Creative and Practical Uses For Junk Food

After I made the swap to consuming complete meals over a decade in the past, I noticed I had quite a lot of meals I not needed to eat lurking in the pantry. For those who’re making the swap or want to scrub issues out, listed below are some inventive makes use of for junk meals!

I compiled a listing of how to make use of these for different family functions. I hate to waste as a lot as the subsequent individual, however I lastly needed to notice that my physique isn’t a rubbish can. And I refused to make use of issues simply to complete what’s in the home. 

After we switched to an actual meals eating regimen, I donated all the unopened non-perishables. That also left all the opened packages of flour, sugar, oil, and so on. to cope with. As a substitute of simply pitching it, we used it for some enjoyable initiatives and round the home.

The children had a blast (and I received pampered) whereas we used up the remainder of our “junk meals.” I’ve divided them up by classes, however a few of the recipes expend a number of completely different elements. These had been my options:

1. All-Goal Enriched Flour

I’ve actually modified my stance and outlook on issues over time, particularly in the case of grains. I prevented them utterly for a few years whereas I used to be therapeutic my autoimmune disease. Now I’ll eat sure grains, like white rice and natural flour (especially sourdough) carefully. 

One factor you’re not going to search out in my pantry although (no less than not anymore!) is bleached, enriched, white flour. Listed here are some methods to make use of it up.

Make Play Dough

A win-win state of affairs. You get to spend high quality time along with your children and expend the leftover flour in your pantry. For those who don’t have children, this could possibly be enjoyable for grown-ups too… take into account it stress aid. And if you happen to want a gluten-free playdough model, I’ve one right here. 

This playdough makes use of up flour, vegetable oil, Koolaid or meals dye, and iodized desk salt. 

Have some extra meals dye you need to expend? Combine it with some yogurt for finger paint. Simply you’ll want to take an image of your child’s artwork undertaking earlier than throwing it away! 

Paper Mache Paste With Flour

Combine equal components of white flour and water to make a glue-like paste. Let your children use their fingers and a few outdated items of newspaper to make creations. As soon as it dries, it’s very like a sculpture. 

As children, we used to explode balloons and put paper mache over them. Once they dried, we popped the balloons, reduce them in half and painted them to make masks.

Polish Stainless Metal

Oh the fingerprints! Stainless-steel reveals smudges… lots. After regular cleansing, pour or rub some all-purpose flour onto the stainless to make it shine and take away fingerprints or water spots. 

The oils and fiber within the flour buffs the tiny grooves within the metal. It additionally helps pull out grime and dirt {that a} common cleansing fabric can’t. 

2. Sugar

I’ve written lots about sugar over time and why I ditched it. Whereas I’ll nonetheless have pure sweeteners carefully, I stop bleached, white sugar. Sugar is a humectant that makes for a terrific pores and skin scrub although! Listed here are a number of completely different sugar scrub recipes to attempt. 

You may even use a sugar syrup to wax physique hair. Listed here are directions for easy methods to make and use a sugar wax.

Kill Undesirable Ants

For many people, hotter seasons can imply ants in the home. As a substitute of utilizing noxious pesticides, you possibly can simply sort out the issue with just a little sweetness. People and ants alike each love sugar.

To make a easy ant entice:

• Combine 2 components sugar with 1 half borax (which is nice to have available for cleansing).
• Put it in just a little container or jar that ants can crawl out and in of. Be sure your children can’t get to it.

Borax is toxic to ants, however they’ll’t resist sugar. It gained’t kill them instantly, however they’ll take it again to their nest the place it would finally kill all of them. I’ve used this twice to do away with ants in our home. Killing ants=good use for sugar!

3. Vegetable Oil 

You might need seen extra conversations round seed oils and vegetable oils recently, even from mainstream sources. Vegetable oils are excessive in inflammatory omega-6 fat and are linked with a complete host of well being points. These embrace corn, canola, and soy. 

Listed here are some methods to make use of up the remainder of the vegetable oil in your house. 

Clear Your Wooden Naturally

There are pure ways to clean any sort of ground, and that vegetable oil lurking in your pantry makes an superior hardwood ground cleaner.  Reasonably than letting it skew your Omega-3 and 6 ratios, use it to make your flooring shine. 

Combine 1 cup of vinegar OR lemon juice with 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil. Use this combination to scrub your flooring. Make sure to patch take a look at an space first. You’ll have much less irritation, and your flooring could have a pleasant shine!

You too can combine vegetable oil with vinegar to make a DIY dusting spray for picket furnishings. 

Canola Oil within the Backyard

Some sources say canola oil can work nicely as an insecticide and fungicide within the backyard. It kills bugs by suffocating them and helps forestall powdery mildew by offering a barrier between the plant and fungi.

To make use of it, add 1 tablespoon of canola oil and 1 tablespoon liquid cleaning soap to 1 gallon of water. Spray on crops to kill bugs and forestall powdery mildew. Simply you’ll want to attempt to keep away from the great bugs!

4. Use Up Rice

Rice is among the meals that I ditched for years that I’m now nice with now and again. You may be stunned to listen to that I go for white rice as an alternative of brown rice although and here’s why. When you’ve got non-organic enriched rice or are avoiding it for intestine therapeutic functions, listed below are some methods to make use of it up. 

Dry Out Moist Electronics

Electronics and water don’t combine, or no less than they’re not alleged to! My children dropped 3 of our cell telephones in water by mistake (and one I dropped myself). Three out of the 4 had been saved by rice. 

Preserve a jar of rice available and when an digital will get moist, put it within the jar and shut the lid tightly. The rice will take in the moisture and pull it out of the gadget. Until there’s structural injury, this normally works. It could possibly take a couple of days or perhaps a couple weeks, so be affected person.

Rice Water For More healthy Hair

Asian cultures have used rice water for luxurious locks for a few years. Rice is filled with amino acids, antioxidants, nutritional vitamins, protein, and different vitamins which can be nice for hair well being. Right here’s easy methods to make and use rice water for softer, stronger, and shinier hair. 

5. Oatmeal For Pores and skin Well being

Oatmeal could cause blood sugar spikes for a lot of, and it’s usually contaminated with glyphosate. Right here’s easy methods to expend a few of that additional standard rolled oats in your pantry.

For a calming facial, powder oatmeal in a blender or meals processor and add heat milk to make a paste. Rub it in your face, let it dry, then wash off. It tightens pores, removes blackheads and moisturizes.

6. Coke For Critical Cleansing

I swapped out my coke and different sodas for more healthy (and tastier in my view) fermented drinks. When you’ve got some nonetheless sitting round, coke makes a terrific cleaner for robust messes. It accommodates phosphoric acid that breaks down rust and exhausting water and softens burnt meals. And the citric acid is nice for cleaning soap scum and grease. 

It could possibly even take the rust off of a automotive bumper. Think about what it does to the intestines??

Clear Your Bathroom

Bathroom soiled? I’m positive yours isn’t, however mine generally is. Pour a can of coke in a bathroom and let it sit for an hour. Use a brush to take away the stains and flush for a shiny clear. 

I even tried this on a 30-40 12 months outdated rest room in a home I transformed. It labored (and that rest room in all probability hadn’t been cleaned in 30-40 years). Listed here are some extra methods to make use of coke for cleansing. 

• Take away gum from hair- Soak hair in it for 10 minutes and gum comes proper out. 
• Unclog drains –  simply pour within the coke and wait.
• Clear automotive batteries – Pour coke on a gunky automotive battery or use a fabric soaked in coke to scrub it with. 
• Clear grout – soak a sponge in it and use to scrub grout stains. 
• Take away grease stains – Soak grease-stained garments in coke, then wash as regular. 
• Oil stains on ground – Take away oil stains out of your storage ground or concrete driveways. 
• Clear pots and pans – Soak burnt pans in coke to dissolve caught on meals. 
• Shine steel jewellery – Soak steel jewellery briefly in coke to scrub. Don’t do that for jewellery with treasured stones.  
• Banish rust – Coke removes rust from every little thing from lavatory fixtures to automotive components. 

7. Desk Salt

I’m really a big fan of salt and eat quite a lot of it on a regular basis. I’m not a giant fan of standard, iodized desk salt although for a number of causes. When you’ve got desk salt that wants used, listed below are some methods to do this. 

Weed Killer

Make a weed killer for driveways and sidewalk areas. For each 1 gallon of white vinegar add 1 cup of salt and 1 tablespoon of dish cleaning soap. Fill a twig bottle or pump sprayer to make use of on weeds. Watch out to not spray in areas (like a backyard) the place you need some crops to develop. 

Salt Cleansing Hacks

Salt additionally makes a terrific pure cleansing scrub. 

• Use salt to scrub forged iron skillets, pots, and pans (double verify the producer cleansing directions for any non-stick pans)
• Add salt to a espresso stained mug to assist take away the darkish stains
• Therapeutic massage salt and lemon juice right into a picket chopping board to freshen it. Rinse and air dry.

And for a enjoyable undertaking with the youngsters, attempt these 3 ingredient salt dough ornaments! The recipe is much like play-dough, however they dry exhausting and you’ll paint the completed creations. 

Last Ideas 

I hope this gave you some alternate concepts for that junk meals that may nonetheless be lurking in your pantry. For those who haven’t already, take into account swapping them out for whole foods. Components like natural flour, grain-free flours (like almond and coconut), grass-fed butter, olive oil, uncooked honey, and pure maple syrup are some scrumptious alternate options.

Do you’ve gotten some other concepts for elements like these? Inform us about them beneath!