Food Scraps Reborn: How to Get More Out of Your Kitchen Waste
Before you toss those onion ends and lemon rinds, consider how you can squeeze a little more life out of them. Food scraps aren’t just trash – they’re raw material for more food, cleaning supplies, or even a tiny garden.
Regrow your veggies
It’s basically free food and a little science experiment in one.
Green onions, lettuce, and celery are the easiest to regrow. Place the root ends in a shallow dish of water, change the water every couple of days, and watch them sprout. Transfer to a pot of soil once they’ve got some new growth.
Grow these tops by cutting off about 1-inch of the top and placing in water (but don’t totally submerge):
- Carrots
- Turnips
- Radishes
- Beets
And grow these roots and ends but you may want to cut off 1-3 inches from the bottom on these bad boys:
- Celery
- Bok choy
- Onion (green onion, scallions, leeks, etc.)
- Romaine lettuce
- Lemongrass
For ginger, garlic, and potatoes – just bury a piece of it and wait for it to sprout.
Don’t expect a full-sized plant, but you might get enough to regrow one or two of the things you’re trying to regrow.
Make homemade vegetable broth
Stop buying stock in plastic containers and use what you already have. This is waste not, want not tip.
Keep a bag of veggie scraps in the freezer – carrot tops, onion skins, herb stems, garlic peels. When the bag is full, dump it all in a pot, cover with water, and simmer for an hour. Strain and store in the fridge or freezer.
One word of advice, though, is to avoid cruciferous veggies like broccoli or cauliflower in broth. They’ll make it taste funky.
Scrub and deodorize with citrus peels
Your sink and stovetop don’t need harsh chemicals to shine.
If you fill a jar with vinegar and citrus peels (orange, lemon, lime), you’ll be on your way to your own cleaning solution. Let it sit for a couple of weeks, then strain and pour into a spray bottle. It’s a natural cleaner that cuts grease and leaves a fresh scent.
If the vinegar smell is too strong, add a few drops of essential oil for extra scent power.
3 Takeaways
- Regrow green onions, lettuce, and celery for a quick and easy kitchen garden.
- Save veggie scraps to make a no-cost, low-waste broth that actually tastes good.
- Use citrus peels to make a cheap, effective cleaner that smells better than whatever’s under the sink.
Feature image courtesy Pixabay/Pexels
