The brocco-leaf? All smoothified.
I have lots of lovely food-waste news to share with you, but let's get the waste-errific part out of the way first:
A small bit of lettuce got wilty, so I composted it.
Yup, that's the extent of my waste.
Yay me!
Remember the big bunch of brocco-leaf I mentioned in my last Food Waste Friday post? Well, I'm pleased to say that I blended every last leaf up into smoothies.
My produce box also happened to bless me with beets in the same week, so the brocco-leaf smoothies weren't exactly green smoothies.
I thought the brocco-leaf would be very broccoli-like in taste, but it was surprisingly mild.
(Some of you have asked about beets in smoothies. I peel them, cut them into chunks, and throw them right into my Vitamix
, which handles them beautifully. A bit of OJ concentrate and fresh ginger really helps to mask the beet taste, by the way.)
Also, remember the dried-up lemon I asked you guys about last time? You encouraged me to slice off the dry part, and lo and behold, it was quite juicy.
I was making a dish of Shrimp Viennese, and remembered that the sauce calls for a bit of lemon juice.
Perfect.
So, I didn't waste the lemon after all.
Let's see, what else....
I had a about a half container of canned, seasoned tomatoes leftover, so I blended them up, stirred in a bit of cream, and called it soup.
In other smoothie news, I got some baby bok choy in my produce box, and was a little unsure of what to do with it.
So, I tried my fallback, which is smoothie-making.
Surprisingly, it was even milder than spinach in a smoothie.
I only have this little bunch left, so I am very sure I will not have baby bok choy waste.
This is a big reason I love my produce box-I wouldn't normally think to buy baby bok choy or brocco-leaf, so the produce box stretches me a bit.
In keeping with the smoothie theme, yesterday I did a fridge inventory and found some random odds and ends to freeze for future smoothie use.
By the way, here's a post about why I bought my Vitamix and why I love it, in case all this smoothie talk has you intrigued.
And to wrap things up, here's the current state of my fridge, because I know some of you are fridge voyeurs. ;).
It's been a good two weeks food-waste-wise at my house and I feel like I was really in my no-waste groove.
You guys are an integral part of that...knowing I'll be baring my waste (and wins) to you is super motivating. So, thank you muchly for faithfully reading my food waste happenings and cheering me on.
How are things going in your household? Any thrilling wins or devastating losses you want to share? 😉
I would say that part of the fun of getting a farm share/produce box is actually tasting different foods--not just hiding them in smoothies! 😃 Bok choy is amazing sautéed with garlic and soy sauce and some sesame seeds, if you like. Plus, I'm cold blooded and buried in snow in New England, so I'd much rather eat my food warm these days than make smoothies.
Sadly, none of us here really like greens any way other than raw. So, if we're gonna eat them, it'll be salads or smoothies (both of which are cold options!)
On the upside, many greens are at their most nutritious when eaten raw, so I will console myself with that thought. And then drink some hot tea. 😉
I was going to recommend the same thing! Amazing when slightly sauteed. But, especially with baby bok choy I find it tasty to mix in with a salad as well. It is very mild and the stems are nicely crunchy.
We like baby bok choy cut in half and lightly grilled, too.
I was going to suggest this too. My kids love it because baby bok choy turns sweet as sugar when cooked.
If you're into stretching your vegetable horizons with your CSA, this is a perfect way to dip your toes in the water. It might open the door to other cooked veggies for everyone. Some veggies you might get in your CSA will not be possible to do raw.
Very impressive! That baby bok choi looks so cute. I want to grow some but growing greens has been hit and miss this season. I did harvest lettuce, tomatoes, collard greens, thyme and cabbage leaves this week. I'm in the stir-fry camp, because I don't like smoothies all that much. I think it's fun, though, to see how other people use produce.
I posted our Food Waste Friday post on my blog this morning too. This was a meh week for us. I thought I did so well, but I did have a few things that I threw away which annoys me. However, I had a few saves as well 🙂 Still not taking pictures of my fridge, which needs to be cleaned anyway. It's filling up with mason jars of dried fruit, homemade marmalade, homemade refrigerator pickles, homemade vinaigrette, and hopefully soon homemade yogurt, though! And that makes me happy 🙂
We've been on a huge smoothie kick lately too, but for different reasons! My son loves to eat half a banana and if I've already had one for the day I put his uneaten half in the freezer for smoothies. Here is how we did: http://wp.me/p4yT07-1bP
Great job, with your Friday waste post, also your fridge looks so full, wondering what day do you do your weekly food shop.
Well, it kind of depends on the week. I never seem to do it on a consistent day, as it all depends on what my schedule looks like that week, how much food we have left from the previous week, how much of my menu comes from the freezer/pantry, and so on.
I throw wilted salad greens into my smoothies. Frozen berries mask the taste. 🙂 Your smoothies look so vibrant!
If they're just wilty, I'm ok with that too...but these ones had gotten kind of slimy. So, compost was the only option.
I've grilled (on the stovetop) baby bok choy before (to serve with fish) and it was lovely. It was quick, used a tiny bit of coconut oil and some salt and really it was ten times better then I thought it would be. No one else would eat it though, so it was a good thing I liked it!
I see you commented that y'all don't care for your greens any other way than raw, but what about 'fried' rice? This has become a staple in my 18 year old's repertoire and his is quite good. He's not a veggie fan but will happily use up our leftover rice and add napa cabbage (or bok choy), carrots, scallions as well as other random bits to the mixture along with scrambling some eggs to add protein. Chopped finely the veggies add color and texture contrast.
Great job!! I was wondering what your method is for getting things out of the bottom of your vitamix? I love mine, but feel like I leave quite a bit of food in the bottom of the pitcher around the blade. I have a very thin spatula/scraper that I use, but can't seem to get it all out. Just curious if you experience the same problem?
Yeah, I just do the best I can with the spatula/scraper. If I let it sit there for 5-10 minutes, too, the leftover smoothie thaws a bit and pours out more easily.
Nice job on not having much left for food waste Friday. I saw you had some bok choy , if you have never tried a bok choy slaw it is a must (imo) because I have not met anyone who has not raved back to me about it. There are several recipes out there however I like mine the best this makes about 8-10 servings:
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
2 teaspoons sugar or honey (I prefer the honey)
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
2/3 cup Kefer or yogurt cheese ( I make my own); Alternative- 1/3 cup sour cream and 1/3 cup mayonnaise Either of the choices can be made if you prefer one over the other however you miss out on some great nutrients when doing so.
1/4 teaspoon salt ( I omit)
6 cups very thinly sliced bok choy, (about a 1-pound head, trimmed)
2 medium carrots, shredded
2 scallions, thinly sliced or 1/2 cup slivered red onion ( I prefer the red onion)
1 large sweet apple (your choice), fine chopped
Whisk vinegar, oil, honey, mustard and cheese together until it is a creamy dressing. Pour dressing over veggies and mix well.
Thanks for sharing this receipe!
I'm not much for cooked greens, either, but I recently had oven roasted bok choy for the first time and liked it. I think it was done in sesame oil but am not sure of that.
I confess. I'm a Fridge Voyeur.
Haha, we already knew that. 😉
Maybe that's because there's nothing to see in yours.
Hahahaha! True, that.
My fridge is NEVER as empty as hers, even when I'm heading out on vacation. 😉
Smoothies has become my way of using up produce that is not getting eaten as well! I have recently started putting avocados in my smoothies as well. I try to buy them hard, but they ripen so fast that before I can get to them they go bad. So, putting them in smoothies really helps. I love the idea of using bok choy and slightly limp lettuce in your smoothie.
For the greens in our smoothies, I buy organic kale and freeze it, and then it never goes bad, and actually has a sweeter taste after being frozen.
The suggestions from those commenting for stir frying bok choy sounds great, and although I've never eaten bok choy like that, I am encouraged to give it a try!!!
I had been doing amazingly well on the food waste front for weeks, and finally told my husband what I was working on and how proud of myself I was. Well, since pride goeth before a fall, I should have been on the lookout! The next day I baked potatoes, but three from the bag were twice as big as the others, so I left them to cook a bit longer after I turned off the oven. Two days later I turned on the oven and couldn't figure out why it smelled so strongly of potatoes. Lo and behold, there sat three sad, cold potatoes. All I could do was laugh at myself. 🙂
You inspired me to do a bit of a clean out of the fridge/freezer this week. I made spaghetti sauce from Italian sausages, peppers, mushrooms and spinach, stir fry with sugar snap peas, carrots, mushrooms and peppers, plus i frozen some pineapple and grapes for smoothies. I have plans for more freezer findings tomorrow. Chili will be on the menu and some pumpkin muffins. I'll probably baked ranger cookies and make fish and fiddle heads for Sunday. I, too, love roasted cabbage/bok choy... Thanks again for hosting....
Doesn't it feel so good to get it all organized and cleaned out without throwing things away??
Oh, yay for a decluttered fridge! Looks nice! Makes you wanna cook! 😉 We started making smoothies at our house too! Finally! On the sad note, I did waste 2 cups of chicken and chicken gravy. Not too much chicken in it though and we had no potatoes or something yummy to eat it with..... So it sat in the fridge for like 2 weeks! :O I don't think we did too bad...
Lousy week leads to lousy food waste results. (No surprise.) My waste included raw happy chicken that I didn't cook soon enough.
So sorry you had a rough week! Same things happens here when my life gets a little too busy.
Baby bok choy! I slice it into little ribbons and mix it into shredded pork, shredded carrots, soy sauce, ginger, and a little rice wine vinegar as filling for spring rolls.
We did much better with food waste than usual. The poblano went into enchiladas and, later in the week, homemade pineapple salsa. The pineapple went into (obviously) the salsa and was a side dish with some grilled fish. The hubs roasted a chicken one night and then made stock. We had chicken soup one night, and for lunch one day I turned the rest of the chicken soup into homemade hot & sour soup. I used half a can of lite coconut milk for a Thai dish, and I added the rest to skim milk for a fun hot chocolate.
I cringed when you put the bok choy in a smoothie. It is awesome in a stirfry! One summer I grew so much bok choy in my garden--it grows back when you just cut down to about an inch-- that I had enough for easy stirfries all summer long. Try it next time!