Don't throw food away challenge

WelshWoofer

I think I'm getting the hang of this - have decided to do sausage, mash, peas and gravy for tea and to do some extra mash to make a cheese and potato pie for tea tomorrow - get me!

Just bought a load of fruit from the cheap local greengrocers for the week instead of getting bags of fruit from the supermarket - only bought a pomegranate, 3 bananas, 2 apples, 2 tomatoes, 2 punnets of raspberries and 4 satsumas - I should use up all of that by myself and not throw anything away. Its cheaper and I can just pick up what I actually need instead of bags of stuff that just gets thrown away.

fuddle

The new fruit delivery arrives today so looked in the fruit basket. We have a banana, 2 little pears and and apple left so the children or I will have banana snack, I'll make a quick crumble with the rest, just put it in a couple of ramekins and pop in the oven when it's on later.

No breakfast left overs but concerned that the bread needs eating today.

Also a lot of onions that have been in the cupboard for quite a while now. Going to make them into an onion chutney.

Thanks for the birdy info. You could mix the bread in a with lard and seeds too, leave to set into a bird cake.

Flat_Eric

I threw away a yogurt yesterday (29p) and two grapefruits (one pink, one yellow (chopped up and sat in fridge for nearly a week) say 85p.

as a postscript to my previous post, I've now remembered there were some nectarines that went in the bin as well as some quorn. I know I have some oven chips in the freezer that will be going in the bin. They are co$tcutter own brand steak cut chips and they are the worst chips I have ever tasted.... Oh and there was the ham that was left - 1 and a bit slices that had gone off....

The items listed above and the items listed in my previous post probably add up to the proverbial tenner.

I'm being kind to myself though and starting the challenge from the date this thread was started (i.e for anything bought after the start of the challenge) so my total is still zero.

I have used up mushrooms today in my pasta quiche as well as some ham which I could have saved for tea tonight but decided to stick in the quiche instead as I suspect i shall have breaded chicken tonight.

I'm terrible with mushrooms. My OH doesn't eat them so its just me. I don't buy them that often but when I do, I tend to eat only a few and then leave them until they are not fit for anything but the bin.

The lettuce I bought last week ended up in the bin. This week, its all chopped up and I've had some in my pasta salad this lunchtime, the rest I shall enjoy tomorrow lunchtime / add salad to evening meals.

The purple carrots I bought on a whim are simmering on the hob with one and a half packs of coriander - one pack was on its last legs but I saved it and in the soup its gone ! I'm terrible for buying obscure fruit/veg items with no real plan on what to do with it. It sits in the fridge for days on end before spoiling and having to be put in the bin.

Planning on making home made chips for tea using up the potatoes that I've had for a few weeks - will probably make chip, pepper and egg bake - have pepper chopped up meant for snacking the other day that I never got round to eating and have plenty more peppers to use.

Also plan to meal plan before the week is out. I'm off Monday so might do this then. No home delivery shop until I've planned my menus/meals for the whole month !

debbiedeejay

Hello please may I join in too?:wave:

This is a brilliant challenge - well done Squeeky for setting it up.

I am better at keeping food waste down than I used to be ,I can tell as I don't ever fill my council bin up with food waste even with it being emptied every fortnight but there is always room for improvement.

Not sure if I can give a figure for the month - just a running total I think to start with.

Unfortunately I don't have a garden as such,more of a commual yard with neighbours so no compost heaps for veggie peelings. Like the idea of using them as stock though so will give it a try - just realised I threw a huge amount out yesterday as I made 5lbs of veg hash for the freezer - am not though going to alarm the neighbours just yet by yanking the peelings out of bin though.

Wonder if I could use them to make home made doggie food? have thought about making some for my woofer - unfortunately he is more fussy than the kids,turns his nose up at most things other dogs would jump at! -bizarre really.

Must admit potato peelings in my house are always seen as the "prize" to whom whoever helps me cook - except am a bit naughty and deep fry them quickly,shake and serve witha bit of seasoning -mmmm rustic crisps we call them.Might have to try the more healthy way and bake them instead

Well good luck to all this month - should be an interesting one this:)

hex2

Fruit peel marmalade:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2598725

Candied peel:

http://shirleygoode.blogspot.com/2011/01/spreading-load.html

Flat Eric - you can freeze mushrooms, only fit for use in casseroles but still better than chucking them.

My biggest 'problem' is that our local milkman does an enormous F&V box for £13, more than worth it for the bits we do use but i hate wasting the other bits . Every week this includes a swede. I have yet to find an edible recipe for it, and usually end up boiling it up with the rest of the peel for mash for the hens.

Love the tub in the freezer for peel stock idea.

I also have four weeks worth of wrinkled plums to use - maybe make chutney with that. Three weeks of celery and the dog end of blue cheese, two of parsnip and two of leeks. Batches of soup for the freezer. Lots of cooking apples in need of stewing.

Love crusts of bread, big treat with butter and jam or maple flavoured syrup.

Biggest problem is doing too much rice/pasta. Need to do a check on portion sizes again and stick to them.

Count me in - no more than £1 a week, and even that is too much. Cleaning out the pantry today, months and months out of date maple flavoured cereal, so bad it couldnt even be masked by twinks. Sometimes you are just throwing away good ingredients to mask bad products so a justifiable feed to the hens. Shame about the dregs of a pot of cream, and value soft cheese though. they could have gone into cauli cheese yesterday.

Kitchenbunny

Thanks for the link to the candied peel - I had put some rinds into the freezer a while ago and had forgotten which site had the how-to on it. I shall definitely do that for Christmas, I think, and make my Christmas Cake with the resultant peel! I had 2 end slices of bread that had gone really stale but not yet green and fuzzy so I've cut them into chunks, drizzled them with oil and have spread them on a bit of foil. They're currently in the oven which is cooling down after I baked some cookies in there so I'm using up both the residual heat and the leftover bread to make croutons! We'll have them with soup on Wednesday as they'll keep just fine in a lock and lock til then.

Hex2 - this recipe looks lovely for plum chutney. If you make it, let us know how it turns out as it sounds just the thing.
Debbiedeejay - welcome.

KB xx

fuddle

debbiedeejay wrote: »

Must admit potato peelings in my house are always seen as the "prize" to whom whoever helps me cook - except am a bit naughty and deep fry them quickly,shake and serve witha bit of seasoning -mmmm rustic crisps we call them.

Oh, I like this idea, thanks. So simple but I have not thought of it before

hex2 wrote: »

Fruit peel marmalade:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2598725

Candied peel:

http://shirleygoode.blogspot.com/2011/01/spreading-load.html


My biggest 'problem' is that our local milkman does an enormous F&V box for £13, more than worth it for the bits we do use but i hate wasting the other bits . Every week this includes a swede. I have yet to find an edible recipe for it, and usually end up boiling it up with the rest of the peel for mash for the hens.

I remember reading something on OS about tasty results microwaving suede.... I think Can anyone help me out with this one?

Thanks for the peel marmalade, I will definitely be browsing that thread

JIL

The microwaving a swede was on a thread that has since been deleted.
I remember a lot of posters had tried it and it worked really well. On the Sunday evening there were a number of posters all with positive results me included.
Basically you just cook the whole swede in the microwave just the same as you would do a jacket potato. You just !!!!! the skin and microwave it till its cooked, the skin peels away really easily and you mash the flesh with butter, salt pepper (to your preference really).
hope it helps

TrixieB

I do mine in the microwave, stand it whole on a microwaveable plate and just blitz for about 20 mins on high, then 5 mins at a time if more is needed - the dish it's on needs a flippin good soak though be warned as all the sugars start to caramelise as they leech out.

hex2

I microwave the swede and feed it to the hens once it has cooled

Kitchenbunny - the james martin chutney looks nice and simple thanks, will save that one for next month when I stockpile again. I was inspired after my post to get off my backside and go and make my mums plum chutney as I have all the ingredients (scaled down from 3lb plums), and it got rid of one of the cooking apple mountain too. Cooking in the background now - awful but nostalgic smell.

2lb plums
10oz cooking apple
small onion

Chop it all up nice and small. Add 2/3 pint of pickling vinegar, teaspoon salt and 12 oz raisins. Mix together, cook till thick (up to 4 hours :eek:) and then jar it up - should make c4lb. Leave for 8 weeks before eating.

Am experimenting by adding some HG chillis that need using as well. I will chop and freeze the rest as they are not nice enough for chilli jam.