Kitchen Scraps

I just read a great article on the Huffington Post. Kitchen scraps are a big deal. We do spend a lot of our money on food, so these ideas make perfect sense. Ways to make use of every single scrap is utterly a talent. Here are some I learned and some I know and some I just thought of - this was really inspiring for me!

Using a sliced lemon to clean the stove top or the counter and then toss into the disposal for a lemony-clean smelling disposal is well-known and very useful.

One that really caught my eye was potato peels: fry them up and toss with salt and paprika. Wow, I love this idea and cannot wait to try it - homemade chips! I wonder if you can do the same thing with carrots...hmmm. Sweet potatoes. This could be one of my new favorite things.

Lemon peel to whiten teeth is another good one: cut a piece of lemon rind into a wedge, place on teeth and for about 15 minutes and rinse well.

Dry orange peel and allow to dry on the counter or in a very low oven, about 200 degrees, until the peel feels dry. Add to black tea, or iced tea for flavor.

Also, add the orange peels to ice water, along with some cucumber peels for a perfect 'spa water,' one of my favorites. This is soooo refreshing! No sugar, just the peels - perfectly delicious!

Save coffee grounds for your compost heap! I have heard roses grow well with coffee grounds mixed into their soil.

Apple cores make apple jelly - this one I love, also. Apples have plenty of natural pectin, see my post from Apple Butter Day! Crafster.com  has the recipe and I'll be doing that one, soon.

Feed birds leftover, cooked rice - nice, but, I freeze mine.

Apple peels, done with a peeler, dried in the oven, make great apple chips.

I've heard of people drinking potato water, after potatoes have boiled, supposedly it's really good for you. Could be so with other vegetable water, like artichoke water, possibly to make a broth or to add to beans.

Lastly, if you have a garden and want to make your own compost, you can mix in just about anything edible - all kitchen scraps, egg shells and coffee. I know, I know...I'm just not there yet as far as gardening goes.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/01/orange-peel-makes-tea_n_1560048.html?ref=kitchendaily#s1040724&title=Apple_Peels_To