Chef Saves

Today, let’s spend some time in the kitchen. No, I am not cooking a specific dish. I am going to share how simple changes in the kitchen can have an important and significant impact. Among some of the things wasted in our day-to-day life, food waste is a huge problem.The statistics say that 58% of all food produced in Canada is lost or wasted (Second Harvest and VCMI, 2019). 

An excellent place to start reducing food waste is to observe and make a list of what food and beverage items are being regularly thrown away in your home. This list will highlight if something is routinely being wasted. Once you make your list of commonly wasted items, find ideas on how to repurpose or store food instead of tossing it. Ask yourself “could these items be purchased in smaller quantities, be repurposed to avoid being thrown away, or be easily composted?” 

Vegetable scraps 

• Use left-over veggie scraps to prepare a nice and healthy broth. Save up odds and ends of vegetables whenever you chop and cook with them. When you have enough scraps, throw everything in a pot and add water, stir and bring to a light boil. Then strain the mixture and store the broth in jars in your freezer. 

• Bake or stir fry potato skins, add some cheese and serve as a side dish. This one is my husband’s favorite dishes.

Stale Bread

• Another common ‘waste’ in our kitchen is stale bread and bread crusts. I make bread crumbs with these: I put them into a food processor, pulse them and store the crumbs in a jar for future use.

Bread crusts turned into bread crumb

Herbs

• I used to throw away more than half of my fresh herbs - coriander, parsley, and mint leaves - but have learned a great way to store them for longer use. I chop the leaves and freeze them in an ice cube tray. As I need them, I take them out to defrost, and use.

Herbs stored this way can stay much longer

Tea and Coffee 

• My mother has beautiful indoor plants and credits this success to used tea leaves. Once tea is prepared, the steeped tea leaves (not containing sugar or dairy) are placed directly in the pot. The plants benefit from the extra nutrients. 

• Did you know that some tea bags have plastic in them? Steeping loose tea leaves in boiling water is the best way to avoid the added plastic. 

• Use coffee grinds as a deodorizer in the trash can or refrigerator. You can also spread them in your yard as a natural pest-repellent.

 Tea leaves used as plant nutrients

Fruits

• Lemon and orange peels make great scrubs for your face and body. Dry the peels and grind them to make a fine powder and use it as a scrub. Some people also make facial creams with orange peels.

• Banana peels are rich in nutrients, so instead of throwing them away, try adding them to smoothies and shakes. You can also mix them in flour and bake or fry them for a tasty snack. You can use ripe banana flesh as a face mask for a soft and fresh look. 

• Instead of throwing away bruised fruit, toss them into a salad or make popsicles.

The possibilities are endless with what can be done to avoid food waste. I learned recently from a friend that she even grinds eggshells into a powder and uses it as a calcium supplement for her dogs. Please check with your veterinarian before giving this a try.

For potential food waste that you cannot otherwise repurpose or consume, consider composting. If the idea of home composting is new to you, learn more here.

No discussion about kitchen waste can be complete without talking about reducing the use of plastics. Try and carry your reusable bags for grocery shopping. Nowadays, good reusable cloth bags for produce are available in the market. You can replace plastic containers with glass jars, paper, and cloth bags. It’s an investment worth making and an impact you can make towards saving our planet. Many stores still sell fruits and veggies in single-use plastic wraps or boxes, but you can try and avoid buying such boxes if other options are available. Buying plastic-free groceries is hard, and you cannot always win, but it’s important to do your best.

Let us make these small important changes in how we shop for, store and use groceries to reduce food waste. Let us pledge towards a zero-waste or low-waste  lifestyle, starting with the kitchen.

Photos and Submission by Sunanda (Volunteer)

DIY Spring Cleaning and Reusing

It is finally spring and we are through with yet another winter! The first thing that comes to my mind when spring approaches is warmer days but also spring cleaning. Spring cleaning is currently a trend as many people are finding themselves without things to do at home. Like a lot of people, if you are also at home socially distancing from others, you can spend your time doing some cleaning and decluttering.

As a teenager, my mom and I used to work really hard when it came to spring cleaning. We’d clean all the wooden cabinets, all the dusty corners, cluttered drawers and closets, and wiping down all the walls in our house. Most importantly, we made our own spring cleaning products and supplies at home.

In this post, I will be focusing on how you can clean using everyday household items that don’t require you to travel to a store as often.

A great way to divide spring cleaning around the house is to divide it by each room. 

Living Room

Deep cleaning living rooms involves cleaning couches, floors, rugs, and wiping down surfaces that have accumulated dust on them.

A good recipe for a DIY carpet shampoo is:

• ½ cup of 3% hydrogen peroxide
• 4 tbsp white vinegar 
• 2 tsp non-bleach laundry detergent
• ½ cup of fabric softener

The carpet shampoo can be used for deep cleaning carpets and couches.

*Always be sure to test the product on your fabric in a small inconspicuous area first and check and follow manufacturer cleaning instructions.

Kitchen

Kitchen cabinets usually have grease collected on their surfaces. To combat the grease use a mixture of: 

• ½ cup lemon juice 
• 2 cups of white vinegar

Gently scrub the cabinets using a soft scrubby and an old toothbrush to get in the grooves.

To simply clean and polish your cabinets, use a mixture of 

• 1 cup water
• 1 cup white vinegar
• 1 tbsp olive oil

Apply the mixture using a rag or a cloth all over the wooden cabinets, rub, and clean. The mixture does need to be stirred frequently as the oil tends to separate from the vinegar and water.

*Always be sure to patch test your surface in a small inconspicuous area first and check manufacturer cleaning instructions.

To clean the dishwasher, scrub the bottom of the dishwasher using baking soda, a spray of white vinegar, and an old toothbrush. After, put some white vinegar in a bowl and place it on the top rack of the dishwasher and run the hottest cycle with the vinegar inside. Vinegar will do the work of disinfecting the dishwasher while removing any buildup of foods and bacteria.

Sinks can be cleaned by sprinkling baking soda all over them and a little bit of dish soap. Scrub the mixture all around the sink and faucet then rinse with hot water.

Bedroom

For my bedroom, I usually strip down all the sheets, pillow cases, and blankets and put them in the washer. I also wash my pillows then put a couple of tennis balls in the dryer with the pillows to fluff them up. 

As I keep my windows open most of the time, the rest of my room usually accumulates a lot of dust on my nightstand, dresser, headboard, fan, and light fixtures. If you have ever bought a commercial duster wand, and still have the handle you can make your own duster using fleece or flannel. I use this to dust all the dusty areas.

I started off by ripping my old flannel shirt and tying each piece on a handle that I kept.

Image of the duster halfway complete

This is what it finally looked like.  I used it to dust off my fans, and all the dusty areas in my room, it worked really great. Once it is extremely dirty, the pieces can be untied, washed and reused again.

The finished duster ready to be used

Lastly, I finish shampooing the carpet in my room and cleaning any glass or mirror surfaces with a glass cleaner and flyer papers or newspapers.

Bathroom

The bathroom is my favourite area to clean, I think because it is the smallest. I usually start by cleaning the sink and counter top with baking soda and dish soap. I sweep and mop the floors thoroughly. Now, to clean the tiles there are a lot of different homemade recipes you can use. I wanted to find a mixture that was non-toxic and still did the job well. Here is what I found:

• 7 cups of water
• ½ cup of baking soda
• ⅓ cup lemon juice
• ¼ cup white vinegar

Put the mixture in a spray bottle, spray it all over the tiles and scrub using a scrubby and an old toothbrush and voila, grout is now clean. 

Besides all the cleaning, I also go around the house and declutter drawers and closets. Stuff that I have no use for anymore gets reused or recycled. 

Some examples of reused items are:

My mom sewed her own cushion covers from old bed sheets. 

DIY cushion covers from old sheets

This is an old project but a few years ago I turned my old bookshelf into a bench. It works great.

I turned my bookshelf into a bench

I would really encourage this season for everyone to get creative and work with the things you already have at home. It can be a challenge but there are a lot of resources on our Reuse-It blog and Pinterest page on reusing items to create something you need. Share your reuse creations and recipes in the comment section below!

Submission and photographs by Radhika (Volunteer)