Food Scraps to Cold Weather Comfort

1. Banana Bread. My kids swear up and down that they want bananas. So I buy them, and as soon as we get home they eat one. And then they refuse the rest, and I roll my eyes and let them brown for banana bread. I use the tried and true recipe from Better Homes and Gardens, but there’s a million out there. Add chocolate chips or walnuts or whatever you like, and enjoy a yummy breakfast with those bananas that would otherwise rot away.

2. Use up sad-looking veggies in soup or sauce. I have a bunch of green peppers and tomatoes that have lost some of their crunch. That wrinkling makes them look less pretty, but it doesn’t make them any less edible. However, I wouldn’t recommend the texture for eating raw, so I chop them up and cook them. Obviously, I toss the moldy ones in my compost, but otherwise, in the pot they go. Peppers, onions, tomatoes, and carrots will all be hopping in a pot to make tomato sauce in my house this week. I’ll use it for spaghetti sauce, pizza sauce, or chili this winter. (It freezes beautifully, or it can be canned) And speaking of chili, that’s another great way to use up whatever leftover veggies you have. Throw it all in with beans and spices, and it’s ready to warm you up!

3. Bonus #1: Make veggie stock. Veggie scraps leftover from cooking go in a gallon bag in my freezer. Cobs from corn, tops of peppers, ends of carrots, onions, and squash, plus a couple of wrinkly tomatoes all end up in the bag. When the bag is full, I toss the scraps with olive oil and a little salt, and roast them in the oven. Then, I scrape the beautifully toasted veggie pieces into my crockpot, add some salt and spices (rosemary, thyme, and black peppercorns are my go to choices), and cover it all with water. Turn that puppy on and enjoy when your house starts to smell delicious. After a few hours, strain through a fine mesh strainer and you have delicious fresh veggie stock to use as needed. (It also freezes well or can be canned.)

4. Bonus #2: Compost the banana peels and icky scraps. Sometimes there’s a portion of the vegetables that just look too far gone for me to put in the veggie stock, and the banana peels are definitely not edible. So I stick them in the compost, where they can break down naturally and turn back to dirt, instead of breaking down without oxygen and releasing methane in a landfill.