Lindy Valdez
Food often ends up in the bin too quickly. There are many ways to freshen up and recycle food. For example, some delicious dishes can be made from stale bread, sour milk or brown bananas.
A few tricks are often enough to make wilted or shriveled vegetables look appetizing again. Other old foods can still serve well in the kitchen. We give tips on how to minimize waste in your household.
Tip 1: Make carrots crisp again
The carrots in the fridge are already shriveled? That’s no reason to throw them outright. Because with a simple trick they look fresh and tasty again: put the carrots in a glass or bowl of water for a day. The carrots should be completely covered. This will make them firm and crunchy again.
Tip 2: save oversalted food
The stew is oversalted? Then you can put in a peeled potato until it’s almost done – it draws salt out of the liquid. This also applies to bread. However, you should choose a type of bread that does not crumble immediately.
Tip 3: Keep lettuce and herbs fresh for longer
Do the herbs and lettuce get tired quickly? Here, too, a simple household trick helps: Wrap these plant products in a damp cloth before you put them in the fridge – they stay fresh longer. In general, lettuce and fresh herbs should be eaten soon after shopping and not left lying around for too long.
Tip 4: Use old bread
The bread is hard and dry? Then you can easily turn it into breadcrumbs, croutons or bread chips. Sliced and roasted in olive oil, the bread also tastes good as an accompaniment to salads or soups.
Tip 5: Store the egg whites in the freezer
For the next baking lesson you only need the yolk? Then don’t throw away the raw egg whites: you can easily freeze them in an airtight container. In this way it can be kept for several months. The liquid protein should later be gently thawed in the refrigerator. You can also store the egg yolk in the freezer, but it doesn’t keep as long as the egg white.
Tip 6: Use sour milk for cooking and baking
The milk has gone sour? Not bad, there are many possible uses for them too. It can replace crème fraîche or sour cream when cooking, or buttermilk when baking. Sour milk is also suitable as a basis for homemade quark or cheese.
By the way: spoiled UHT milk is difficult to recognize because it doesn’t smell sour. For example, white flakes and a slimy consistency could be an indication that UHT milk is no longer good.
Tip 7: Process ripe bananas into ice cream
The bananas are overripe? No problem: the fruit can be frozen and made into vegan ice cream – nice cream. It’s very simple: Put the frozen bananas in the blender, add some plant drink if necessary, and process to a homogeneous mass. In addition, it is possible to make a face cream or hair treatment from overripe bananas.
You can also freshen up these foods quickly:
- hard cheese
- Yesterday’s pizza
- Dry biscuits
- Soft chips
