Success! After my first failed attempt at making broth, I finally succeeded. This lovely vegetable broth is destined for my tomato soup!

For the last few weeks I focused on getting back into the kitchen. We’ve been eating out way too much for my liking. The pounds I lost recently is a clear sign that good things happen when you control the ingredients.

So this week I was making a tomato soup and decided to try yellow heirloom tomatoes as they finally appeared at my grocery store. I was determined to make it from scratch but that meant making my own vegetable broth. Ugh!

My previous attempt at making my own broth didn’t go that well. I used my Thanksgiving turkey carcass. The actual cooking was just fine. It was the storage where I ran into problems. Once I let the broth cool, I ended up dumping it into freezer bags.

• First problem – I’d have to thaw a whole bag rather than just what I need.
• Second problem – When I did thaw a batch it tasted like it sat in a plastic bag in the freezer for about a month.

I ended up tossing the broth.

I love OXO’s large silicone ice cube tray! It’s just perfect for easy storage of broth. Each broth cube weighs about 3 ounces.

Well I shied away from making more broth until this past week. I was tired of spending $4 a pop on broth when I know I can make my own. But storage was the main issue. Then I discovered OXO’s large silicone ice cube trays – perfect for making large cubes of broth.

The trays make storage easier and instead of thawing a big block of broth, I can now just grab a few cubes when needed. The advantages with these silicone trays are:

• Cubes pop right out
• Compact for easy storage
• Stackable!
• They come with their own tray and lid

I really don’t know why I didn’t go on the hunt for these sooner. Maybe the plastic bag taste just scared me off of homemade broth for a while. But we must be fearless in the kitchen!

After the broth freezes, I’m still storing the cubes in freezer bags. Fingers crossed that no unwanted flavors leech into the cubes as the cubes are already frozen.

Broth cubes! At 3 ounces a cube, I can now easily store my broth in the freezer and grab what I need when I need it.

Besides making big cubes of broth, I decided to use my slow cooker rather than a pot on the stovetop for cooking. The slow cooker just made it easier. Just toss in the ingredients, top off with water and let it go for about 10 hours. Easy peasy.

The broth tasted awesome, especially with the fresh herbs.

I’m planning on picking up some bones from a butcher at the end of the month. I’ve read that for bone broth it’s best to let it cook for 2 days in the slow cooker. That way you leech all of the nutrients out of the bones.

Dot’s Vegetable Broth
Net carbs: 2g
Servings: 36 ounces
Ingredients

• 2 Carrots
• 2 Celery Stalks
• 1 Yellow onion, medium, quartered
• 7 Garlic cloves
• 2 Bay leaves
• Fresh herbs, your choice
• Peppercorns, 1 tsp.
• Sea Salt, 2 tsp. (optional)
• Apple Cider Vinegar, 1 tbsp.
• Water

No more stove top broth for me. My slow cooker makes it so easy. Just dump the ingredients in, add water and cook on low for 8-10 hours while I run my errands.

I used fresh sprigs of rosemary, oregano, flat leaf parsley and thyme. I tied them together with kitchen twine and toss them on top of the veggies. As for the salt, I left it out this go around. I have a couple of different uses for the broth so I plan to add the salt as needed. Plus I use different types of salt based on what I’m cooking. If you don’t add salt, plan on adding it later for better flavor.

Directions

• Chop the carrots and celery into 1 or 2-inch chunks. Crush the garlic with a knife. Add carrots, celery, onion, garlic, herbs, pepper and salt, and vinegar to slow cooker.
• Add water to slow cooker. You want to cover the vegetables. Turn the slow cooker on low heat and cook for 8-10 hours.
• After cooking, let the broth cool. When broth is cool enough, filter your broth through a metal strainer so no pieces of vegetable, herbs or pepper make it into your broth.   Store in glass jar in the fridge for up to 5 days or it can keep in the freezer for several months for later use.

Note: I do not receive compensation from OXO for bragging on their ice cube tray.  But if they want to send me some coupons in the mail, I wouldn’t complain!  🙂