Never Buy Vegetable Broth Again!

In my circle of girlfriends, I'm known as "Martha," as in Martha Stewart.  I like to consider myself a modern "Martha" gal who loves to cook, entertain, and decorate while managing a successful career.   I'm always coming up with great ways to save some time and improve the quality of food that my husband and I eat every day.  

Here is one tip that everyone can do and you'll never have to buy vegetable broth again.  Plus, it tastes better than any of the canned broth I've ever tried.  

It starts with all of the leftover scraps you have after you've chopped your vegetables.  You know what I'm talking about...the skin of the onion, the top and tip of the carrots, celery tops, mushroom stems. These are basically the parts of the vegetables that you discard and don't use.  

Grab yourself a gallon size freezer bag and start collecting your scraps.  Keep it in your freezer.  Add to it every time you chop up some veggies.  

Once your freezer bag is full,  put the contents of the bag into a large pot.  

Cover the pot with water by at least two inches.  Turn the burner on and bring the water to a boil.  

Once it boils, reduce to a simmer.  Simmer the contents for about a hour until the liquid has reduced.  

Once the liquid has reduced, let it cool on the stove.  When the liquid is at room temperature, strain the liquid from the vegetables.  I like to keep it in quart size ziplock bags that I can lie flat in the freezer so that, when frozen, they don't take up very much space.  

Then, when I need veggie broth for a recipe or to make soup, I just pull one of the bags out of the freezer, cut off the bag, and either heat it in a glass dish in the microwave or in a pot on the stove!  You can season it to taste when you use it.  

Super simple and much more flavorful than the broth you buy at the store.  Try it and see!