My mini homestead has really taken off this year! I am really proud of how far it’s come and what all I added this year. We don’t have a huge lot of land we are working with, but we have a decent size yard & we are planning to use every inch we can to live off of. Eventually, we’d love to own our own big farm with our own water source, but for now we are fulfilling our mini homestead dreams + getting knowledge & practice for the real deal!

As a vegetarian, I really want my kids to know where their food comes from + how to grow their own food from seed. I want them to know how to be self-relient & self-sufficient. Part of that is learning how to stretch food as far as you can take it & waste as little as possible.

I am Ukrainian, so naturally it’s in my DNA to love beets. I thought that would be a great vegetable to start with! Today I am going to teach you how to use the entirety of the Beet to make not just one meal, but an entire days’ worth of meals from just a few beets so that absolutely no part will be wasted & you stretch your produce as far as it can go.

We will then compost the scraps & propagate our Beets to re-grow in our garden, so that even the used up & unusable parts still get re-used too and leaves you with 100% zero waste.

The first step is going to be peeling, slicing, and then washing your 6-8 Beets. Make sure to SAVE your beet tops (the part that looks like lettuce.) You will want to cut this off, wash, rinse well, and set aside to use.

To cook your Beets:

• Place sliced Beets, 1/2 cup white vinegar, 2 bay leaves, 6 teaspoons Minced garlic, 2 teaspoons sea salt into a pot, then cover with water.
• Cook for 30 minutes, drain, rinse, & let cool. Now they are ready to use!

Breakfast: Raspberry Banana & Beet Smoothie

Smoothies are such a great way to start the day! This one was really yummy! In most beet drinks I’ve had, there is an overwhelming beet flavor. This one has a much more subtle beet taste too it, but you can definitely still taste it. The color was so beautiful!! Just throw all of the ingredients together in the blender & enjoy!

• 1 cup ice
• Raspberries
• Beets
• 1 banana
• 1/2 cup vanilla Greek Yogurt
• 1 tablespoon chia seeds
• 2 tablespoons Oatmeal
• 1/2 teaspoon tumeric
• 1 1/2 cups Almond milk
• Drizzle of honey

Lunch: Beet Salad with Balsamic Drizzle

I used a spring + arugula lettuce mix as the base of this salad. I dressed the salad with homemade dressing {listed below}. Then I topped it with Mozzarella Cheese balls, chopped up Beets, walnuts, salt & pepper, & my favorite: Nonna Pia’s Balsamic Glaze.

Dressing:

• 2 tablespoons sunflower oil
• 2 tablespoons Almond oil
• Juice from 1 lemon
• 1 tablespoon parsley
• 1 tablespoon oregano
• 1 tablespoon Green Harvest Seasoning
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon Minced garlic

Dinner: Beet Top & Feta Bake

Ella has been asking for quiche lately, but this Tart is even better! It is just like quiche, but much creamier & uses a lot less eggs. It’s SO tasty, I could honestly eat the entire thing to myself in a day or so.

Place beet tops in a large pot & cover with water & salt. Cook until wilted, drain, set aside to cool. While beet tops are cooking, Preheat oven to 350° & roll out your pie crust over your pie pan, then set aside to cool.

Once beet tops are cool enough to touch, fill bottom of pie crust. Next, evenly spread Feta cheese to create a layer over the beet tops. 

In a mixing bowl, mix together milk, eggs, & Creme fraiche until blended. Salt & pepper to taste, mix again. Pour mixture over Feta cheese layer. Cook for 50 minutes.  Let cool for at least 10-15 minutes to set.

• 1 pie crust
• Beet tops (from 6-8 beets)
• Feta cheese (6 oz)
• 1 container Creme Fraiche
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• Salt & Pepper to taste

Dessert: Chocolate Beet Cake

This was good, but definitely would have been better with chocolate Frosting. I thought that the ice cream would have been enough, but it was still more dry than traditional chocolate cake. That didn’t stop it from being gobbled up though!

• Large beet
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup cocoa powder
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 3/4 cup sunflower oil
• Half a bag of dark chocolate chunks

Beet Propagatation

• Day One •

Place the rest of the unused beets in a shallow bowl with water. I used this pie plate because it was big enough to fit all of mine.

Day Five

New leaves have began growing on our Beets over the last few days, which means they will be ready to plant in the soil soon! I’m planning to let these continue to grow their leaves in this dish for another week or so, then move them to their permanent locations in the garden.

I had a lot of fun with this no-waste challenge & hope that you were able to get some inspiration from it! I am definitely inspired to continue learning how to run a no-waste mini homestead & excited to figure out what vegetable I’ll use for the next challenge!

What are your favorite no-waste veggies?!

Until next time ♡ Madison Morozov