Next time you are peeling apples for a recipe, save the peel and make yourself a quick cup of apple spice tea! Place the peel of 1 or 2 apples in a small saucepan, with one cup of water, spices of choice (I put 1/4 tsp cinnamon and a pinch of allspice). Boil for 5 minutes, strain, add sweetener of choice (optional) and enjoy! Also, if you are peeling a lot of apples (say, for a pie), save the peels, dehydrate them and make your own dry mix of apple spice tea to drink anytime!

To make your own natural purple/red/pink food coloring, thinly slice a beet and dehydrate it overnight. Afterwards, process it to a fine powder in a clean coffee grinder. Transfer it to an airtight container and store it in the fridge. It lasts a long time (I've had mine a year)! You only need a small amount to color your frosting and no it won't make your food tastes like beets!

After you juice your carrots, save the pulp! The next time you make tomato sauce you can use the leftover pulp to sweeten it! It works better than sugar or any other sweetener and is much healthier. It also freezes really well if you're not gong to use it right away!

Use Chickpea flour in the place of regular flour in your next macaroni and cheese! Not only will it add extra fiber and flavor, but it gives it a beautiful golden color! (Mine was of course, dairy-free and the chickpea flour worked wonderfully)

Cook your own beans! Canned beans are not only more expensive than the dried kind, but they are loaded with sodium and other undesirable ingredients. Cooking your own allows you to control the amount of sodium, if any. Most recipes call for canned beans, and one regular (16 oz) can contains about 1-1/2 cups beans. Cook your beans in big batches and freeze them in handy 1-1/2 cup portions that way you will have fresh cooked beans ready for your future recipes!

Make your own 'sun dried' tomatoes! I originally thought of doing this when I was looking for organic sun dried tomatoes at the store, and they were SO expensive – this way is much cheaper, and a really great way to use up tomatoes if you have a garden full. Just slice them and dehydrate them overnight!

Make your own fruit and vegetable wash! Combine 1 cup of water, 3/4 cup white wine vinegar and 1/4 cup lemon juice in a spray bottle - that's it! You can add some vegetable based glycerin if you want the spray to be thicker but I find it works just fine without it. Just spray generously on your vegetables, rub it in and wash it off! Works better and is much cheaper than the store bought kind I used to buy!

Pre-press your garlic! Whenever I am already pressing garlic for a recipe, I make sure to press a few extra to freeze! Freeze them on a wax paper lined baking sheet, in 1-2 clove piles. Once frozen, pop them off the baking sheet and store in a ziplock bag. Now you have pre-pressed garlic for hurried/lazy dinners when you can't be bothered peeling and pressing them, just throw the frozen cubes on your pan and get on with dinner!

Don't throw out your Kale stems! A lot of recipes (mine included) call for only Kale leaves..the stems are packed with vitamins and minerals! Instead of throwing them out, start a collection of the stems in a ziplock bag and keep it in the freezer. Once the bag is full make a broth out of them, strain and freeze into (2 cup) portions and use them to enrich the water/broth in your soups and stews!

After you squeeze the juice out of your lemons, freeze them - by having a few of these stored in the freezer you will be able to have fresh lemon zest whenever you want! Once you've used all the zest, throw the rinds in your homemade vegetable broth for extra flavor!

Making your own mustard is not only easier than you think but it's way tastier than the store bought kind! Here's how I do it: I use about 1/2 cup or so of mustard seeds, cover them with white wine vinegar, and soak overnight. The next day, drain them in a fine mesh strainer, reserving the vinegar and transfer to a food processor or blender. Add salt and spices of choice and while the machine is running slowly add vinegar until desired consistency is achieved. Pour into a clean glass jar, let sit in your fridge for a week or 2 to let the flavored meld together and there you have it, the most delicious mustard you will ever eat! It lasts about year in the fridge.

Most recipes call for tomato paste in tbsp measurements - When you open your can of tomato paste, divide the whole thing into 1 tbsp portions, place on a wax paper lined baking sheet and freeze until solid. Once frozen transfer them to a small ziplock bag or freezer safe container, they won't stick together and you will have already measured tomato paste for your future recipes - saves time in the long run!

Use wheat bran instead of breadcrumbs in recipes for a healthier option! Works really well and adds more fiber, protein and B vitamins to your meal!