 My grandma taught me that wasting food was a Cardinal sin, and really, why do it? That said, there were always some things that found their way to the compost bucket instead of our bellies, and it bothered me. Then I realized that there wasn't any reason to compost all the onion ends and meat trimmings. If I kept them until I had enough for stock, there would be practically no waste.
Now, I've written about stock before, but I wanted to share this aha moment. This last weekend, I made my first pot of stock with all of those bits, plus the remnants of a rotisserie chicken. It smelled and looked beautiful and made double what I usually get, full of nutrients and flavor. My compost isn't suffering either, as it still receives all of those lovely, garden-pleasing coffee grounds. But in these days of using everything and saving as many pennies as possible, keeping a corner of my freezer reserved for unused produce just makes sense. Plus, since I had double the stock as usual, it will save me the money that I usually have to spend for supplemental stock at the store, as I usually run out in between batches. |