Food: Using it all up

[cspp04]

I started some herbs on my windowsill this year. After doing some research on what one can grow in containers, other than herbs, I came across an article that told me I could plant a single garlic clove in some dirt and it would eventually grow into a whole garlic clove. So i did! And it's been growing just fine. But one day I took a look at the long shoot that sprung from the top of it and wondered if all it was worth was looking at. So I did some more research and learned that the green shoot is edible. Apparently it is quite popular in asian countries, but not used widely in north america.

Well, I cut off the shoot and chopped it up to throw in my soup. Mmm mm mmm. Frugal cooking at it's best! It gave a nice smooth garlic flavour to my soup and it didn't harm the plant to cut it off either (another shoot sprung up two days later).

So, my question for you all is this.......What other foods or parts of foods are there uses for that probably aren't widely known?

[Dave'sGirl]

I can't answer your question but I wanted to say that I have a coworker that grows garlic as a small cash crop and every year he brings in bagfuls of the greens for poeple that want them.

[Nada.Leona]

Vegetable peelings, celery leafs, etc. can be thrown into a crockpot with a chicken carcass for soup broth.

[Nada.Leona]

Fruit cores and peels can be boiled, then put into cheesecloth and strained for their juices (use in baking).

Mashed potatoes, when frozen, make fantastic thickeners for soups and sauces. I always do that with my potatoes that are about to go bad. The peelings can be tossed in a little oil and spices and baked in the oven til crispy (fantastic treat).

Just about all meat scraps can be fed to dogs (with the exception of the tiny bones, of course).

Corn husks can make dolls, of course.

Seeds, of course, can be dried and planted.

Celery leaves can be dried, crushed and used in soups and stews.

Left overs from just about any meal can be tossed into an old icecream bucket and made into soup or casseroles.

I'm sure I'll think of more.

[Darlene]

Many foods, plants and things can be used to make natural dyes.
http://www.pioneerthinking.com/naturaldyes.html

[ironmaiden]

I remember my grandmother making dandelion leave salads. No chemicles in her yard. Plus the earlier in the season the tenderer.

Also stuffed grapevine leaves. I remember we'd drive around the countryside looking for someone who had a grape vine. We'd pull over she'd talk to them, give them the recipe and they'd let her pick all she wanted - earlier in the year the better too. She's can them to use throughout the year.

[Paquita]

Years ago I had a coworker that grew up in the South, moved to New York for a few years, then moved back south. She told us that the produce place she went to sold the turnips but threw away all the greens. She asked if she could have them, the man said "What for, they are'nt any good." She took them for several months, then the guy realized that he could actually sell the turnip greens. Apparently the yankees (no offense) didn't realize turnip greens are edible!

[missymomof3]

wow! I thought everyone knew you could eat turnip greens! You learn something new everyday!

[miss_thrifty]

Well of course the eye of the potoes,onion tops for chives.

[PeacewithMyself]

I plant my beet rows 'full' so that I can have beet greens.

Have any of you eaten fiddle ferns? Mother used to gather them every spring. They need to be fully curled as in the just emerged stage. Blanch them quickly in boiling water. Immerse in ice cool water, then drain on a towel.

Stir fry them or steam them. Delicious.

Hunt mushrooms. But, only if you know your varieties. Most areas will have mushroom clubs listed in the local new papers. I repeat don't hunt mushrooms if you don't know what you are looking for!

[frugalfarmwife]

We also do dandelion salads and use the turnip and beet greens, also ad radish greens to salads, yum!!

kj

[cspp04]

wow! there are alot of ideas here. i honestly didn't know you could eat turnip greens....lol. i'm definitely going to explore some of these ideas and make the most of my food budget. thanks everyone........and keep the ideas coming!

[shelsmiles]

Broccoli stems and other veggie scraps can be used in soups. I like to use broccoli scraps in cream of broccoli soup

Leftover mashed potatoes - mix in an egg, spices and some crumbs and then fry in oil for potato cakes (YUM!)

Use bread heels and stale bread at the end of the week for bread pudding. Any kind of bread "leftovers" can be mixed in except for sourdough

I'm sure you all know to save the carcass of the turkey or chicken to boil up for broth - same with ham and beef bones.

Use the remnants of the jelly jar for flavoring smoothies

Save the crumbs in the bottom of the chips bag in a big baggie or jar to use later as casserole topping

Add water to the remnants of the ketchup bottle or salsa jar and add to tomato based dishes like spagetti sauce, etc

That is all I can think of right now!

[Siebrie]

The green part of leeks are perfectly edible, especially when boiled, in a soup, fried rice, or a quiche. Very old green leaves may be stringy, but younger green leaves are fine.

[Grainlady]

-Plant the chopped-off ends of green onions (plant them root-side down) and grow more.

-Grow your own ginger root from a knob off a fairly fresh root purchased at the store.

-I grew amaranth last year. The seeds are about the same size as a poppy seed and are high in nutrition (you harvest them after the first hard frost). I add the seeds to muffins and quick breads like you would poppy seeds, and also mill it into flour and use it for a cooked cereal. The plants were taller than the gutters on our home. The young leaves on the plants can be picked and used like you would other greens - fresh in salads or cooked.

-You can make "flour" out of the tuber that grows cattails.