Today's Reuse Roundup post comes from Lesa Roemke of Kenosha, WI.

I hope her tip inspires you to send me your best kitchen tip(s) for waste minimizing--you could win a Google Nexus 7 tablet and signed copies of both of my cookbooks. Only 1 day left to enter the contest (it ends tomorrow, March 7th)!!

Email tips to gabi@brokeassgourmet.com. 

Lesa says:

My tip for minimizing waste in the kitchen is to keep track of leftovers. First of all, since I know that my family is not good at eating leftovers, I try to cook in such a way that I don't end up with any.

But if I do have some leftovers, I write them down on a small dry-erase board on the fridge, along with the date. Then when we are wondering what to have for lunch, we can easily see what leftovers are available. Including the date makes sure we eat them in a timely manner. I started doing this a month or so ago and it has really helped cut down on the amount of leftovers I have to throw out.

Today's Reuse Roundup post comes from Stephanie Hodges of Seattle, WA.

I hope her tips inspire you to send me your best kitchen tip(s) for waste minimizing--you could win a Google Nexus 7 tablet and signed copies of both of my cookbooks. Only 1 day left to enter the contest (it ends tomorrow, March 7th)!!

Email tips to gabi@brokeassgourmet.com. 

Stephanie says:

Your Reuse Roundup segment on the site got me thinking of things I do to minimize waste. While I've never made my own broth/stock, I usually end up with a handful of vegetable remnants that could probably be put to better use.

Here are a few small things I do to get the most out of my food and eliminate waste:

Hard boiling eggs. I've learned that eggs can last well past the date stamped on the carton and not only that, older eggs are easier to peel when hard boiled. Clearly my roommate and I are fans of this method!

Freezing bananas and other fruits. I absolutely love smoothies... especially when they are cold and thick! If I have bananas, strawberries, pineapple, etc. that are nearing their last leg, I'll chop them up and store them in the freezer for my smoothies. The same goes with fresh juice--last year I got a juicer as a gift and if my fruits and veggies get wilty and sad-looking, I know it's time to juice.

Getting every last bit of peanut butter out of that darn jar. I'm sure we've all experienced the sad end to a jar of peanut butter or almond butter, when the only goodness left is coated on the sides and in the bottom ridges of the jar. I learned this trick on the blog Kath Eats Real Food (www.kerf.com).-- she'll cook a batch of oatmeal and put it directly into the jar! The heat helps melt the nut butter into the oatmeal. You can also use it for overnight oats. And if that weren't enough, most of those jars are reusable too! Store nuts, granola, fresh juice, even vegetable sticks for an on-the-go snack.

Brussels sprouts chips. I love brussels sprouts, but when prepping them I always end up with handfuls of the outer leaves that fall off in the process. Solution: make chips! --Make stale bread or old tortillas into homemade croutons and chips

I don't have a garbage disposal, but whenever I visit my family members that have one, I make sure to throw unusable scraps in there. The rinds from citrus fruit are the best because they make the kitchen smell fresh!

This article on keeping produce fresh and this chart on the shelf life of food are super helpful and can be posted near the fridge as a reminder.

Today's Reuse Roundup post comes from Rachel Ray of Palo Alto, CA (no, not that Rachael Ray).

I hope her tip inspires you to send me your best kitchen tip(s) for waste minimizing--you could win a Google Nexus 7 tablet and signed copies of both of my cookbooks. Only 1 day left to enter the contest (it ends tomorrow, March 7th)!!

Email tips to gabi@brokeassgourmet.com. 

Rachel says:

Today's Reuse Roundup post comes from Laura Beaudet.

I hope her tip inspires you to send me your best kitchen tip(s) for waste minimizing--you could win a Google Nexus 7 tablet and signed copies of both of my cookbooks. Only 1 day left to enter the contest (it ends tomorrow, March 7th)!!

Email tips to gabi@brokeassgourmet.com.

Laura says:

I was glad to see your call for ideas to reuse stuff that would otherwise be wasted, because it's something that makes environmental good sense as well as economic good sense!

I make my own yogurt at home. I really like the thick Greek-style yogurt that's made by draining a lot of the whey out of regular yogurt. If you throw away the whey, it's pretty wasteful, but I've found a great use for the whey I strain out of my yogurt. I also like to bake my own bread, and my basic recipe calls for four cups of water for four one-pound loaves. I've found that by using the whey from my yogurt-making instead of plain water, I'm increasing the nutrients in the bread, as well as giving it a wonderful sourdough-like tang. It also keeps me from wasting all that good whey.

Here's a picture of today's batch of yogurt draining in a Chinois.

And here's a picture of some of the drained whey with a loaf of bread I baked using the whey from the last yogurt batch. 

Today's Reuse Roundup post comes from Daphne Bilge, of Berkeley, California.

I hope her tip inspires you to send me your best kitchen tip(s) for waste minimizing--you could win a Google Nexus 7 tablet and signed copies of both of my cookbooks. Only 2 days left to enter the contest (it ends March 7th)!!

Email tips to gabi@brokeassgourmet.com. 

Daphne says: