Reduced Food Waste Recipes for Earth Day on 22nd April

Kids across the country have stepped up for sustainability over the last few months as part of the Earth Rangers ‘All Taste, No Waste’ challenge – reinforcing how small changes can make a big impact on the environment. Children learnt how to form and log environmentally friendly ‘habits’ such as reusing leftovers – or ‘upcooking’ – where they saved over 19,000 plates of food from landfill – enough to feed more than a dozen puppies for a year! 

As a reward for being climate champions and logging over 100,000 collective habits, Earth Rangers unlocked an exciting leftovers-focused cookbook curated by Maple Leaf Foods’ Queen of Cuisine, Chef Sam Lazuric.

After new research revealed 69 per cent of Canadians report they’d like examples of recipes that help reduce food waste,  the cookbook is now available as a free, downloadable resource for families across the country.

Here is one of our favourite recipes. It’s great to reduce food waste and single-use plastics!

EPIC ENERGY BARS

This is a dream grab-and-go snack for all your busy activities outside and inside of school. A little prep work, and you’ve got an awesome energizing bite to eat on the road. A 5-6 ingredient recipe with no cooking required. Simple, right?

Ingredients

• 1 ½ cups quick oats, uncooked (quinoa flakes, Cornflakes, or Rice Krispies work too)

• 1 cup nuts roughly chopped (almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, cashews, pecans, or pistachios all work)

• ½ cup honey or maple syrup

• 1 cup nut butter (like peanut or almond)

• 2 tablespoons oil (coconut, canola, or vegetable)

• ½ teaspoon salt (optional)

Optional Mix-ins: ½ cup chocolate chips or dried fruits; 1-2 tablespoons of chia seeds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, or shredded coconut

Preparation:

1. Combine oats (or alternative) and your choice of mix-ins in a medium-sized bowl.

2. Heat the honey, oil and nut butter in a small saucepan over low heat until melted.

3. Add the melted liquid to the oats/mix-ins and stir together well.

4. Scoop the sticky mixture into an 8×8 inch baking dish and flatten with a spatula.

5. Cover and refrigerate for 2-3 hours or overnight.

6. Cut into bar shapes and store in an airtight container. The bars are good for up to 5 days in the fridge. They also freeze well. They just need about 10 minutes on the counter to soften!