Hey earth muffins! I always seem to find myself doing more baking during the summer months. While I cook meals for myself almost every day, the summertime always makes me crave fun, home-baked goodies. With all this extra cooking, I find myself with more fruit and veggie scraps. And it is important to utilize these instead of just throwing them into the trash! Food waste is a huge environmental issue, so here are five unique ways to use up those fruit and veggie scraps! 🥕 🥦 🍅
1. Make a “zero waste” recipe
The best way to reduce food waste is to cook/bake with a zero waste mentality – nothing (or almost nothing) will end up in the trash. If your recipe calls for peeled potatos, maybe leave the skins on. There are plenty of fruits and vegetables where the peel is actually delicious and nutritious! I was surprised to learn recently that you can even eat the fuzzy skin of a kiwi. If you search for zero waste recipes on Pinterest, there are plenty of options to choose from (like carrot top pesto)!
2. Use the scraps to make homemade vegetable broth
For those not keen on eating fully zero waste recipes, make it a habit to save all of your veggie scraps. It is super easy to have a bag full of scraps in the freezer. Once you get enough, boil them to make homemade vegetable broth. This saves you from having to buy some at the grocery store (as they often come in plastic jugs too)! After the broth has been boiled, make sure to compost whatever scraps are left.
3. Make edible decorations from them
Charcuterie boards are all the rage right now…. So save some of your fruit and vegetable scraps to use as edible decorations. There are so many creative things you could do with leftover produce – I challenge you to find the most unique way to adorn a cake or cupcakes too! 😍
4. Add into smoothies
Another great way to utilize fruit and veggie scraps is to add them into smoothies. I’m a huge fan of having a smoothie for breakfast that is full of frozen fruits. There is nothing wrong with adding some scraps! Be careful though – make sure you know that the peel or tops are edible first. There are plenty of toxic leaves on plants (like rhubarb for example) so do a quick Google search before accidentally ruining your whole smoothie.
5. If all else fails, compost the scraps!
It isn’t that difficult to reduce food waste in the kitchen; but, if you exhaust all your other options, the compost bin is the way to go. I purchased a backyard compost bin that I absolutely love (I’ll definitely write a post about it in the future), but there are many options when it comes to composting. This is an excellent way to ensure your scraps get turned into soil instead of rotting in the landfill.
When living a low/zero waste lifestyle, it is important to reduce your food waste as much as possible. Cooking homemade meals is awesome, but there will always be some sort of food scrap left over. Get creative in utilizing these in other recipes or make your charcuterie board extra special with some edible decorations. If all else fails, use the compost bin! How do you like to use up fruit and veggie scraps? Comment below and let me know what you have been baking recently!
Love,
Jenna ♥
