The ingredients for the veggie scrap broth in the pot, ready to be cooked.

Veggie Scrap Broth

Frozen veggie scraps

Vegetable broth, ready to be strained

Pressing the liquid out of the veggies

Ingredients:

large zip top bag filled with vegetable scraps

8 cups water

2 bay leaves

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1/2 tsp dried parsley

Directions:

Finished broth

Place all of your ingredients in a pot. Bring to a boil on high heat. Stir. Reduce heat to low, and simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. (Your house smells really good by now!) Pour the contents of your pot into a colander over a large bowl. Press the vegetables into the colander with a spoon to remove any liquid. Discard the solids. Now you can use your broth anywhere it is called for in a recipe.

Every soup needs a strong base, but there is no reason to spend a ton of money on broth. It is not only easy to make broth from scratch, it is practically free.I only recently started making broth this way, at the advice of a friend. All you need to do is keep a large zip top bag in your freezer. Whenever you are chopping, dicing, or peeling, simply toss the scraps that you would otherwise throw away into the bag. When the bag fills up, you are ready to make broth, my friend!One of the wonderful things about this idea is that it makes a new broth every time you make it. Last time I made broth, I had lots of butternut squash skins to use up. It had an amazing aroma, and a very deep flavor. Who knows what kinds of flavors you could make up? Asparagus, broccoli, pumpkin, the possibilities are endless!You can use home made broth as a soup base, a simmering liquid, or as a flavoring for rice. You can use this broth in virtually any recipe that calls for broth or even water.I don't salt my broth. I prefer to leave it as is, and only add salt in the final dish, if necessary. If you are making this as a broth to drink straight, you may want to add a pinch of salt. You could experiment with the herbs, as well to make different variations. Have fun!