Get The Most From Your Groceries
In the wake of environmental renewal, use your food items to the fullest and minimise waste in your kitchen.
Leaves — Use lettuce and celery leaves in soups. When you are cutting your celery, the leaves can be frozen and used later in soups. Lettuce leaves do not freeze well however and should be used before they become too wilted. Any leftover Swiss chard leaves? Try this recipe:
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Portobello-stuffed Swiss Chard Leaves |
Stems — Broccoli and cauliflower stems can be used in vegetable sautées and soups; just take a minute to peel the rough skin around the stems.
Skins — Washed potato skins can be prepared au gratin. The zest of citrus fruits can be frozen and used in crepe and pancake mixes, muffins, vinaigrettes, yogurt, etc. Did you know that you can eat the skin of a kiwi?
Seeds and pips — Papaya seeds can be dried, grinded and used as a spice. They give a nice lift to vinaigrettes, mayonnaises and sauces. Dried pumpkin seeds make a very nourishing snack.
Leftover rice — Don’t throw it out! Make chicken fried rice, use the rice in soups, make cabbage rolls or prepare stuffed peppers.
Soups and smoothies — Maximisation at its best! You can incorporate just about every fruit and vegetable you can think of in soups and smoothies.
Edible offals — Many people through out the offals in a whole chicken. Learn how to prepare them and enjoy this most nutritious part of the chicken.
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Warm Cranberry and Chicken Liver Salad |
Broth — Always tender and moist, boiled chicken is so easy to prepare! Once the chicken is cooked, all you have to do is sieve the broth and freeze it in ice cube trays. You can do the same with the cooking juices from roasted or slow-cooked poultry and meats. For a completely fat-free broth, let it cool and refrigerate: all you’ll have left to do is remove the layer of fat with a spoon.
Cooking water — Vitamins galore! The water used to boil your vegetables can be frozen and used in soups. It would also appear that the cooking water of potatoes is an excellent fertilizer for your house plants (let cool before watering).
Fresh herbs — Probably the most wasted food items! Freeze your fresh herbs using these practical tips.
Guacamole — the champion of over-ripened avocado!
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Mexican Guacamole and Grilled Tortillas |
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Mexican Guacamole |
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Guacamole |
Banana bread or muffins — the greatest rescuer of
over-ripened bananas! When your bananas are getting too ripe,
freeze them in a plastic bag. When you are ready to prepare banana
bread of muffins, all you have to do is crush them with a fork
they’ll be so soft and tasty once defrosted.
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Banana-Pecan Muffin Bars |
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Banana Bread |
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Banana Orange Muffins |
Compost — What you discard in your compost is not lost. On the
contrary, your table scraps will become a strong natural
fertiliser.
Consult our article: Home Composting In 10 Easy Steps!