Vegetable Gold Mine

When I am cooking in the kitchen, I invariably produce a variety of vegetable scraps that I used to toss away.  Now I view these as a gold mine for making vegetable stock!














These scraps:

• onion peels
• the outer leaves of cabbage
• the leafy parts of celery stalks
• the ends of carrots, peppers, tomatoes, etc.
• the peelings from apples, carrots, and pears
• basically any vegetable part that is clean and not rotted

are fine makings for vegetable stock.  I keep a large plastic carton in my freezer.  When I start chopping vegetables I pull it out and put these scraps in the carton.  When it gets full I toss the scraps in a stock pot with water, bring to a boil, and then simmer for an hour or two along with some salt and black peppercorns.

The end result is a delicious vegetable stock!  Yum!

Once the stock cools, I put it in plastic containers and freeze.  When I need stock for a recipe or soup, I have some homemade stock which I've made from what otherwise would have been food waste.

And, what about those boiled scraps once the stock is strained?  Well, you can compost them for some fine soil to grow your garden vegetables.  Or, if you have a friend with chickens, the scraps make a fine chicken feed.   

DIETS:
Diabetic:  yes
Gluten Free:  yes
Nightshade Family Free:  yes* (depending on the vegetables used in the stock)
Paleo:  yes
SugarBusters:  yes
Sugar Free:  yes
Vegan:  yes
Vegetarian:  yes
Wheat Free:  yes
200 Calories or Under:  yes

Notice:  Be sure to check with your doctor and nutritionist about the safety of any eating plan for you.  Also, check ingredients as different brands and products may have different ingredients or have changed them since this post.  Some calories are estimates based on packaging.