Inexpensive Things You Can Do With Food (Besides Eat It)

Food Used: Cucumber
Reinvention Purpose: Soothe Dry and Itchy Skin
EST. Cost of Reinvention: N/A

Have the sun’s unforgiving rays caused a case of heat rash that has become unbearably uncomfortable? Maybe a walk through the long grass by the river has given you the uncontrollable urge to tame that unnamable itch? When all else fails, try a cucumber bath. What have you got to lose?

Cucumber Bathwater ©MateuszSiuta/Shutterstock.com

Amongst other things, cucumbers contain Vitamin C and Caffeic Acid, which reduce inflammation while rejuvenating your skin. A cucumber-water-infused bath has the potential to help alleviate some of the itch while it rehydrates your skin. There’s a reason spas use cucumber slices as exfoliants, and it’s not because it makes you look funny.

Food Used: Avocado
Reinvention Purpose: To Attain Younger, Healthier Looking Skin
EST. Cost of Reinvention: $2*

Not only does avocado contain a slew of vitamins—C and E amongst others—but it also has Omega-9, plant sterols, tons of antioxidants, and is considered a “superfood.” If this food truly is as super as you’re meant to believe, it would be safe to assume avocados would have impressive results when used cosmetically.

©B-D-S Piotr Marcinski/Shutterstock.com

When applied regularly, a nightly dollop of guac-base on the forehead and a drop on each cheek should theoretically rid the targeted spots of old, dead skin. Go to Walmart for the last skin cream you might need. It can be found in the produce section.

Food Used: Cashews, Mint, Cardamom
Reinvention Purpose: Better Breath, Anti-Fungal Properties
EST. Cost of Reinvention: $1-$2*

Personal hygiene is something that many people take seriously, especially if they spend a lot of time around others. However, buying a pack of gum weekly, a bottle of mouthwash monthly, and heck knows how many deodorant sticks every year gets to be incredibly expensive. Don’t look now, but you can save hundreds of dollars a year by using food for your personal hygiene.

Personal Hygiene ©Quality Stock Arts/Shutterstock.com

If you use Colgate’s mint-flavored toothpaste at home, why not try chewing mint leaves or fennel to eliminate bad breath on the road? Get a mint plant for the house to grow your own tea and dental hygienic products. 

Food Used: Vinegar, Baking Soda
Reinvention Purpose: Removes Sticky Substances
EST. Cost of Reinvention: $1-$5*

You will undoubtedly come across at least one stain when you’re cleaning the kitchen, washroom, family room, or any other room in the house. It’s inevitable. When that time arrives, and you have all but conceded defeat to the stubborn stain that refuses to lift away, look no further than sodium bicarbonate for the help you’re after. 

House Cleaning ©ThamKC/Shutterstock.com

It’s not just a helpful ingredient for baking cakes. When mixed with vinegar, sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) works well to remove those impossible-to-handle stains everything else has succumbed to.

Food Used: Bones
Reinvention Purpose: Nutritious Drink
EST. Cost of Reinvention: N/A

A juicy steak cooked just right, a well-roasted turkey leg on Thanksgiving, and ribs rotisseried to perfection all make for delicious meals in which diners are sure to pick the bones clean of every possible piece of meat. But what remains of the meal still has a lot to offer.

Make Bone Broth Tea @umamidays/umamidays.com

Utilizing every last bit of the leftover chicken, steak, or fish from dinner is as simple as boiling the bones that would otherwise have gone to waste into a healthy broth chockfull of Iron, Zinc, Calcium, Potassium, Phosphorus, and Magnesium. The broth will be full of flavor and perfect for warming yourself on a cold winter day.

Food Used: Orange, Rosemary
Reinvention Purpose: Memory and Mood Enhancing
EST. Cost of Reinvention: $2-$5*

A hint of one odor or a waft of another is enough to send anyone on a nostalgic journey down memory lane. Not knowing why, and with no other way to explain it than instinct, everyone is susceptible to falling under the spell of an aroma. And food can have very pungent aromas.

Aromatherapy ©Mladen Mitrinovic/Shutterstock.com

Find the food smells that bring your mood up the most and surround yourself with them when you’re feeling down. Oranges have been known to lift spirits, and lavender’s reputation is for helping people relax. Instead of lighting incense candles at your next therapy session, try the real thing. Peel a few oranges and breath in that citrusy goodness firsthand.

Food Used: Anything
Reinvention Purpose: To Spread A Message
EST. Cost of Reinvention: $5-$10*

From the macaroni pictures, kids make in grade school to the mashed potato sculptures that got them in trouble at the dinner table, people have been using food products to spread artistic messages their whole lives, and most of them don’t even realize they’ve been doing it.

Become The Next Picasso @marionb_photography /Unsplash.com

On the other hand, using their tastebuds and knowledge of food as their brush and the ingredients as their paint, professional chefs have made the art of food their lives. With one great picture and a well-captioned tweet, amateur chefs worldwide have become instant stars thanks to their phenomenal food presentation.

Food Used: Capsaicin
Reinvention Purpose: Pepper Spray
EST. Cost of Reinvention: Unknown

In a non-literal sense, now more than ever, the world is facing the reality of how quickly food can be weaponized. All it takes is the closure or blockade of a major port, and millions of people will inevitably be left without the food source they need.

Pepper Spray ©Bulgn/Shutterstock.com

On the flip side, if you want to get literal about things, capsaicin is the main ingredient in pepper spray. The very same pepper spray police officers use to subdue rowdy and uncooperative assailants. If you’re worried about home security, you can order some pepper spray from Amazon or pick some up the next time you’re at Target.

Food Used: Cheese, Hot Dogs, Pie
Reinvention Purpose: Competition
EST. Cost of Reinvention: Unknown

It’s hard to forget the first time you see someone eat a pie with their hands tied behind their back or a plate full of hotdogs in less than ten minutes. However, these are regular sights at state fairs, carnivals, and international eating competitions, and those who partake in them are considered to be athletes.

Sport ©a katz/Shutterstock.com

If you don’t think Joey Chestnut should be considered an athlete, think again. Eating 63 hot dogs in just ten minutes takes incredible focus and determination. If hot dog eating isn’t sporty enough for you, you can always check out the cheese-rolling competition in Gloucester—it’s much more physical.

Food Used: Eggs
Reinvention Purpose: Stimulate Hair Growth
EST. Cost of Reinvention: $5*

Have you noticed more hair than usual being washed down the shower drain lately? Has your full head of luscious hair become a shell of its former self? Believe it or not, cracking an egg on your head and letting the yolk drip down, the yolk drip down, the yolk drip down, can actually help revitalize your hair.

Hair Growth mirzamlk ©mirzamlk | andriano.cz/Shutterstock.com

Stop wasting money on the promise of hair growth and start your hair’s rebirth at home. For just $5, you can get a dozen individual treatments that are sure to scramble your previous way of thinking. When applied to the roots, the vitamins and minerals in eggs reduce unwanted shedding and split ends. Being an ‘egghead’ isn’t always a bad thing.

Food Used: Tomato Seeds
Reinvention Purpose: Gardening and Planting
CoEST. Cost of Reinvention: $2-$5*

Try as they might, not everyone has it in themselves to be a so-called ‘green thumb.’ There are some plants, like tomatoes, that are easier than others to grow. And those are the ones beginners should try their hand at. First and foremost, don’t waste money buying tomato seedlings. Remove the seeds from the tomatoes you’ve cut for the evening’s salad.

Gardening ©Tatiana_Pink | RMIKKA/Shutterstock.com

After drying and germinating the seeds, plant them in your garden to become tomato self-sufficient. Tomatoes are also excellent garden neighbors. Whichever veggie is lucky enough to grow next door will be privy to an influx of essential vitamins and minerals.

Food Used: Coconuts, Candy
Reinvention Purpose: Clothing
EST. Cost of Reinvention: $10-$15*

Food has been used for so many things over the years that it’s hard to keep up with them all—some much more memorable than others. Men and women alike have been known to use coconut shells as clothing at some point, but the warm-weather fruit isn’t the only food that has evolved into fashion ware.

Fashion ©luchschenF/Shutterstock.com

Children have worn and eaten candy string necklaces for decades. Rude people at bars have been wearing drinks on themselves for even longer. And kinky couples have dabbled in the world of edible lingerie.

Food Used: Guar gum, Xanthan Gum
Reinvention Purpose: Lubricant
EST. Cost of Reinvention: Unknown

Xanthan gum is a sugar-based thickening agent and emulsifier many people use while baking. Guar gum is a guar bean extract also used to stabilize and thicken recipes. Both gums come from very different origins but are used for the same purpose, and not just when it comes to food consumption.

Industrial Applications ©Asimm Graphics/Shutterstock.com

Guar and Xanthan gum aren’t as sticky as their chewing gum relative. In fact, the former gums are actually used to lubricate hydraulic rigs. Corn-based ethanol is used industrially to fuel vehicles, and of course, there is also Doc Brown’s use of banana peels and other food waste to help fuel his famous time traveling Delorean. 

Food Used: Banana Peel
Reinvention Purpose: Fashion
EST. Cost of Reinvention: N/A

Something is bound to go wrong when you need everything to go just right on that special day of yours. Fortunately, the rain subsided before you had to leave home, but that didn’t stop its residual effects from muddying up your freshly shined shoes. It’s a good thing you brought that banana along as a snack. 

Shine Shoes ©iva/Shutterstock.com

Use the inside of the banana peel as a shoe buffer to make your shoes shine like new. Simply rub the inner surface of the peel over the shoe. Then, using a soft cloth (preferably made of microfiber), call upon your inner shoeshiner and buff those spots away.