high fives - homemade veggie stock & celery soup

so i made my celery soup again the other day and tweaked it further which i'm so tickled about sharing with you today!!  here is my original post if you'd like to go back in time.  i was about to pour out the water i boiled all the veggies in and a little voice in my head yelled, STOP!  collaborate and listen...save it you fool...it's organic vegetable stock!  so then i proceeded to fill every container i had and shoved them all over my fridge.  the next day i realized there was no way i would be using it soon and i did not want my hard work to spoil.  so i googled the best way to freeze homemade stock and came up with this little gem:

how to use canning jars in the freezer

my sister in law gave me these lovelies for christmas and i cannot wait to use the crazy cute tops & striped paper straws for summer cocktails.

hello!  i had no idea i could freeze mason jars... i had visions of exploded contents all over my freezer... glad to know i'm just crazy with my imagination:)

vegan celery soup (orinigal recipe inspo found here)
this recipe will yield a double batch of veggies to freeze for later.

1 bag organic celery
1 organic celery root (didn't have it this time)
1 lb mixed organic potatoes (i had both red and yellow)
1 organic leek (most of green stems discarded - i chop & place in a separate bowl of water to rinse the grime)
1 organic fennel bulb with stems and fronds
- chop veggies in similar sized pieces and boil in salted water until potatoes are tender.  this water will turn into your veggie stock!

5 T organic coconut oil divided
1 yellow organic onion diced
2 c organic mushrooms sliced
3 cloves garlic minced
3 T gluten free flour blend
1 can light or full fat coconut milk (whichever you fancy)
2-3 cups of veggie stock water

- melt 2 T of the coconut oil and saute veggies until soft.  build a rue: melt and whisk in the additional 3 T of coconut oil and 3 T of gluten-free flour (i linked you to a great tutorial if you are clueless with rue making... i sure was before).  alternate whisking in about 1/2 can of the coconut milk and equal parts hot veggie water from the other pot.  keep alternating until you have enough liquid.  just eye ball it...the total liquid amount to add is somewhere between 4-5 cups.  add in 1/2 of the cooked veggies, cover and cook on low for about 20 minutes.  optional: use a hand held emersion blender and blend to desired texture.  i like my soup pureed with some hearty lumps of veggies here and there.

1/2 T white pepper
1 T oregano
*add in old bay seasoning to taste... this is the taste clincher here folks, just do it!!
s&p to taste

remove the rest of veggies from the stock pot and freeze (i am so happy to not have to do that part next time!!)  once the veggie stock has cooled, fill up your jars and you'll be all set for your next recipe adventure.

oh i'm just feeling all julia child over here now:) ...high five to the self!