps, keep them in the freezer until you've collected a sufficient amount.  The bigger the variety the better, but not necessary.  The amount you'll need depends on the size pot you have.  I have a 6 quart pot and usually use two 1 gallon freezer bags full of vegetables. I throw a couple of cut cloves of fresh garlic in the freezer bags as well.

Ingredients:

• Frozen vegetable scraps
• Sea salt
• 1/4 cup tomato sauce or ketchup (optional)
• Italian seasoning blend or basil, rosemary, oregano and thyme
• 4-6 cloves of garlic as preferred, cut in half

Directions:

1. Place frozen vegetables and tomato sauce in pot
2. Fill pot completely with water
3. Add herbs & spices and garlic
4. Turn heat to medium-high to high and bring to boil
5. Once boiling reduce to simmer, and allow to simmer for 1-2 hours, making sure too much water does not evaporate
6. Strain vegetables using cheesecloth or mesh strainer and store vegetable broth in mason jars in fridge. (storing in mason jars provides a longer shelf life)

So, all that money your spending on vegetables is not only providing you with meals, but it's also making vegetable broth for you so you don't have to buy it!