My article about using dehydrated orange peels in my tea, for the vitamin C, got me looking for other uses for citrus peels. They smell great, but I don't like wasting them in a garbage disposal, and though I do have a mulch pile for composting, it has become more and more rare that I put kitchen scraps in it.
Not only can can you dehydrate almost any fruit scraps for tea, but vegetable scraps can be used in soups and stocks, and some can be regrown (see Growing Celery From Scraps).
The article excerpt below is from wikihow.com, and has several links to recipes and how-to's for candied peels, brandy, etc...
Citrus peels can be used in myriad ways instead of simply tossing them out or composting them. In a household that consumes many oranges, lemons, grapefruit, tangelo, and other citrus, making use of the peels can save you money and produce some wonderful results. This article presents a few suggestions to get you started.
Always wash the peel extremely well before use. If possible, prefer organic sources rather than those which have been sprayed, especially for any food or internal use. If you can't get organic fruit, use a very good fruit and vegetable scrub to remove chemical traces.
There are many types of citrus, including orange, mandarin, kumquat, grapefruit, lemon, lime, pummelo, citron (citrus apple), tangerines, etc.
LEMON - There are so many potential lemon peel uses that entire chapters in books have been devoted to it.
- Peel a lemon and use it to bathe yourself in the shower. It leaves your body and hair smelling fresh and clean.
- Citrus peels such as peel of lemon work well for roasting chicken. Put peel into the chicken and roast. You will find a great smelling and good tasting chicken.
ORANGE - •-Use the peel to keep your brown sugar soft by putting it in the packaging with the brown sugar.
-Make candied orange peel. -Make preserved orange peel. (Of course my contribution here is to dehydrate them and use in medicinal teas)
OTHER USES FOR CITRUS PEELS:
-Use to flavor water. Add any citrus peels to a pitcher of water and put in the refrigerator. Now you can enjoy the taste of water even more.
-Use any type of citrus peel and candy it. It is very sweet and a great snack for the kids.
-Make marmalade, chutney, jam, and savory sauces using citrus peel.
-Add a slice of citrus peel to brown sugar to stop the sugar from going hard.
Read the entire article here... Citrus Peel Uses
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One of the many items I am stockpiling is coffee filters. (And I don’t even drink coffee!)
Here are some interesting uses for coffee filters. And you can buy 1,000 at the Dollar Tree for almost nothing even the large ones.
1. Cover bowls or dishes when cooking in the microwave. Coffee filters make excellent covers.
2. Clean windows, mirrors, and chrome... Coffee filters are lint-free so they’ll leave windows sparkling.
3. Protect China by separating your good dishes with a coffee filter between each dish.
4. Filter broken cork from wine. If you break the cork when opening a wine bottle, filter the wine through a coffee filter.
5. Protect a cast-iron skillet... Place a coffee filter in the skillet to absorb moisture and prevent rust.
6. Apply shoe polish. Ball up a lint-free coffee filter.
7. Recycle frying oil. After frying, strain oil through a sieve lined with a coffee filter.
8. Weigh chopped foods. Place chopped ingredients in a coffee filter on a kitchen scale.
9. Hold tacos. Coffee filters make convenient wrappers for messy foods.
10. Stop the soil from leaking out of a plant pot. Line a plant pot with a coffee filter to prevent the soil from going through the drainage holes.
11. Prevent a Popsicle from dripping. Poke one or two holes as needed in a coffee filter..
12. Do you think we used expensive strips to wax eyebrows? Use strips of coffee filters..
13.. Put a few in a plate and put your fried bacon, French fries, chicken fingers, etc on them.. It soaks out all the grease.
14. Keep in the bathroom. They make great “razor nick fixers.”
15. As a sewing backing. Use a filter as an easy-to-tear backing for embroidering or appliquéing soft fabrics.
16... Put baking soda into a coffee filter and insert into shoes or a closet to absorb or prevent odors.
17. Use them to strain soup stock and to tie fresh herbs in to put in soups and stews.
18.. Use a coffee filter to prevent spilling when you add fluids to your car.
19.. Use them as a spoon rest while cooking and clean up small counter spills.
20. Can use to hold dry ingredients when baking or when cutting a piece of fruit or veggies... Saves on having extra bowls to wash.
21. Use them to wrap Christmas ornaments for storage.
22. Use them to remove fingernail polish when out of cotton balls.
23. Use them to sprout seeds.. Simply dampen the coffee filter, place seeds inside, fold it and place it into a plastic baggie until they sprout.
24. Use coffee filters as blotting paper for pressed flowers. Place the flowers between two coffee filters and put the coffee filters in phone book..
25... Use as a disposable “snack bowl” for popcorn, chips, etc.
Not my own personally compiled list, but I use coffee filters for many of the above uses.