We eat a lot of vegetables. Raw, cooked, steamed, in soups, stews, sauces…and, we compost the non-edible parts. Mostly.
But sometimes, I think there’s too much waste going into the compost bin. Right?

Some of you know I spend half my life living away from home, for a variety of reasons. I make the effort to leave a fully stocked fridge for the teens and their dad, but sometimes (often) I come home to find much of it still there. They do prep and eat some of the veg but when it comes to certain items, like chard or kale for instance, they tend to just leave it.
Well I don’t want to chuck that stuff out every time I come home. So I came up with a creative idea of how to make use of those odds and ends. And now, you can too, because I’m going to show you how.
There are 2 methods, and I’ve done both with success: Raw and Cooked.
Raw Method
Sometimes I just want the quick method of getting rid of the mess and making space for new food prior to a grocery trip. This means taking the stuff that’s sitting in the crisp drawer (and not staying crispy), washing/refreshing it, and then chopping it up. I do this by hand or with my little food processor.

Cooked Method
The cooked method is similar but involves an extra step. I usually pour some olive oil into a cast iron pan, and dump the chopped veg in there for a short while. I often use onion and garlic in addition to whatever veggies I have sitting around. And season with salt and pepper, mostly because the salt draws out the flavour.
Ice Cube Trays
I bought extra large ice cube trays at the dollar store. Simply scoop the chopped raw or cooked veg into the trays and freeze. This is what the end result looks like:

My favorite combination has been mushroom, cauliflower, chard, onion and garlic. I cooked those with a bit of olive oil, kept half aside for stew or soup (can’t remember), and the other half I let cool then scooped into the trays. Once they’re frozen I dump them into a ziplock bag. Now, each time I make soup, or I need to stretch ground beef for sauce, I add a couple of cubes into my pot and voila – extra nutrition and less waste.

One time I was at my mom’s when I got a bunch of texts from the husband. He wanted to know where certain spices were and then showed me the soup he was cooking. When I directed him to the freezer to add a few cubes of the frozen veg, he found it to be a good idea. His soup looked good but the stock didn’t look very dark, or not as dark as mine, probably because he used less flavour-inducing ingredients than I do. Now that he knows of the cubes, he reaches for them in my absence.
Next step: teach the kids to do the same. 🙂
PS – this may be a good way to introduce some extra nutrition for people who tend to reach for cans of soup. Think of some of the more isolated seniors or people with certain disabilities who may not have the opportunity to cook with fresh food as often. Bringing them some cubes like this to drop into their canned soups might improve both flavour and nutrition.
Thoughts?
Happy Superbowl Sunday. This is the only day of the year we will watch a football game from beginning to end. I have chili and chicken wings ready for the menfolk, and may make some corn bread too. I may or may not endure the entire game, we shall see. 🙂
Great idea. I often chop up my veg and freeze to maintain freshness. And it makes meals easier to prepare when I’m feeling lazy 🙂
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Yes, exactly!
Thank you for your comment. 🙂
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Wow. What a great idea! I HATE throwing veggies away. Already have big trays so going to try this! Thanks you!
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Good luck! Thank you for reading and commenting. 🙂
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This is a really good idea! I do something similar where I take those scraps and boil them for hours, then freeze the veggie stock that I just made. I like your method because it takes up way less space though! And you still get the fiber from everything. I will be trying this!
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Yes! The stock idea gets done here too. I usually dump the veg in with some beef or chicken bones to make bone broth! 🙂
Thanks for commenting!
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That’s a fabulous idea! But as for the kale and chard? I’m with your family…. blech.
🤢
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Just omit the greens then. 😎
You can add herbs like parsley.
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Love this idea. Thanks for the tip.
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Enjoy.
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Thanks Claudette – what a great and nutritious idea!
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You just need a bit of freezer space, right? 🙂
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Well freezer space might be in short supply, but I’ll make room and the next time I go to the dollar store I’ll look for the extra large ice cube trays!
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I love this idea!! I plan on doing that. Thank you!
Wishing you a blessed week! ❤❤
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Thank you. 💕
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These ideas are brilliant WoW,e! Minestrone gets easier with something like this,surely not during football matches though!
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😛
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precise how nice
leafs take the cuuup
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Ha. Clever! 😎
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I think it’s a good idea. Tara does something similar by making herb butter in ice cube trays. Comes in handy when sauteeing veggies like zucchini or even just flavoring a steak.
Yay, football!
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Great idea! I don’t cook anymore, and Daughter & Ben are the pickiest eaters on Earth, but Younger is a vegetarian who loves to cook, so I’ll share your idea with her.
SuperBowl is today? 🤷🏼♀️ I gave up on football when our team said build a new stadium or we’re leaving… bye-bye San Diego Chargers, have fun in L.A.
I want cornbread now🤤
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I didn’t make cornbread. I got busy creating book covers and was out of time….🙄😉
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Excellent idea! I do a Sunday dump day. Whatever is in the fridge gets incorporated into Sunday’s dinner…usually ending in a soup or a stir fry of sorts
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For Superbowl Sunday we are having deluxe nachos and chicken wings. I will try to watch the whole game so I appear to be interested. 😉😁😊
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Meh. I may have one eye on the tv, the other on the food, and maybe switch to the phone to see if I can bug someone to chat with me. 😛
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You are wonderful and creative. Thank you for the good ideas. 💛💚💙
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Superbowl Sunday for me has always been..just another Sunday unless by scant chance I am invited to a party.
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For me it’s mostly about the food. 😛
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yeah and the half time show
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I like to watch football from a distance, usually playing cards, with a bowl of guacamole, and chips at my side! I like the veggie cubes, that could be handy when making my minestrone! Thanks for the tip! C
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Now I want guacamole and chips. 😛
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Fantastic! Maybe I could skip the fresh eating stage and go direct to cubes for kale (which I cannot get the other half to eat.) I do similar things–though no where near as thorough. I also have an interim step for some things, the “chop up for the chickens” plan.
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I make bone broth too and use odds and ends of the veg for that at times. But it’s less time consuming because I just put the bones in the crockpot with the veg, an onion, some salt, cover and leave on for 24 hours.
The cubes are so helpful though. I added them to today’s chili, to spaghetti sauce, to soup! I love it. 🙂
Thanks for commenting!
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Great idea!
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