When it comes to all things fitness it’s no secret that I worship at the church of Jillian Michaels. I’ve talked about her videos before and I still love them. Fast and effective work-outs. (Think 20 minutes but super intense!) I checked out her Master Your Metabolism Cookbook a while ago and loved almost every recipe we tried. So much so that I bought the book. One of my favorite tips from her cookbook is making your own vegetable broth. Someday, when we put down roots, I would really love to compost. Which is why it kills me to throw out all the left over food scraps from veggies around our house. I know that stuff is useful, but I just can’t use it now! That is until I discovered homemade veggie broth. Simply keep all your left over veggie scraps in a large baggie in the freezer and when it’s full, time to make some broth. It’s super simple and it makes me feel good knowing I’m using as much of the food we consume as possible. I use veggie broth interchangeably with chicken broth in soups, rice, quinoa, or any other recipe calling for broth. Yay for broth! And now that I’ve typed that word 20 times, what weird word… broth.
1. Start with saving the scraps from your veggies in a baggie kept in the freezer. Good examples are asparagus ends, onions ends, leeks and scallion greens, carrot peelings, celery ends, mushroom stems, even some herbs like parsley and thyme. As she says in her book, stay away from eggplant and cruciferous vegetables such as cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, kale and collard greens. In no time at all, you’ll have a full baggie.
2. When you have a full bag (or almost full) put the scraps in a pot. She suggests 2 quarts of water, but since your scraps might not be the exact measurement she gives in the book, filling the water to the top of the veggies or a little over, should do the trick.
3. Next cover partially and bring to a boil. Then turn down the heat and simmer gently for an hour.
4. Once it’s over, your pot of veggies will look like an unattractive pile of mush. Let it cool for a bit.
5. Then strain the broth into a large bowl. My girl Jillian suggests not pressing on the veggies or the broth will be very cloudy. And since I do everything Jillian says, I don’t push on the veggies.
6. Lastly, I pour the broth into large canning jars (I used a small strainer once again just to make sure). I put the lids on loosely and then place in the freezer. Once frozen I tighten the lids. I like using glass jars as it makes for fast thawing in the microwave, but you can certainly use other containers for storage. You can store in the refridgerator, but I suggest freezing unless you plan on using the broth within a week.
Yay!
And there you have it…you’re own homemade broth.
(I’m never saying that word again)
amazing! I want to try!!
Someone I knew used to do this and then give the cooled broth to her baby instead of just plain water.