This is a sponsored post. All opinions are my own. For more information, see my disclosure policy.
I recently teamed up with Glad Food Protection to take the #SAVEITSUNDAY pledge to not only help eliminate food waste in my own kitchen, but to show you some cool and creative ways you can reduce food waste in yours.
What is the #SAVEITSUNDAY pledge?
Well basically it’s about loving food more and wasting it less, one day at a time.
It feels like it’s been awhile since I’ve talked about food waste on the blog. I suppose that has something to do with the fact that Mr. Produce Guy and I broke up. We’re still friends, of course, but not having that weekly haul of reclaimed foods means I don’t have food waste constantly on my mind.
Since gardens are in full force and many harvests are at their peek, I though it might be a good time to revisit some great ways to use and preserve your summer’s bounty. Here are the top 5 ways I use my produce:
Can It: Canning is my very favorite way to preserve food and prevent food waste. You can pretty much can just about anything! Don’t be afraid of canning either. I know a lot of people shy away from it because they think it’s much more complicated than it is. Check out all the canning recipes you can choose from!
Freeze It: In addition to using Glad Food Protection bags to freeze some of your excess harvest {check out some of the things I like freezing HERE}, you can also use them to store freezer meals utilizing ingredients growing like crazy in your garden {check out my Freezer Meal 101}. I also love to make my Fast and Easy Strawberry Freezer Jam and store it in Glad FreezerWare.
Pickle It: I mean obviously dill pickles are a must! But I love pickling all sorts of things: pickled corn relish and pickled beets to name a few. So many veggies can be pickled and canned or even stored in GladWare Containers in the fridge.
Donate It: This is my very favorite thing to do with my big summer harvests. I talk a little about how to donate your excess in this post about Excess Harvest.
Compost It: If you still find yourself with excess produce, don’t throw it away! Compost it instead. Check out why composting is so essential and find out how to make compost and compost bins HERE.
For more information about the #SAVEITSUNDAY Pledge and how you can reduce food waste in your own home, head on over to SAVEITSUNDAY.com.
Looking for more Glad Food Protection Pointers? Head on over HERE where you’ll learn lots of cool tips and tricks to keep the food you love fresher, longer.
You can also follow Glad on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Pinterest.
Kathy says
You left out one of my favorite ways of saving food which is dehydrating. It takes up less space and is so easy to do. I got a special deal on sliced mushrooms at the grocery store not long ago and brought them home and put them in the dehydrator and now I have mushrooms to last for a long time that cost me just pennies. Last year I dehydrated okra that I cut into bite sized pieces and experimented with different seasonings and it turned out to be a delicious snack after it was dried.
Trish K says
Don’t forget how much the chickens love the excess. We’re organic and have begun free range our girls but we definitely give them goodies from the garden.
Tiffany says
This year I’m experimenting with pesto. Last year I discovered cilantro pesto, and since cilantro was basically a weed in my garden this year (due to me not pulling it before it went to seed) I took advantage and made tons of it. To reduce the price, I used pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds that I had on hand rather than buying expensive pine nuts. I didn’t get around to making spinach pesto, so the spinach went to the goats and chickens. I’ve also discovered nasturtium pesto is pretty darn tasty with quite a bit of zip to it. It’s great on fish baked in the oven. Next up, I’m going to try snow pea pesto because I have TONS of snow peas since I accidentally planted them and not shell peas.
susan says
Thanks for the ideas, Tiffany! I have basil pesto and garlic scape pesto in the freezer already. I often use walnuts too to lower the cost -nice flavor and texture.
I LOVE nasturtium, and put it in my salad mix, but never thought of making pesto! Yumm-o! 🙂 And I bet it is pretty too! 🙂 I never have any snow peas that make it to the kitchen to cook or make pesto with though- no matter how many seeds I plant…. 🙂
I also dehydrate a lot – even veggies you would not think to dry. I will use asparagus stems, cukes, etc, and then make a powder (put the dried herbs in the food processor) to season food with.
I also save my scraps and peelings of veggies and put them in a bag in the freezer. When the bag is full, I make broth, which I then freeze or can. Sodium free veggie broth from what I already like/use for free (basically). One tip: Save onions, leek tops and garlic, etc. separate. They can overpower the broth. So, I also make an “allium” broth….
Tiffany says
The snow pea pesto was gross. I don’t recommend it. Would love to find some other use for snow peasThe nasturtium pesto was quite good with a nice bite to it. It was great on fish! . Next I’m collecting nasturtium seeds while green to pickle because I heard they are like capers. All my scraps go to my goats and chickens generally.