Every day is Earth day! If you’d like to boost your eco-conscious lifestyle further, check out these handy tips from lifestyle and nutrition expert, celebrity chef, and author Mareya Ibrahim to help reduce food waste and do wonders for mother earth by easy acts as simple as saving your peels!
Here are some eco-creative ways to consume fruits and veggies:
Spiralizing your fruits and veggies, or making sweet potato fries, keep the whole veggie intact but be sure to wash them properly first.
Use a ripe, clean peel in a smoothie, banana bread, or muffin recipe for enhanced fiber, amino acid, and antioxidant benefits. The riper the peel, the sweeter the product – and less added sugar needed.
Add peels to your juicer and give fresh-pressed, raw juices a big nutrient and enzyme boost.
Infuse grated citruses such as orange, lime, lemon, and grapefruit zest into olive oil for use in salad dressings and to instantly boost the flavor and antioxidant power of cooked veggies, fish, and chicken.
Rub banana peels on your skin to improve tone and texture.
Wash produce peels well and eat or peel into veggie noodles or puree for your next soup.
Moldy bread or slightly bruised fruit? Just cut off what’s affected instead of throwing the whole thing away.
Salmon skin? Crisp it up in an air fryer or in the oven and eat like bacon – it’s delicious!
Bread heels? Just slice off the very end and it’s another piece of bread!
Browning bananas? Wash and keep for appealing banana bread and smoothies.
Mushy avocados? Puree and use as a substitute for oil in baked goods.
Mushy tomatoes? Puree and add to sauces.
Broccoli stalks? Peel fibrous skin and finely chop (these are called broccoli clovers and they’re delish).
Stale bread? Soak loaf in water, bake for 10 minutes and use it for French toast, bread crumbs, or croutons.
Soft strawberries or other fruit? Cook in water with lemon juice and a little corn starch for a yummy fruit sauce.
Freeze extra smoothies into cubes and use those as popsicles or to cool down your next smoothie.
Freeze wine for sauces, herbs in olive oil with garlic, and extra soup or broth.
Keep the ends of parmesan and other cheeses can be incorporated into soups and broths.
Leftover rice? Make fried rice!
Leftover pasta? Bake it with sauce and ricotta to firm up the noodles.
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Mareya Ibrahim, The Fit Foodie, nationally recognized food expert, founder of eatcleaner.com and author of the #1 new release, “Eat Like you Give a Fork: The Real Dish on Eating to Thrive” Mareya Ibrahim is a chef, holistic nutrition coach, author and award-winning entrepreneur and inventor. She is the founder of Grow Green Industries, INC. and the creator of the Eat Cleaner line of food wash and wipes. Mareya is the author of “The Clean Eating Handbook,” a signature chef to the NY Times bestseller “The Daniel Plan: 40 Days to a Healthier Life” by Rick Warren, Dr. Daniel Amen and Dr. Mark Hyman and a contributor to Recipe Rehab “The Fit Foodie”, has appeared in Edible Orange County Magazine since 2011. Mareya is also the host of the new podcast “Recipes for Your Best Life”, was a featured chef on the Food Network, eHow.com, Livestrong.com. and the Emmy- nominated cooking show, Recipe Rehab. Mareya has been an emcee, keynote or featured speaker for dozens of events, including the Sustainable Foods Summit, The California School Nutrition Association Conference, the Western Food Service Conference, The Healthy Food Expo, The Fit Expo and The Daniel Plan.
