I usually eat the stalks of broccoli and yes they can get pretty tough. But I do peel the stalks and they blend in well with the heads. Very nutritious.

I actually prefer broccoli stems over the buds! I peel and slice them for stir-frys, or cut into sticks and eat raw by themselves or with some ranch dressing. If you have ‘just a bit’ of veggies left over, dehydrate them or freeze. I throw just about any veggie into broth for future soup (carrot tops, celery leaves, green onion tops) and freeze in an ice cube try – that way if something you’re making needs just small amts of liquid, you don’t have to thaw out a larger container than you need. jecraig, banana peels make great rose food! Some say you dry them first, but I’ve put them in just after peeling them – cut them up and work them into the soil around roses for beautiful blooms.

I use broccoli stalks andmushroom stims and beet ans carrot tops in stir frys they are delocish with other vegetables nothing gose to waste this way.

jecraig, I dry the banana peels and run them through the blender. It creates a fine powder which I add to my garden. Same with egg shells. Citrus fruit peels can be dried and used in teas. Just be sure they are clean before you dry them. If you don’t want to use them in teas, try doing the same thing with them as the banana peels.

We can’t compost right now, and one aspect of that which bothers me is throwing away banana peels when I make my AM smoothie. Any suggestions? Ditto for citrus fruit peels. (Marmalade is not an option!) Thanks!

Rather than breaking off the tougher parts of my freshly picked asparagus, I pared off the skin and proceeded with my recipe. A lot of people break this part off and toss away. We ended up with more delicious asparagus this way.

If you want a slightly richer broth, drizzle with a little olive oil and roast the trimmings in the oven until they’re tender. Adding unpeeled onions gives the broth more color too. I don’t stop with veggies, I keep cooking water from crab, shrimp, add peppercorns, bay leaf for a nice seafood broth.

I have a bag of clean veggie scraps in my freezer, make vegetable broth in the crockpot when it’s full, then freeze it in single-use containers (see my blog, below). I also love broccoli stems, so I don’t toss them out anyway :)
http://www.goodforgreen.blogspot.com/

When my kids were little they preferred broccoli stems over the tops. I peeled them, cut them in strips and steamed them. Lightly steamed they have a nice crunch and mild taste. You can also grate them into slaw.

We use the end of most veggies, fruits ect..in our worm com poster. Then the castings end back up in our garden.
Lately i am using veggie ends to add to my Newfoundlands dinner!

I cut them in smaller chunks, add an apple and orange and juice them for a healthy alternative!

I use the trimmings from veggies, and meat stored in the freezer until needed for extra flavour when making a broth. Celery leaves are good for this when making chicken soups and stews. Also our piglets, Thelma and Louise really enjoy any unwanted scraps from our table that they can have! :)

We take an onion or two, celery tops and whatever veggie peelings, tough stalks or veggies that have been too long in the fridge and simmer them with some herbs for a great basic veggie stock. We then freeze in quart containers. Just be careful not to have too much of one stronger tasting veggie.