Don't throw food away challenge

mizmir

Thanks Squeaky. Good point about portion size. We do still tend to cook too much for two - which is fine with things like stew where the leftovers can be frozen or kept for lunches (which we do) - more problematic with things like stirfry - so need to get better at that. The things that end up in the dogs are more like bits of fat or gristle, and the odd bit spoon of mash - things where there is not enough for another portion or where they are not good to eat anyway - and rind off things etc. I think my rule about waste will be - could we have eaten that or done something more with it? If so it is wasted. If not then it is better in the dog (or composter) than in landfill! And am already picking up ideas for what to do with things....

BohemianCoast

OK update. I threw out four red onions yesterday; we got about 16 for a quid on the market so it's not *so* bad, but there were flies. 25p. I also slung the green bits from the spring onions yesterday and I know I should have saved them for the next stew or soup. So I'm going to count that as 10p. I'm not eating the pumpkin flesh because I've found them so rubbish in the past, and I'm not counting it as waste; it's a craft project. However, we toasted the seeds and they were *lovely*. And my Tintin pumpkin was awesome. Ahem. Anyway, that means I'm up to £2.07 even before November starts. This thread is such an eye opener.

For people who can't raise the energy for stock, try Barbara Kafka's recipe for microwave chicken stock: shove carcass in a big pyrex bowl, pour boiling water over to cover, cover with a double layer of cling film, bung in micro on high for 30 mins. Leave to cool then strain as normal. It's cloudy, and it's not as nice as a proper slow stock, but it's still a whole lot better than a stock cube.

prepareathome

Dorothea, call me Dotty - thanks for that about the banana, its now peeled, sliced and in a bag in the freezer.

Still have half a pomegranate lurking in the fridge and looking a bit dry and the sheeps' cheese, so mould on it now - so can it be used for Marconi cheese, if so will do that for tonight's dinner.

Found some lemons in the salad crisper in fridge use by date over two weeks ago but they seem fine so can I squeeze them and freeze the juice ( fruit I never both about use by dates, just go by how they look, smell, feel

Thanks I totally admit would have thrown all the above out without another thought in past and wonder why I spent so much on food yet never have enough

squeaky

[post=463363]lemon curd[/post] by Glad - thank you Glad

I make this quite often - and yesterday made a switch and used an orange instead of a lemon. Today I had to make some MORE!!!

prepareathome

Oh wonderful, guess who will be making lemon curd today, love it but its so dear to buy, mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Sublime_2

Ha, still eating HM chilli, 3rd day after making it, but kept well chilled (cooked in SC). Got the rest frozen, and will nuke thoroughly in the oven, before eating on a jacket potato, for a change.

I love making huge batches of food, to last, or freeze down. I can happily eat the same thing for a few days, if tasty. Will def want something different tomorrow though!

squeaky

lemon curd gets expensive as home made anyway.... far too yummy to survive for long

Bear in mind that most supermarkets wax their lemons to give them a longer shelf life. (My local asda sells waxed and unwaxed). If it doesn't state clearly that they are unwaxed it's safer to assume that they are waxed. I dump mine in boiling water for a minute or so, stab them with a fork and quickly (and CAREFULLY) wipe them dry with kitchen towel. HOT.

PixieDust

Morning! Just going to jump in on this thread if that's ok....as of today I am unemployed so we have only hubby's money coming in (not much!!!)

So, to food......I went through the pantry the other day (honestly, I could not WAIT to re-claim it as my domain, it was in a horribly disorganised state!!!) and checkeddates, stock-checked, cleaned shelves etc. Found three tins which were precariously close to their dates so I challenged myself to use them asap. I guess they're not much of a challenge....but I usually do NO cooking (and have not done much of it in my life tbh. I can cook, but it takes me aaaaaageeeeessssssssss.....I think maybe my Aspergers means I approach things differently to "most people" ...either way, I find it a lot of effort!!!

So....tin of curry sauce (only 3 out of 4 of us will eat curry), tin of cannellini beans (nobody likes them, really) and a tin of evaporated milk (bought by mistake - was supposed to be condensed milk)

Half of the cannellini beans were pulverised in passata and added to a turkey spag-bol (with my new best friend the gravy browning....disguises a multitude of sins ). Now, DD doesn't like mince at the best of times, she doesn't like the texture. She said, "Dad....you're sacked - I really like this sauce" result Nobody seemed to notice the slightly nutty taste, and because I bulked out with oats I hve another tub full in the freezer for another day

The other half of the beans are currently in a saucepan marinading in the curry sauce. Later I will fry off some onions and chicken (or pigeon, not sure which meat Himself got out of the freezer for me!!!!) and put it together for three of us with rice. DS will have the same meat and onions but kept separate and heated with peppers and...ummmm.....whatever else I can find <ahem> and have a chinese-esque dinner with his rice.

Had to resort to a chat to Mum for the evap milk. Between us we decided that I'd throw a couple of fruit crumbles together using fruit we bottled ages ago, and then use the evap milk to make the Bird's custard to go with it.

ha *chuffed with self*

edited - I kind of missed the point there a bit - eek! ok, hubby would have chucked the stuff out.....so we've potentially saved...I dunno....50p for the curry (??), 61p for the evaporated milk and 43p for the cannellini beans - £1.54 Plus I used up two jars of stewed fruit that REALLY needed eating

[Deleted User]

Just a very quick post, as i am sooo up to my eyes in mess(kitchen refurb). Sorry if this has already been posted. There is a method of composting called bokashi, which is Japanese, whereby you can compost anything, including cooked food, meat, raw meat, anything of organic origin, this is a quick link, but there is tons of info out there http://www.bokashicomposting.com/

squeaky

Pinched for a link in the first post thanks