Those Fruit and Veggie Peels You Thought as Trash Could be More Useful Than You Think!

Growing up, you’ve always heard people telling you to eat your fruits and vegetables, but people rarely tell you to make full use of them. Even IF they told you that, would you even know what they meant?

You probably didn’t know that there were at least 19 ways you can make use of your leftover food peels for home care, cooking, and beauty. Before doing so however, make sure that your produce is organic and washed thoroughly. The benefits of food peels are pretty much useless if they have a whole bunch of pesticides!



Without further delay, let’s start with your home and how food peels can improve it.

1. Release the grease.

Grease is one of the most annoying substances to get off any surface. Sometimes, you wash dishes two or three times and still feel the grease on them. Instead of pulling out the toxic chemical laden cleaning gear, save your juiced lemon halves.

As an abrasive, sprinkle salt or baking soda on whatever greasy surface you’re tackling and rub the grease off easily with your lemon peels.

Note: The acidity of lemons may be too harsh for certain surfaces such as marble. Be careful with lemons on sensitive surfaces.

2. Give your coffee pots a brilliant shine.

Here’s a trick that coffee shops have been using for years: add ice, salt, and lemon rinds in your empty coffee pot and swirl it around for a minute or two. Then, dump the mixture and rinse out the coffee pot well. Now, you can clearly see the next pot of coffee you brew before you pour it in your cup!

3. You can use lemon peels for tea kettles too!

Fill your kettle with water and a handful of lemon peels. Bring this mixture to a boil. Turn off the heat and let the kettle sit for an hour before draining. Rinse well.

4. Have fun dyeing some fabric.

Get a stainless steel pot large enough to hold the fabric, and fill it with hot water and pomegranate peels. Let this mixture sit overnight.

Let the water simmer the next day and then remove the peels. Now, add wet fabric to the mixture in the pot and let it simmer for one hour. Allow the mixture to cool overnight. The next day, rinse your fabric with cool water and voila! You’ve got yourself a pomegranate colored fabric. Wash with similar colors.




Now, let’s see how food peels can contribute to your next meal!

1. Make your own stock.

All you have to do is boil potato peels, onion skins, carrot peels, leek ends, and any other vegetable peels you have lying around, and you can make your own vegetable stock. You can even do this with fresh herb stems!

You can also place sans wax cheese rinds in soup stocks for a boost of flavor and texture.

2. Keep brown sugar soft.

You’ve heard that brown sugar is better for you, but how on earth can you use it once it’s hardened? Try adding a lemon peel to your brown sugar with the traces of pulp and pith removed. This will keep your brown sugar moist and ready to use all the time!

3. Add flavor to your greens.

Cheese rinds can be added to braised greens for that rich flavor you thought you could only get from meat!

4. Make potato crisps.

Mix potato peels with enough lemon juice and olive oil to evenly coat the peels. Spread the potato peels on a baking sheet and cook the peels at 400 degrees, turning over once, for 10 minutes until they are golden brown. You can then season your peels to taste.

5. Make citrus olive oil.

Pound citrus peel (pith removed) in a mortar and pestle with some oil added. Then, place your mixture in a jar with more olive oil and let the mixture rest for six hours. Strain your mixture into a clean jar and you’re done!




Last but not least, how can food peels make you more beautiful than you already are?

1. Treat yourself to a banana sugar scrub.

Simply sprinkle sugar on the insides of your banana peels and use it as a soft, exfoliating loofah. Rub the sugar sprinkled banana peel all over your body and then gently rinse your skin off with warm water.

2. Make a refreshing skin tonic.

Rub orange or grapefruit peels on your face and then gently rinse your face with warm water. Make sure to avoid your eyes!

3. Moisturize your skin.

After you’ve refreshed your face with food peels, you can rub the fleshy part of an avocado peel on your face as a rich moisturizer.

4. Relieve tired eyes.

By pressing the moist side of fresh potato peels on the skin under your eyes for 15 minutes, you can reduce puffiness, allowing you to look well rested even when you’re not!


Source: Healthy Holistic Living