Good morning and happy Monday! I promised to let you know how my homemade vegetable broth turned out in the slow cooker as part of my preparations for my surgery next week. I’m pleased to report that it turned out amazing! All I did was take a bunch of vegetables and cook them on low for 12 hours overnight. I used these veggies:
I had a potato that I was going to add, too, but I forgot it. I have a large slow-cooker, so I was able to add 12 cups of water along with the vegetables:
After it simmered all night long, I just separated the liquid from the vegetables and got a rich, flavorful broth:
I had two containers like this, so I froze one that I will take with me to the hospital and I’m using the other one this week for soups.
Here’s the recipe:
Homemade Slow-Cooker Vegetable Broth
Makes 12 cups
Ingredients:
1 bunch of carrots, sliced into large sections
1 bunch of celery, sliced into large sections
1 onion, chopped roughly
1 fennel bulb, chopped roughly
1 potato, chopped (optional)
12 cups filtered water
Directions:
Combine all ingredients in a large slow-cooker and cook on low for 12 hours. Use a ladle to separate the liquid from the vegetables when finished and discard the cooked vegetables. Broth can be frozen for later use or kept in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Just a note, if you have a smaller slow-cooker, just adjust your water to vegetable ratio. Also, I know a lot of people use vegetable scraps for their broth, but I am way too anal picky for that. I don’t tend to save scraps when I’m prepping foods so I chose to just use fresh vegetables instead.
Before I show you a way I used the vegetable broth in a soup, I wanted to share some adventures from this weekend. Since it’s a long weekend for many here in the United States, Alan and I had some family visiting. We decided on Sunday to visit Hearst Castle and it was a beautiful day to do so. We had some time to visit the beach before our tour:
Then, we had a great tour where we saw the cottages and the kitchen at the Castle. Here are some photos from the grounds:
By the time we got home late yesterday afternoon, I was pretty tired and didn’t have any leftovers to serve for dinner. So, I resorted to just packing a bunch of different vegetables into my Vitamix and used some of my vegetable broth as a base. The soup had cooked kabocha squash, roasted garlic, raw broccoli, almond butter, nutritional yeast, sesame seeds and some soy milk:
I blended it until it was mixed but still chunky, and then heated it in a saucepan. It was sooooo good and flavorful, especially with a squeeze of lemon juice at the end:
I hope you had a happy, healthy weekend. It was fun for me to get out of the house and do something different. I actually had a good solid 3-4 hours yesterday where I didn’t think once about my surgery or the whole cancer thing, but, instead, I enjoyed the moment and how beautiful life can be:
See you back here on Wednesday!
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I will have to try the vegetable broth. My slow cooker is out from making your applesauce (which turned out very well!) and ready for something else LOL.
I have always wanted to go to Hearst Castle. When Bonnie and I were in SLO we didn’t realize how close we were or we might have driven up there LOL.
Hi Robyn! You def need to come back to SLO and visit Hearst Castle. If I am here the next time you visit, you can stay with me! I’m glad you apple sauce turned out well. Let me know what else you make in the slow-cooker; I am always looking for inspiration.
Carrie,
I am so glad you were able to think about something else and relax a little bit. About your broth, what do you do with the veggies that you take out? I put mine in the Vitamix and puree them and then add them to pasta sauces or to other soups to make them a little richer. I hope you are still planning to attend Immersion! I look forward to meeting you.
Take care,
Jan
Hi Jan! I am definitely still planning on attending the Immersion, it’s keeping my spirits up knowing that I have something fun planned. To answer your question about what I did with the veggies after I made the broth, I just threw them out. They looked so limp and overcooked that I couldn’t imagine they would still taste good, but good for you for using them up, you are so industrious!
Thanks for that recipe. I am just starting to use a slow cooker for my meals and am very excited about all the great recipes there are out there.
You’re welcome, Jill! I looooove my slow cooker, it’s so convenient and not scary like the pressure cooker.
I was down in Santa Cruz last Saturday enjoying the nice and isolated beach. It was actually warm and sunny. I have passed by Hearst castle twice now but I need to actually visit one of these days. It sounds like an amazing place.
I used to make my “green” soups every month. The leftovers were put in the freezer. I always knew that I had healthy food in the freezer whenever I come home and was too tired or lazy to make something to eat. I also brought it to work for lunch. All I had to do was put it in the microwave for a few minutes to warm it up. It was simple, healthy and delicious.
Thanks, Jonathan! Are you still making your green soups? If not, why not?
I stopped making the soup. I just got lazy. No good excuse.
So happy that you were able to find some time yesterday to breath & relax. My thoughts are with you during this time. ox
Thanks, Janae!!!
Yum, that soup sounds like a delicious combination! I have been loving squash lately, but unfortunately can not find kabocha squash here! :-/
Oh darn, maybe I could Fed-Ex you one?
Haha… that’s sweet…
What a lovely veg broth recipe! I’m going to try to make it in our pressure cooker since I don’t have a slow cooker or crock pot. And your vitamix soup fascinated me! Almond butter, veggies n soy milk – what a combo, really excited to try something similar.
God bless you! Keeping you in my prayers
Thanks, Nicole! Let me know how your pressure cooker broth turns out. One of my big to-do items is to start using my PC more.
Oooh Hearst Castle is on my to-do list. Looks beautiful there!
I have to admit I normally can’t be bothered to make vegetable broth, but would love to start getting in the habit. A friend of mine saves her veggie “leftovers” for the week (carrot tops & peelings, celery tops & ends, onion tops etc) and cooks it up at the end of the week and freezes it in an ice cube tray.
Definitely let me know if you plan a visit to Cambria and Hearst Castle, Kim! It’s worth the visit plus then we could get together.
What a beautiful place to visit, I love the pics that you shared.
I prefer to make homemade broth, just more comforting to know where the veggies came from
I love your homemade soup idea so packed with goodness!
Be strong Carrie!!!
Thanks, Rachel! I agree, it’s awesome having broth made from veggies that I got from the farmers’ market, especially since I’ll be drinking it during my recovery.
Hi, Carrie,
Thanks for the broth recipe. I keep meaning to make a veg broth to freeze, since I can never find any no-oil, no-salt, organic veggie broth.
My mom reads your blog (she and I are both vegan/nutritarian, as are my kids) and mentioned your cancer diagnosis, so I wanted to say I’ll be praying for you and sending you positive energy. I’ll bet you’re the healthiest person they’ve ever operated on — I’d expect you to have a really good recovery. My mom had an emergency surgery a couple of years ago and the doctor was amazed by how well she did during the surgery (I remember him saying she hardly had any bleeding) and how quickly she bounced back.
Wishing you all the best!
Carrie Dale
Thank you so much for your sweet and encouraging message, Carrie! I am really hopeful that my healthy lifestyle will benefit me post-surgery and hopefully prevent any new cancer from forming!
Hugs to you.
Hi Carrie!
I am so glad I found you on Dr. Fuhrman’s website, you are such an inspiration to me. I will be sending you as much positive energy as I can muster for your upcoming surgery on Monday! Tell Alan I will include him in my prayers to the universe too!
Thank you for this broth recipe and the beautiful pictures sure do help. You must have a gigantic crock pot as I have the broth cooking right now and it is FULL to the brim! I have never cooked broth in my life, but there is always a first.
The trip to Hearst Castle looks fabulous and all the beach pictures look divine. I envy all of you in California, especially those close the beach. I grew up in Ft. lauderdale, Florida but have now lived in Texas for 30 years. Your pictures bring back such wonderful memories.
Take care Carrie and a big Texas size hug to you!
Jeanne
Thank you so much for the really sweet message, Jeanne, I really, really appreciate it. I hope your veggie broth turned out well? I am sending you back a California-size hug!
All your many friends on your website have you in their hearts and in their prayers. Hope all goes well and you are back here, posting away in no time at all!
Thanks, Perrie! I can’t wait to blog again, hopefully in the next day or so.
Great recipe and gorgeous pics! Thank you so much for sharing this on Meatless Monday
Dear Carrie, I enjoyed your latest recipes. They are sooo nutritious, I felt healthier just reading them! John’s been swamped with projects and ended each day very tired…that’s why he hasn’t talked to Allan, though he said, he left a message. I loved seeing both you and your sister at the beach…and your fabulous photos during your visit to the Hearst Castle. May you be surrounded by the Light of Love and Healing…and may God’s blessings be upon you and Allan always. With all my love, Marlene
Thank you, Marlene, and thank you for the wonderful advice you gave me the other day on the phone. I have taken it to heart and am working on my positive attitude! Loves and hugs back to you. xoxoxoxo
I just stumbled across your blog while doing some recipe googling and here it is…2 hours later and I’m still reading your blog
You are such an inspiration and exactly what I need to be reading about! I have tried making veggie broth on the stove and it came out so bland, I never gave it another try. I love love love my slow cooker, so I am definitely going to give this a try. I think the extra 10 hours of simmering will do a world of difference. Thanks so much for all your work and know that you are appreciated!!!
Thanks for stopping by, Jennifer! I’m so glad you found my blog interesting to read, that is a great compliment. Let me know how your veggie broth turns out in the slow-cooker, just remember to not add too much water so you retain the flavor. I have found that homemade broth made in the slow cooker makes my soups and stews taste amazing!!!
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