CONSERVE WHILE COOKING

While cooking, we use water and energy, which are finite resources. Get into the following habits:

• Reuse water. Catch the water while washing veggies and use it to water your potted herbs. • Save pasta cooking water. Use some to help sauce stick to pasta, then store in the fridge to reheat leftovers. Use half “saved” an half fresh water when filling a pot to cook pasta. • Boil water quicker. Use an electric water kettle (look for used options at online resale sites) to boil water in about half he time. ea half the water in th kett e first, then transfer to the warming pot o cook pasta.

• Make xtra. Cook extra staples for ore han one meal, like pizza dough, lentils, tomato sauce.

• Cook a hole chicken it’s asy – watc our

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• Cover a pot with a lid when cooking.

• Use the oven to bake more than one item.

After baking a treat, drizzle olive oil on whatever veggies you have on hand and roast them.

• Skip the reheat. For casseroles, meat, or roasted vegetables ith cooking times over 30 minutes, simply put the dish in the oven and tur it on.

• This will take some experimentation, but pretty soon you’ll get the hang of adjusting cooking times. (Preheating is necessary for baked goods!)

• Microwave first. The microwave is extremely energy efficient and reduces cooking times. Before oven roasting potatoes, squash, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, beets, apples, and other produce, give them a head start in the microwave.

• Slow cook. A slow cooker can use less energy than a light bulb. Slow cookers, Instant Pots/ pressure cookers, and even rice cookers trap heat inside, so food cooks without those appliances constantly produce more heat, as in an oven.