Add to favorites

Welcome to #ThrowbackThursday! Every Thursday we’ll be celebrating the wisdom of our foremothers with some themed tips from the Great Depression era. Feel free to get in on the fun! Write your own Throwback Thursday tips on our Facebook wall, or tweet @CatchyFreebies with the hashtag #ThrowbackThursday. If we choose your tip for a feature, we’ll send you a sample from our stash! 

This #ThrowbackThursday, we want to help you fight back against cold and flu season with a heart-warming and budget-boosting DIY: homemade soup stock! Did you know all those vegetable and meat scraps, skins, bones, and other leftovers can be repurposed to make broth? It’s super easy to do, and there are tons of ways to use up that broth. Here’s how to get started:

• Designate a bag to be your “soup stock bag” – plastic, cloth, whatever you have on hand!
• If you like to stay organized, put a label or some tape on it to write the date so you know when you should use up those scraps.
• If you buy whole chickens or fish, save all the bones and scraps that you don’t cook or eat, and put them right in the bag!
• When you chop veggies (or eat corn on the cob!), make sure to save the ends, cobs, and scraps, and throw those in, too!

Once you’ve gathered enough veggie scraps, bones, and other odds and ends, you can dump the whole bag in a huge soup pot or slow cooker, and let it simmer or cook on low for several hours. If you like, add spices, garlic, vinegar, lemon juice, and/or other flavorings. This recipe for bone broth calls for an 8-hour cook time at least – you can set it up to simmer overnight or while you work. Skim any fat off the top and save it for frying or cooking (or as a butter substitute!). Then strain your broth using a colander so you have just the liquid goodness left.

Now you have a savory, healthy, and cheap soup stock! Pour it into glass jars to freeze, making sure to leave a few inches of room for the liquid to expand, or pour into ice cube molds for easy dinner prep. With your delicious broth, you can make frugally flavorful noodles, rice, mashed potatoes, stir fries, and of course, so many kinds of soup Here are some fabulously tasty ideas for using chicken stock and making that broth stretch even further. For vegetarians, here’s a great recipe for corn cob soup that will make the most out of your cobs!

What’s your favorite way to save money on meal prep? Leave us a comment on Facebook or send us your thoughts on Twitter @CatchyFreebies using the hashtag #ThrowbackThursday!

Like this post? Sign up for our email newsletter so you never miss a money-saving tip!