Don't Throw Food Away Challenge 2012

Mrs_Veg_Plot

Using some left over turkey (that I have frozen) to make a turkey curry for tea tonight. Have some slightly out of date poppadums in the cupboard (will crisp them up in the oven if they have gome a bit soft. Will chop up a soft tomato with some onion and cucumber as one of the dips with the starter,

I am enjoying this challenge.

Mrs VP

pixiedust09

Hi folks, I have a whole lump of brie cheese that went out of date yesterday, does anyone have any ideas what I can do with it?

homealone_2

my son has been having salads all week for lunch to use all the leftover bits from the fridge from christmas. this morning however he has found a packet 300g so quite a lot of smoked salmon that has not even been opened, he still eating some form a larger pack. this pack has not been opened and has a date of 2nd jan. it says on back can be frozen on day of purchase and to then use within the month. i am loathe to throw it away as have already thrown at least £8 of food this week that was forgotten among the deluge of christmas fayre. what can i do with it or is it destined for bin?

squeaky

pixiedust09 wrote: »

Hi folks, I have a whole lump of brie cheese that went out of date yesterday, does anyone have any ideas what I can do with it?

Just use it the way you would if it wasn't out of date. One or two days on cheese isn't going to matter.

Lots of ideas available here... Brie. need some recipe ideas

Catmom

Ive had a pretty good start to this challenge, I was previously a nightmare for chucking stuff away :eek:
So far this week, Ive been unable to resurrect (and therefore had to throw away) 3 leaves from a fresh growing salad plant that was bought on Xmas Eve, and had been shoved to the back of the fridge, and then today I had to lay to rest some crust off a pizza OH cooked last night - he had overcooked it so much it was hard to identify what the toppings were supposed to be:o
So, salad leaves, original spend £1, 10p for loss. Pizza also £1, amount wasted was about a 12th of the whole thing but Im rubbish at maths:rotfl:
so Im going for 10p on that as well.
20p for the week - I cant BEGIN to tell you how happy I am with that!:money:
OH is going to take some convincing though, he was giving me very strange looks when I refused his offer to make me lunch as I was having LO basmati rice (from Thurs supper) with curry sauce made from Asda Chip-Shop style granules. Blimmin lovely it was as well: the "old me" would have just chucked the rice out after supper on Thurs.
Heck, this is FUN :j

wannabee_in_credit

Well I'm pleased to report that I used the remaining half bag of stir fry veg in a shepherd's pie today.
Also used some seen-better-days-apples and leftover pastry to make apple pie.
And my bananas went into banana loaf before they went properly black.
All of those things would have been binned in the days before I joined this challenge.
I'm taking a load to my sister's tomorrow - she's just had a baby and needs a bit of support in other ways apart from fluffing over the baby.

Firemunchkin

homealone wrote: »

my son has been having salads all week for lunch to use all the leftover bits from the fridge from christmas. this morning however he has found a packet 300g so quite a lot of smoked salmon that has not even been opened, he still eating some form a larger pack. this pack has not been opened and has a date of 2nd jan. it says on back can be frozen on day of purchase and to then use within the month. i am loathe to throw it away as have already thrown at least £8 of food this week that was forgotten among the deluge of christmas fayre. what can i do with it or is it destined for bin?

I don't pay attention to the 'freeze on day of purchase' notice. Basically, if it's still smelling and looking ok (fish will tell you by smell if it's not ok I find) then it's ok to freeze, and it will probably last longer than a month in the freezer too. I'd suggest portioning it before you freeze it so it's easier to reuse. Or you could cook it in a large seafood pie and then freeze leftover portions of the pie.

Firemunchkin

Have had my first chuck out of the month so far

The OH chucked some leftover lunch, a few bits of cabbage and mash so I'd estimate about 15p for that. Also, bits of toast totalling approx 1 slice that the cat licked when I wasn't looking - so another approx 10p (slice cost, plus marg and marmite). So, total 25p so far.

Otherwise, my plans to reuse stuff up and not throw away is going ok:

The soured cream turned out to be just fine (even though it's a week past the use by date, and I've not dropped dead yet) - but there's still a spoonful left and I'm determined to not chuck it. Think I'm going to stir it through some pesto and spread over a chicken breast before baking it. Thoughts?

The frozen tortillas worked out fine too - but still have one left. It's a brown tortilla and it's a little hard so I wouldn't use it as a tortilla wrap again but am struggling for ideas on what to do with it. I don't think it will work as crumbs either. Any ideas?! It's in the fridge for the moment but probably need to come up with an idea by tomorrow otherwise it will be so hard I could write on it.

I've got some sliced peppers, tomatoes and onions from last night's fajitas leftover too but I'll probably try and make a spag bol or something and shove that in.

Didn't eat the chicken & chorizo empanada today as was out with friends, but pretty sure I'll eat it tomorrow (still a week over the date but smell ok!)

Firemunchkin

wannabee_in_credit wrote: »

And my bananas went into banana loaf before they went properly black.

I'm taking a load to my sister's tomorrow - she's just had a baby and needs a bit of support in other ways apart from fluffing over the baby.

Black bananas make the BEST ingredient for banana fruit cake!!! The blacker they are, the sweeter they are. If you put bananas in the fridge, the skin goes blacker quicker but the inside is still perfect, but even if the inside is properly mushy its great for baking with. Also consider freezing mashed up black bananas in an old margarine tub - easily defrostable for a bake-up!

Love what you're doing for your sister - I do this for friends who have had babies, I think it's traditional to do but it's also really kind, good on you! :j

wannabee_in_credit

Thanks Firemunchkin - I just remember how it is when you have a baby and everyone is there, wanting a cuddle, or to take them out for you but nobody ever washes your dishes or makes your dinner (and it's her birthday next week so she needs a little rest).
As for your leftover tortilla, why don't you do a burrito type thing with it? Stuff it with your leftover fajita stuff and some meat. Then cover it in a tomato based sauce, bit of grated cheese and bake. You could serve it with the sour cream you have left.