{"id":43632,"date":"2020-07-21T08:37:57","date_gmt":"2020-07-21T12:37:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianbudgetbinder.com\/?p=43632"},"modified":"2024-12-27T08:55:35","modified_gmt":"2024-12-27T08:55:35","slug":"food-scraps-you-can-eat-instead-of-tossing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/digitalskyweb.co\/canadianbudgetbinder.com\/2020\/07\/21\/food-scraps-you-can-eat-instead-of-tossing\/","title":{"rendered":"Food Scraps You Can Eat Instead Of Tossing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

<\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/span>Estimated reading time: <\/span>17<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n



Maximize your grocery budget with food scraps. Learn creative ways to use edible leftovers and save money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, you’re going to be amazed at the number of edible food scraps that are edible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As food prices increase, Canadians must ensure everything gets eaten.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can I Eat Food Scraps, Or Should I Compost Them?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Growing up as a young girl, gardening was one hundred percent how Mrs. CBB’s parents enjoyed fruits and vegetables.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She was not unusual to be in the garden with her father, often asking, “Can I eat that?<\/strong>“<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As children, we rely on our parents to teach us what we can and cannot eat, and having parents with extensive garden knowledge is a gift.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only once I moved to Canada did I consider foraging because Mrs. CBB was taught how to by her father.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although fruits and veggies can be composted, what we can eat is amazing.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"shaggy<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

We plan hikes during the Ontario foraging season and have come home with berries,<\/strong> asparagus, mushrooms, fiddleheads, and mustard greens.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The earth offers these foods, yet if they are not harvested, they go to waste and compost back into the soil for another year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can You Eat Zucchini Flowers?<\/h2>\n\n\n
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The problem with foraging and food scraps is that without basic knowledge about what we can and cannot eat, we don’t know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I often find it fascinating that I can eat something that I had never thought was edible, such as zucchini flowers or blossoms.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Italian<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

These delicate flowers can be battered, stuffed, and fried into delicious Italian Zucchini fritters<\/strong><\/a> (Pitticelle Cucuzze)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can also add them to pancakes, donuts, or other baked goods, which is how we use them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zucchini blossoms <\/strong>are vibrant yellow with a squash flavor and are left by gardeners who aren’t sure how to use them. – The Spruce<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Did you know that the female zucchini blossom produces the zucchini, whereas the male does not?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These blossoms are a delicacy in many fine-dining restaurants and are seasonal, so the anticipation is high when they are harvested.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Imagine that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What chefs pay for, some people let waste away in their gardens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don’t let that be you! They are delicious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hard Cheese Rinds<\/h2>\n\n\n
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\"Grana<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

You’ll only find Parmigiano Reggiano in our house, a complicated kind of Italian cheese that we love and pay the price for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since most hard cheeses come with a price tag left to be desired, a little goes a long way, especially if they are pungent in taste.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead of throwing your hard cheese rinds in the bin, consider adding them to your soups and sauces when they are cooking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The spicy cheese flavours that taste so delicious will marry with your recipe utilizing the rinds to their full potential.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another cool way to use cheese rind is to make crunchy puffed cheese rinds<\/a><\/strong> in the microwave or air fryer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bonus: Puffed cheese rinds are keto-friendly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Roasted Banana Peels<\/h2>\n\n\n
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\"roasted-bananas\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Often I roast bananas when they are near the time to use for baking to expel as much flavour as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After spraying with white vinegar, I wash the bananas under cold water to remove any impurities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You’ll see plenty of banana juice when you open the banana and pour it into a bowl to make banana bread<\/strong><\/a>, ice cream, muffins, cookies, or custards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead of throwing out the banana peels, I submerge them in 35% cream on low heat in cheesecloth to extract the flavor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can also do this in water to create a simple banana syrup by adding granulated sugar or sugar substitute and reducing it on low heat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s amazing what lurks in your food scraps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stale Bread<\/h2>\n\n\n
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This is obvious, but if you have stale bread, use a food processor to grind it up and use it as bread crumbs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Garlic Scapes<\/h2>\n\n\n
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If you’ve never tried garlic scapes, you are missing out on something delicious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can find garlic scapes in your grocery store or local market during the growing season where you live.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Ontario, we can find garlic scapes from June to September in most grocery stores, depending on if they stock it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Garlic scapes are the green wiggly bit that grows on the top of the garlic and is entirely edible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We’ve made garlic scape pesto<\/strong><\/a> with our garlic scapes and to-die-for bbq garlic scapes in butter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beet Greens<\/h2>\n\n\n
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\"beet<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Eat your greens, my friends, as they taste delicious and healthy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are a greens lover like us and enjoy growing or buying beets eat up those beet greens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can saute, braise, or steam tender beet greens<\/a><\/strong> in garlic and butter with salt and pepper or add them to soup, stew, or broth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Celery Greens<\/h2>\n\n\n
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When cleaning and chopping your celery, never throw away the celery flowers, as they are entirely edible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can use celery greens in your homemade pesto, mayonnaise, drinks, or smoothies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We also use celery greens in our homemade pasta sauce and bone broth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clean the leaves and chop them as you would any other green.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Romaine Lettuce<\/h2>\n\n\n
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\"Romaine<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

I didn’t know this, but the bottom of the romaine lettuce that you can use to regrow lettuce is entirely edible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My wife eats it like a rabbit when cleaning the romaine lettuce for our CBB salads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All she does is chop the base off the lettuce leaves, clean it, and then chop it up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It has somewhat of a bitter taste, but it’s edible food scraps that many people throw away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although a common green salad for Caesar salad, Romaine can also be braised or added into soups like other greens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Broccoli Stems<\/h2>\n\n\n
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\"broccoli<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Another big food waste in the kitchen comes from broccoli stems in the compost bin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Broccoli stems are just as edible as broccoli and can be sliced and diced into stir-fries and soups or eaten raw.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fennel Greens<\/h2>\n\n\n
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Fennel greens are delicious and take on light black licorice and anise flavor, making them great for steeped tea and salads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We use fennel greens chopped finely for just about every salad we make or in marinades for meats and seafood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s not uncommon for me to add fennel greens to Atlantic Salmon with fresh dill, garlic, salt, and butter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spring Onion Greens<\/h2>\n\n\n
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\"regrow<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

You may think it’s wild, but some people only use the white bulb of the spring onion and waste the greens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spring onion greens have so much flavor and can be used instead of onions in many recipes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We often buy spring onions at the market and sit them in a glass of water on our counter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We chop off the greens and use them in our recipes as needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The greens will continue to grow as they sit in the water, even after you chop them off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the end of the week, we also use the white bulbs but enjoy the benefits of regrowing the spring onion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the summer I plant one bunch of spring onions in a garden pot and I get onions all season long. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brown Avocado<\/h2>\n\n\n
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\"avocado<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Please don’t throw away your ripe or bruised avocado because you can turn it into delicious guacamole or keto avocado chocolate pudding<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just because something looks bad doesn’t mean it won’t taste good once you add kitchen love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another great way to use your brown avocado that you were going to compost is<\/p>\n\n\n\n