Keep Your Scraps!

There is so much waste in the world today that is piling up and polluting the land. Even most of our organic produce that can be used as compost to help new life grow, ends up in landfills. I recommend that you AT LEAST compost your food scraps and add them to your garden or donate them to someone who does garden. You could even offer to donate compost to your local farmer to take the process full circle.

Another way you can save waste is to ensure to use as much of the produce as you can. This means keeping peels on for cooking (this is where tons of the nutrition is too) and using the stems of vegetables like kale and broccoli. There are some parts of fruits and vegetables that are not edible, but most of the plant can be used in some way or another either cooked or raw.

Here are some more ideas on how to use more of your groceries

  • use radish, carrot and turnip tops in a pesto like this one or my kale pesto

  • add onion peels, ends of celery and carrots in bone broth to add some favour

  • save the aquafaba (bean juice) from canned chickpeas for an egg replacement or meringue

  • ferment apple peels into apple cider vinegar

  • use left overs from nut milk to make energy balls

  • used left overs from a juicer to make dehydrated flax crackers

  • zest citrus peels and freeze them for later use. There is TONS of nutrition right under the peel also

  • dehydrate and powder fruit peels to add flavour, colour and nutrients to a recipe. I do this with pomegranate peels because they contain large amounts of flavonoids (anthocyanins, catechins) and hydrolyzable tannins. These are powerful antioxidants in the body to ward off cancer and disease from taking over the body. Pomegranate peel also has been shown to speed wound healing, regulate immunity and reduce bad bacteria (1).

  • add beet leaves to salads or roll them around rice and bake with a dill sauce

  • roll grape leaves in rice and lemon like in the Greek Dolmadakia Avgolemono

  • save bones and make a bone broth with extra collagen

  • roast vegetables that are about to turn or blanch greens and freeze to avoid spoilage

  • make cauliflower stalks into cauli-rice, tots or flatbread. You can also blanch, freeze and add to smoothies for creaminess

  • shred broccoli stalks into broccoli slaw

  • thinly slice sweet potatoes or white potatoes that are about to turn and make them into baked potato chips

  • roast the seeds of winter squash for sweet or savoury treats

  • freeze or dry herbs that are about to turn. Can freeze herbs with oil in ice cube trays for a quick flavoured dish

  • make old bread into breadcrumbs or croutons

  • ferment or pickle vegetables to make them last months Fermenting adds beneficial bacteria to your digestive tract for a healthy microbiome. Try these fermented dill carrots.

This also saves money by using the entire product and bulking up your meals with more food! You will not have to go shopping as often and you will feed more people with the extra food products you will have on hand. Once you get into the habit of keeping your scraps, you will notice how much others waste and how much you use to waste. In the Western culture it is normal to just throw whatever doesn’t look perfect into the garbage. But these food items can still taste delicious and fill the bellies of many.

  1. Ranjitha, J. Bhuvaneshwari, G. Deepa, T. & Kavya, K. (2018) Nutritional Composition of Fresh Pomegranate Peel Powder. International Journal of Chemical Studies

Brook LekopoyComment