Herbs are a great way to elevate your cooking, but recipes often call for only a few leaves. Use this hack to save your herbs, and hopefully, you'll never have to buy more.
The scoop
Maria (@mariameetsmaria) is a TikToker who posts about being a parent, as well as recipes and home and garden tips. In one TikTok, she shows us "how to get an infinite supply from your store-bought mint." The process of saving your mint could not be more simple. In the clip, Maria goes through the steps to "buy mint from the grocery store once and never buy it again."
@mariameetsmaria Leftover store bought mint? Propagate it and never buy mint again #fyp #memphis #mint #savemoney #budget #savemoneytips #CapCut #budgeting #moneysavingtips #gardentok #garden #gardening ♬ original sound - Maria
First, select a stem or two from your mint package and remove the bottom leaves. Next, place these stems in some water until the roots grow.
The final step is to put your newly rooted mint into a planter. Maria says, "Never plant your mint in a garden bed unless you want your entire garden to be mint." TCD has covered many mint-based nightmare tales such as this one, so pay heed to that advice. She also jokes that she is planting her mint alongside her peppermint, "Because I low-key want them to fight to the death."
How it's helping
Propagating mint and other herbs like basil or rosemary is a great way to up your kitchen game while saving money and time at the grocery store. Having herbs in your garden or a window planter means you won't have to buy these ingredients next time you need them. Plus, having green plants at home is great for your health. Just looking at plants can decrease your stress.
In addition to these personal benefits, tips like this can help reduce waste. You will likely not throw away any more rotting herbs and can avoid the plastic container that most herbs are sold in. Single-use plastics are a huge problem for our planet. The Natural Resources Defense Council wrote that "we produce 300 million tons of plastic each year worldwide, half of which is for single-use items."
Working to reduce our waste is a great way to support the health of the planet. Advocacy on plastic and single-use plastic issues has led to several states banning plastic bags and other single-use items.
What everyone's saying
Commenters loved this hack and the humorous delivery.
One person joked, "Watch the mint create a hybrid."
While someone else chimed in, "Mint fighting to the death. That made me laugh."
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