As a society we throw away a ridiculous amount of food each and every year. If you’re eating a healthy diet made up of mostly vegetables and other foods which naturally go off quickly you may find that you throw away more food than ever.

I’ve put together 7 ways to reduce food wastage by using your food scraps. Of course if you still have food scraps after doing these things then I would always suggest that you try to compost as much as you can.

7 ways to Reduce Food Wastage by using Food Scraps

// Broth
One of the easiest things to do with vegetable and meat scraps in particular is to keep them aside and then once a week or so to make a broth or soup from them. Simply keep all your scraps to the side – pop into a container in the freezer and then add it all to your crockpot, fill with water and let it simmer away for the day. Drain any bones from the water and then use a stick blender to puree it all into a soup.

// Eat your stems
Broccoli & Cauliflower are the two main culprits, we often cut off the head of the vegetable and then throw away the stems. I’m not really sure why this seems to be the socially normal thing to do when the stems are actually really good for you and taste fine. I cut the stems into small pieces and fry with other vegetables in some garlic and add a few toasted nuts, it makes a delicious side dish!

// Regrow
Many fruits and vegetables can be regrown using the scraps that you often throw away, I had no idea about this and was surprised to discover just how many different items you can regrow! Some of the fruits and vegetables which can be regrown include, Ginger Root, Pineapples tops, Green Onions, Celery, Romaine Lettuce, and Potatoes.

// Help your Garden
I’d never heard of using egg shells in your garden before until Kyle said that his Mum (Hi Maureen *waves*) saved the egg shells for the garden. A bit of research has shown me that egg shells are great for using in the garden for a number of reasons including fertilizing your  crop as well as helping to keep the pests at bay as they don’t like slithering across sharp surfaces.

// Bread & Crackers
Save broken slice of bread, crusts of the bread and cracker crumbs in a container in the freezer and when you have enough turn it into croutons, for use in stuffing for your Sunday roast or a bread & butter pudding.

// Freeze
Items like tomato paste and pesto can often be opened and then used for one or two meals and left in the fridge until a few weeks later you realise you forgot to use it. Freeze small portions into ice cube containers and then pop out into a container or plastic bag so next time around you don’t need to open a whole new can – just grab a few from the freezer.

// Go Bananas
Brown bananas may not be very appetizing to eat as a snack but they make the best baked goods as they are naturally sweeter than the just ripe bananas. Make a healthier banana bread or some one ingredient ‘ice cream’.

If you’re struggling with any of the above, my best piece of advice for you is to find yourself an Accountant/Bodybuilding boyfriend as that worked wonders for me 😉 Kyle will eat just about anything and the accountant in him hates to see things go to waste! 

Seriously though, please do consider how much you throw away as there is a ridiculous amount of food thrown away each and every year and we should all be making a conscious effort to reduce how much we throw away. Try to incorporate one or two of the above tips into your daily life and see how much you reduce your wastage.

Do you do any of the above? Or have any other tips for us to reduce our wastage?? – Comment below, I love hearing from you!