15 great kitchen hacks to extend the life of food and save on waste
If you’re sick of throwing food in the bin (and wasting money), try these simple tips to reduce your wastage in the kitchen.
1. Use food scraps to grow vegetables
Save the odds and ends from veggies such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, leeks, spring onions, celery, bok choy, garlic and even onions. These can all be replanted in some soil and will grow back. Just don’t forget to water them.
2. Reheat leftover slices of pizza in a frying pan
If you aren’t a fan of floppy microwaved pizza, just pop your pizza into a hot fry pan instead. Your crusts will stay crispy and it will heat through much faster than it would in the oven.
3. Bring stale potato chips back to life in the microwave
If you left the bag open overnight, fear not. Pop your stale chips in the microwave on high for 10 seconds or until crisp.
4. Use leftover herbs to make herb butter
If your herbs are on the turn, just chop them up and mix with some melted butter. Pop it into some ice cube trays and freeze. Then you can enjoy the perfect portion of herb butter to use on your steak or to make homemade garlic bread.
5. Keep bananas fresher by wrapping the tips
If you want your bananas to last longer in the fruit bowl, just wrap their tips with some cling film. They should keep for around three to five days longer.
6. Keep greens fresher in foil
Celery, broccoli, and lettuce all last much longer in the fridge if you wrap them in foil first.
7. Keep pineapples sweet by storing upside down
The sugars in this fruit can all end up on the bottom after the time spent in transit. So keep your pineapple upside down when you get home and the sweetness will be redistributed evenly.
8. Use a glass to peel a mango
You can use a glass to slide the skin off your mango. This will avoid wasting any fruit that you’d normally toss after peeling with a knife.
9. Make a two-ingredient Nutella milkshake
When you need a sweet treat but you’re nearly out of Nutella, just add warm milk to the jar and shake well.
10. Avoid sprouting potatoes by storing them with apples
The ethylene gas in the apples helps to stop your potatoes from sprouting.
11. Keep leftover avocado fresh by storing it with a sliced onion
There is sulfur in the onion and this keeps the avocado from going brown.
12. Keep cake fresh by covering with sliced bread
Cover the exposed cake with some bread held in place with toothpicks and it will stay soft.
13. Extend the life of your eggs with vegetable oil
By rubbing the eggshells with vegetable oil it will keep them fresher in the fridge for three to four weeks.
14. Keep lettuce fresh by storing in a brown paper bag
No more sad and limp leaves! Keep your lettuce wrapped in a brown paper bag in the fridge. Plus, keeping the outer layers in place even if they have gone brown will keep the inside fresher for longer.
15. Reuse coffee grounds in the garden
Plants such as roses, hydrangeas, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries and tomatoes will all appreciate a liberal sprinkling of your used coffee grounds.
Image credit: Shutterstock