Don't throw food away challenge

WelshWoofer

The only throw aways in the past week have been 2 very brown bananas and a satsuma (a green one:eek:) - probably about 50p in total.
I'm going to try really hard this week to not chuck anything - have spent a bit mor ethan budgeted in the last few days so need to economise - I've kept the leftovers of last night's indian takeaway in a sealed box for lunch tomorrow.

Must plan for the week....

mizmir

Found a black banana which went out - 20p.

debbiedeejay

I just put a folded tea towel in the bottom drawer of the veg bit in my fridge - in fact I have not changed it since I put in a month ago:eek:

Might have to slink off in a mo to check the state of it.:o

Had to throw out a tin of chick peas yesterday - cost 33p.

Tried to do the snacky thing in the oven - placed the drained peas on a tray,grinded some spices etc over the top, into oven to cook/roast/dry out,whatever you call it - but I don't think I left them in long enough and I was going out so had to turn oven off and they didn't work for me, majority of them still soft -shame will give it a go another time though .

prepareathome

I know its been posted elsewhere on the forum but thought would post it here in case anyone has not seen it as so apt to this thread. How I wish I had access to a farmers waste......

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/nov/18/waste-food-feeds-5000-trafalgar

plsplshelpme

Well a week has gone by and I have managed NO waste don't know how but there it is! or isn't
am about to,make a veggie peeling stock and rubber chicken stew. Does anyone know a tasty cauliflower curry recipe please

PolkaDotsAndLace

I have half a cabbage to use up - OH keeps buying them for stirfries despite the fact we never use them in anything else. If I freeze it for a couple of weeks till the next stirfry do you think it'll be ok? Also not sure whether it's best to blanch or not, read conflicting advice. I can't really shoehorn it into my meal plan anywher, though will look again.

Apart from that, meal planning means there shouldn't really be any waste this week.

BohemianCoast

PolkaDotsAndLace wrote: »

I have half a cabbage to use up - OH keeps buying them for stirfries despite the fact we never use them in anything else. If I freeze it for a couple of weeks till the next stirfry do you think it'll be ok?

I have *five* different sorts of cabbage in the house this week due to a Shopping Error. (We had leftover cabbage because last week's cabbage was huge, a savoy for the ham hock soup, a chinese cabbage for stirfry, I'd forgotten there was cooked red cabbage in the freezer so got another, and DH bought me a Turkish cabbage 'because it looked interesting'). Normally I cook cabbage before I freeze it but it's generally fine.

Things we do with cabbage:

We make our own coleslaw with a mixture of cabbage, carrot, celeriac, a little mayo and greek yoghurt and it is fantastic.

Cabbage is essential to kim chi.

We shred it and add it to mash, sort of like the Belgian stoemp.

We add it to Spanish omelette which is very nice.

Most vegetable soup is seriously improved with cabbage, particularly minestrone or split pea.

Cabbage makes a very nice thoran (Keralan side dish).

mishmogs

Food waste was going ok (ie nothing since the yogurt incident) until I sniffed the remains of 2 pints of skimmed milk and boy was it about to turn so bunged it down the sink and as I watched it I wondered.... could I have done anything with it? Any suggestions?

also, I make my own bread and sometimes the brown variety with shedloads of seeds, seems to go off quicker than white and I struggle to know what I can do with it other than feed the birds which is good for them but bad for my no waste food challenge. Its not quite the same in B&B pudding can I do anything savoury with it?

Sent the OH shopping on Saturday and the boy did good, got what was on the list and only bought mince pies as an extra cos he thought I 'needed a break from baking' ahhhh bless but I didnt point out to him that he had bought me two jars of mincemeat the week before to make mince pies, I didnt have the heart to squash his enthusiasm. Oh well, will make a tart or pies next week

PixieDust

Wait until the milk has properly gone sour and then make soda bread

Guess what I did tonight? GUess, guess, guess!!! I made a hyooooge pizza. Made the dough by hand - I say, BY HAND! Then put it on to a big, oblong, perforated oven tray, and used some of the dough to build a low cross shaped "wall" (so think of an oblong with +) Then left it to rise, then squished the middles of each small oblong down (leaving the cross shaped wall, and a border of "wall") Then used the end of a tube of tom puree in each small oblong, finely diced (leftover half) onion and cheese. One oblong got a chopped up left over (very sad looking!!) pork chop from the other night. One got the leftover (small amount!) of chicken which was picked off the bones after we made stock yesterday. One got a chopped up slice of ham and half a sad looking tomato chopped up. The last oblong got chopped up pepperoni. All got another sprinkling of cheese and bunged in the oven.

We each had a quarter of each section with salad - it was pronounced an all round success And because it was made of proper bread, it was VERY filling!!!

icontinuetodream

PolkaDotsAndLace wrote: »

I have half a cabbage to use up - OH keeps buying them for stirfries despite the fact we never use them in anything else. If I freeze it for a couple of weeks till the next stirfry do you think it'll be ok? Also not sure whether it's best to blanch or not, read conflicting advice. I can't really shoehorn it into my meal plan anywher, though will look again.

Apart from that, meal planning means there shouldn't really be any waste this week.

Try this....

Braised Cabbage with Red Beans & Rice


2tbs olive oil
1 onion chopped
1 carrot chopped
½ green cabbage (or white!!)
1 litre veg stock
4oz arborio rice
1 tin drained kidney beans
salt & pepper to taste


Method

1. In a large stockpot, heat oil over medium low heat. Add onion and carrot, cook until softened (about 10 minutes)
2. Add cabbage and about ¼ of the stock, stir to combine. Cover and cook on med-low heat for 20 minutes, stirring a few times
3. Add remaining stock and bring to a boil over high heat
4. Add rice, salt and pepper. Reduce heat to med-low and cook for 15-20 mins until rice is tender
5. Add beans and cook, uncovered for approx 5 mins until heated through – stir occasionally.