What to do with the leftovers after a big barbecue, a birthday or simply when cutting fruit and vegetables? We throw a lot of things in the rubbish because we don't know what to do with them or because we simply don't know that they are edible at all. Yet there is much more in carrot peels, a broccoli drink, chickpea juice etc. than just organic waste. It is time to stop looking at food scraps as useless leftovers, but as a source of endless creativity in the kitchen. After all, we waste far too much food every day. However, not everything we throw away is suitable for the bin. Instead, many leftovers such as peelings, stems, leaves or grains can be used to conjure up really delicious dishes! Find out how you can use food scraps here in this article.
Use instead of waste
Recycling instead of throwing away has long since ceased to be an eco-manoeuvre and is now a sign of responsible food handling. Some countries such as the Czech Republic and France have already passed laws prohibiting supermarkets from throwing away edible food. This is a first step towards reducing waste. But we can also make a big difference at the individual level.
Besides a relaxed approach to the Best before date and the Proper storageWe should also keep asking ourselves this question in order to reduce waste at home: Does it really have to go or can I still use it somehow?
We have some tips and recipes for you on how to keep usable food scraps out of the organic waste bin and onto your plate as a delicious and healthy dish!
Tips and recipes for less food waste
Introduce one "leftover day" per week:
Going to the supermarket again and buying new food is often not necessary. Most of the time there is still something edible in the fridge or pantry that needs to be eaten anyway. Apart from that, you also do something good for your wallet if you don't constantly buy new food, but instead try to conjure up something delicious from your leftovers. That's why you should start a leftover day! Preferably once or even twice a week! That way nothing goes bad and nothing has to be thrown away.
First consume the things that go bad first:
Some fruits and vegetables can only be kept or consumed for a few days. Plan your meals so that you use up these foods first or in time before they spoil. There is nothing worse than throwing away a whole pack of mushrooms or a bunch of bananas. If your bananas are more brown than yellow by now, try this delicious Banana Bread Recipeinstead of throwing them away. Alternatively, you can do it a bit more with our Cedar nut puree pimp 🙂
Use the peels and stems of your food for smoothies, soups and the like:
You always throw away the stalk of broccoli? Then you are throwing away almost half of what the healthy cabbage varieties have to offer. The same goes for leftover peel, which we actually like to throw away because we don't see any use for it. Instead of throwing the peelings straight into the rubbish, why not try a delicious broccoli sauce made from broccoli drink and our Broccoli and almond soup. You can also use carrots and apple peelings, fresh beetroot, water, a little oat drink and our Ginger shot to conjure up a delicious smoothie.
Make things durable:
If you just don't feel like eating the remaining four apples that are still in your fruit bowl, turn them into a delicious apple compote or apple puree. In the same way, you can also make jam out of fruit to make it last longer.
Host a leftover party:
Who says a party only works with lots of planning and alcohol? Isn't it cool to get together with a few friends and bring leftovers from home to the park and throw everything together? I'm sure the best and most delicious creations have already come out of this. And you can still sip an Aperol on the side 🙂
This is how we use leftovers at Wacker
All the dishes you see on our social media channels are eaten afterwards! 🙂 We are always really looking forward to new reels with delicious recipes being created to ensure lunch! And even if we only need a few stalks of raw rhubarb for a video, they are used afterwards for a delicious rhubarb cake. The whole team is happy about that too 🙂 You can find a delicious recipe for a rhubarb pie here here.
Since fresh ingredients always end up in our fridge in the kitchen, or other products that we subject to a critical taste test, the fridge is always cleared out at the end of the week, i.e. on Fridays. We then divide up the opened jars and food in the team so that nothing goes bad and nothing is thrown away.
When packing your parcels, it can happen that a bag tears open, the label on a product does not fit properly or something else does not meet our quality standard. But this is definitely no reason for us to throw things away! While we only want to send you the best, most beautiful and tastiest things, we always distribute the other things as a team. That way, nothing gets thrown away and you get your products in the condition they should be in.
Leftover food as a highlight
Just because food is left over doesn't mean it has to go in the bin. Because leftover food can be really delicious. Hopefully, the above tips have given you some ideas about what you can do with leftovers and how you can use them. So instead of shopping every two days, try to use up everything that needs to go first.
Sources: WWF, Welthungerhilfe, Utopia
Image Food scraps: Adobe Stock, Olga Mishyna, #480268532
Image Compost: Adobe Stock, jchizhe, #332835257