If you were wondering how much food I was able to salvage from the “chicken scraps” the other day… Here you go. Not only does Monkey Boy and The Girl Who Thinks She’s a Bird have enough veggies for their lunches this week, there’s enough for a stir fry dinner as well.
I have 3 words for you: Reclaimed. Food. Rocks.
Here is what I was able to salvage from 4 boxes of scraps:
- 5 gallons strawberries {now frozen, will use for smoothies}
- 11 snack size bags baby carrots {lunch snacks}
- 10 snack size bags mixed sweet peppers {lunch snacks}
- 1 quart size bag mixed peppers {stir fry night}
- 3 snack size bags grapes {lunch snacks}
- 3 snack size bags cucumbers {lunch snacks}
- 3 snack size bags sugar snap peas {lunch snacks}
- 9 heads romaine lettuce {I think I’ll make a Cesar salad for dinner tomorrow}
I was able to prepare:
- 2 {10 oz} glasses fresh grapefruit juice
- 2 1/2 quarts homemade apple sauce
- 2 pints fresh salsa
- 3 quarts vegetable stock
Call me crazy, but I think my refrigerator looks pretty normal. The only difference between my refrigerator and my neighbors? I probably paid less than $5 for its contents.
Go forth and be frugal,
♥ Mavis
Looking for a some new smoothie recipes? Check out 500 Smoothies & Juices: The Only Smoothie & Juice Compendium You’ll Ever Need By Christime Watson. Amazon currently has it on sale for $11.80.
Looking for a juicer? Well, you probably don’t want the one I own. This review by fellow Amazon shopper Kara pretty much sums up how I feel about it;
“I hate it, it hates me. Even when rolling the oranges and lemons, making them as soft as can be, it is impossible to use. Good luck squishing it all the way down. I’m not weak, and it was bad on my shoulder and hand. You have to balance the bottom, while swinging the top. Then when you want to take out the fruit, you have to finagle it up and it’s a mess. It always gets stuck. Small suction cups are worthless. It came with flattening tool. WHY. I tried to squish strawberries and raspberries. What a joke.” Kara
I’d buy this one instead. The Breville Compact Juice Fountain
*Amazon prices are subject to change at anytime.
Heidi says
Just curious what happened to the ears of corn?
Mavis says
Ha Ha Ha. They are still in the fridge. I was tired. I have not gotten to them yet. LOL
You Can Call Me Jane says
Amazing. We watched Dive! the other night and were left speechless considering all that waste. I can totally see you carting car fulls of produce from grocery stores to food kitchens. Rock on, Mavis!
Mavis says
Jamey has a head lamp doesn’t he? 😉
Tera says
Wowza! You rock Mavis!!! I LOVE Mondays with Mavis, but this is seriously so much better. I hope if you’re able, you can keep showing us what you do with all the “chicken scrap” each week. SUPER awesome!!!
Karissa says
This is so amazing. I’m heading to my local grocery store tomorrow to see if I can get them to save me “chicken scraps!”
Mavis says
Go for it!
Desi says
Wow that is amazing Mavis! Guess who picked up chicken scrap today? That’s me! I asked my friendly store manager if they did that. He replied “we put some in boxes in a shopping cart on the back dock for the pig farmers, whoever gets can have it”. There were 4 boxes back there and I took the one on top.
I ended up with a 1 lb of edible strawberries, 15 avocados, 8 apples, 2 onions, 6 garlic, 1 potato, 1 lemon, 3 limes, 1 bell pepper, 1 pear, 5 oranges, 5 radishes, 2 cucumbers, and about 5 lbs of tomatoes. Some of it was really bad and went to the compost pile. But the chickens are very happy with their tasty treats.
Now I’m trying to figure what to do with it all. Mostly just the tomatoes are my concern, some fresh salsa sounds yummy but what else?
Michelle says
Just throw them in a pot and make sauce or you can freeze them whole to make sauce later. Good luck!
Mavis says
Wahoooo Desi! Way to go! I am jealous of your avocados! Salsa, YES. You could also make a batch of pasta save in the crock pot with the extra tomatoes.
Desi says
Thanks Michelle and Mavis! My sis mentioned something about chunky Avocado Salsa. I may try this and freeze some. Also crockpot pasta with tomatoes sounds yummy and delicious. I think I will freeze the rest and pull them out as needed.
Lissa says
Also good is to make oven-dried tomatoes to add to salads and pastas…just slice thin, throw on cookie sheets lined with waxed paper and bake at 200F for 45min+ until done. Can be stored in sealed containers for a fair amount of time.
Holly says
I tried asking at my local market and they told me to check the blue recycling bins behind the store. Just some brown cauliflower, corn husks and yellow kale today, but I won’t give up. I think I’ll check in with a different market later in the week.
Holly says
Today was more successful! 6 tomatoes, 4 eggplants, 4 bags of celery hearts, 1 onion, 1 orange, 1 zucchini, and a lovely box of beautiful spring salad mix.
Thanks Mavis
Mavis says
Way to go Holly! 🙂
Megan says
Would love to see a picture (for comparison) of the ‘food’ you threw out. Curious to know: How bad was it? And how much good food vs. bad food?
Mavis says
Good Idea. I’ll try and remember to do that next time. 🙂
sena c says
How are you cleaning the produce….. I mean “chicken scraps”? Are you worried about bacteria?
Jackie says
Wow! That is amazing. You’re certainly helping me build my case for purchasing a small chest freezer for our apartment.
Lissa says
Do it Jackie! I bought one a year ago and have never looked back! Soooo worth the expense. I am able to stock up on fruit, produce, cheese, milk, and meat now that I have the space to store it. Got 40lbs of Zaycon chicken breast (skinless boneless never frozen) @ 1.69/lb several months ago..still eating it out of the freezer!
The question I have about getting chicken scraps: are you guys getting them from major chain stores (like fred meyer, safeway, albies) or little local marts? My goal tomorrow: find a store to get scraps from. This is soooo exciting!
Lissa says
Well after sleuthing around town a bit, I found a couple of locations that may be promising. One store I was even able to get a box at right away! 10 partial heads of lettuces, a bunch of celery stalks, and a small bunch of carrots – awesome!
Mavis says
Awesome indeed!
Judie M. says
I’m kind of worried about asking at my local stores. Any tips?
Lissa says
What I did Judie was to go in, locate someone working on the floor in the produce section, and ask if they have any produce discards that people can pick up to feed to chickens or whatnot. I mainly got two responses: We work with the food bank and they pick up everything each day (mostly the big chains in my area that I asked at) or “Sure! It’s right back here…..” I never had any of the employees seem unsure, if I had got that response, I would probably just see if I could talk to the produce or store manager. Lots of friendly smiles and thanks yous!