We absolutely love our fruits and vegetables, so there is nothing more frustrating than having to toss some away when you’ve used what you needed for the meals that you planned. If you find yourself throwing away produce every week after you’ve used up half of it, we want to help you. Making meals or snacks out of what you might consider being food waste is beneficial to your pockets and your belly.
We came up with a few ideas different ideas to help you solve the problem of food waste, mainly with your fresh produce. Read below for ideas on what you can do with your leftover fruits and vegetables!
Make a Salad
The beauty of a salad is you can put just about anything you want to put in it, and it’s still a salad. Salads are great ways to use your assortments of lettuce and other greens while also being able to use the fruits and vegetables you have in your fridge as well. A salad is a perfect outlet to use up any and all produce you have.
Blend it Into a Smoothie
It’s almost too easy to be real. Smoothies are lifesavers when it comes to snack or mealtime because, just like a salad, you can put whatever you want in it. Smoothies are a great way to pack in a lot of nutrients and vitamins into something easy to drink and digest, and they’re also quick to make!
Juice It
Juicing has become increasingly popular in the health community because it’s such a great way to intake all of the important nutrients and vitamins from produce. If you’re struggling to kickstart your healthy lifestyle change, this is a great place to start. It’s also an awesome way to use fruits or vegetables you didn’t get a chance to cook with.
Make a Dessert
A fruit pie? A turnover? Fruit is such a great and healthy way to flavor up simple dessert recipes. Fruit tarts, just as an example, are the perfect balance of sweet and healthy. If you want an escape from your salads or regular vegetable dishes, change things up with a fruitful dessert.
Turn it into Stir Fry
For all of our veggie lovers, this one is the best. It’s almost impossible to go wrong with stir fry, especially when it consists of a bunch of vegetables you know you love. The only thing you really need, aside from your vegetables, is a savory sauce and a side dish or two. Vegetable stir fry is a perfect meal for the end of the week when you’ve found yourself to be a little more tired than other days and aren’t in the mood to whip up a 5-star meal.
Fruit Pops
Now that the weather is getting warmer, this might be our favorite. Invest in a popsicle tray (or two) so you can throw all your favorite fruits in them. Popsicles are a perfect summer snack, but a homemade fruit popsicle is a perfect way to keep the refreshing snack on the healthy side.
Bake a Casserole
Maybe this is where the term “mystery” casserole came from. But let’s face it: casseroles are what we all need when we want to eat but not do heavy cooking. Using up your vegetables in a casserole is a great meal idea for yourself or the family without the extra hassle.
Fruit-Infused Water
And if you want to do almost zero work, putting fruit in your water to infuse it is an ideal way to get rid of the fruit you have before it goes bad. Infusing your water also allows you to get the nutrients you want out of your fruit while keeping you hydrated.