You've been patient, and for that I thank you. Now, hopefully you've all tried or bookmarked my recipe for manicotti. Jennifer over at Last Night's Dinner gave them a thumbs up, so go check out what else is on her must-eat list after you're done visiting me here. A couple of weeks ago, I came across a recipe for homemade bouillon over at 101 Cookbooks. It was brilliant, and Heidi says even she hadn't thought of making it until reading about it in the River Cottage Cookbook.
This turned into an "a ha!" moment for me. If you love cooking from scratch as much as I do, or simply do it because you want to feed your family healthy, unprocessed food, there is no cure-all. Most of the basics on store shelves are just a ghost of what they pretend to be. And you know what, it makes sense. Those products must be processed to become shelf-stable.
That's where the brilliance of homemade bouillon comes into play. You don't have to worry about freezer or fridge space to keep a ton of vegetable stock on hand. All you need is room to store the one quart of bouillon this recipe makes and you'll have 48 quarts of homemade vegetable stock at your beck and call. Depending on which brand you normally buy, that'll shave over $150 off your grocery bill in the long run. It'll also leave you with a tastier base for soups, risottos, and even veggie burgers (I used it to cook lentils for "burgers"). It's also comforting to sip for a light lunch along with a salad or sandwich.
