Don't Throw Food Away Challenge 2012

Wellyboots6

Noooo!

Just found my fridge pastry wearing a furry tracksuit. Into the bin it goes I am going to count that as a £1 throw-away as I did get alot of use out of the rest of the batch I made, and also have alot of flour etc left over.

Possession

katy721 wrote: »

Thanks Mags, just put it in now!

Can I freeze a Christmas cake? I made 2 and have only just finished eating the first one. The second hasnt even been iced yet! It is full of booze so no furry bits just yet...

Presuming its an uncut fruit cake, no need to freeze it, it will keep for ages. In fact if you ice it and wrap it well it should still be good for xmas this year.

Wellyboots6

Thanks Possession.
I cant ice it yet as I have no ingredients until shopping day. I will wrap it well though and keep hold of it until I get the bits together to ice it.
Would mince pies freeze? Mum keeps turning up with boxes of them and I really dont think I can face another mince pie for a good while!

Gleek

Finally got chance to have a quiet morning in the kitchen and get things sorted Christmas food wise. 2010 we were really good and lost a lot of weight... 2011 was an evil year where we had no time to even stop and breathe and relied on a lot of convinience food like sandwiches, crisps, prepared meals etc (though thankfully not takeaways!) for pure quickness. Towards the end of the year when it calmed down I got chance to batch cook finally again so from November onwards we did well... and then it was Christmas

Now have 2 chest freezers, one full of batchcooked meals and the other full of stuff to batch cook up when I get chance/room (£1 a bag quorn mince/chicken pieces atm at Asda, great for our weightloss again ) so can't wait to get cracking.

This morning I've binned £4.12 of food as it was out of date or had gone off. From February I'm hoping to have it down to less than a fiver full stop as we'll be back to being really really good if it kills me!

I have however used up 2kg of bananas through making two milkshakes & making and gifting/freezing three lots of banana bread , banana flapjacks and a banaanananana sponge. Have used up a full pack of eggs, four limes, four satsumas and three lemons in making three lots of drizzle cakes too.

Oh and six apples and the last of the oats in making two apple crumbles.

ScarletRaven

katy721 wrote: »

Also, I just found some root ginger, quite a lot of! I made a mistake with an online A order and ended up being delivered a huuuuge amount of ginger! Any ideas??

Mags_cat wrote: »

Ginger freezes - and you can grate it from frozen. I always keep mine in the freezer

Indeed, I chop mine up prior to going in the freezer and keep it in a little bag, then when I'm cooking I just take it out the bag by the spoonful

Rachel021967

Please may I join. I find the greatest food waste in our house is our 2 fussy, younger daughters refusing to eat what is given. If I cooked pigs in blanket, mash and beans, or a roast chicken dinner minus veg there would be far less waste. Anybody have any ideas?
The second largest waste is food been ignored or somehow crawling up and dying in the recesses of the fridge. This I can do something about by being more organised. So I am going to concentrate on what I can control and set my target of £12.

sashanut

Hi all:j

Very interested in this challenge - I normally don't tend to throw much away but had a family party before Christmas, then was away for a few days, then Christmas was just the 3 of us. On Boxing Day DD21 went away for 2 weeks, and DH has been ill for the past 2 weeks as well - though doesn't seem to have affected his appetite TOOO much LOL. So what with all the party food LO & not many bodies, it has been more wasteful than per normal.

Inspired by the thread I have been out to the shed & checked what was in the first of our 2 chest freezers - it was so full the lid was wedged open & thick ice had formed round it:eek::eek::eek: Trouble is since the freezers were broken into - twice - DH is paranoid about locking them up & I can't be faffed to undo them, it's such a palaver!!

Anyhow, have done first one & now will find time to do second one later this week sometime.

Today made LO half a roast butternut squash + scrawny leek & onion plus a bit curry paste & made a spicy soup. DH had LO porkpie & mushy peas:eek:. For tea will have LO pasta/sausage as a bake & include some veg & perhaps a cheese sauce, DH will have garlic bread from half a bake at home baguette plus some HM garlic butter (gar granules & mixed herbs).

I made a cake for this family party & then didn't serve it as I was not happy with it. I'm angry though as it is a kugelhopf-type cake - one with a hole in the middle - & I used quite a few expensive ingredients such as pecan nuts. It is supposed to be a plain cake with a layer of this nutty mixture IYSWIM, but sadly it didn't cook properly. I wondered if I could hot it up & use it as a pudding, with custard or something. Then today I looked at it - wrapped in clingfilm and it seems to be a bit mouldy on one side. Do you think it would be OK, I just hate to waste it all?? Or any other ideas most welcome - tkyou!!

Mumof2_2

Mumof2 wrote: »

How long does lamb keep in the fridge? I did a joint on Thursday and there's still some left - can't use it today but will it be alright to keep a bit longer? Also got some pesto with a date of 5.1 on it - how long over can that go? Thanks, sorry to be a numpty

Any ideas please?

Oscar_the_Pug

Hi Mum of 2 - I'm not a meat eater, but would have thought cooked lamb would safely last more than 3 days since cooking - I'd probably not leave it past next Thursday, but a few more days should be ok. Would it be suitable for sandwiches tonight/tomorrow?

I'd also feel quite confident about the pesto - it tends to go furry if it's off, so if it's not furry I'd say it's ok. Most of them only have a few ingredients - basil, oil, cheese and pinenuts - and none of them are notorious for giving tummy upsets.

Ches

I personally wouldn't ice the Christmas cake until just before you need it as there is a likelihood that the the icing will discolour. Best to wrap it well (tin foil) either as it is or marzipaned.