Garbage smoothies

So I decided I wanted to write a post in general on how you can cut back on some of your "organic garbage" by finding other uses for it. There are actually ways that I plan ahead what the final purpose of my produce will be by gauging the lifespan of it, how much I have, and how fast I will use it. By doing this, I prevent a lot of garbage from forming in the first place.



When it comes to perishables, we've all experienced finding expired dates, moldy bread, spoiled fruit, soggy greens, perhaps even something unidentifiable lurking in the back of your fridge....
By planning ahead you can repurpose these foods and prevent these disappointing outcomes.

When it comes to perishables, put anything that has a short lifespan towards the front of your fridge. If your fridge is not organized in any matter, this is a good time to do so. Keep fruits and veggies together, in drawers or bins to be able to locate them easily and check every day what needs to be used first. Try to cook meals centered around perishable ingredients that need to be used first. Don't ever push perishable items to the back of the fridge, because likelihood is they will just get lost back there never to be seen again (or eventually found due to unpleasant odor, or unsightly mold growth). Another helpful hint is to freeze items that can be frozen. If you buy extra groceries at a time to save on extra trips to the store, freeze the extra until you'll need it. This works great for bread, meat, fish, veggies you plan on using for cooking, some dairy, and is great for leftovers. To make it even easier, pack leftovers from dinner in individual tupperware and stick in the freezer until use. Just grab and go... pop it in the microwave to have for lunch! Veggies can be boiled and cooked often from a frozen stage, many other foods may need to be defrosted before preparing, so it's a good method of preservation (and the food lasts much much longer!) but make sure to plan accordingly and take out of freezer before use.

Use a lot of canned foods? Don't even waste that nutritional goodness that you may normally drain out! The liquid drained from canned beans would be a great and protein rich addition to many recipes such as soups and other mixtures with a bunch of stuff blended together. The juice you get from canned fruit would be great and tasty as a drink or a smoothie. Although these can just be dumped down the drain, much of the nutrients from your food leaches out into these fluids and gets put to waste. Make sure you utilize them too!

As far as utilizing perishables... what if your food is already spoiled or on its way? Let's "repurpose" it. Moldy bread can be dissembled and the salvageable parts can be fed to your local ducks or birds. I mean someone should eat it, right? Same goes for stale cereal and any other grains. Fruits and veggies can and should be put into compost. I plan on blogging more about composing soon; but to sum it up, just keep a bucket with a lid outside (or under the sink if you have no yard space), and put any organic material in it. Shake regularly and allow it to break down.  Use as fertilizer for plants! Produce, eggshells, dead plant material, even newspaper shredding... mostly anything that's biodegradable except meat and dairy is compostable.

If fruits/veggies are only partially spoiled however, you have many more options. If there is just a bruise or unsightly appearance of it but its's edible (examples: soft mushy fruit, bruised fruit, black spotted bananas, soggy but not fully spoiled spinach/kale, moldy on only one side of a peach but other side is fine, etc.) this is a great smoothie candidate. Cut out salvageable portion and put it in a big ziplock labeled "smoothie" and put it in the freezer for later use. Fruits and veggies are great for smoothies and only add sweetness and flavor so it doesn't matter what it looks like. There are even things you wouldn't imagine putting in your smoothie but with the blend of so many flavors you won't taste it.. and can still benefit from its nutrients. There are often stages of fruit ripening that people prefer not to eat but don't want to waste. This is a perfect way to do that. Bananas... by the way... are amazing in smoothies when they are in that black spotted stage. A lot of people don't want to eat them like this so use them in your smoothie (taste best frozen), or Yonanas if you have one (a frozen treat maker!) the sweetness is amazing blended up and cold!!

Another option for slightly spoiled produce (if it is safe for pets.. do your research!) is to feed it to your 4 legged friends. My reptiles eat plenty of fruits and veggies, and sometimes we add a little to our dog's bowls at feeding time for an extra treat. Remember- grapes, avocado, mushrooms, eggplants, onions, garlic, and some others are NOT safe for dogs. Do your research for other animals to be safe. Guinea pigs and rodents love fruits and veggies and would really get a nice treat out of this! If you live near a farm, get permission first, but horses, goats, cows and pigs enjoy a special treat too. Pigs will eat absolutely anything too. None of them will care at all what the food looks like or if it's very ripe.. as long as it's not moldy or spoiled because then they can become sick.

So what about the garbage that comes off the portions of fruit and veggies you DON'T eat? These are often good animal treats too (such as; tops of carrots, tops of tomatoes and cores/seeds of peppers, the stem part of a head of lettuce any other SAFE scraps). Some of these what you thought were unedibles are surprisingly ok to add to your smoothie bag too! My favorite is the big stem of broccoli.. depending on what I'm cooking, I often just want the florets and I'm not feeling the stem. Some people just don't like it as much. But don't waste it! Stick it in the freezer and add to a smoothie. Instant protein + all the amazing health benefits of broccoli, but I promise you won't even taste it! Broccoli is a GREAT smoothie addition, along with all greens especially spinach and kale because they add no taste, but just a green color and plenty of iron, magnesium, protein, etc. If your greens are just starting to turn but you know you won't eat them, pop them in the freezer before they go bad. If you have too much greens and KNOW you won't use it before spoiling, freeze it ahead of time. Another good smoothie additive you'd never think of is the core of a pineapple. It may be too tough to chew, but if your blender can blend it up, it's fine for you to eat in a smoothie (margaritas anyone??) Tofu looking weird or a little dried up? Pop it in your smoothie. Strawberry tops too.. maybe you cut them off or eat around them but you won't taste a difference in your smoothie. Fruit cores, and tops. I do this all the time and always have smoothies packed with a variety of fruits and veggies with so many nutritional benefits. If you already make smoothies religiously, try being less wasteful and leave your fruits and veggies whole when blending. Utilize every single part of them... this way, nothing has gone to waste!

What other "organic garbage" do you produce? If you can't salvage it for any form of consumption, make sure you compost it. It's silly for organic waste that can easily biodegrade to fill up garbage bags and take up space in landfills. Let's try to be responsible with our garbage and help this environment. Have another idea on how to salvage some of that organic garbage? Post it in the comments below. If you weren't a smoothie drinker before.... now's your chance to utilize all these smoothie making possibilities! Try a "garbage smoothie" today. I can't promise it'll be the prettiest color, but if you can get past the green and brown colors, you'll still enjoy how amazing it tastes! :)