I have been able to divert veggie scraps from our trash for many years now using our backyard composter and then our city compost system. Last week I was reading Reduce Footprints and saw a poster say that they take their veggie scraps and freeze them to make veggie stock. If there was a light bulb in my head it would have gone off. I had never even thought of doing this and yet I make turkey stock after roasting a turkey on the holidays. I use way more veggie stock than any other kind of stock so this idea is right up my alley.
Last week I started to save my veggie scraps and put them in the freezer. I wash them and let them dry and then just throw them in the container with the rest of the scraps. Now this won't reduce the amount of scraps I am sending out to the city composting program because after I make the stock I will compost the scraps. But it will allow me to get multiple uses out of our vegetables and stop buying packaged veggie stock. That means less recycling going out.
It is the small changes like this that can really make an impact. Plus it is ridiculously simple. If you have any simple ideas like this that you are doing to make your world greener please share them!
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I'm glad you found the idea useful! It's something I've just started doing this year, but I don't think I'll go back to buying stock. After I make the stock, I freeze it in ice cube trays and then put the ice cubes in labeled plastic freezer bags. (I reuse my Ziploc bags until they die, but I still haven't found a good substitute.)
ReplyDeleteDo you have a good recipe that you use to make the stock?
ReplyDeleteI don't. It comes out a little different every time! My last batch had quite a lot of onions, celery, a little broccoli, potato skins, asparagus stems, carrot tops, mushroom stems, and a little fennel. I would say that the carrot, celery, and onion are essential components, and everything else just adds a bit more flavor. I think it's almost impossible for homemade vegetable stock to not taste better than storebought, whatever you throw into it.
ReplyDeleteAwesome! Thanks for the tips.
ReplyDelete