The following is a guest post by Olivia Fox. Growing up in an artist’s family, she delights in finding creative ways to make money stretch. Her musings can be found at The Frugal Bohemian. I highly recommend you visit.
At our house we’re always in the market for treats, especially frugal ones. Here are several food items prepared from stuff we used to dump. Now they’re good enough for gifts.
Candied Peels
Score the surface of four thick skinned oranges or five lemons into quarters through the white, and peel from the fruit. Slice the rind lengthwise into 1/4 inch wide strips. Place in a pot, cover with cold water, bring to a boil. Simmer for 15 minutes. Drain. Repeat with fresh water. Drain. Repeat. Dissolve 4 ½ cups sugar in 1½ cups water over low heat. Add peels to the sugar syrup. Simmer on a low until the rinds become translucent, about 45 minutes. Let them sit in the syrup overnight. Heat through in the morning and gently drain. (Save the syrup for hot tea.) Coat individual peels in granulated sugar and dry on a rack overnight. Store in an airtight container.
Toasted Seeds
Take a squash with big seeds, like butternut or pumpkin. Remove the seeds, separate them from the pulpy middles, rinse and drain. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Drop the still-damp seeds, single layer, onto a lightly greased pan. Sprinkle them with salt, garlic powder, and paprika. Or for a bit more kick, chili powder. Toast for about fifteen minutes until lightly brown.
Apple Peel Jelly
Put the cores and peels from about 15 apples (4 cups tightly packed) into a large pot and cover with 6 cups water. Simmer about 20 minutes. Drain the juice through a cheesecloth lined colander into a bowl without squeezing. At this point follow the recipe for apple jelly on your pectin package. If you find there’s not enough juice, do a second boiling of the peels in an additional cup or so of water. The final jelly is delicately flavored, and blush colored.
So there you have it. Buon Appetito.
Related Reading:
One Way to Get the Most Out of Your Chicken
How to Save Money by Salvaging
Become a Food Rescuer
At our house we’re always in the market for treats, especially frugal ones. Here are several food items prepared from stuff we used to dump. Now they’re good enough for gifts.
Candied Peels
Score the surface of four thick skinned oranges or five lemons into quarters through the white, and peel from the fruit. Slice the rind lengthwise into 1/4 inch wide strips. Place in a pot, cover with cold water, bring to a boil. Simmer for 15 minutes. Drain. Repeat with fresh water. Drain. Repeat. Dissolve 4 ½ cups sugar in 1½ cups water over low heat. Add peels to the sugar syrup. Simmer on a low until the rinds become translucent, about 45 minutes. Let them sit in the syrup overnight. Heat through in the morning and gently drain. (Save the syrup for hot tea.) Coat individual peels in granulated sugar and dry on a rack overnight. Store in an airtight container.
Toasted Seeds
Take a squash with big seeds, like butternut or pumpkin. Remove the seeds, separate them from the pulpy middles, rinse and drain. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Drop the still-damp seeds, single layer, onto a lightly greased pan. Sprinkle them with salt, garlic powder, and paprika. Or for a bit more kick, chili powder. Toast for about fifteen minutes until lightly brown.
Apple Peel Jelly
Put the cores and peels from about 15 apples (4 cups tightly packed) into a large pot and cover with 6 cups water. Simmer about 20 minutes. Drain the juice through a cheesecloth lined colander into a bowl without squeezing. At this point follow the recipe for apple jelly on your pectin package. If you find there’s not enough juice, do a second boiling of the peels in an additional cup or so of water. The final jelly is delicately flavored, and blush colored.
So there you have it. Buon Appetito.
Related Reading:
One Way to Get the Most Out of Your Chicken
How to Save Money by Salvaging
Become a Food Rescuer
I love the apple peel jelly recipe, never thought about doing that with the leftover. Usually when I do anything with apples I am only coring the apple, then boiling them & putting them thru the sieve. Maybe next time I make several apples pies for an occasion I will try the apple peel jelly.
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