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Food is one of the easiest expenses to forget all about, especially because we waste so much of it. On the other hand, it's hard to buy the exact right amount you need, so who can blame us? But there are ways to waste less on food and reuse it instead of just throwing it away. Here I've collected 12 ways for you to save up on your extra food:
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| 1. Reusing Green onions |
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It may sound strange but this is true. Green onions can grow back when you save their white roots. How? Just cut off the green leave and put the white ends in a cup of water. Put the cup on a sunny window seal. The onions will start growing almost immediately, and you will be able to harvest the green leaves almost indefinitely.
From time to time empty the water, rinse the roots and return them to a cup of fresh water.
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| 2. Reusing Ground Coffee |
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Ground, used or dried coffee can be used to solve a lot of situations, so before you throw it away, you can:
- Use it as an ant repellant by spreading it a little where ant groups can be found.
- For skin peeling, you can massage coffee grains on your face and rinse.
- To fertilize plants, you can spread ground coffee on acidic earth
- To neutralize bad odors from the freezer, put a bowl of ground coffee (you can add a few drops of vanilla extract).
- To remove scents of foods from your hands, we recommend rubbing them together with ground coffee and then washing.
- To get fleas away from your dog, wash him, then rub ground coffee on his fur, and then wash him again.
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| 3. Peels vs. Insects |
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While the citrus fruit gives the body essential vitamins, its peel is also quite useful. It helps keep away flying insects and ants, as well as neutralize bad moldy smells. Use a scraped peel to rub on surfaces that attract a lot of flying insects or ants.
Another option is to throw the peels in a blender, add a glass of water and grind until getting a smooth mixture. Then, pour the liquid on ant hills or on the entrance to the house. To get rid of moldy smells, put an orange peel in a cloth bag and hang it in old closets. You can also throw a citrus fruit peel in the trash compactor to get rid of bad odors.
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| 4. Ripe Banana to Bake |
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Bananas which are too ripe may not be good for eating, but they can become delicious banana bread. So instead of throwing them away, make a terrific and delicious dessert.
You will need:
2 cups of flour / 1 spoon of drinking soda / 1/4 spoon of salt/ 1/2 a glass of softened butter / 3/4 a cup of brown sugar / 2 scrambled eggs and 2 cups of squished ripe bananas.
Instructions:
Pre-heat the oven to 175 C and oil an English cake baking mold. In a big bowl, mix: Flour, drinking soda and salt. In a different bowl you mix: Butter and brown sugar. Add the eggs and the squished bananas to the wet ingredients bowl and mix well. Add the banana mix to the dry ingredient bowl and mix well.
Spill it to a mold and put in the pre-heated oven for 60 minutes. Let the banana bread cool for 10 minutes, and then serve.
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| 5. From Dry Munchies to Crunchy Munchies |
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Snacks such as potato chips or crackers are expensive and can take a big bite out of your budget over time, and so it can be quite annoying when a big bag of chips or crackers gets too dry after only a few days. However, instead of throwing them away, put them in the microwave for 10 seconds. They will make a short trip back in time to a higher level of crunchiness
Another option is to preheat an oven or toaster-oven to 200 degrees C, put the crackers or chips on baking paper (one layer) and heat for 1-2 minutes.
Carefully, take them out of the oven when they begin to get golden, and the crunchiness shall return.
Please note: The freshness cannot be returned to crackers or chips who have begun to give a bad odor, are moldy or hardly have any taste.
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6. Crumbs Will Do!
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| A moment before you throw away bags of pretzels, croutons, cereal, crackers or other snacks that have crumbs - collect the crumbs in one big plastic bag and crush the crumbs with a rolling pin. Then you can use them to dress up other courses or freeze them in big chunks and then cook slightly for resurrected snacking. |
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7. From Old Bread to Croutons |
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Don't throw away old bread! You can dice it, fry it with butter and make delicious croutons for your salad or soup. HOW?
Dice the dry bread. If it is a bit too dry, put it on a baking pan and warm it for about 10 minutes until the surface becomes very dry. Put a pan on a medium to high fire and melt a little butter. Put the bread dices in the pan and mix until all the sides begin to turn brown. When the bread has been toasted, remove from the fire. If you do not plan on using the croutons right away, let them cool and only then put them in storage.
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8. Dry Rice for Drying |
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If you have encountered an old bag of rice and you're worried it's no longer good enough to eat, don't throw it away. Instead, next time something gets wet (like your phone, for instance) put the rice in a bowl and the wet object on the rice. The rice will drain the liquids from the object. So if it is your cell phone, for example, wait 24 hours and then turn it back on.
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| 9. Defunking that dish sponge |
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If you need to clean and you are out of good sponges, just put that old funky one in the microwave for 2 minutes. It will look much cleaner after 99% of its germs have been killed, and will be almost good as new.
CAREFUL! Do NOT put any sponges that have any metal fibers in them, as no metal can be put inside a microwave!
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| 10. Getting More from Your Lemon |
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| If you need to add just a few drops of lemon to a recipe, don't cut it in half. Instead, prick it with a tooth pick and gently squeeze out the amount you need. Cover the hole with a little tape or paper and put the lemon back in the fridge to be used again later. |
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| 11. Oiled Eggs for Extra Freshness |
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To prolong the life of fresh eggs, dip a paper towel in plant oil and gently rub the egg shells before putting them in the fridge for storage. The oil will keep those eggs fresh for another 3-4 weeks.
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12. Too Many Potatoes? Not a Bad Thing! |
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You peeled too many potatoes or sweet potatoes? Don't throw out the extra ones or cook too much. Just take the uncooked ones, put them in a bowl with cold water, add a few drops of vinegar and put in the fridge. The potatoes will last like this for another 3-4 days.
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Photos courtesy of: Freedigitalphotos.net
