jenny_islander
05-25-2008, 08:03 PM
This thread is about using up the very last bit of everything. I recently read that the average American throws away about a pound of perfectly usable food every day. This has made me even more determined to avoid wasting what God has given us. So far, I have found the following uses for bits of this and that:
The salt from the bottom of a bag of pretzels: This is delicious seasoned salt with a nice toasted flavor. Use when preparing vegetables, eggs, potatoes, rice, or bread.
Sliced garlic from a jar of dill pickles: Nice tidbit to put on cooked rice or baked potatoes. Perhaps sprinkled over cooled cooked in a bento? I would also like to try it in my next salmon salad sandwich.
The liquid from a can of wild salmon: Drizzle over rice cooked without salt. YUMMY! But very, um, fragrant.
The liquid from the bottom of a bowl of microwaved frozen veggies: Pour off carefully into a freezer-safe container. When the container is full, throw the contents into your next pot of household stock.
The inevitable inedible chunks of broccoli stem from a bag of frozen veggies: Stir-fried, these become tender. Or save in the freezer for making stock.
Fat and/or bones from trimming meat: There are always little scraps of meat on these trimmings. Save in the freezer; when you have enough of one kind, make a simple stock. Refrigerate the stock overnight to force all fat to the top, lift off, and discard (unless you can find a use for it . . . )
Papery skin from cured yellow onions: This makes a safe vegetable dye for Easter eggs. It produces a simple golden-brown color like a naturally brown egg, but you can create patterns with the usual egg-dyeing tricks.
Leftover French fries and other deep-fried items from takeout dinners: Refrigerate immediately and reheat in the oven for best quality. Use within 3 days.
A few spoonfuls of cooked vegetables--not enough for a single serving: Chop and stir into miso soup or fried rice.
What are your tricks for using up every scrap?
The salt from the bottom of a bag of pretzels: This is delicious seasoned salt with a nice toasted flavor. Use when preparing vegetables, eggs, potatoes, rice, or bread.
Sliced garlic from a jar of dill pickles: Nice tidbit to put on cooked rice or baked potatoes. Perhaps sprinkled over cooled cooked in a bento? I would also like to try it in my next salmon salad sandwich.
The liquid from a can of wild salmon: Drizzle over rice cooked without salt. YUMMY! But very, um, fragrant.
The liquid from the bottom of a bowl of microwaved frozen veggies: Pour off carefully into a freezer-safe container. When the container is full, throw the contents into your next pot of household stock.
The inevitable inedible chunks of broccoli stem from a bag of frozen veggies: Stir-fried, these become tender. Or save in the freezer for making stock.
Fat and/or bones from trimming meat: There are always little scraps of meat on these trimmings. Save in the freezer; when you have enough of one kind, make a simple stock. Refrigerate the stock overnight to force all fat to the top, lift off, and discard (unless you can find a use for it . . . )
Papery skin from cured yellow onions: This makes a safe vegetable dye for Easter eggs. It produces a simple golden-brown color like a naturally brown egg, but you can create patterns with the usual egg-dyeing tricks.
Leftover French fries and other deep-fried items from takeout dinners: Refrigerate immediately and reheat in the oven for best quality. Use within 3 days.
A few spoonfuls of cooked vegetables--not enough for a single serving: Chop and stir into miso soup or fried rice.
What are your tricks for using up every scrap?