Homemade Vegetable Stock...It's not as difficult as you think!

An easy way to add flavor and extra nutrients to your dishes is to use homemade vegetable stock.  It's not as difficult as you may think.  As you chop your vegetables for your weekly meals, save the ends and unused pieces and store them in the freezer.  I save everything from the little corners of the garlic cloves to the ends of the carrots and parsnips.  I even save the tops of the strawberries and ends of the lemons.  While you are chopping, just leave the open bag right there next to the cutting board.  Instead of throwing the ends in the garbage, toss them in the bag and stick them in freezer until the weekend.

Either Saturday or Sunday, take out your bags of frozen ends and dump them into a large stock pot.  Once you've emptied the bag, put the empty bag back into the freezer and use it again next time.  Any herbs that might be wilting can go in the pot too. You can even throw in a bay leaf or two.  Fill the pot with filtered water.  I use filtered water since I don't boil the stock.

Now, use the lowest setting your stove will allow and walk away.  The longer you leave the stock on the stove, the richer and deeper the color and flavor will be.  Just be sure not to boil it.  You can't rush this.  If you boil it, you will lose nutrients and turn the stock cloudy.  I don't exactly know why it gets cloudy so please feel free to post a comment if you know why!  The amount of time you leave it on the stove also depends on the veggies you have in there.  As long as the veggies stay green you can leave the pot on the stove.  Once I notice the greens aren't as vibrant, I know it's done.  Then just strain and keep the liquid in jars in the fridge to use during the week.  I add it to the water (50/50) to flavor the pasta as it cooks.  I use it in place of water when making quinoa.  It will add great flavor to your dishes during the week and it will make your house smell great on the weekends!

A good tip I just read somewhere was, "Don't salt your stock."  I forget which blog I was on, but they made a good point.  Your stock is not your finished product.  Whatever dish you are adding it to will determine the amount of salt to add, if any.   Good luck and have fun.

Thanks for reading!