Nanny to Mommy

I absolutely hate food waste. I have invested in multiple freezers and am a big fan of freezing any leftovers that I know we won't get to. I even have shared other zero waste recipes like our homemade cake pops and fruit bar popsicles. Today, I'm giving breakfast for dinner a shot with this air fryer French toast.

So, what is zero waste cooking? Zero-waste cooking means to have no waste left behind while cooking a meal. This includes parts of the ingredients you're using and packaging from the ingredients. When practicing zero-waste cooking, you will use every single part of vegetables, fruits, meat, and whatever else may be required for your dish.

I believe not only is this a great way to live more sustainably to help our environment, but also saves you money. So why do I consider this recipe zero waste? We froze the end parts of the loaves of bread. We also froze the uneven amounts of leftover hotdog and hamburger buns because the manufacturers got together got together and sold them in the right amount. But c'est la vie. This recipe for Air Fryer French Toast is super easy and was a definite crowd pleaser plus it made dinner super quick, but also a comfort food, hearty breakfast as well.

In our home, we’ve been trying to live more intentionally, cutting back on unnecessary spending, reducing waste, and using what we already have. That mindset is not only good for the environment, but it’s also been a game changer for our grocery budget. Kids grow fast, eat a lot, and if you’re anything like me, you hate throwing away food that could have been turned into something great.

That’s exactly how this homemade popsicle recipe came to be. I had a bunch of leftover fruit from a canceled Memorial Day charcuterie board. We had brought it to the pool, but no one really touched the raspberries or blueberries. Rather than let them go to waste, I decided to whip up a quick batch of fruit popsicles. And honestly? It’s one of the best (and easiest) ideas I’ve ever had.

I hate wasting food. You can ask anyone I know. There are people starving all over the world. So, when it comes to what to do with leftover food from events, I am always thinking outside the box. Searching for what to do with leftover birthday cake, I found that you actually make cake pops with cake. You basically make a cake and frosting then it easy peasy from there. PLUS, cake pops are freezable! So, you could make a bunch of cake pops out of the leftover cake, pop them in your freezer, and save them for a later event or a sweet random surprise treat.

To make the cake pops, you will need left over cake, or you can make a sheet cake plus enough frosting to cover just the cake. I had a bunch of little bites that were about to expire. There was no way we were going to go through them in time and I definitely didn't want to waste them, so I decided to turn them into Vampire Cake Bites for a Halloween charcuterie board. I also already had some candy coating on hand from when I worked with Chocolate Pen so this basically a no brainer recipe for me to create.