apple cores and other commonly discarded foods

Flass

Recently I realised how much food we waste on a daily basis that is not only edible but adds another dimension of flavour/texture/nutrition to food.

I'm talking things like the core of apples, pears, and pineapples, greens on strawberries, skins on kiwi fruit, the leaves on celery, zuchninni ends etc.

Wondering if anyone else can give me ideas of what 'discarded' foods they eat so I can expand my selection!

ebailey710

Isn't it not healthy to eat apple cores because of the seeds?

PapaverSomniferum

i just feed all that to my pet bunny, Droogs.

empty Droog's litter box into the garden

plant the garden

reap the green, green rewards

DannyMussels

I've reached a point in my life where I can't stand taking the little green things off strawberries at all. I eat the whole thing.

And I've been known to eat the entire apple before too.

I do throw out eggshells though.

mrswaite08

Our rabbit, hamster & dog take care of the scraps. Unless it's unfit for even animal consumption, we don't usually throw out any food.

ThreasaRenee82

I dont eat these things you talk of, but I do try to compost them to help feed my garden nutrients However you could boil some things down and make a broth. Search the web and I am sure you can find something that helps. Oh and you can eat the skin of the kiwi..my brother in law does. I myself woulf rather not, but thats just me. Good luck. Hope you find what you are looking for!

Nikiki

I keep lots of scraps for making broth, onion peel, mushroom stems, tops of carrots & celery ect... If I had a house with a garden the rest would go in the compost but for now the rest goes down the garbage disposal

grassette

Apple core seeds contain cyanide. There is a documented case in Kingsbury's Poisonous Plants of North America (a key reference) of a man who liked apple seeds, saved himself a cup full, ate them and died.

The pits of common fruits are frequently poisonous, as are parts of the plant that we don't eat. Rhubarb leaves, for example. Again in Kingsbury, a documented case of a woman who fried some up, ate them and died. In the same category are the parts of the potato plant that are not tubers, and tomato plants.

IF you are going to eat like this, please research your plants to make sure that you are not ingesting something deadly.

http://books.google.ca/books/about/Poisonous_plants_of_the_United_States_an.html?id=-kNtAAAAMAAJ&redir_esc=y

I just checked your profile and see that you are from Australia. Kingsbury would still be useful in checking out the parts of plants commonly eaten as food that are toxic. It is an exhaustive list of plants toxic to the Americas, but there are no doubt just as good references to Australian plants that you might be putting on your plate.

3saLarson

I compost most things, but the apple peels and cores I turn into vinegar, or dehydrate the peels to grind up and add to either teas or for baking. I also use the veggie scraps for stock. No matter what it all gets used.

FinalFu

My husband told me yesterday that Apple Seeds contain Cyanide. Snopes said it was true. http://www.snopes.com/food/warnings/apples.asp.

Elleinnz

We had that discussion here at work last week when the guys commented on my salad. I cut up the brocolli stems and cook them with the "flowers"....
I keep the really big woody bits of the stalks to put through the blender for my smoothies
I also use the whole carrot (with green bits, and skin in my smoothies)
I eat the whole apple, and pear - core included
Potatoes and Sweet Potatoes - never peel them (OK maybe once in a blue moon if I want smooth mashed potatoes ;-))
I eat most skin on fish - provided it has been properly scalled

leopardjunkie

yep i agree with the above and stay away from the apple core and possibly other cores.

you can use citrus peels like lemon, lime, grape fruit peal the fruit off and shove them in a container of white vinegar and then shake the container every day for a few weeks until the container smells more the fruits you put in it than vinegar You can use it to clean diluted with water or full strenth as a laundry softener.

leopardjunkie

as for anything leafy celery tops, carrot tops strawberry tops they go to the guinea pigs

strawberry hulls go to the dogs they like them

extraordinary_machine

Some of the stuff I compost, others I use for veggie stock.

anifani4

I use celery tops in soup.

I don't now because they don't agree with my digestion but for years I ate all of the apple except the stem and seeds and maybe a piece of that membrane in the core if it was sorta tough and large. Not recommended to eat the seeds.

When I was cooking for a family (hubby and 3 kids) I saved all veggie ends and peels to put in a pot for soup stock.

We had a large garden and composted every thing plant related that wasn't used in the kitchen.
No garden now that I am on my own and I HATE throwing away peelings, cores, etc. But I can use only so much soup by myself.

I investigated worm composting last fall. It can be done inside...i have room in my basement, but it seemed like more work than I could handle. I hope to try it when my health improves.

caribear1984

I feed these things to my chickens. They eat most of it, the rest they scratch into lovely compost which I use on my garden. Then they produce lovely eggs with dark orange yolks, the shells of which I will grind up and feed back to them as calcium supplementation. We also do the vinegar citrus cleaner.

Andyjdyer

I like squash seeds roasted I also keep the peelings from squashes and potatoes to make into chips - spray them with a very light dusting of PAM and bake them in the oven; they're a nice alternative to commercial potato chips (plus, a lot of the nutrients of potatoes are in the area just under the skin). Also, that crushed up stuff at the bottom of a box of breakfast cereal (especially Special K) makes a great alternative to breadcrumbs in recipes - I make a mean "fake KFC" using left over Special K / cornflake bits and a little seasoning / spice.Whilst it's not really a left-over, I do sometimes find after having friends round that I'll end up with one beer left over from a 6 pack, and rather than drink it (which isn't great for you...), I'll add it to 3 cups of flour and make a quick loaf of beer bread (all the recipes say to add sugar, I never do, there's plenty enough sugar in the beer).

PaleoPath4Lyfe

Recently I realised how much food we waste on a daily basis that is not only edible but adds another dimension of flavour/texture/nutrition to food.

I'm talking things like the core of apples, pears, and pineapples, greens on strawberries, skins on kiwi fruit, the leaves on celery, zuchninni ends etc.

Wondering if anyone else can give me ideas of what 'discarded' foods they eat so I can expand my selection!

This is what a compost box is for.........

Flass

Compost shmompost, I want my tasty tasty refuse.

lyttlewon

You would have to eat a ton of apple seeds to poison yourself.

sm1zzle

Apple cores and warm beer can be used to fuel the Flux capacitor in the Delorean.


Just sayin'.

Corkline

Cauliflower leaves are totally edible: http://www.pennilessparenting.com/2012/05/cauliflower-leaf-pakoras-recipe-indian.html?m=1

If you don't want to batter and fry, try slicing the tough ribs out and just sautéing with garlic

PaleoPath4Lyfe

You would have to eat a ton of apple seeds to poison yourself.

Not as many as one might think...........about a half cup would be lethal to the average grown man.

PaleoPath4Lyfe

Compost shmompost, I want my tasty tasty refuse.

Go ahead and be my guest...........I will continue composting to feed my garden.

grassette

You would have to eat a ton of apple seeds to poison yourself.

Far less than a ton, I am afraid. If you happen to swallow one or two by accident, you won't die. But eat more than that and you are in deep, deep trouble.

knittnponder

I compost it or give it to my chickens. I can blend the cores into my smoothies but I have found the seeds can leave a bitter after taste. It's not good to get too many apple seeds because they contain cyanide. In small doses your body can break it down no problem but it's not something you're going to want to consume regularly.

diadojikohei

I have been eating apple cores since I was a child, I even nibble the stalk too! I'm absolutely fine, *twitch, twitch*

brower47

I have five hens and two dogs, rarely does anything end up in our trash bin. I feed apples to my horses but only rarely and never with the cores, since they can make the horses sick. When I was a little girl, we had a horse die that got out of its pasture and into a neighboring crab apple orchard. It ate so many that it got cyanide poisoning and died (it might have foundered and died later even without the cyanide due to the sudden introduction of so many apples into its system). That was a 1100 pound draft horse in one afternoon. I can only imagine the effects on a 100-200 pound human.

magdalen13

I feed these things to my chickens. They eat most of it, the rest they scratch into lovely compost which I use on my garden. Then they produce lovely eggs with dark orange yolks, the shells of which I will grind up and feed back to them as calcium supplementation. We also do the vinegar citrus cleaner.

^^^
that's what we do, too

Synapze

When we had chickens, they got all the scraps, and the eggs were Devine.

These days its compost.

Once i get a Vitamix though, all the greens will becoming blended. Only the Cores, Skins, Shells ext will be going into the garden.

RekindledRose

Isn't it not healthy to eat apple cores because of the seeds?

It IS HEALTHY to eat apple cores... because of the seeds! Seeds of apples, pears, apricots, etc. contain a minute bit of cyanide in them, which helps you to fight cancers. Many who practice holistic natural eating and cures see the benefit in eating them.

You'll get all kinds of people on both sides of the argument, but for those of us who believe in God's word, we remember that in Genesis He said that the seeds of all fruits were good for eating. Happy seed eating, folks.