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Scrap Cooking

Anne Miller

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I asked Pinterest about "popular internet topics". The top answer was "Scrap Cooking".

it seems that the zero-waste movement has inspired “scrap cooking,” or cooking a meal out of would-be kitchen scraps.

I found this article from Spruce Eats that offers some suggestions:

Veggie Chips

Make them out of odds and ends of root vegetables chopped up for other recipes, such as the tough outer leaves of Brussels sprouts, sweet potato ends, beet trimmings, and carrot scraps.

https://www.thespruceeats.com/recipes-to-use-up-food-scraps-5179510

A few other suggestions from the article:

Apple Scrap Jelly

The next time you make apple pie or applesauce, save the cores and peels for turning into delicious apple jelly.

Broccali Slaw

Transform tough, leftover broccoli stalks into a picnic-ready broccoli slaw. Simply grate the peeled stalks on the medium holes of a box grater, and toss the shreds with our light, sweet, and tangy mayonnaise dressing.

No-Egg Meringue Candy Kisses

Are you missing meringues on a vegan or egg-free diet? You may be surprised, and delighted, to learn that the liquid at the bottom of a can of chickpeas—aka "aquafaba"—can be swapped for egg whites in any baking recipe.

Here is another article with other suggestions:

https://www.thespruceeats.com/tasty-ways-to-use-food-scraps-

Here are some suggestions for using scrap bones:

There are lots of ways to use those bones.

The easiest and the first thing that comes to mind is to compost them.

Use the bones for making bone meal:

https://permies.com/t/160397/Bone-Meal

The bones can be turned into bone broth:

https://permies.com/t/73308/favourite-bone-broth-recipes

Those bones contain lots of bone marrow:

https://permies.com/t/150041/Roasted-bone-marrow

Have you heard about eating bones?

https://permies.com/t/207798/Eating-bones

https://permies.com/t/216878/Bones#1832660

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Jane Mulberry

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I love grated broccoli stem slaw! The stems are the best part of broccoli, I think!

The stems are also delicious sliced and added to stir fries or roasted veggies.

I'm only 64! That's not to old to learn to be a permie, right?

Matthew Nistico

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I routinely save all of my bones in the freezer, together with veggie scraps, and when enough are assembled I make a big batch of bone/veggie scrap broth in the pressure cooker. I segregate beef/lamb bones for one batch of broth, chicken/pork bones for another, and fish bones/shrimp shells for seafood broth.

As for the veggie scraps, these are mostly onion skins and garlic skins (where all the best nutrition is!), the stems of herbs, stems of mushrooms, the leafy end of celery stalks, egg shells (rinse them out before stuffing them in the freezer bag), and the skins of root vegetables (though in truth I rarely peel my root veggies). A few other odd veggie bits make their way in, too, like the stem ends chopped off of carrots or cucumbers or zucchini. I usually omit skins off of red beets (unless I want purple bone broth!), the seeds and ribs of peppers (bitter!), cores from cabbages (taste too strongly of cabbage soup), the stem ends of okra (don't want mucilaginous broth), or anything else too strong tasting. Needless to say, if the reason I'm chopping a bit off of my veggie is because it looks gross, then I don't add it to the scrap bag.

Makes very good broth! I always have some around and, in addition to being soup base, it gets used to rehydrate beans or grains or pasta.

Broccoli stems I collect in a separate freezer bag. When that bag is full, I boil them with more bone broth, an onion, and a potato, and then blend it all to make cream of broccoli soup.

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Mercy Pergande

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Matthew Nistico wrote:...... the stem ends of okra (don't want mucilaginous broth)...

A counterpoint option: since vegetable broth doesn't have collagen, it can lack body, which I think makes stock much more palatable. If someone is making a pure vegetable stock and wants to add some body without meat products or bones, okra (in moderation), because of the mucilage, can give it a bit of silkiness that brings it closer to the mouthfeel of a stickier, collagen-rich broth.

Oats and barley can behave similarly, but the do tend to make for a cloudier broth. But okra will allow the broth to stay clear, so tossing in a little okra trimmings or a split pod or two can be really nice in certain contexts.

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Carla Burke

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With hubby being a chef, he's always been pretty picky about appearances, for 'plating', and used to throw away all the parts of anything that weren't 'pretty' - until I came along, lol. To me, the best part of cleaning the kitchen, after he's done cooking, is snagging all the bits and sorting them. What I see as 'usable leftovers; as is' goes into the fridge. The 'usable leftovers; with assistance' goes into separate storage (often the freezer, to wait for more to accumulate), for making soups, stews, casseroles, etc. Onion skins, the thin, icky bottom slices of celery, green bean stems, etc go to compost. I have a very similar process for meat scraps. But, since Charlie came along, fewer veggie things are making it to the 'with assistance' stuff, in favor of going into the dehydrator (at 125°F, to keep it as close to raw as possible), to collect for the addition to her homemade raw food.

When I was a kid, we used to have leftovers of some sort with almost every meal (a friend's mom dubbed Tuesday evenings as 'Must-gos' night'). Mashed potato leftovers, with an egg or two and some flour, became potato pancakes (which I hated, so instead, I turn them into potato soup!), plain rice left from one meal became sweet rice, for the next breakfast or fried rice or pilaf, for the next dinner. Roasted potatoes & carrots from one meal became 'hushput' for another (YUM!), and so on. Many of these, and more, John and I do, often. Collected broccoli, mushrooms, cauliflower stems, and quite a few meats become 'cream of' types of soup. Or, if I'm feeling lazy, they all just get tossed into the pot with a jar of our 'leg 'o some critter' bone broth, to cook while I make some chaffles, as a bread-ish accompaniment.

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Matthew Nistico

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Carla Burke wrote:Onion skins, the thin, icky bottom slices of celery, green bean stems, etc go to compost.

Onion skins are too useful to go into the compost, if you ask me. Not only can you dye clothes with them - which admittedly I don't actually do, though I've seen it done ; ) - but they are more nutritious than the actual onion. At least so I've read, but if you think about it, it's eminently logical. Any vegetable encounters the world at its skin and, particularly for a subterranean one, that's going to be a rough encounter with a million little guys attacking the plant. So, that is where it concentrates all of its chemicals!

Carla Burke wrote:Or, if I'm feeling lazy, they all just get tossed into the pot with a jar of our 'leg 'o some critter' bone broth, to cook while I make some chaffles, as a bread-ish accompaniment.

...uh, okay. What on earth is a "chaffle"? Inquiring minds want to know.

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Alina Green

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When I was baking regularly, I'd often add leftover mashed, cooked vegetables to muffin or bread recipes. You can turn it savory with herbs like dill, onion, garlic, oregano, and/or parsley (dried or fresh both work well.)

Sweeter vegetables, or more neutral ones, such as squash, pumpkin, and carrot can be savory, but also sweet versions--ginger, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, cardamom --will help those, if you like. Shredded raw zucchini is nice in a chocolate or chocolate chip version. Yum!

And if you've never added starchy potato, sweet potato, pumpkin, or cooked taro to a bread recipe, you'll be in for a treat. It adds a lovely smooth, moist texture to the finished product. (Hawaiian--actually an import from Portuguese settlers) sweet bread owes its texture to potatoes or the cooking water from potatoes.

Be sure to reduce the liquid content of the recipe, to compensate for any additions.

Alina Green

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Be sure to label your bag of bones in the freezer...saves you from wondering what the heck those strange looking bits are!

I do chicken and turkey bones in the slow cooker, cooked with water and a little vinegar, for 24-48 hours on low.

Strain and use that liquid for a soup or other dish.

Then put the bones back into the crockpot, add more water and vinegar, this time adding vegetables and herbs for 6-12 hours on low. I often add more meaty parts, such as some thighs or drumsticks. The older bones end up like soft chalk, and you can chew them and get calcium and other minerals from them, and they are a nice texture. (The newer bones will remain hard. I save those to make the next batch of broth.)

We need collagen, found in the skin and connective tissue, too, but most people nowadays (homesteaders are the exceptions) tend to eat only muscle meats. So by throwing in the gristle, skin, and parts that contain a lot of connective tissue (such as chicken feet), you can get a more well-rounded array of nutrients. (Plus the necks/backs and feet are cheaper, too, if you buy them, rather than raising them yourself.)

If you raise them yourself, you know we don't like to waste all that hard work!

Carla Burke

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Hi, Matthew! I'm curious, too! How do you eat the onion skins? Whenever I've accidentally gotten a piece - in soups, etc, that were long cooking - I always end up spitting it out, because it's not chewable, lol. Teach me!

Chaffles are a gluten free, low-carb/keto thing, usually cooked in one of those cute little round waffle makers, though I'm just as likely to do them in bigger batches, in the full sized waffle iron. I usually do them with 1 large egg, 1 tablespoon of almond flour, & 1/4C shredded mozzarella, whisked together with a fork, and poured into the mini waffle iron, for a quick 'bread'. For the bigger batches, it's really just the same thing, but I use the mixer, and let it go for a while. It makes the batter more uniform, and smoother for pouring. If I'm doing them this way, whatever doesn't get eaten in the first couple days gets frozen on a cookie sheet, then packaged up, labeled, and put back in the freezer, for later. They don't really taste cheesey or eggy, but they get nice, crisp edges, and a bread-textured middle. There are tons of recipes, both savory and sweet, on blogs all over the internet. They're fun to play around with, and make a great, filling snack on their own, or a tasty way to dress up leftovers for sandwiches.

Alina Green

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I think over time people have evolved to waste more because they don't grow/raise food themselves. My grandmother in Canada, living in the boonies, made lemonade for us by blending the entire lemon with water and honey! We kids said "eeyooo..." but drank it anyway.

Modern, spoiled palates discard the bitter, tough, and unsightly food, but once you know they contain things like cancer-protective plant compounds, collagen, and bioflavonoids, which we need, apparently...you may gain a new respect for them and find ways to incorporate them.

AT the very least, price increases, supply chain issues, and economic hardship FORCE people to be more thrifty, meaning they find ways to waste less and thereby spend less, too. Hard times every now and then make us more appreciative and less apt to take things for granted, I've noticed!

Alina Green

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Charlie Girl is adorable!!! Give her a hug for me, please.

What are hushput and chaffles?

Judson Carroll

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I grew up this way, then learned it in food service - the best kitchens have the least waste.

"Them that don't know him don't like him and them that do sometimes don't know how to take him, he ain't wrong he's just different and his pride won't let him do the things to make you think he's right" - Ed Bruce (via Waylon and WIllie)

Matthew Nistico

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Carla Burke wrote:Hi, Matthew! I'm curious, too! How do you eat the onion skins? Whenever I've accidentally gotten a piece - in soups, etc, that were long cooking - I always end up spitting it out, because it's not chewable, lol. Teach me!

See my post, above. I don't eat them, but I do boil them in my bone broth.

Alina Green wrote:I do chicken and turkey bones in the slow cooker, cooked with water and a little vinegar, for 24-48 hours on low. Strain and use that liquid for a soup or other dish.

Then put the bones back into the crockpot, add more water and vinegar, this time adding vegetables and herbs for 6-12 hours on low. I often add more meaty parts, such as some thighs or drumsticks. The older bones end up like soft chalk, and you can chew them and get calcium and other minerals from them, and they are a nice texture. (The newer bones will remain hard. I save those to make the next batch of broth.)

Wow, you have a lot of patience! I do my bone broth in a pressure cooker, which whole routine takes only 10 hours, and that still kills me. I have to hang around the house the whole day, ugh!

I also add a splash of vinegar and often a couple chicken feet to my mix. Those are nice touches. And I also do a double batch, something sorta kinda like what you described. I put all of my bones and veggies scraps into a cotton mesh bag inside the pressure cooker, fill with water, and set it's broth cycle. This takes about an hour to heat up and four hours to cook at high pressure. Then I dump all the broth out into a large bowl, set aside, return the boil bag to the pressure cooker, and refill with new water. Cook again on the same cycle just as before. When done, I combine both batches and then measure them out into bottles through a fine mesh. In my cooker (I forget what size), this routine produces about 4.5 quarts.

As you say, most of the chicken bones are half-way dissolved after the second round. I can crunch them into chalk with my fingers, though I've never considered chewing them (!) Their change in substance suggests most of their calcium is now in my broth, so I think I'll call that good enough ; )

Alina Green wrote:I think over time people have evolved to waste more because they don't grow/raise food themselves.

Absolutely true. The more separated you are from the source of the products you consume, the less you value those products, and thus the less responsibility you take for the way you consume them. If a loaf of bread cost $100, then sure, people would value it more. But that is the only reason that most people value anything, because of the "dollar value" assigned. If those people were intimately involved in the process that produces the bread, then they would much more likely value it, regardless of price, because they appreciate where it came from and how it got to them and the people involved in those processes.

Alina Green wrote:At the very least, price increases, supply chain issues, and economic hardship FORCE people to be more thrifty, meaning they find ways to waste less and thereby spend less, too. Hard times every now and then make us more appreciative and less apt to take things for granted, I've noticed!

Well, hopefully that is true. I fear that it takes more than a temporary bout of scarcity or inflation for people to change how they value things. That requires a cultural shift. Sure, some people will learn to appreciate thrift and frugality during such temporary hard times, but most consider it a resented inconvenience and are eager to return to wastefulness just as soon as they can afford to. Sorry to be glass-half-empty about it all, but I believe this is the truth of it. The times do change, and people with them, but slowly.

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Susan Mené

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I've been "scrap cooking" or as it also known, following ""zero waste" principles for about 15 years after reading about it in, of all places, a gourmet cooking magazine. Obviously i'm not perfect, but these principles have brought such a feeling of connectedness to my food and nature.

I choose...to be the best me I can be, to be the strongest me I can be, to learn the most I can. I don't know what comes next. But I'm gonna go into it balls to the walls, flames in my hair, and full speed ahead.

Ela La Salle

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Funny... I grew up on scrap cooking and have been practicing it, for my whole life. I find it somewhat amusing that it may be , or has become a "new fad" LOL

Thomas Dean

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Anne Miller wrote:
Apple Scrap Jelly

The next time you make apple pie or applesauce, save the cores and peels for turning into delicious apple jelly.

We have an old recipe for "peach seed jelly" that uses all our pits, skins, etc from canning peaches.
Something like this:
https://www.food.com/recipe/peach-peeling-peach-seed-jelly-41035

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Susan Mené

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Ela La Salle wrote:Funny... I grew up on scrap cooking and have been practicing it, for my whole life. I find it somewhat amusing that it may be , or has become a "new fad" LOL

Haha! When I "discovered" it, I remembered my grandmother's memories from the Great Depression. She fed herself, her husband, her six children, and her brother and sister-in-law, all on my grandfather's meager paycheck (mechanic). Nothing went to waste, ever. One of my uncles, then 4 yrs. old, took a precious rump roast rolled it on the on the floor and then "washed" it in the toilet. My grandmother washed it and cooked it and all enjoyed for it sure.

Things change in good times, partly because of how individuals process bad times. One person may not touch leftovers because he/she grew up on aspic and beans and refuse to eat as if poverty-stricken ever again. Another person has fond memories of beans and foraged greens, water pie, and love despite having little financial security..
https://www.southernliving.com/water-pie-6833912

and ometimes things get lost along the way.

Jane Mulberry

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Susan Mené wrote:Another person has fond memories of beans and foraged greens, water pie, and love despite having little financial security.

My guess is that the love is the essential ingredient there!

I'm only 64! That's not to old to learn to be a permie, right?

Inge Leonora-den Ouden

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Mercy Pergande wrote:

Matthew Nistico wrote:...... the stem ends of okra (don't want mucilaginous broth)...

A counterpoint option: since vegetable broth doesn't have collagen, it can lack body, which I think makes stock much more palatable. If someone is making a pure vegetable stock and wants to add some body without meat products or bones, okra (in moderation), because of the mucilage, can give it a bit of silkiness that brings it closer to the mouthfeel of a stickier, collagen-rich broth.

Oats and barley can behave similarly, but the do tend to make for a cloudier broth. But okra will allow the broth to stay clear, so tossing in a little okra trimmings or a split pod or two can be really nice in certain contexts.

(off-topic) The only way I know Okra is in a Curaçaoan soup called 'Jambo' (or Giambo). The sliced Okras make this soup thick and slimy, most other ingredients come from the sea (fish and other sea-creatures). It's very tasty.

"Also, just as you want men to do to you, do the same way to them" (Luke 6:31)

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Inge Leonora-den Ouden

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Most of the time I forget about keeping my food scraps and use them for soups. That's because they all go to my compost heap. I think that's a good way to use them too.

"Also, just as you want men to do to you, do the same way to them" (Luke 6:31)

Jay Angler

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"Left overs" got such a bad rap when I was a young adult, I decided it was better to name them "planned overs". So my kids grew up with that, and when #2 Son comes by after work, the first thing he looks for in the fridge is any small bottle that might have something he can snack on!

That said, I'm a bit like Inge for some of the veggie bits - regardless of whether they're store bought or home grown, I consider them a "gift to the compost gods", and don't begrudge them a share. However, usually those scraps are pretty small. If I've got something that I don't think we'll eat fast enough, like Carla, I'll chop it into the food dryer and from there it either goes into soup or gets ground if it needs to be hidden in something!

"Scrap Cooking" has a sister named "Substitution Cooking"! I have a muffin recipe that calls for a can of pineapple with some juice. Pineapples don't grow in my ecosystem - but yellow plums and summer apples do. Yellow plums turn to over-ripe mush pretty quickly. I chop the apples up, squish plum mush over the apple, freeze it in the quantity I need for the recipe, then use as needed. In fact I thawed some yesterday, so off I go to bake...

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Jane Mulberry

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Jay Angler wrote: I have a muffin recipe that calls for a can of pineapple with some juice. Pineapples don't grow in my ecosystem - but yellow plums and summer apples do. Yellow plums turn to over-ripe mush pretty quickly. I chop the apples up, squish plum mush over the apple, freeze it in the quantity I need for the recipe, then use as needed. In fact I thawed some yesterday, so off I go to bake...

Noooooo! You can't leave us hanging like that. I NEED the recipe! I have so many overripe yellow plums every summer!

I'm only 64! That's not to old to learn to be a permie, right?

Jay Angler

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Jane Mulberry wrote:Noooooo! You can't leave us hanging like that. I NEED the recipe! I have so many overripe yellow plums every summer!

OK, I'll share... I always make the "large batch" version as it freezes nicely assuming it doesn't disappear too fast to freeze any of it!

The bit about the apples is at the end of the instructions for mixing the batter and I wrote it in 2014 as it says, and here it is 9 years later and it is still one of my most popular cakes, although my friends insist it's more like a breakfast replacement than a desert! Enjoy!

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Jane Mulberry

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Thank you! It looks delicious!

I'm only 64! That's not to old to learn to be a permie, right?

Matthew Nistico

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Inge Leonora-den Ouden wrote:(off-topic) The only way I know Okra is in a Curaçaoan soup called 'Jambo' (or Giambo). The sliced Okras make this soup thick and slimy, most other ingredients come from the sea (fish and other sea-creatures). It's very tasty.

In the Southern USA, specifically in the state of Louisiana, a slow-cooked soup thickened with okra is called a "gumbo." As I understand it, the name comes from the word for okra in some West African languages. Both the name and the ingredient were imported during the slave trade. No doubt the same as your Caribbean "giambo."

There are many variations on Louisiana gumbo, but most include seafood as well. They typically start with a roux (a French technique) and are further thickened with okra (an African technique). Sometimes, filé powder is used in place of okra as a thickener (a native American technique), which is ground leaves of the Sassafras tree.

If you can find okra in your local markets, I recommend it as a most worthwhile vegetable! In addition to gumbos, I often cook "smothered okra," which is stewed okra and tomatoes. Okra chopped into rounds, then breaded and deep fried, is also popular here in the South. Additionally, you will find recipes for okra dishes among cuisines in the plant's native range, a broad swath of nations across northern Africa to southern Asia.

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Mercy Pergande

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Atlantic coast Carolina lowcountry has okra stew too, particularly in Geechee-Gullah culture. It's not roux or filé thickened like Louisiana gumbos and is usually primarily seafood based without the sausage you often (but not always) find in gumbo. But it has a lot in common with gumbo and West African okra stews and the giambo recipes I looked up after Inge's post, the variations seemingly based on what is most readily available locally.

Okra in any form, but especially in these kinds of stews, is one of my very favorite foods. Give me a bowl of rice and some spicy okra stew and I'm a happy girl. Love it love it love it!

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Ela La Salle

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posted 1 year ago

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Susan Mené wrote:

Wow! A funny story to be sure LOL Thank you for an interesting recipe!!! I'm curious and will give it a try

On a side note, I grew up mostly on starchy foods; dumplings, pasta, fish, wild mushrooms, nuts, herbs, fruits/vegetables, eggs, kefir, cheese, and once in a while a good, home made smoked sausage. Although my grandmother had all types of poultry and "edible" animals, fruit trees/bushes etc, we didn't eat much meat. We picked from Nature's forest while in season. I don't think we were poor. It was just a way of life then.
Hamburgers, pies, hot-dogs, bananas, and much more foods/vegetables/fruits from different nations were foreign to me until about 40 years ago. Still, even now, I'm not sure about most of it but I learned to make pies! LOL

Rebecca Rosa

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posted 1 year ago

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This thread is great, I love cooking with what we have and have picked up a few favorite meals by using up "leftovers".

Aside from soups and broths, with extra vegetables I love to make Yachaejeon - Korean Vegetable Pancakes by adding flour and an optional egg to finely chopped vegetable odds and ends to make a fresh, delicious meal. Sourdough discard can be fried up in a skillet with some scallions and sesame seeds for another savory pancake alternative. The two recipes/concepts are easily combined and changed up with whatever is on hand for infinite variations.

My favorite pizza dough recipe (though we shape it to a much thinner crust) also calls for sourdough discard and is a great way to use up extra odds and ends of vegetables, cheese rinds, whatever else, its a great canvas for creativity. Honestly I use sourdough "discard" so extensively sometimes, I barely use my actual starters except to make more glorious discard and levains.

This summer as our garden really gets going I plan on making some jars of giardiniera pickles. Right now we don't see a lot of scraps leaving the kitchen!

Our hens also have first dibs on anything that makes it out to the compost, and they return the nutrients to us as eggs and to the gardens and system with their foraging and manure activities.

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Carla Burke

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posted 1 year ago

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Hi, Rebecca!! Thank you for the dough reminder! I've used pizza dough to make 'leftover hot pockets', as well as making leftover pot pie. And, when the dough is the leftover, pie crust dough gets made into crackers, cookies (which then sometimes get crushed, to make into crumb toppings for desserts), bread or pizza doughs might get wrapped around hot dogs, turned into flatbread, cinnamon 'elephant ears', simple fried dough, or if there's enough, sticky-buns. These were easier, when I could eat wheat, but salvaging the leftover dough feels even more important now, because the ingredients to make it are more expensive, than just wheat flour.

S Ydok

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posted 1 year ago

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Jane Mulberry wrote:I love grated broccoli stem slaw! The stems are the best part of broccoli, I think!

The stems are also delicious sliced and added to stir fries or roasted veggies.

Y'all don't just eat it while chopping florets...?

I too have started a freezer bag of veg ends, leafy Herby stems, wilty veg along with raw chicken bones. Takes us awhile to get a full bag, but feels nice to have a couple jars of chicken juice for soups or rice.

Anne Miller

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posted 9 months ago

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I was looking for a vegetable cracker recipe and found this:

Veggie Scrap Crackers

Ingredients

Avocado oil cooking spray

3 cups vegetable scraps, cut into chunks if needed, such as broccoli stems, Brussels sprouts leaves, almost-bad red or golden beets, carrot peels, wilted carrots, rainbow chard stems, cucumber peels and zucchini ends

2 cups packed greens scraps, torn if needed, such as beet greens, carrot tops, kale ribs, parsley stems, wilted spinach and wilted mixed greens

2 cloves garlic

1/2 to 2/3 cup almond meal

3 tablespoons golden flax seeds

2 tablespoons minced fresh rosemary

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 to 2 tablespoons sesame seeds

1 teaspoon flaky sea salt

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and spray with the cooking spray.

Combine the vegetable scraps, greens scraps and garlic in a food processor and pulse until broken down, 8 to 10 pulses. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Repeat until the mixture resembles a coarse dry paste.

Transfer the paste to a large bowl. Stir in 1/2 cup almond meal and the flax seeds, rosemary, kosher salt, black pepper and cayenne with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon until combined. If it looks too wet, add up to 1/3 cup almond meal until the mixture binds together without separating.

Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking sheet and flatten with your hands into an even 1/4- to 1/2-inch-thick layer leaving about a 1-inch border from the edge of the pan. Score lightly with a chef’s knife on the diagonal, then score lengthwise into 2-by-1-inch diamond-shaped crackers. This will help you break the crackers into squares later. Spray the top with the cooking spray. Sprinkle with the sesame seeds and flaky sea salt.

Bake until the crackers are golden brown and crispy around the edges, about 1 hour 30 minutes, rotating the baking sheet halfway through. Set aside to cool, about 10 minutes. When the pan is cool enough to handle, break up the crackers by hand. The crackers will get firmer as they cool. The crackers can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up 4 days.

https://www.foodnetwork.com/fnk/recipes/veggie-scrap-crackers-11247266

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Jay Angler

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posted 9 months ago

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Ann Miller wrote:

I was looking for a vegetable cracker recipe and found this...

I've got Nettles and French Sorrel coming up. I wonder if they'd work as part of the wilted greens. I *know* I should make some pesto, but I admit part of the issue is that I don't have a full size food processor and the little one I have struggles with pesto.

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Jane Mulberry

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posted 9 months ago

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I used to do a very similar cracker recipe when I was raw vegan, dried in the dehydrator. It was wonderful!

I think the greens do need to be shredded quite finely for it to work. Without a food processor, maybe one of those multi-bladed herb scissors would work?

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Riona Abhainn

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posted 9 months ago

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Another way we use extra bits other than broth/soups/stews is in stirfry/sauteing! Some things can also go in salads. I'm becoming more and more cognicent of the different ways we can maximize our resources, I mean I have valued that for a while now, but finetuning it and improving it. I doubt we'll ever achieve zero waste status in my house, but as close as we can get would be good, continued process. Remembering what all we have so it doesn't go bad, not throwing things away on autopilot, taking things out to compost even when its cold, etc. Forming good habbits. And being gracious with myself when I or my husband forget.

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Christopher Weeks

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posted 9 months ago

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We use scraps a lot of the ways people up-thread do. But we also use them in frittata, which hasn't been mentioned yet. Lots of leftovers work well that way.

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Inge Leonora-den Ouden

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posted 9 months ago

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Nothing special, but today I cooked a soup with the stem of broccoli, the green end of leek, two miniature parsnips found in the garden (overwintered) and some fresh new green leaves of a perennial kale!

"Also, just as you want men to do to you, do the same way to them" (Luke 6:31)

Jane Mulberry

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posted 9 months ago

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That sounds special to me, Inge!

I'm only 64! That's not to old to learn to be a permie, right?

Gir The Bot

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posted 8 months ago

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Your scraps should be seasoned with chiles and added to tacos!

Ela La Salle

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posted 8 months ago

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Gir The Bot wrote:Your scraps should be seasoned with chiles and added to tacos!

You're probably right, I say "probably" because I just can't "see" turkey meat in tacos or...anything else for that matter. It's just me.
My "boys" are carnivores . I don't like meat but I can cook it for them. Right now... our dog and "them", will be eating turkey for the next 3 weeks.
I tried different recipes over the years but all just "stink turkey " to me. The whole damn house stinks of turkey. Ugh.
LOL...

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