Saving the World can be stressful. There is a lot of pressure to reduce waste, recycle, eat less meat and make some big lifestyle changes in a hurry. What if I said you can save the world with soup? Let’s start with some homemade vegetable stock and see if we end up saving the world.
“We don’t need a handful of people doing zero waste perfectly. We need millions of people doing it imperfectly.”
– Anne Marie Booneau
Making soup is one of my favorite ways to reduce waste. Nothing beats a hot cup of soup on a chilly winter day. Not only will homemade soup reduce food waste, which is the single most common material landfilled and
incinerated in the United States according to the EPA, but it will save you money, fill your body with nutrients and warmth and can create opportunities to share and connect with your community.
Start With Homemade Vegetable Stock
The key to any good soup is the base, the stock, the broth. You can create a stock with pretty much anything, but to help reduce meat consumption we are going to focus on a vegetable stock.
Start by saving your vegetable scraps. Anytime you peel or chop an onion, carrot, garlic clove, or have some mushrooms that need to be used before they go bad, put them in a container in the freezer until you are ready to make stock. If it is fridge cleanup day and you have a good amount of vegetables that need to be used, you can also just put them right in your slow cooker or large pot on the stove.
Cover the vegetable scraps with water. There is no right or wrong ratio of veggies to water, as long as there is enough water to cover the vegetables. More vegetables will create a stronger flavored stock, less will create a lighter broth (which is better on an upset stomach if using for a “get-well soup.”) I like to add everything to my slow cooker before bed and set it to low, letting it simmer all night and until I am ready to put it up the following day. If using a pot on the stove, bring just to a boil and reduce heat to a low simmer. Let your stock simmer anywhere from 12-48 hours.
Add Herbs and Spices
Add any herbs and spices during the last hour. I usually add them into the pot, turn off the heat and let them steep as the stock cools for 30-60 minutes. You can add salt, pepper or any spices you’d like at this point, but I don’t generally add those until I am using the stock to make soup since different soups will have varying ingredients and require different amounts of salt and other spices.
Strain all the solids from your stock and discard them in your compost. If you have chickens you can feed them the scraps. Did you know that one backyard chicken can consume over 80 pounds of food waste per year?
Storing Your Vegetable Stock
You can use your vegetable stock right away as the base for any soup recipe. Want to store it for later? You can put your veggie stock in an airtight container in the fridge for up to four days. I like to store my soups and stocks in glass canning jars. You can freeze vegetable stock for up to three months. If you are freezing, be sure to leave room in your container for expansion. Try freezing in ice cube trays first. Once frozen, store cubes in a sealed container for easy, smaller portions to add to sauces and marinades.
Sharing Your Homemade Vegetable Stock
Soup is even better when you share it. Bring a cup to a neighbor, a friend, a co-worker or someone in need of a little warming up or cheering up. Homemade vegetable stock is a great housewarming or holiday gift. Try pairing it with a dried soup mix. Giving handmade gifts is a wonderful way to avoid purchasing new items we don’t really need that come with packaging destined for a landfill.
Did You Just Save The World?!
- You reduced food waste by using food scraps that would have otherwise been thrown away.
- You reduced consumption by using what you already had to create a meal, or the start of a meal.
- You reduced meat consumption by using only vegetables.
- You reduced waste by composting your vegetables and herbs when you were finished with them.
- You created healthy fuel for your body.
- You shared and connected with your community.
So yeah, you are kind of a souper hero now. Sip on that for a bit and remember, every step, big or small, towards a more sustainable lifestyle matters.