We are big in our household on not wasting much at all. We reuse, recycle and do everything possible that everything we have is used, resused or consumed in some way. Some examples, I make homemade bread for our family. If the end dries out, we cut it off and I turn it into bread crumbs to be used in meatloaf or dressing or make croutons out of it.
After we make a pot of coffee, we pour the coffee grounds out into our garden. Coffee grounds at nitrogen to the soil and your garden will really benefit from it. At the end of the day, if you have a little bit of coffee left in your coffee pot, don't pour it out. Pour it into an ice tray so next time you want iced coffee, use the frozen coffee instead of regular ice. When it melts, your iced coffee is great and not just watered down.
When we have potatoes, we fry them up with the skins on. The only time we peel a potato is when we have mashed potatoes and then we save the peelings for our pigs. Or put them in a compost bin if you have one. And if I boil the potatoes, I never pour out the "potato" water. Save it in the refrigerator or freeze it. I use potato water for soup & bread recipes. Use it in place of plain water and the difference is wonderful.
When I use an onion, I save the outer peelings and ends for when I make my chicken broth and chicken stock. Same with carrot ends and peelings, celery, etc. Use them for chicken broth or chicken stock. Or feed them to your meat rabbits, chickens, or pigs.
When I cook chicken, I cook a whole chicken. I save the neck and other parts my family won't eat to be used for the chicken broth I make. The leftover bones will be cracked and used in my chicken stock. I crack the bones because you get more minerals and nutrients into your stock from the marrow that is released.
Any time you have an orange or lemon, grate off the peelings and freeze them until you need them for zest in a recipe. Bananas go bad, freeze them and use them to make banana bread. Feed the banana peels to your pigs or compost them. When we crack open an egg, we put the egg shell out for the pigs, or we grind them up to be fed to our chickens or even rinse the eggshells, crush them than put them in your garden near the tomato or pepper plants. The calcium will help them.
Don't know what to do with your corn cobs once you have eaten off the corn? Well, how about making Corn cob stock out of them or
corn cob jelly or coating them with peanut butter and bird seed and put out for squirrels and birds to eat? All great and practical ideas.
When your laundry detergent bottle or dishsoap bottle is empty, fill them up with water and save them. Use the soapy water to wash dishes on a camp-out, etc. Just think before you throw anything away. Think how can I use this item. I am sure you can think of a use for it.
Do you have any other suggestions? I would love to hear them.
Follow us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
Follow us on Pinterest
Here are some other blogs you might like:
easy recipes