Mealtime Magic: Avoiding Food Waste

October 16^th is World Food Day. Join the movement to end hunger, with a simple step that makes a big impact: eliminating food waste. In 2010, more than 34 million tons of food waste was generated, more than any other material category but paper. Often simple changes in food purchasing, storage and preservation practices can yield significant reductions in food waste generation.

 

Stop throwing your food – and your money – in the garbage every week.  How many times have you thrown away rotten fruits and vegetables because you did not eat them in time?  With products like an Excalibur Dehydrator and an Omega Juicer you can preserve food and make sure that no part of your food is wasted. Below are a few recipes from Omega Juicers and Excalibur Dehydrators that make the most out of food - allowing you to throw away less food, save more money, and do your part to eliminate food waste.

 

Carrot Apple Juice

Ingredients:

5 medium sized carrots

2 medium apples

 

Press through a juicer, stir to mix the flavors, serve, and enjoy!

 

Don’t toss that “leftover” carrot and apple pulp; bake some yummy muffins instead!

 

 

Carrot Apple Muffins

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 cups sugar

**5 medium shredded carrots

1/2 cup pecans

1/2 cup raisins

3 large eggs

1 cup vegetable or canola oil

2 teaspoons vanilla

**2 Granny Smith apples peeled and shredded

 

**For “shredded” ingredients, use the pulp from the juicer!

 

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350°F and oil eighteen 1/2-cup muffin cups (or you can use paper muffin liners).

 

Into a large bowl sift together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt and whisk in sugar. Coarsely chop the pecans. Add carrots pulp and pecans to flour mixture with raisins and toss well.

 

In a bowl whisk together eggs, oil, and vanilla. Stir apple pulp into egg mixture and add to flour mixture, stirring until batter is just combined well. Divide batter among muffin cups, filling them three fourths full, and bake in middle of oven until puffed and a tester comes out clean, 15 to 20 minutes.

 

Cool muffins in cups on racks 5 minutes before turning out onto racks to cool completely. Muffins keep in an airtight container at room temperature 5 days.

 

Dehydrated Tomatoes

 

Dehydrating is a great way to preserve food before it goes bad to be eaten at a later date.  It is also a great way to preserve fruits and veggies that are going out of season (like tomatoes from your garden at the end of the summer) to enjoy year-round. 

 

Slice tomatoes into ¼ inch thick rounds.

Place the slices on the trays of the dehydrator evenly spaced.  In a 5 tray Excalibur Dehydrator you can fit approximately 30-35 tomatoes at one time.

Set the dehydrator to 110'F and dry for 15 hours.

When done let them sit on a cookie sheet for a few hours.
Put in a glass jar and store in a dark dry place.

 

And when it’s time to eat these delicious dehydrated tomatoes, preparation is simple. Try this recipe for quick and easy tomato and basil sauce:

 

Excalibur Dried Tomato and Basil Sauce

 

¼ Cup Dried Tomatoes, Crumbled

2-3 Cloves Minced Garlic

1 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 Tbsp Dried Basil

½ Cup Water

 

Sauté garlic in olive oil – do not brown! Turn heat to low, add dried tomatoes and basil and stir to coat. Immediately add water and stir. Cover and steam 2-3 minutes.