5 Interesting Ways To Use Leftover Rotis, Vegetable Peels And Other Foods To Avoid Wastage

Is your bin filling up with food scraps? That is never a good sight. Groceries are expensive and there is no way we can muster up the courage to waste even a single scrap. Lucky for us, there are numerous ways to utilise your leftover foods rather than just dumping them into a bin and calling it a day! It is never too late to avoid any sort of food waste by making the most of what you have on hand. 

Here are 5 creative ways to utilize food scraps:

1. Extra Bread

Not being able to use the entire pack of bread is our biggest nightmare, especially if you are living alone. Turns out, the solution is not that difficult at all. You can easily use extra bread to make croutons for your salads and soups. You can also turn the bread into bread crumbs and use it for frying.

2. Fruit Rinds

Fruit rinds collect faster than light, but that is a problem we can easily fix. You can use the skin of your avocado as a moisturiser. Just rub the peel on your face and rinse after some time. For lemon rinds, apart from using the zest as a natural flavouring in desserts, you can even rub it along sinks and faucets to keep your kitchen and bathrooms squeaky clean with a citrusy scent. Surprisingly, watermelon rinds can even be pickled and they taste delicious.

3. Leftover Roti

Did you make a lot more rotis than needed? Rotis are so versatile that you can make anything out of them. Use them to make a hearty sabzi, a delicious chilla or even ladoos for that matter. Believe it or not, they can be used to make noodles and even be used in soups.

(Also Read: Indian Cooking Tips: How To Make Chapatti Noodles With Leftover Roti From Your Last Meal)

4. Leftover Vegetables

You can go from eating your vegetables to simply drinking them the next day. Take any leftover roasted, grilled or boiled vegetables of the previous day and puree them into a blender before adding some water to make a delicious and healthy soup.

5. Eggs

If you are a seasoned baker, you would know that some dessert recipes call for just the yolks and not the egg whites. Same for weight watchers who tend to eat just the whites and not the yolk. In this case, do not be afraid to freeze the eggs to consume them at a later stage. Egg whites can be frozen as is in ice trays. Just let them thaw overnight before use. Egg yolks on the other hand need to be frozen with a little bit of sugar to keep them intact. You can even use the egg shells in plants to fend off worms. They eventually break down and provide calcium to the soil. 

One interesting use of chickpea brine, i.e the liquid you get while draining the chickpeas is actually an excellent replacement for egg in dishes such as meringues and vegan whipped cream.  This just goes on to show that everything in our kitchen can be utilised in one way or the other. With just a few changes here and there, a much more sustainable and zero-waste life is very much possible.