Homemade Vegetable Broth.

Vegetable scraps simmering away!

Ironically, I attempted homemade vegetable broth today and planned on sharing this post just as Money Saving Mom also posted a guest post on how to make homemade vegetable stock in a slow cooker. I guess frugal bloggers think alike? I can attest that I'm now a fan of this process, too!

I had wanted to try making vegetable broth because, now that we're attempting to purchase organic meats, homemade chicken and beef broth just got a whole lot more expensive. Vegetables, even organic, aren't too expensive compared to organic meats (at least at Sprouts), so this seemed like a more  economical broth for me to make for our family and it puts to good use all the vegetable scraps we typically throw away.

Organic (mostly) Vegetable Barley Soup

I just froze the vegetable scraps in a plastic container as I came across them  and it became full to the brim yesterday. I dumped the frozen vegetables into my crock pot and covered them with water, letting them simmer on low for 24 hours. The smell in the house was delicious! This afternoon, I strained out the vegetable scraps and added the ingredients I had on hand for a homemade, mostly organic vegetable barley soup. I used carrots, celery, sweet potatoes, chopped garlic cloves, bay leaves, salt and pepper. Voila. The broth was very good, with a rich flavor, and well liked by the husband, too. Although, I promised Jesse that we'd have a dinner with meat in it tomorrow. :)