Every year over a quarter of Halloween pumpkins here in the UK - 18,000 tonnes to be precise! - end up being thrown away. And did you know that nearly half of all fruit and veg globally is wasted every year?
Every bit of a pumpkin is edible, from the leaves and skin to the flesh and seeds, and in October's PUMPKIN box, we show you how to make use of the whole of this glorious veg.
To order our October box, click here, or read on for more tips on how to reduce your veggie waste.
Celery
Pop limp sticks of celery into ice cold water for a few hours to recrisp. This also works with lettuce, carrots and asparagus.
Tomatoes
Unless you're going to eat them in the next couple of days, store tomatoes in the fridge to make them last longer and give any squashy/bruised/blemished ones a new lease of life by roasting or adding to soups and sauces.
Cauliflower
How often do you throw away the green leaves surrounding a head of cauliflower? Keep and roast them in the oven with olive oil til crisp or finely shred and add to a stir fry with noodles or rice (check out our reels on Instagram for a how to recipe).
Potatoes
Scrub before peeling then turn the peelings into delicious crisps. Leftover mash can be portioned up and frozen for future use.
Pumpkin
Save the seeds for snacks and seed butter. Check out October's Veggienauts box to find out how.
Broccoli
Shred or grate the stalk for stir fries or cut into small chunks and freeze to add to smoothies (yes really! The frozen veg adds bulk and creaminess without any discernible flavour as long as you drink the smoothie straightaway).
Carrots
Add the tops and peel to stock or soups or toss the peel with olive oil and bake for the most delicious veggie crisps.
Green beans
Rather than topping and tailing, simply remove the end where it attaches to the plant - the pointy tip is perfectly edible!
Sweetcorn
Add leftover cooked kernels to fritters, sprinkle on pizza or blitz into soup. Buy frozen if you're not sure how much you'll get through and cook in small quantities. The same applies for frozen peas.
Courgette
Got a glut of courgettes? Add them to soups, stews, fritters and cakes or slice and freeze to add to smoothies (see broccoli above).
Do you have any top tips which we haven't included? Let us know below.
Want to get kids involve? Teach them about the joys of wonky veg, involve them in the cooking process or encourage them to make a poster about reducing food waste.
Every little bit helps :-)
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