It happens to me every once in awhile—I get overzealous in the produce aisle at the grocery store and before I know it, the crisper is overflowing with more fruits and vegetables than my family can possibly eat all at once. How do you use them all up and avoid throwing them away? Are you looking at a pile of fruits and vegetables and not sure how you are ever going to use them all? Never fear, we have 25 ways for you to use them up, and with most, you can even get the kids to help.
1. Freeze it. If you have the space, freezing extra produce can be a great option. Make sure to package it properly, and you’ll then have extras on hand to use up when you need it. What a great money saving option!
2. Muffins are a fast, easy item that kids can help you bake for lunches, or you can take to the office to share with friends. They can help with more than cleaning out your crisper, too often I use up extra yogurt this way. Also, there are so many flavour combinations—the possibilities are endless.
3. Fruit crisp/crumble/cobbler is one of my personal favourites. Nothing says fall to me more than a warm fruit crisp, right from the oven, with a scoop of ice cream. Who says it has to be just apple? Try adding peaches, pears, berries, cranberries, plums, apricots, cherries, and more.
4. Smoothies are a no-brainer in the morning when you have frozen bananas and berries on hand.
5. Pancakes: either chop up the fruit and top the pancakes with it, or stir right into the batter.
6. Quick breads or snacking cakes use up a lot of fruit and some veggies, such as carrots or zucchini. Banana bread or carrot cake are great insurance to have in the freezer to pull out for lunches. Plus, they are easy enough that the kids can help make them.
7. Apple sauce doesn’t have to be all apples, try mixing in other fruits or using a different fruit altogether. Use the sauce on yogurt, ice cream, cakes, or pancakes, or put in lunches to avoid buying the processed flavoured apple sauce.
8. Pizza is a great way to use up lots of leftover veggies. Don’t stick to just the traditional peppers and mushrooms, mix it up with zucchini and blanched broccoli, as well—you may be surprised! Make sure to slice them thinly, so that you don’t end up with a lot of moisture on your pizza.
9. Soups and chilis are perfect for cleaning out the crisper, and the bonus is that you can freeze the results in small portions for the kids' lunches later in the week. If the kids don’t like the chunks, pureed soups are a great idea, especially if you make potato leek, cauliflower with cheese, or broccoli.
10. Pasta sauces use up peppers, celery, onions, and garlic, and you can throw in whatever combination of vegetables you have lying around. Be creative! I often toss in leftover bits of tomatoes, celery leaves, and grated carrot or zucchini, as well. Kids seem to tolerate veggie bits that are small, rather than big chunks.
11. One obvious conclusion is to make salad, but don’t make a traditional salad—chopped salads use more vegetables, because everything is cut so tiny. You can also mix various lettuces together, or grate in things like zucchini, carrots, and beets. You can even make a rice salad and add veggies!
12. Since stir fries are mostly veggies, they are a no-brainer here. They are also very economical, since meat takes a back seat in this dish!
13. Frittatas, or an oven omelettes, are perfect for those of us who have to perfect our omelet-turning skills. I love to throw some mushrooms, green onions, peppers, roasted tomatoes, or leftover steamed potatoes into mine.
14. Maija suggests roasting the veggies and serving them over couscous. I’ve also roasted peppers, tomatoes, and zucchini, then served them with hummus in a wrap. Just toss with a little olive oil, some seasoning, and there you go!
15. Speaking of wraps, make a great veggie sandwich by layering grated carrot, sliced peppers, tomatoes, lettuce, mashed avocados, and cucumber in a sandwich. You can do this in a wrap, on a bagel, etc. Salad rolls are another option, and you can skip the meat to add more veggies instead.
16. Make carrot hummus and set out a plate of veggies for the kids to enjoy.
17. Mash cooked cauliflower, corn, squash, or carrots with your potatoes for some extra texture and a unique flavour.
18. Sliced cucumber, lemon, or berries added to plain cold water is very tasty and might be fun for the kids to try. Freeze some into ice cubes to add to club soda and juice for a treat.
19. Make homemade soup stock—either vegetarian, chicken, or beef. It is much healthier and contains far less sodium than the store-bought versions
20. Fried rice is a great dish for using up leftover veggies, and also very economical. You can use up leftover rice, bits of cooked meat, and veggies all in one go!
21. Toss extra fresh spinach into pasta, with parmesan cheese and roasted tomatoes. It’s a fast and very tasty dinner.
22. Make a rice pilaf, by adding grated carrots, green onions, peas, and minced red pepper to rice that was cooked with chicken broth instead of plain water.
23. Slice fresh fruit and serve on thick slices of bread, instead of jam
24. Jam is a fun and very easy way to use up a lot of fresh fruits. Once you make jam, you’ll never want store-bought again.
25. Serve a fruit and veggie plate to the kids for lunch, with fresh bread, cheese, and other finger foods. They always seem to eat more when it’s washed, chopped, and readily available.
What are your best ideas to use up the veggies in your crisper? Post some below, so we can share!
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