Approximately 30 to 40 percent of food is wasted in the United States,
and $218 billion is spent to grow, process, transport, and dispose of food that is never
eaten each year.
Reducing food losses by only 15 percent would be enough food to feed
more than 25 million Americans per year!
What can you do to help?
Hey munchies!
Welcome if you’re new, I’m Alyssia,
and today I wanted to share some cool food waste HACKS,
since a lot of you have commented saying you’re trying to waste less
and work on sustainability in your own home, which is awesome.
First up: Using leftover veggie scraps for a homemade vegetable broth!
It couldn’t be easier.
Simply save up your odds and ends whenever you cook—
you can add them to a freezer-safe bag and freeze until you’ve got a full bag.
Carrots, celery and onions are KEY stock ingredients,
but you can add other veggies for more flavor—
mushrooms, leeks, herbs, asparagus and tons of others are great options.
Stay away from broccoli, cauliflower, turnips and artichokes
as their flavors an be very overpowering in a stock.
To make your broth, roughly chop the vegetables, no need to peel,
and then feel free to add herbs for flavor.
Throw everything in a pot with a few extra inches of water on top, and stir.
Bring to a light boil, turn down the heat to medium low, and cook for an hour or so,
stirring occasionally.
Strain the mixture and divide into storage containers.
Cool completely, and these will last a week in the fridge or 3 months in the freezer!
Roast Potato Skins .
Don’t toss those potato skins!
You CAN actually add those to a broth, too,
but if you want a crispy treat, simply dry off the skins,
transfer them to a bowl and toss with olive oil, salt, pepper,
or whatever other spices you want.
Add to a tray lined with parchment and bake them up until crispy,
flipping halfway through.
Feel free to add cheese and chives and let that melt up on top
to make this a fun “nacho-like” treat, but they’re also delicious on their own!
DIY Breadcrumbs.
Use stale bread for homemade breadcrumbs!
Toast up your bread slices on a baking sheet to dry them out and crisp them up a bit.
Break them up into pieces into a food processor and pulse into crumbs,
making sure they’re evenly processed.
Perfect for toppings, coatings, bindings, and more!
Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a month,
or in the freezer for 3 months!
Freeze your herbs!
I don’t know about you, but I almost NEVER use up my bunches of herbs
and feel awful tossing them.
You can also add them to your stock we showed earlier,
but if you want to save them for another time,
remove the leaves from the stems and chop them up.
Add them to an ice cube tray and cover with boiling water,
which will help to blanch the herbs before freezing and help to retain the color and
flavor.
Once frozen, you can keep them in a freezer bag for easy storage,
and use whenever you need!
They may wilt a little when thawed, but they’re good-as-new in terms of flavor!
If you’re enjoying these tips and hacks so far, don’t forget to subscribe for more!
And go ahead and hit that bell, would ya?!
Buy bruised fruit!
This is a food waste tip that you can use outside of your own home.
When fruit is bruised at a store, it’s less desirable
so a lot of times that food ends up getting tossed and can’t be sold,
which is a huge unnecessary waste!
In fact, Americans throw away around 6 BILLION pounds of food every month,
mostly due to cosmetic standards.
YOU can help by actually picking out the bruised pieces of fruit—
of course, make sure the fruit is not moldy or containing fungus—
it shouldn’t smell or look infected,
but a small bruise, blemish or wrinkle isn’t going to hurt you.
Chop it up, add to a fruit salad, blend it up in a smoothie, or make popsicles,
and no one will ever know!
A lot of times bruised fruit is on sale, too!
Apple butter!
One of the most commonly bruised fruits that are also bought in excess are apples.
This time of year, I like to use extra apples to make APPLE BUTTER!
Bruised apples work perfect here, and since apple season is upon us,
this makes a great fall time activity and gift.
Add peeled, cored, and chopped apples to a pot with lemon juice,
cinnamon, cloves, salt, and maple syrup.
Stir everything together, cover and cook over low heat,
stirring occasionally for about 2 hours, until reduced.
Your house will smell delicious!
Remove the pot and allow to cool for 15 minutes before purèeing with your immersion blender,
or regular one.
Feel free to allow to reduce even more on the stove,
depending on the consistency that you’d like it.
Serve warm!
Store in the fridge for a few weeks, or freeze for a few months!
Pumpkin dog treats.
Another seasonal ingredient I always seem to have leftover this time of year
is canned pumpkin.
I love to use extra to make dog treats for my sweet pup!
Simply combine canned pumpkin, natural unsalted peanut butter,
and whole wheat or oat flour into a dough.
Add the flour gradually.
Roll it out between parchment and cut it out into your desired shapes.
Bake in the oven and cool completely before serving.
Store in an airtight container for a week, or freeze for up to 3 months!
Your pup will thank you for not wasting food!
Calcium canine supplement.
Speaking of pups,
did you know that egg shells contain tons of nutrients your dog appreciates?
You can save your egg shells to make a nutritious canine calcium supplement,
that’s also helpful with stomach issues!
Use local, organic eggs if you can, and save them from your soft or hard boiled eggs,
or from fresh eggs!
Wash empty egg shells in warm water until the white is removed,
but don’t remove the thin membrane because that has great nutrients for your pups joints.
Lay out the broken shells to dry,
and then break them up into smaller pieces and grind into a powder.
I used a coffee grinder.
Keep in a dry place for up to 2 months, and they can also be stored in a freezer.
Check with your vet for dosing,
but if you’re using ground egg shells as a calcium supplement for your homemade diet,
you’ll add about a quarter to a half teaspoon of the powder to their dog food.
Egg yolk face mask.
So what else can we do with eggs?
How about using up those egg yolks!
A lot of recipes use the whites only, but keep the yolks for a homemade face mask!
Mash a quarter of a ripe avocado in a bowl until it’s free of lumps.
Add 1 egg yolk and a teaspoon of yogurt, mixing until smooth.
Apply to your face using clean fingertips and let it sit for 15 minutes, until dry.
Rinse with warm water and pat dry with a towel.
This mask is nourishing, soothing and hydrating!
There are TONS of recipes online for egg yolk masks,
but I wanted to try this one because I love avocado EVERYTHING!
Can I just please get a thumbs up for putting that on my face for this episode.
It actually was really nice, but I mean, come on…
Recycled coffee grounds.
The last hack of the day is to use used coffee grounds for a natural deodorizer!
If there are unpleasant smells in your kitchen, living room,
even in the refrigerator or freezer,
put out some coffee grounds to make your home smell better.
Some people also claim that coffee grounds are a natural repellant!
Sprinkle your grounds in areas where you don’t want pests—
insects and animals are repelled by the strong smell of the grounds.
I don’t know if that’s proved by science, but if it works, it’s pretty cool!
I hope you guys enjoyed this video!
If you did please let me know by giving this video a thumbs up, share it if you can,
that lets me know you like videos like this and want more!
Feel free to share some of your own sustainability practices in the comments below.
I will see you next week for another episode, and remember,
it’s all a matter of Mind Over Munch!