I've been doing this for so long I don't even remember how I got started doing it, but it's one of those things that makes me feel super thrifty! It also lets me know EXACTLY what's going into my food which is never a bad thing. So as you make your meals and smoothies, save your clean cuttings that you might normally throw away. The onion skin, the ends of the asparagus, that squeezed out lemon, the peelings of your ginger... whatever it might be. Toss them into a good sized container and store them in your fridge until you have a good amount saved. The container I use is one of the larger sized gladware type ones or you might just use a plastic bag. When you've got a good amount ready to use, throw it all into a 6 quart crockpot. Cover with filtered water. Set it on high for a couple of hours and then turn it down to low and let it cook overnight. In the morning, turn it off and go about your business until it cools. Then strain out the solids and freeze the liquid for future use or put it in a container in the fridge for about a week or so. I usually measure what I've strained and put it into containers labeled by how many cups of liquid it was. Then, when I'm making a favorite soup, I just pull out however many containers I need to get me up to the right number of cups of stock and melt it into the pot as I'm making the soup. Speaking of soup...
Vegan Curried Split Pea Soup
(No picture because, frankly, it isn't very exciting to look at but it sure does taste good!)
This is a recipe that I adapted from a friend who got it online somewhere I think. I love this because it's rich and filling without adding dairy and has a nice little flavor and spice from the curry powder.
Ingredients
1 tbs. olive oil (or oil of your choice)
1 chopped onion (I make enough to cover the bottom of the soup pot)
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 package dried split peas (you'll want to go through them a bit to find anything that isn't a split pea and rinse them a bit)
6 cups veggie broth
1 tbs. curry powder or to taste
salt and pepper to taste
Method: Heat the oil and add the onions and a pinch of salt. Sweat the onions for 2-3 min. Add garlic and sweat a bit more until that nice onion/garlic aroma meets you. Don't let them brown though. Add peas, broth and curry powder. Bring to a boil (if you're using the frozen veggie broth method I described above this is where that works in.) Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer until the peas are soft, 40-50 min. Puree with an immersion blender. Enjoy!
Here's a few links to other recipes online that I've enjoyed:
Umeboshi Scallion Dressing from Kripalu - this was in my Kripalu cookbook. Super easy and super flavorful. I tried it over a more traditional salad but I think I'm going to use it over a wilted greens salad with some bok choy next.
Vegan Cheese Sauce - Wow! This was another super find! Absolutely delicious over steamed broccoli and asparagus for lunch one day. In the future I would cut back on the salt a bit but still quite tasty. The picture is a little misleading though. For me it turned out pretty solid, but I might have blended it a touch too long. And if you don't have a Vitamix, DO IT. You won't be sorry. I just got one during this cleanse and I absolutely LOVE it. The hype isn't just hype. This is one amazing machine and I feel like it's saving me a ton of time and energy in the kitchen, especially with all the smoothies I've been making.
And hey, are you following Forever Yoga on Pinterest? I'm pinning recipes and other good stuff there from time to time, so check it out!
And last but not least, here's a super simple smoothie recipe I've been playing around with:
1-2 apples
1-2 tbs of almond butter
1-2 cups of almond milk
pumpkin pie spice to taste
touch of maple syrup
a date or two
ice if you like
Put it all in a blender and let 'er rip! A nice taste of fall in the warmer weather.
I hope you've found some food inspiration here! I know I've really enjoyed breaking out of my routine and trying some new things. If you've found this post valuable, leave me a comment and let me know! Happy Eating!!