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5 Ways To Reduce Waste & Use Up Food Scraps

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Jun 19, 2021
12:00 A.M.

We live in a world that produces such a large amount of waste that it is concerning. While cooking, we tend to throw good parts of our food into the bin, and while it could go towards recycling, you can also transform it into a snack!

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Cooking is an essential skill we all need to survive. But you can also turn it into an art, and so many chefs around the world create beautiful recipes for us to enjoy!

But the problem with cooking dishes we love is wasting a significant portion of the food we consume. While recycling the waste isn’t a bad option, there are ways we can use the waste to create dishes!

1. Veggie Scraps

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When you’re chopping up your veggies to cook, you end up wasting a fair amount of the vegetable. From the ends of your onions to the bits of your bell pepper you don’t chop, it generally sees the bottom of your bin!

But that doesn’t have to be the case. You can collect your veggie scraps and freeze them till you have enough to whip up your own veggie broth. It doesn’t even take 20-minutes, and it’ll add extra love to your cooking!

2. Citrus Peels

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Citrus peels have so many uses so that you can eat the bag of oranges guilt-free. You can use the peels to make marmalade, candied to eat or even as a decoration on your confections, or even used as household cleaners!

If you’re ever in need of air fresheners, just boil some citrus peels and cinnamon to give your house an instant scent-sation! You can also dry out the zest to add it to your cooking and baking so much easier!

3. Bones

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If you have a dog, you’ll certainly want to make full use of those bones for your fur baby to enjoy. You can toss the bones with some water and vinegar into the slow cooker for a full day and make your own bone broth!

If the bone is soft enough, you can puree it with some of the broth for your fur baby to enjoy! But you’ll also have a delicious bone broth to add to your meals!

4. Watermelon Rinds

Photo by Amy Shamblen on Unsplash

Photo by Amy Shamblen on Unsplash

This has become a popular trend on TikTok, and it is absolutely delicious! Watermelon is a great fruit, and we absolutely love how delicious it is, especially in the summer, but the rind tends to go wasted, and there’s quite a bit of it!

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In a simple sugar pickling, you can simmer the rinds in water, vinegar, and sugar until they’re soft. Then store them in the fridge to enjoy them whenever you want them!

5. Regrow Your Veggies

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This is a cool hack that might just even lighten the load on your wallet! You can put the stalks of your veggies like cabbage, celery, green onion, and others in the water and let them regrow.

Now the process will take much longer than a grocery store trip, but it is quite cool that you’d be cooking from your own little farm! Of course, you can always resort to composting for your garden, but these hacks do leave you with a start to a delicious meal!

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