The next time you boil pasta or steam some vegetables in your kitchen, instead of pouring the water down the drain, use it in your garden or in your house to keep your plants green and flourishing. You can also use water from boiling eggs, which is full of calcium your plant needs to grow.
Make sure you allow the water to cool first, but all the nutrients and minerals that vegetables lose when boiling are perfect for watering your plants. You case use the water as soon as it's cool or refrigerate it for a couple of days until your plants need a drink.
Vegetable water is good for plants because the boiled vegetables release nutrients into the water and create natural liquid fertilizer. You can water the soil with this vegetable water. Or spray it on the foliage to give a boost of nutrients.
Saving your vegetable water provides a low-fat, nutritious cooking broth for pasta, rice and dumplings, soups and sautés, and even braising and pan roasts. Add your choice of fresh herbs and spices for flavoring. Almost any cooked vegetable produces a lightly-fragrant water that can be utilized in different recipes.
The next time you boil or steam some vegetables on the stove top, don't pour the water down the drain. Once the water has cooled, pour the vegetable water in your garden or planting containers to “fertilize” your plants instead of wasting it.
The water from boiled potatoes can be used on both outdoor plants, such as vegetables, and indoor plants. Potato water (and other vegetable water) is also great to use on the compost pile. And don't forget to add the potato skins there too!
You can take your food scraps and put them to use in your garden without composting. That's right – you can take the cuttings, peels and roots left behind on your cutting board and deposit them directly into the soil of your garden.
“Boiling vegetables causes water soluble vitamins like vitamin C, B1 and folate to leach into the water,” Magee said. “So unless you are going to drink the water along with your vegetables, such as when making soups and stews, these vitamins are typically poured down the sink.
Broccoli water (but there's a better way)
One concern with broccoli water, however, is pesticides. In addition to leeching nutrients from broccoli, boiling water can also absorb pesticides that farmers use to avoid rot, weeds, and insects during the growing process. One way to avoid pesticides is to buy organic.
Carrot juice is extracted from whole carrots and is extremely nutritious. It not only provides potassium and vitamin C but also is very rich in provitamin A. Drinking carrot juice is thought to boost immunity and improve eye and skin health, among other benefits ( 1 ).
Making tap water safe for plants is important for their survival. Boiling can remove excess chlorine in the water.
To give your plants the absolute best, rainwater and bottled spring water are your best options. Any water containing sugar or salt will hurt them!
Cooking in excess water depletes the nutrients and it is ideal to cook vegetables covered with a lid on low flame. Do not discard excess water drained after boiling rice or vegetables. The water is a rich source of all vitamins and minerals and it can be used in making gravies, soup or kneading dough.
Whatever you are using to boil/steam your vegetables make sure to reuse that carrot water, as now it is rich in provitamins, especially with beta-carotene. It can be a perfect base for vegetable soup, rice, sauce, etc. If you are like me, you don't want to waste anything, even if it is water.
Water spinach is rich in fiber and hence, it aids in digestion, providing relief from different digestive disorders naturally. Its mild laxative properties are beneficial for people suffering from indigestion and constipation. Juice from boiled spinach can loosen constipation.
Don't Toss That Potato Water
Potato water is the water that potatoes have been boiled in. The potatoes release their starchy goodness into the water as they are cooked. The potato water can then be used as a substitute for milk and it makes your bread deliciously moist.
Kale juice helped lower cholesterol. A few studies , some on animals, have found that quercetin, a chemical prevalent in kale, offers heart health benefits, most notably lowering high blood pressure. Kale is high in antioxidants, such as vitamin C, which may help fight oxidative damage to the body.
Adding the vegetable water from steaming/boiling your vegetables, as well as a couple of crumbled up stock cubes will make the gravy stretch much further, whilst still ensuring the flavour from the meat juices shines through.
She explained that water-soluble nutrients , like vitamin C, B vitamins or folate, can leach out of veggies when cooked in water. “You know when you've boiled carrots or broccoli and the water changes colour?” Charlotte asks. “That's usually related to the vitamins that have been lost in the water.
In fact, boiling vegetables may reduce the content of water-soluble vitamins by as much as 50–60% ( 7 , 9, 11 ). Some minerals and vitamin A are also lost during cooking, although to a lesser extent. Fat-soluble vitamins D, E and K are mostly unaffected by cooking.
Yes, it can be saved, but it should be refrigerated, then used within twenty-four hours. Vegetable water sours very quickly and becomes inedible.
Citrus fruit, tomato products and pickled food products can do harm to your compost. High acidity can actually kill the good bacteria that helps break down the material in your compost pile.
Plants or Wood Treated with Pesticides or Preservatives
Never add any plants to your compost that have been treated with insecticides, fungicides, or herbicides. The residue of chemicals used in the garden to kill insects and control plant diseases can unintentionally kill the beneficial composting organisms.