Pharmacy In The Fridge: Don’t Throw Away Those Perfectly Good Food Scraps!

(Mass Report – Buffy Naillon) In this modern day and age, foods that we should treat as treasures get thrown into the trash, and foods that harm us are treated like treasures. Think highly processed foodstuffs with low nutrition like chips, and you’ll know exactly what I mean.

Fortunately, there are plenty of delicious ways to not only eat the parts of fruits and vegetables that we normally throw away like orange peels and strawberry leaves. These pharmacy-in-the-fridge foods bring nutrients like calcium, antioxidants, and vitamin A, amongst other things to your meals.

If you’d like to try some of these healthy foods but aren’t sure where to start, read the list of food below to get some ideas. Most are easy to incorporate into your diet and won’t require anymore work to prepare than the parts of the plants that we normally eat.

Broccoli Leaves and Stems

As for broccoli leaves, they pack a bunch of beta-carotene into a little package. They also give a body vitamin A, and in both cases, offer more of these nutrients than the florets of the plant do. Some people like to cook these leaves just as they would cabbage, even going as far as stuffing them just as they would stuffed cabbage leaves. They also taste great stir fried with a bit of olive oil, green onions, and other spices.

And it turns out that the leaves aren’t the only part of the broccoli plant that we usually throw away, but shouldn’t. Broccoli stems contain good-for-you things like fiber. If the thought of eating this woody part of the plant makes you cringe, just peel off the outer skins and stir fry as usual.

Orange Peels

Suffering from seasonal allergies? Want to lower your blood pressure? On a diet and need to suppress your appetite before your food cravings get the better of you? Then opt for a smoothie featuring all of the parts of the orange, including the part you usually throw away, the peel.

We’ve all heard about oranges being a great source of vitamin C, a big immune system booster, but did you know it also includes elements that are natural antihistamines and that support the body in fighting off respiratory distress. Just consider it a housekeeper for the lungs. Orange peels also bring enzymes, plenty of fiber, and vitamin A to the table.

There are some drawbacks to eating the peels of oranges, however, chief among them being the taste and chemical additives. Be sure to eat only oranges that have been grown organically and wash the orange thoroughly, peel and all before dropping it into your smoothie. As for the taste, just be sure to add berries, honied yogurt, a natural sweetener like Stevia, and other goodies to your smoothie before you drink it.

Healthy “Green” Orange Smoothie Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 chopped up orange
• 1 c. of coconut water
• 1/2 c. of frozen berries
• 1 chopped up banana
• 2 c. of spinach
• 1 tsp spirulina
• Ground chia seeds

Instructions:

1. Add the coconut water and the rest of the ingredients to your blender.
2. Blend until you get a watery consistency.
3. Drink as you would any green drink.

Celery Leaves

Most of the time when you cook broccoli or eat celery the parts that you cut off include the leaves, but you shouldn’t. Both contain more of some nutrients than the actual meaty portions of the vegetables.

The leafy part of the celery, called the celery tops, provide you with vitamin C plus vitamins B1, B2, and B6. Iron, calcium, phosphorus, and magnesium are just some of the minerals that this portion of the celery has. You can use this part of the plant when you’re juicing to get extra benefits as well as adding it to dishes like soups and stews for some extra flavor. In the latter case, there’s an added benefit. Celery has a naturally occurring salt that makes food taste great, but doesn’t have the same effects on the body as table salt does.

Strawberry Leaves

If you’re the type who likes a spot of tea in the afternoon, you might want to consider strawberry leaf tea. You can find this concoction in some health food stores or you can make your own if you have a some that you’ve pulled off of your organic strawberries.

Strawberry tea is an excellent antioxidant. In one study, the antioxidant properties of strawberries were studied alongside other plants like nettle flowers, chamomile flowers, oregano tops, and rosehips. Of the 17 berries and herbs studied, strawberry tops took top prize in the “Fighting Free Radicals” category.

Finally, drinking strawberry tea helps your tummy feel better if it’s upset or if you have cramps or nausea. Arthritis-ridden joints will find relief from the inflammation of this disease as well. Just make sure to sweeten any teas with natural sweeteners instead of artificial sweeteners for the best health benefits.

Strawberry Leaf Tea Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 c. of strawberry leaves (can be dried or fresh)
• 1 TBSP of cream
• Natural sweeteners like Stevia or honey

Directions:

1. Put the leaves into the teapot.
2. Allow the water to boil for and then steep.
3. Add sweetener to taste.

Onion Skins and Other Vegetable Scraps

Here’s one very handy and nutritious ways to dealing with your veggie scraps. Make a vegetable broth from the parts of the vegetables that you would normally throw away. We’ve already talked about the health benefits of such leftovers as celery and broccoli leaves. These make tasty additions to a soup base; it doesn’t matter if they’re pretty if you only need the flavoring.

And here’s what else you can use…onion skins. You need onions in a soup base anyway, but did you know that the skin of the onion is filled with a nutrition called quercetin. This nutrition powerhouse helps reduce blood pressure and clogging of the arteries. Like oranges, it’s also a natural anti-histamine. And it may even help reduce the carcinogens in meat products, provided that you cook your meat dishes in the onion skins.

Here’s a simple soup broth recipe that allows you to take advantage of your table scraps. You’ll want quite a few of each.

Ingredients:

• Onion skins
• Carrot peels
• Mushroom stems
• Green onion ends
• Broccoli leaves
• Celery leaves
• Seasonings of choice
• 1 TBSP Olive oil or butter
• 8 c. of water

Instructions:

• Stir fry the veggie scraps in your butter or olive oil. Use a large soup pot to do this so that you don’t have to transfer your soup ingredients.
• Season the vegetables according to taste.
• Add the water.
• Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat.
• Let the soup broth simmer for 45 to an hour.
• Add any additional spices if necessary.
• Strain out the vegetable scraps, either with a colander or a slotted spoon.
• Use as a soup base as usual.

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