Stop! Don’t Throw It Out

In today’s world, we are literally throwing away the best parts of the foods we eat. Here are ten tips to save those food scraps, and make our meals more nutritious and exciting: 

1. Banana peels: Excellent for moisturizing your skin. You can also rub the white part of the peel on your houseplants to shine them and repel dust. Once you’re done cleaning and polishing the leaves, stick the peel in a jar of water and let it soak for a few days. Water your plants with the “banana water” for a well-deserved boost of calcium.

2. Squash: Acorn squash is a beautiful vegetable. The deep orange color looks festive stuffed with quinoa, rice, cranberries or wheat berries. Don’t throw away those seeds. Toast a few, add some olive oil and salt and pepper. Nosh on the seeds while you are preparing dinner. They are low in calories and packed with antioxidants, iron, zinc and magnesium. If you have a garden, plant the seeds and wait for them to flower (but don’t toast them first). The beautiful orange flowers are healthy and nutritious. You can stuff them with rice or just use them to embellish your salad. You can also steep them in hot water and add them to your tea. Just remember to take out the stamens before you eat them!

3. Weeds: Those pesky dandelions in your front yard make delicious additions to your salad. Do you have wild onions growing in your yard?

These plants look like scallions but are thinner

and shorter. They are also edible. Replace the onions in your recipes with wild onions for a more mild version of onion and better tasting foods!

4. Citrus peels: Citron Tea is a delicious tea containing jelly that is made from citron rinds. It originated in Korea but is very popular in Asian neighborhoods in the United States. Etrog peels may be used to make this jelly, however, it is highly recommended not to eat your etrog unless it was organically grown. According to Green Prophet.com it is not safe to eat etrogim. An excellent substitute is Meyer lemons. Peel the lemon with a vegetable peeler, just peel the rind without the pith (white matter inside the peel). Place the peels in a jar and add an equal amount of sugar. Store in the jar for about three days. Turn it once each day. The peels will dissolve and become jelly. Combine the jelly with the pulp of the fruit. This mixture can be added to tea with some fresh ginger to make a soothing, delicious hot drink.

5. Leftover beans, uneaten roasted vegetables, wilted celery, soft carrots can all be made into a delicious, heart-warming vegetable soup perfect for the long winter ahead.

6. Use all your vegetable peels, tops and ends to make a stock. Store the celery ends, carrot tops, broccoli stalks and cauliflower bottoms in a bag in the freezer. When you have some time,