Come on, you know it happens. It happens to all of us. You waltzed right into that grocery store, or farmer’s market, bought the lettuce that was on special, and had every intention of doing something with it! You really did!
But life happened. 🙂 You got busy, you forgot about it, and now there it sits, sadly staring back at you.
You sadly stare right back. “What am I going to do with that dumb kale?” You wonder. “I can’t throw it out! I spent good money on it. I don’t want to waste it. . .”
I have some solutions for you. They’re fast, they’re easy, there here for you to consider next time your leftover greens are on their way out.
Contents
Leftover Greens Option #1: Blend and Freeze
One of the easiest things you can do with your extraneous greens is to blend them and freeze them for future smoothies.
Thoroughly wash your greens, and toss them whole into your Vitamix, blender, or food processor.
Add 1 cup of water, and blend.
Pour into ice cube trays (<—these are my favorite), and freeze.
Yes, they are scary-looking.
(But don’t worry, you won’t taste them.)
Voila! Now you have healthy frozen leftover greens to add to your smoothies. Store in a baggie in the freezer, and add one or two cubes to your smoothies as needed. Woohoo!
If you’re looking for more smoothie add-ins, you can check out this post.
Leftover Greens Option #2 – Get Downright Sneaky
Another thing you can do is dehydrate those monsters. This is my favorite. It’s so. . . sneaky.
This is Undercover Veggie Powder. Watch what happens.
Pull the leaves off of the head of lettuce or whatever green you’re trying to get rid of. Wash them thoroughly, and you could even spin them dry, if you have a berry/salad spinner.
Place the leaves in your dehydrator, and let them dry until they are done. This normally doesn’t take very long, maybe 2 hours or so. Be careful, they are fragile!
Gently transfer the dried greens to your blender and blend them as fine as you want them. I personally prefer to keep mine a little coarse.
Store in an airtight container, like this one.
Then, add a spoonful to soups, casseroles, smoothies. . . you name it! No one will ever know last month’s lettuce is in the chicken soup. They won’t even taste it. You are so sneaky!! And you didn’t let that silly lettuce go to waste!
You can even add a teaspoon or so to veggie dips and dressings, like my Creamy Dill Dressing.
What do you think – are there any crazy ways you keep from throwing your leftover greens out? Let me know for sure.
Xoxo,
Danielle
Pin Leftover Greens: How to Avoid the Guilt of the Wilt
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brilliant! I find myself throwing out the wilted greens but I would love to get the nutrition from them! I will try the frozen cubes first since I don’t have a dehydrator and because we LOVE smoothies:) thanks Dandy!
Thanks, Heather!! Let me know how it goes for you. We are just getting into smoothies ourselves. It’s so fun to be creative with them….the options are limitless!! We should swap our favorite smoothie combos. 🙂
love both of these ideas. i dont have a dehydrator but i will def try the smoothie idea. thanks D
Awesome, Ariel! Thanks for stopping by! 🙂 I have a sweet potato, waiting to go into our smoothies…
I am thrilled to discover your blog!
Loved your tips on wilted greens. And, we were very touched to hear you are supporting the 2 orphanages with some of your proceeds from your blog! Bless you!
Thank you, Linda! I love the work you are doing. Your message has changed my life. Love you guys.
When I blend my organic spring mix for smoothies like you posted, I also add the cinnamon and turmeric that my husband and I put in our smoothies. Then I don’t have to add that in separate….it’s all ready to go. I buy any of the items I like to put in smoothies when on sale, puree, and freeze them. My neighbor gave me LOTS of zucchini, yellow summer squash and spaghetti squash. I am using and preserving for other recipes, but I am pureeing and freezing a lot of it for smoothies. You don’t taste it, but it has a lot of nutritional value and it was FREE…..
Thank you for the posts, but I had a very hard time reading them due to your font? and so very light…I even had to copy and paste onto word document to read the one about tomato powder (which is what brought me here).
How smart to add in the cinnamon and turmeric! I took your comment into consideration and made the font bigger; I hope that helps make it easier to read. Thanks for your feedback and thanks for stopping by! <3
I am thrilled to discover your blog!
Loved your tips on wilted greens. And, we were very touched to hear you are supporting the 2 orphanages with some of your proceeds from your blog! Bless you!
Thank you Alensa! <3
Here’s another option on what to do with your leftover greens…especially great if you’re not a fan of smoothies. (Personally, I can’t stand them.) If you have chickens, give it to them. In fact, ALL my table leftovers go to my chickens. It cuts down on how much chicken feed they consume, saving you money, and it’s really good for them. (PS: I give them meat scraps, too. Don’t force your chickens to be vegetarians; it’s NOT healthy for them. Chickens are carrion eaters by nature; they need a certain amount of animal matter in their feed, or they’ll start eating their own feathers, or pecking each other, to get the protein.)
Thank you, GREAT suggestion! Completely agreed, chickens need meat and bugs in their life! Thanks for commenting!