My grandma called me out on wasting food last week

Was visiting my grandma in Chicago and she saw me toss out some sad celery and onion ends. She said "you're throwing away money, not scraps" and showed me how she keeps a bag in the freezer for stock. Anyone else stash veggie scraps for broth or am I the only one late to this?

3 comments

3 Comments

robin59113h ago

Hang on, @jade_jenkins, you said it right with "free flavor" - it's crazy how we get so used to throwing stuff away without thinking. I've noticed this pattern in my own kitchen where we treat leftovers like garbage instead of gold. Same thing happens with stale bread, we chunk it, but grandma would turn it into bread pudding or croutons in a heartbeat. It's like we lost that whole "waste not, want not" mindset somewhere along the line. Honestly, that freezer bag trick is the easiest win, you just gotta train your brain to toss scraps in there instead of the trash.

hannah40017h ago

Grandma's always got the good ideas. My aunt does the same thing but she takes it to another level. She'll save everything, carrot peels, onion skins, even those little dried up garlic cloves nobody wants. She's got a bag in the freezer that's been going for like six months and she calls it her "soup starter." Last time I was over she pulled it out and it smelled like a restaurant kitchen. I gotta start doing that myself honestly, I just always forget until after I've already tossed stuff in the trash.

jade_jenkins15h ago

Heard a chef on a podcast once talking about doing this exact thing, said it's basically free flavor you're throwing away. She called it "scrap stock" and swore it makes even basic soups taste way better than anything from a box. Makes you wonder why we're so quick to toss stuff that could be useful later, right? Definitely gonna try that freezer bag trick myself, just gotta remember to actually do it before the veggie scraps hit the trash.