Talking to my neighbor about her 'kitchen sink' soup

I ran into Mrs. Garcia from down the hall yesterday and she was carrying a grocery bag full of veggie scraps. She said she saves all her carrot tops, onion skins, and celery ends in a freezer bag to make broth, calling it her 'free flavor.' I always just threw that stuff out. She told me, 'Girl, that's money in the trash.' I made a pot last night with my scraps and a leftover chicken wing, and it was so good. What other 'waste' bits do you all use to stretch a meal?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_sage2mo ago

That's such a good point about the broth. Do you ever save the water from boiling potatoes or pasta? It's got starch in it, so it can thicken up a soup or a sauce real nice.

susan_chen2mo ago

Actually, I tried that pasta water trick once and it made my sauce taste kinda bland and gluey. The starchy water diluted the flavor of my tomatoes and herbs. Now I just use a bit of cornstarch mixed with cold water if I need to thicken something. It works every time without messing up the taste.

noah9172mo ago

Totally agree with @the_sage, pasta water is a game changer for my creamy sauces.