There is nothing cooler, than making your own stock. It is cool, because you make it. It is cool because you do not have to buy cubes. It is cool because you use the leftovers (vegetable stem/peel, animal bones). It is cool because you can flavor it as you like with different herbs, veggies, spices...It is cool because it can hold basically forever in the freezer. It is cool because you have your own vegetable/meat/fish broth. It is cool because you can give it as a present. It is cool because everything taste better with a good stock than with water or even with the most expensive, organic bouillon cube. 

You can freeze it in bags, glasses, jars or ice cube trays. Use it to make soup, stew, pottage, risotto, sauce etc...

Make a vegetable stock from the veggies from your garden or use organic ones. Wash them well. If you want to make an other dish from the vegetables, peel them and make a stock from those. But you can also make a really rich stock from the whole vegetables and herbs, instead of only using the peels and stems. Add onions to it, an incredible amount of salt and some pepper. Cover all with water and cook it until it starts to boil. From then on simmer it up to 5-6 hours or until your whole home smells like the stock itself. Taste it sometimes and adjust the taste with more salt, pepper, other spices and herbs. When it is done, strain it through a dense sieve, let it cool and freeze it.

Chicken/pork/beef/fish stock. I always recommend to buy a whole poultry and butcher at home. You learn to respect life when you work with a whole animal with its heart, liver, bones and blood. You are not aware of the consequences of being an omnivore when it comes to perfectly uniformed, bleached white, tasteless chicken breast stored in an odorless plastic tray coming directly from a factory's processing line. That was never an animal, and it will never be "meat".

When I buy a chicken I know where it is from. When I butcher that chicken at home, I like to be alone and talk to it. It sounds creepy, isn't it? I pay my whole attention to it, try to feel that dead body with all my senses. I think of its life and pay my respects. I am aware it lived before, and died for me to eat it. So, it is my turn now to make the most delicious dishes from it, and a lot.

When I buy a chicken I use it ALL. I always make a huge stock with lots of veggies, herbs and spices. I freeze it and use it in different dishes. It gives the umami flavor to every dish I make without actually adding any meat. That is what I mean by using meat as "spice" more than an actual ingredient.

When it comes to pork and beef, try to get a piece of meat with its bone, so you can use it for stock. Use as many veggies and herbs you can. Simmer it as long as possible on the lowest temperature. Same goes for the fish. Buy a whole fish and make a stock with dill, lemon and vegetables.

Try as many different kinds of soups as you can, and create yours. Enjoy reducing, reusing and recycling. Enjoy the sound, smell, and taste of YOUR broth. Enjoy every spoonful of food which was made with that stock. Enjoy the freedom of the creative human hands.