I hate throwing food away.
It’s a real bugbear of mine, mainly because when you’re paying for something by weight, you may as well be dropping cash straight into the rubbish bin.
I’m a big fan of composting, but even then a lot of really usable food is often wasted.
I wanted to share a few thrifty ways to save on food using bits and pieces that typically get thrown away, in the hope it might help make your dollar stretch a bit further.
Celery
Regrow celery by cutting off the base and standing it in a shallow saucer of water on the kitchen bench.
Broccoli
Slice broccoli stalks into thin batons, dip in egg then coat in breadcrumbs mixed with grated parmesan. Drizzle with olive oil before oven baking until golden.
Spring onions
Save the roots and fry them until crispy to use as a topping for salads.
Fruit
Fruit that’s a little past its fresh eating phase is perfect for pies, jams and chutneys. Not a week goes by that I’m not making banana, pear or some other fruit bread, and placing the slices in the freezer for a handy snack.
Peels
Save the peeled skins from potatoes, carrots and other root veg, toss with paprika, garlic powder and any other herbs and spices you like and fry or oven bake to make chips.
Leftovers
Meat bones, scraps from vegies, corn cobs, onion peel and wilted greens can all be thrown into a pot with some seasoned water. Simmer gently to create a delicious stock for sauces and soups.
Stale bread
Freeze old bread to be used as breadcrumbs or stuffing, or chop into cubes and toast in a pan with a little olive oil to make croutons. Stale bread is also great at soaking up custard in a baked pudding or for French toast.
Herbs
Wilting herbs can be used to make flavoured olive oil. Just add to a jar, seal tightly and store in the pantry. You can also puree herbs and freeze in ice cube trays to be added to recipes later, or chop them finely, mix with butter and freeze in logs. Cut off slices to add when cooking meat or to flavour vegetables.
Apple peel
Make a yummy snack by tossing apple peel in cinnamon and sugar and baking in a low oven until crisp.
On those cold rainy days when the only way to avoid your family walking around in their birthday suits is to run a load of laundry through the clothes dryer, there’s something very simple you can do to reduce the amount of electricity it uses.
Before you take the clothes out of the washing machine, run them through a second spin cycle.
This will ensure every possible drop of water has been removed, so they will dry in the shortest time possible.
How do I save electricity doing laundry?
Ms MoneySaver’s tips are prepared in good faith. That’s Life cannot assure readers that they will be effective in all cases and is not responsible for any loss or damage resulting from following them.
