Waste not, want not – Volume 3 – (Article 3 of 4)

by Dr. Marli Botha

Nobody likes to see fresh fruit and vegetables go to waste, but it’s sometimes inevitable. You know you’re not going to get to the fruit bowl or vegetable rack before it goes off. Maybe it’s already not as fresh as it once was. Well, with these delicious and varied ideas, you’ll never have to waste fruits and vegetables again…!

Here are 4 uses and benefits of leftover fruit:

1. Whether you bake from scratch or from a store-bought mix, adding fruit that’s a bit overripe is a great way to punch up the flavour of basic vanilla cake. Fruits like mixed berries or peaches would work great; you want a fruit that’s not too overpowering and doesn’t hold a ton of water, so leave the citrus and watermelon for another use. Simply mash up your fruit to let out some of the natural juices and swirl it into your cake batter.
2. Lots of us might not think twice about throwing away fruit that’s gone a little past its prime… But fruits like berries and apricots don’t need to be thrown away – they can be poached and transformed into delicious desserts such as curd, cakes, crumbles, marmalade or smoothies.
3. What do potato skins, onions skins, carrot peels, broccoli stems, and even perfectly good veggies that you simply won’t be able to eat before they go bad, all have in common? They can be used to make delicious veggie stock. Keep a large zip-lock bag in your freezer and store all your veggie trimmings in them. Whenever the bag gets full, make veggie stock. This can be used as a soup base, a base for sauces, a flavouring in rice, or countless other ways. Store in the fridge or freezer and take it out whenever you need it!
4. There are lots of fruits and veggies that can be regrown from the roots or seeds after you eat the rest of them. Most produce contains visible seeds, and harvesting them is easy and a great way to regrow your food! Start with peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, and citrus fruits—even the tiny seeds in strawberries and raspberries will work.

It is important to mention that no food is meant to be a cure-all for any condition, though there are certainly health and skin benefits contained within them. The one thing you should always do before using a new skin care product is to do a patch test to look for allergies and sensitivities.