Frugal and Energy Efficient Living

Almost free soup is something I learned from my grandma. It starts by saving most of your kitchen "waste" and throwing it in your soup bag in the freezer.

Save all the veg and fruit peelings, the ends and cores, leaves, stems, everything. Also save the bits of left over cooked veggies, the limp veggies, and the overripe fruits no one will eat. All this so called waste will form the base of a hearty soup, used either alone for veg stock, or cooked with the meat scraps.

Also collect raw meat scraps in a separate freezer bag with all the unwanted bits and trimmings, bones, juices, fat, gristle, and marrow. If your family are big meat eaters you can separate the meat scraps by animal, otherwise toss everything in together for a deeply flavored, rich tasting stock for you next soup or stew base.

Absolutely save poultry carcasses, ham bones and large bones from roasts, ribs or legs. These will cook down, about 3 hours braising in a Dutch oven or 50 minutes in a pressure cooker. Strain off all the solid pieces, all the goodness has been rendered into the liquid so they can be trashed now. The end results should be a rich, concentrated stock with that desired jelly like consistency for a delicious soup.

Portion out the stock in 3-4 cups which should be enough to start a large pot of soup.