Easy Tips to Use up your Old Vegetables
Let’s say you picked up some veggies at the store, decided to make a big salad for yourself, and then ended up having too much. As you’re cleaning up, you can’t help but notice that there’s still so much food left! It would be a shame to let it go to waste. So what should you do with all of those old veggies?
There are a few obvious things that you can do with your leftover veggies. If you have fruits and vegetables that will expire soon, you can juice them! It’s best to avoid adding any fatty items such as avocados or nuts as they might not mix well with the flavour of fruit. You can also make soup out of vegetables and other foods that might be going bad. Even if you don’t want it now, this is a great way to make food for later because soups tend to freeze well.
Another thing that you can try is making pickles out of cucumbers. Pickled cucumbers actually taste good cold or hot, so they’re versatile and can be enjoyed in many ways.
You probably shouldn’t use old produce to make baked goods, as they could turn out less than tasty. However, this doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t eat such things at all! Adding fruit and vegetables to your baked goodies actually makes them healthier. If you are making a cake, adding applesauce to the batter instead of oil will give your cake a light texture and it also adds vitamins. It’s best to avoid fruit when baking something with chocolate in it, however, as they can make your brownies or other products taste mushy.
Vegetables can’t just improve the flavour of your foods, they can also improve their appearance. If you are serving food at a party or for guests it’s smart to garnish the dish with something green so that it looks more appetizing. You can chop up some parsley or other leafy vegetables and put them on top of your pasta dish, rice bowl, mashed potatoes, etc. This is also an easy way to get rid of leftovers if you don’t think you’ll be able to finish them in time.
Instead of throwing away your old veggies just because they don’t look fresh enough to eat, try making something with them! If you still feel like they are too old for any of these options, then there’s one last resort. You can turn the veggies into compost that will help grow new vegetables! Just throw them into a separate bag or container and set it aside for a few months, then you’ll have your own little garden inside of a jar.
If you’re finding yourself with an excess of veggies, try out some of these options. They might help you save money and they can also help you reduce waste!