Homemade Stock

I love the fall!!!! 

And I love cooking for the fall!

Soups, chilis, gumbos...

I love the way my house smells when there is a pot of yummy goodness on the stove all day long. 

And I am really getting into making my own homemade stocks. 

I bought a bunch of mason jars at Goodwill a while back...and my original intention was to use them as drinking glasses, which I do and I love...but I've been able to use quite a few of them to freeze the homemade stocks I've been making. 

I've started filling a large ziploc baggie with the leftover veggies I use during the week...the ends of onions, celery, bell pepper, garlic peels...things that I might normally throw away. 

Then, when the baggie is full and I know I'm going to be home all day, I just dump the baggie contents into my stock pot, add water, and let it go for hours! 

If I have leftover chicken bones, I use them to add to the stock too...

But if I don't, I just use the veggies leftovers that I have. 

I don't even add salt or pepper or any other seasoning because I can add that to my cooking later. This is just to have a whole different level of richness to dishes as I cook...better than water!

I'm really trying to get away from processed foods...it's definitely not an overnight thing for our family, but it is something that we are moving towards. 

I want our family to be healthier than we are. 

This is a step in the right direction!

What kind of secrets do you have for getting away from processed foods?