TIRED OF WASTING SO MUCH OF OUR VEGES?

We tend to discard to much of the edible parts of the fresh fruits and veges when we clean them.  Many of these parts are still very edible, tasty and filled with great minerals and vitamins.  We know that in many many parts of the world, every scrap of food is used for something.  Let's take celery.........how often do we just hack off the tops and the bottom and carve out those tender yellow shoots in the middle and throw them all away? Well, there are many other things our celery 'scraps' can be!

My hands-down favorite thing to do is to pulverize them into the most gorgeous green-tinged celery salt, much fresher and brighter than the stuff you buy in jars. Line a microwave-safe plate with a paper towel and arrange leaves in a single layer. Cover with another paper towel and zap in the microwave in 30-second increments until the leaves look more brittle than wilted (usually 1½ to 2 minutes total). Let the leaves cool, rub them through a fine-mesh sieve set over a dish of salt and combine. (Or grind them with the salt in a spice grinder.) The stuff is killer sprinkled over eggs, on a hot dog, used as an herb in many soups. (Be sure to snip the leaves buried inside the celery, too—one head of celery can yield two loose cups of leaves!)

How about the broccoli stalks................YUCK!, right?!?!?!   Well, broccoli chips. Just dip thin slices of peeled stalk in corn starch, then fry them in about 4 cups of 325degrees vegetable oil like potato chips until they're light brown. Drain them on paper towels, and sprinkle with salt.

Light and refreshing, broccoli stalk slaw is a winner. We made one with broccoli sprouts and a citrus vinaigrette, but you can basically peel and shred the stalks and use them in addition to—or in place of—cabbage in your favorite slaw recipe, whether creamy, salty, or vinegary. You get all the sweetness of cabbage, but juicier.

There are many great resources out there on how to use absolutley everything..........and of course, we all know these precious and wise words from our prophet............'use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without'.  That just makes so much sense.