STOCK Your Waste.
Do you feel like half the money you spend on food each week is thrown in the bin?
Potato peels, carrot ends, limp and soft herbs…. in the bin! It’s not cheap buying fresh produce these days, so it can be so frustrating when half your rubbish bin is filled with what feels like food that is still ‘edible’.
About 70% of food wasted in Australia is still edible. So it’s actually more than half!
It can get quite depressing thinking about the stats. After all, food waste is not only a waste of money, but it is also a significant contributor to climate change. But just a few little tips and tricks can really help reduce the food waste your produce at home!
One trick that I use in my own home is to ‘Stock my waste’. Most of the bits and bobs from my cooking, I place in a large ziplock bag in the freezer. Topping it up with kale and mushroom stems, celery leaves, onion peels, carrot tips, garlic knobs etc, whenever I cook.
Once that bag is full, I know it’s time to whip up a nice big pot of stock. Actually, the cheapest stock you’ll find…. a free one! (I love me a bargain, so a free stock is just the absolute best).
Here’s a recipe for my Food Scrap Stock.
Ingredients
4 cups of Food Scraps (peels, ends, stems etc)
A couple glugs of olive oil
Method
Preheat an oven to 180C. Line a baking tray.
Lay out the food scraps in a single layer on the tray and drizzle with olive oil.
Roast for about 30 minutes or until roasty and toasty (slightly caramelised and brown).
Pour all of the vegetable scraps into a large pot and fill with water. I use a 5L pot and fill it up to about the 4L mark. Bring to a boil and then turn dow to simmer. Simmer for about 30 minutes (or longer if you have the time). Season to taste.
This stock is perfect for congees, chicken noodle soups or hot pot. If you needed a chicken or beef stock, add the bones in as well!
**If you can’t be bothered roasting you vegetables (hey, I get it), than just pop them all in the pot with water and simmer away (just do step 4). This will yield a more ‘clean’ stock and may be a bit more versatile too!
