Saving stock, one box at a time.

I've been cooking a lot more lately, and a frequent ingredient needed for recipes is stock.  Chicken, beef or vegetable, I've got them all.  I buy the 1 quart boxes of organic stock to have on hand.  What I've noticed however is that I rarely need the entire box so I end up with extra stock in my refrigerator.  This week I had both beef and chicken taking up space and stressing me out about how to use it before I need to toss them.

I am not a fan of tossing food.  Well, unless it is growing mold or something equally yucky.

While making baby-food last week I had a light-bulb moment.  What if I froze the extra stock and could just pull it out later when needed?  Ah-ha!  So I took the container for freezing baby food and figured out what measurement was inside (1/4 cup).  Then I filled it up, froze them, and popped them in a bag to use later.  It's perfect because if I need a cup of stock I'll just pull out 4 cubes.  Voila!

I was feeling pretty proud of my genius moment.  I will acquiesce that I am most likely not the very first person to think of this but I am still proud none-the-less.

You could use other containers to freeze your stock if you don't have baby food ones.  Perhaps an ice-cube tray, freezable ramekin or a small plastic container.  Just make sure you measure ahead so you know how much you are freezing.

Now go and save some stock!