We throw away sooo many vegetable scraps and throw away no-good veggies sometimes, so I started freezing all the scraps – even the skins from onion, garlic, etc. to make my own vegetable stock. It’s not as concentrated as store-bought but I’m able to use a lot more because hey, it’s free! And you know exactly where it’s coming from…who knows how they make that stuff honestly. And it has SO much sodium! It also replaces most (if not all) of the water you need for most of the things you cook with vegetable stock for. I make a big soup or stew about 1-2 times per month, so I make one batch per month with our scraps which turns out perfectly because it makes two ice cube trays. An ice cube tray per large stew (4-6 servings) is perfect.

Here’ what I do:

1. Put the scraps in a large pot (I usually fill to the brim), then fill about a quarter of the pot with water. I pictured below how much water I used. The less water, the more concentrated however I like to use more because I spill a lot when I pour it into the trays and I like to have more water in the trays so I don’t have to add as much water to the recipe.
2. Boil for 30 minutes. I use this All-Clad Pot (I like to use a clear lid for this so I can see how soggy the veggies get).
3. Strain into a bowl – this catches most of the leftover debris from the bottom of the pot, the debris that makes it into the bowl don’t worry about – you will catch that at the end, and a little won’t hurt ya 😉
4. Pour into ice cube trays – I usually use two. This is the ice cube tray I have pictured – they’re small cubes, a little bigger than the stock cubes you get at the store! And these are a little bigger and have a lid so it doesn’t spill.
5. Freeze and keep in the freezer until your next cooking sesh!
6. I put the soggy veggies in a plastic bag at the end before throwing away to catch all the liquid.

Shop My Kitchen: