It’s happened to us all.
In a fit of optimism we buy fresh veggies at the store. We bring them home, feeling virtuous, and place them in the crisper drawer. . .
Where they remain.
And remain.
Then you find them, weeks later, and they aren’t looking so fresh or so healthy anymore! Yet they aren’t really spoiled-just unappetizing. Wrinkled tomato skin or wilted broccoli heads aren’t dangerous after all.
So what to do? Throwing out food is not frugal in any way shape or form!
Here is a quick fix!
Chop those puppies up and toss them into a soup, stirfry, curry or casserole! This tip works even on items you normally only consume raw-like grape tomatoes or lettuce. No one ever said those things CAN’T be cooked. I have used regular iceberg lettuce that is slightly past it’s prime in many a curry!
(*note to self-you don’t really eat salad as often as you think you do)
(*note to readers-this tip works really well for that little bit of tossed salad left in the fridge as well!)
What? Don’t have any of those on the dinner plan anytime soon? Well chop away, but stick in a zippered freezer baggie. Just try to make plans to use it in the next week or so. Otherwise you are likely to forget it’s existence again.
Photo by The Tame Alien
What dish could you use to hide cooked grapes?
Heather,
Make a fruit compote.
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-fruit-compote.htm
Cut and cook those grapes with apples, canned fruit, dried fruit etc-whatever you have on hand, and a few spices and serve by itself, over pound or angle food cake, with yogurt, sprinkled with granola or over ice cream.
Another thing I do with past-prime veggies is stuff them in a 1 gallon ziplock. When it’s full, I throw them in a pot with water, boil for a long time, and have a nice vegetable stock for soups, braises, or whatever.
Then I throw the remaining mush on the compost pile. But then again, as a teen I tried composting old gym socks behind the lilac tree at home. Doesn’t work so well…
Thanks for the reminder, I have some cucumbers that I need to mix up into my favorite creamy cucumber recipe.
When we have salad toppings that are at the end of their culinary rope, like bagged salad, we turn it into salad bag soup. I have a recipe for it on my blog and it is so yummy! Of course, we don’t have it often(only when I need to use up those leftovers) but when we do, it is a treat! We top it with a dollop of sour cream to make it even better :o)
when i have a lot of veggies in the fridge some tend to get old, so ill chop whatever i know im not going to use and freeze them. Its best for bell pepper (pull them out for stirfry) and parsley or cilantro i chop it up sometmies ill freeze in ice cube tray or directly in ziploc bag.
I always remind hubby that buying veggies and fruits is not the same as buying a magical health talisman- they actually need to be consumed in healthy meals fo rtheir purpose.
I really like to saute the sad looking grape tomatoes (somehow we always have a few left from whatever) in a small saucepan and then cook couscous in the same pan with them. By the time they are done with the saute and steam they are popping open and sweet and make a nice sort of sauce with the couscous.