Stop Don’t Throw That Out!
Stop, don’t throw that out while preparing vegetables!
Since I had some carrot and celery slices left over from a veggie tray I decided to make a stew for dinner. I had also previously purchased a package of stew beef, bought on sale of course for only $5.76. I cut the carrots, celery, onions, peppers and potatoes in pieces for my Blue Diamond cooker. Oh and by the way, I never peel the potatoes, just wash them and cut them up, skin and all!
First I browned the beef and while browning I added a bit of Worchester sauce. Next I added all the vegetables to the meat and added a package of brown gravy mix with two cups of water. Add that to the meat and vegetable mix, sprinkle a bit of seasonings and turn to cooker on. It smelled SO GOOD!!
An hour later the stew was done and enough for a family meal with seconds! I came up with the idea of trying a chicken stew or soup tomorrow since I still have fresh vegetables to use up. This stew was delicious and while I didn’t calculate the cost, it was less than $10.00 to make and serve our family of four!
But this isn’t about my stew, it’s about my pepper! I cut the top and bottom off, took the center out and proceeded to cut the pepper in pieces for the stew. When Lia helped me one of the other times, she actually made Pepper Faces with the left overs! It was so cute to watch her make different faces just from scraps!
I’ve come up with another idea for my pepper scraps, thanks to my blogger, chef friend, Chef William. He suggested to use the scraps for omelets! So I diced up the top and bottom of the pepper and ended up with 1/2 cup just the ends! I put the container in the freezer so next time I’m making an omelet I’ll have my pepper ready to add!
So next time you are preparing food, stop, don’t throw that out! You can use all the edible food scraps for another meal!
In my household, we are more about convenience and minimalism so we’re always throwing things out.
When I started my declutter challenge, I got rid of so much Rachel! I’m still working on that but some things I just can’t give up.
Well done to you and your helper, Martha. I’m in the same frame of mind today — processing tomatoes and peppers from the garden. I’m making salsa. So lots of chopping but nothing wasted. Thanks for sharing your ideas and pictures.
Oh that sounds delicious Mary! Lia and I love preparing our garden vegetables for the freezer so we can have “fresh” veggies all winter!
Hi Martha and Lia, My mom made beef stew last week. She does the same thing with her scraps as she prides herself on how far she can stretch any meal. I typed up a list of foods they like and meals they can quickly prepare. I printed it off and posted it on the refrigerator so they don’t have to think too hard about what they could make at any meal. This makes grocery shopping, food prep, and cooking the same every week and its easy for them to plan. Thank you for sharing. Sending lots of love and hugs. Jaime
What a great idea to type up a list for your mom! I’m sure she appreciates that and I’m happy to see she does the same as I do! Thanks for stopping by Jaime, Lia and I send hugs and love!
That stew looks yummy, Martha. Chicken stew is good, try it.
I was thinking of making chicken stew Brenda! I still have lots of stew vegetables so I can either make chicken stew or soup!
It’s always good to use things when we can.
I love to come up with ideas to reuse things Amanda.