The Best Food Waste Hacks From Around The World

Make A Stock With Leftovers

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Stocks are some of the most useful ingredients you can get your hands on in the kitchen, but did you know that they're some of the easiest things for you to make. This is because you can basically use any and all of your scraps like greens and skins as well as bones from any of your meats to create a delicious stock. You can just keep it in the fridge until you need it!Original content at Quizzable.com

Use Lemon Rinds To Clean

                   

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You've probably noticed that a boatload of cleaning products available in stores contain the smell, at least, of lemon. But it turns out that you could actually just use the rinds of the fruit itself to start cleaning; this is because they have natural antibacterial properties and they are actually able to remove stains easily. You'll still be able to get that lemon scent you love too!

Put Leftover Fruit In The Garden

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Many people choose to use any of their leftover fruit in the garden as a way to avoid just throwing it in the bin. The thing is, the natural sugars in pretty much all fruits, especially the larger ones like melons and grapefruits can be beneficial in protecting your plants. Slugs, flies and other annoying bugs will be distracted from your actual plants by heading to your waste instead.

Freeze Your Fruit And Veg

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You wouldn't be the only person to have bought too much fruit or veg during a big shop and sometimes this results in us having to bin the excess when they go off. But did you know you could freeze all your fresh veg, as long as you make sure to note down the date they went in? Frozen veg and fruit can be great for making smoothies or you can simply defrost the amount you need whenever you want!

Crushed Eggshells In The Garden

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You probably didn't realise that once you've poached, fried, boiled or scrambled your eggs that there could be a use for your eggshells. But if you crush them up and pour them on the soil in your garden it can do wonders! Not only will its sharp edges ward off those pesky slugs, but the shells contain calcium which can act as a natural fertilizer for your soil and plants too.

Coffee Grounds On Plants

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It isn't just fruit and eggshells that can be used on your plants in the garden; many people have discovered that used coffee grounds are great for helping plants that thrive in acids. All you have to do is sprinkle your coffee grounds on the soil, water them and you should see them bloom in time. Why not try and give it a go for a little while at least.

Use Wilted Greens

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Many of us will instantly bin any of our greens that appear to be wilting because we're trained to picture the perfect looking vegetable and that isn't one that's going a little discoloured or droopy. But these still contain enough nutritional value that its worth still using them and not choosing to put them in the trash instead of in your smoothies or stir-fries.

Create A Pesto

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Another way to use your wilted greens or any other greens that you don't have any plan on using before they go off could be to create a pesto with them. Pesto's are a quick and efficient way to avoid creating too much food waste as well as wasting your own hard earned money. Pesto can be great for adding to dishes like Pasta and some people even spread it on their toast!

Infuse Your Oils

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If you like to grow your own herbs or maybe you've bought a fresh bunch and they're starting to go off you might be able to find a way to keep them going without throwing them in the trash. Herbs can be used by placing them in some oil to infuse and add some additional taste. You'll want to infuse olive oil more than any other bog-standard variety though.

Dry Your Own Herbs

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Another way to save your own herbs instead of letting them go off is to hang them in a dry environment and let them dry out before you use them again. Dry herbs are the same as the ones that you'd go and buy in jars at the store. You should then be able to chop these dried herbs up and put them in to jars yourself to use within your meals again and again in the long run.

Regrow Your Scraps

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Although many of us just choose to throw away our scraps when we're done with them, there are actually a load of techniques we can use to find another use for them after we're 'done'. You can quite easily regrow most of your greens to bring up a whole new head and if you re-grow just a single clove of garlic you'll eventually be able to grow a whole bulb with enough time!

Make Tea With Citrus Peels

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As we've already mentioned, your citrus peels can have a number of different uses instead of just throwing them in the trash when you're done with them. One way that people have began using their peels is by drying them out and then using them to create a fragrant and nutritional fruit tea instead. It'd save you heading out to the store to spend your money on some!

Store Leftovers To The Front

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Let's be honest, we've all put some leftovers in the fridge to have at a later date and then let it go off whilst we continue to make more and more food each and every day. This can happen for a few reasons, but often this comes down to the fact that the leftovers are pushed to the back of the fridge and blocked by other items. Leave them at the front in a clear tub so you'll be reminded every time you open the fridge.

Make Ginger Tea

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If you like to add ginger to your daily meals, maybe you're making curries, stir fries or salads, then you might end up left with a small end or group of peelings you don't know what to do with. You could actually make yourself a ginger tea which is a delicious beverage to end your day. The best part is that ginger will only aid your digestive system too!

Infuse Your Water

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After you've cut up your fruits, peeled them or chopped the ends off it can be easy to choose to just throw them in the bin. But you can actually find a number of uses for peels and fruit tops! One of the most popular ways people choose to do this is by pouring these fruit scraps in to a water bottle and leaving it in the fridge to infuse throughout the night, it'll taste great in the morning!

Make Chips With Potato Peels

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Although I'm sure there's a few of you out there who choose to use their potato peels either when roasting or mashing them; most of you I'm sure will throw your peels straight in to the trash or compost. Instead though, you can actually make a quick potato chip by drizzling them in oil and then flavouring them with whatever you desire and roast them for a quick and easy snack.

Spice Up Leftovers

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Sometimes we choose to throw away our leftovers once we're done because we decide that there isn't enough left to make another meal out of it. However, it wouldn't take you too much time of effort to cook up little bit to add to your meal or maybe you can use your leftovers as a side dish if suitable? You don't want to have wasted your time cooking something that's going to get binned!

Use Cauliflower Leaves

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If you regularly enjoy cauliflower, maybe as part of a cauliflower cheese or something similar then you'll probably be used to instantly throwing the leaves in to the bin or in to the compost instead of finding a use for them. Well it turns out that these leaves can actually taste delicious, especially if you roast them with a few spices to work as a side dish.

Use The Banana Peel

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I know that next to none of you reading this have ever chosen to use your banana peels after you've peeled them have you? Supposedly though, if you allow your banana to fully ripen then you'll be able to eat the skin as it will be sweeter and thinner! Besides this, the peel contains a lot of nutritional value so why not just throw that in to your next banana smoothie too!

Make Banana Bread

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This might be one of the most commonly known food hacks out there! Across the world people choose to use their over-ripened bananas to bake their own sweet treats. Banana bread has long been a popular choice when it comes to using bananas that aren't quite of the right consistency and texture to eat on their own and it's nice and easy to make too!

Make A Food Schedule

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Although this might seem a little obvious, planning what you're going to eat at the start of each week can be a great way to decide what it is you need to buy and it'll help you avoid over-purchasing ingredients. You'll be able to create recipes and ingredient lists based on exactly what you're going to need; this means that there is less chance that you're going to be throwing it all in the trash.

Make Smoothies

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You might have realised already but pretty much every part of all fruits can actually be used to create a healthy and nutritious smoothie to start your day. The best part about this is that you don't need to go out and buy anything specific, all you need to do is re-use any of your scraps to create a delicious fruit (or veg if you like that) smoothie to get off to a good start.

Make Coffee Ground Brownies

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Coffee is one of the most popular ways that people choose to start off their days and it turns out that there are multiple ways for you to re-use the grounds. Although this might seem a little odd, many people have recently turned to creating coffee ground or 'espresso brownies' which are a delicious treat for those who love a coffee tasted snack during the day.

Pickle Your Leftovers

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If you look in your fridge and you spot a number of vegetables that aren't going to be used, but you don't want to throw them out, then you might want to think about pickling them to preserve them. This way you'll be able to use them for a much longer period of time. It's very easy, just put your choice of veg (cucumbers are obviously the most popular) and submerge them in vinegar.

Make Croutons With Stale Bread

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If you're commonly finding yourself having to throw away some of your stale bread then you might want to consider making your own croutons to avoid wasting the food and your money. You'll be able to do this easily by just cutting the loaf in to cubes and then drizzling them with oil in the same way you would when making the chips! They're great with homemade soups!

Rejuvenate Your Bread

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If croutons aren't for you, then you might even be able to bring your stale bread back from the dead with this one quick kitchen hack. Many people have found out that by lightly moistening the outside of your loaf and then placing it in to a preheated oven for a few minutes then you'll be able to revive the bread and be able to use it again in the future.

Make Candied Citrus

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Another way to make sure you're using your citrus peels instead of throwing them in the bin is to make candied citrus which can be great as a sweet and refreshing snack for you during the day. All you need to do is slice and boil them first and then boil them in a syrup after. This will create a healthy, yet sweet treat to keep you going in between meals during the day.

Cook In Batches

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One of the most common ways to avoid food wastage is to batch cook your meals! I'm sure there's probably already a couple of you out there who do this already but you can make 6 portions or so and then freeze or refrigerate the others until you want them again. This way you'll have some quick and easy meals to make in the future as well as avoiding wasting the stuff you've made.

Make Ice Pops

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Another way to use the fruit that seems to be going off a little and no one wants to eat is by blending them as you would to make a smoothie but with a twist. Instead of then drinking the smoothie or liquid you've made you can pour them in to some ice lolly molds and create some refreshing and healthy treats for your kids (or you if you need to cool down after being in the kitchen!).

Use Your Cheese Rinds

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Once you've finished your wedge of Parmesan then it can be easy to throw away the rind as it isn't particularly great to grate anymore (did you get that?). However, it still contains some great flavour that you might want to bring out in some form or another. Many people like to simmer it in a pot to get all the flavour out and even add to their soups or other dishes too.