The Frugal Gourmet

[ailbhe]

I read somewhere that someone said that they heard that their great-auntie Mabel had a friend who, etc.

Vegetable peelings and so on (root veg? bell pepper bits? no idea) in plastic bag in freezer. Periodically boil it up and call the liquid stock; use for risotto, soup, and patting self on back as excellent penny-pincher / environmentalist.

Thoughts?

Comments

[mactavish.livejournal.com]

I used to do that, too. Carrot ends (or limp carrots), onion outsides (I peel off the whole first layer rather than work at the papery bit), etc. It's fussy but frugal and fun.

[ellipunk.livejournal.com]

As long as it's clean it's a great idea. But carrot peelings are generally a bit mucky/grimy, no?
Though I suppose any bacteria would be killed during boiling..
Are the worms not working hard enough these days?

[ruthi.livejournal.com]

if you have room in the freezer, and patience, yes.

[feanelwa.livejournal.com]

Somebody who used to live in our house did that, and we are still eating the soup in the freezer 6 months after they left.

[nex0s.livejournal.com]

I do this :)

I put like, mushroom stems, chicken skins, the tops and bottoms of veg I slice up, etc, in the freezer. I use either a milk carton with the top cut off, or a plastic bag. These are easy to peel away. When I have a nice solid brick, I peel away the container while it's all frozen, put it in a pot, and simmer with water for stock.

I'll usually add peppercorns and fresh/dried herbs at the time of cooking.

Things I don't keep because they make your stock too bitter:
a lot of greens (a few are OK, like beet greens, but just a couple of handfuls)
potato skins
too many onion/garlic skins (but green tops are fantastic)

N.

[kcobweb.livejournal.com]

I used to regularly make soup on Sunday afternoons, and I'd keep an extra pot next to me while I chopped everything up. All the odds and ends and trimmings went into that pot, and when I was done, I'd fill it with water and let it simmer on a burner next to the actual soup for that day. Then package it up..... and ideally, use it for next week's soup. :)

[tchemgrrl.livejournal.com]

I do that when I think of it. I usually wait until I have about three sandwich baggies full, and sometimes add a bit extra of whatever seems lacking.

Some of it I'll freeze in larger containers to be used in soups, but most of it gets frozen in ice cube trays to add a little flavor to rice and things like that. I don't usually make stock from fresh veggies so I can't do a side-to-side comparison, but it's nice to have stock handy, and it tastes good to me.

[k425.livejournal.com]

It was something I always considered doing, but never got around to. And now I have two compost bins to feed!

[richtermom.livejournal.com]

I really like both the idea of composting and collecting broth scraps, but right now our tiny freezer isn't very acommodating and neither is my elitist middle class minded husband. (bitter much?) OTOH right now I do have a ham bone from last weekend's half ham waiting in a ziplock bag until I can remember to buy dried split peas or other fabulous legumes. Maybe when the snow flies. In this neck of the woods it could be in six weeks.

[richtermom.livejournal.com]

Oh it's not the middle class itself, but just his perception of How Things Should Be Done If One Aspires To Said Class. He "allows" me to put the laundry out on lines maybe once a year (confluence of me getting my act together, good weather, and having him not promise to tear it down before sundown) He's more than a little trying.

[ex-serenejo.livejournal.com]

I do it all the time. I don't use large amounts of brassicas, but most else is fair game: onion and garlic skins, leek ends, asparagus stems, pepper scraps, even a bit of lettuce, carrot peelings, etc. It's lovely as veggie stock.

[elissaann.livejournal.com]

I do it. So far, I have used onion, carrot, collard greens, beets, garlic, carrot tops. I add herbs and peppercorns while I'm boiling it. I have read that boiling for more than an hour will make it taste bad, but I don't know whether that's true.

I put some of the stock in the fridge to be use within a few days, and I freeze the rest in ice cube trays. I put the stock cubes in a zip-lock bag, and I can pull out as many as I need.

[simplykimberly.livejournal.com]

I do it ALL the time. I keep chicken carcasses, carrot tops/tips/greens, onion scraps and peels, celery scraps, and sometimes a few other things. Usually the rest of the stuff I give to the chickens, though - they'll turn them into eggs for us.

I made stock two nights ago, and have made two pots of soup from it so far. There are still a couple of gallons of stock left in the fridge.

Nothing makes the house smell better, except maybe fresh bread :)

[porcinea.livejournal.com]

I don't keep scraps, but I do boil up a big pot of stock when I have a lot of vegetable bits. And then freeze it in ice cube trays, and keep it in baggies in the freezer.

I don't/can't use commercial stock -- it's either too salty for me or not vegetarian for the rest of the family. Or both.