Did you know by throwing away food, you are throwing money away and hurting your wallet? Over 40% of food is wasted in the United States annually.

Reducing food waste saves money by loving your leftovers instead of hating them into the landfill.

Depending on where the fruits and vegetables are traveling from to your nearest grocery store, chances are they have been sitting in a warehouse for a couple of weeks.

By the time the product reaches the grocery store, the product is already going bad leaving a week or less to consume.

Save Money Buying in Bulk

I find that buying in bulk at farmer’s markets is cheaper and tastes better. It’s a good motivator to learn to can, talk recipes with the sellers, and support the community buying local.

Who knew leaves from vegetables like beets and turnips could be used in salads?

After peeling vegetables and fruits, I use to throw the skins away for being ugly and not knowing that I could repurpose them for something else. Most of the flavor comes from the skins of fruits and vegetables.

The skins can be used to create vegetable stocks, baked goods or added to smoothies for additional vitamins and minerals.

After juicing fruits and vegetables, don’t throw away the pulp. The skins can be used to create vegetable stocks, used in baked goods or added to smoothies for additional vitamins and minerals.

If you have a vegetable garden, use the fruit and vegetable scraps to make compost.

Fresh Frozen Fruit

Enjoy all-year-round without worrying about the fruit going bad. Instead of paying $6 for a small tray of blueberries, buy a 3-pound bag of Wyman’s (or store brand) frozen wild blueberries.

I buy 3-pound bags of strawberries and raspberries to make sorbet or flavored water. 

Beat the summer heat by making a blueberry and banana smoothie from frozen bananas.

Things to Freeze

Squeeze the juice of lemons into an ice tray and freeze. Use the lemon cubes to flavor water. Chop up the remaining lemon peels and freeze.

Add peels to smoothies for vitamin C. Use an exfoliator for the face or don’t freeze the lemon peels and make your own lemon pepper.

Buy kale and zucchini in bulk at the farmer’s market. Cut and fill up separate zip lock bags. Add a small amount to smoothies for additional vitamins and minerals.

By corn in bulk and blanch in boiling water for 2-3 minutes. Cut the kernels and freeze in a zip-lock bag to enjoy all year round.

Ginger and turmeric and are good for reducing inflammation in the body. Freeze and grate these superfoods into your breakfast, lunch, and dinner dishes.

Buy a bag of jalapenos and chop into small pieces. Add a little water and blend for 5-10 seconds to get a chunky consistency. Scoop 1-2 tablespoons onto individual saran wrap squares. Fill up a quart-sized freezer bag to add flavoring to future dinner meals.

Leftover Bacon Fat Uses

Avoid plugging kitchen drains with grease by using pork fat to add flavor to meat and vegetable dishes. After frying the bacon, save the leftover pork fat in a mason jar and store it in the refrigerator.

Make Homemade Pizza Dough

Making pizza dough at home is very easy. Here is a Semolina Pizza Dough recipe by Emeril Lagasse I have been using for the last couple of years. After going through the steps, form 3-4 dough balls, wrap in plastic wrap and freeze for future pizza nights.

Grow Microgreens Indoors

Here is a bonus idea. How many times have you had a craving for salad, bought some salad greens like kale, romaine or butter lettuce for it to go bad a couple of days later and get thrown out?

I have an alternative salad green for you that you can grow at home within 7-10 days just by adding water once.

Microgreens have higher vitamin, mineral and antioxidant levels than the same quantity of mature greens. A container of broccoli, kale, fenugreek, or sunflower microgreens in the store can set you back $5-6 with enough to make a couple of salads.

Depending on how long it’s been sitting on the grocery shelves, microgreens can go bad in 3 days. Meal ideas are endless. Put them on a sandwich with tuna or chicken salad, add to smoothies, or just make a fruit or vegetable salad with just the microgreens as I often do.

Growing them in my kitchen saves me a trip to the grocery store in the winter.

I pay a $17-month subscription through Hamama which gets me 3 seed quilts and a plastic tray.

I discovered this company scrolling through my Instagram feed.

Being the type of person that doesn’t pay attention to paid ads on social media, by coincidence I was looking to learn how to grow herbs and greens at my home with little maintenance. For some reason, everything I try to grow dies including cactus.

Yeah I know it’s sad. Hamama guaranteed me that everything would be okay. Water once set somewhere with low light, and in 7-10 days, I have something good to eat.

I wasn’t ready to bite, had to do some number crunching and research online on the cost to grow my own microgreens.

Doing the math, after spending $5 twice a week for a month from my co-op, that comes out to $40 a month versus $17 through Hamama.

Directions are easy to follow and I received an email when it was time to take the cover the protective cover off to let the seedlings break free and when it was time to harvest. Simple and easy.

Every month I have the option to choose which 3 seeds I want and can pause monthly shipments.

Once the greens are harvested, I prep another tray, store the harvested microgreens in a reusable sandwich bag in the refrigerator I found on Amazon.

The microgreens are good for a week maybe longer but I end up gobbling them up within a week because of the many meal options. An added bonus, my skin has a bit of a glow!

Check out this microgreens growing kit video and judge for yourself.

If you are interested in growing your own greens, click here. Get 10% off by entering the code: SUPERGREENS at checkout. Happy growing!

If you are looking for other ways to help save the world, check out my post, 6 Small Acts That Can Change the World.