Love Food Hate Waste 2020

Nick_C

JIL wrote: »

A bit like tinned?

I think fresh packed in plastic is more environmentally friendly that tinned, and tastes better. Although tinned will last much longer.

newlywed

I now keep the tops and tails of veg in the freezer for stock, although this time instead of draining it I might just blitz it and then have less waste!

I saw a new tip for broccoli and keeping it fresh. Slice a thin slice off the bottom and put in a jar of water like flowers. I can confirm I have one in the fridge and it is yet to go yellow at all (when it usually would have by now!)

[Deleted User]

excellent tip well done newlywed ,I may try that when next I buy some broccoli.
YorksLass I too use lard in pastry and if Trex is on offer I sometimes get that ,
I knocked up some sausage rolls today for nibble for tonights charity quiz night we all bring along nibbles and shar them out on the table,I also made some cheese and onion ones for my veggie friend I always top the rolls with grated cheese and a grating of black pepper and they all seem to vanish pretty quickly

I knock up a trifle today for Dd for tomorrow's pudding as my contribution to dinner I usually make the pud and she provides dinner for me every Sunday
Last nights left over mash was quite a bit so I portioned two lots up for during the week and its in the freezer. the left over steamed cabbage,cauli and carrots are in a container as well ready for Monday nights dinner in the fridge .So all I will have to actually cooke is a large chicken thigh from the freezer with some streaky bacon wrapped around it and popped into my Remoska and the rest of my dinner will just be zapped in the microwave Using up left overs is really good and costs pennies and far better than chucking it out .

Onwards and upwards chums .Nice to see some great ideas for using up the Christmas cheese. The last mince pies are going with the sausage rolls tonight

Cheers everyone

JackieO xx

VfM4meplse

I am sorry to say that I am going to have to throw an unopened pot of hummus away. I should have used it up but somehow it got missed and its BBE was 16/12/2019. It would have gone in my freezer if I'd had any space at the time, but since then its just sat quietly at the back of the fridge

The saving grace was that it was YS at 5p, but I'd rather waste that 5p than risk a nasty gastric infection.

YorksLass

newlywed wrote: »

I saw a new tip for broccoli and keeping it fresh. Slice a thin slice off the bottom and put in a jar of water like flowers. I can confirm I have one in the fridge and it is yet to go yellow at all (when it usually would have by now!)

I do this too and have never wasted broccoli since! It also works with spring onions (leave the roots on though so they can take up the water).

One of my Christmas gifts was a chilli and coriander grow pack and today I've potted up the seeds. They are now on my kitchen window ledge, along with trays of mustard and cress. I'm hoping to get a good crop from the chilli plants as I find them quite expensive for what they are.

The freezer drawers have had a tidy up today; no extra space noticeable but at least now I know where everything is! I've also made a list of all the "bits" in there and have it pinned to the fridge door; I'll be doing my best to incorporate these odds and ends into the meal plan.

VfM4meplse: Bad luck with the hummus but, as you say, better to bin rather than end up with a dicky tummy.

Pineapple. Mmm, the one fruit I can't stand. Fresh, tinned, frozen - it's awful (to me anyway ) I even have to pick it out of a tin of fruit salad!

candygirl

JACKIEO, my mate's cat was called TREX!I'll leave you to work that out :rotfl:

princesskitty29

I found your thread last year and avidly read from start to finish and I have to say it has completely changed the way I approach food. Thank you to all of you for the inspiration, tips and ideas. There were so many bits and bobs that I would usually throw away but now use. Sometimes I feel a bit silly because I think why didn’t I think about it? But in some ways perhaps that is a generational thing too as being a child of the 80’s I have definitely been brought up in a time of convenience and in, sadly, a very throwaway society. So my cooking habits changed towards the end of last year and this year I’d like to live a simpler life with a ‘make do and mend’ attitude.

Every week we now have a ‘use up’ soup that has things like broccoli stalks and wilting lettuce in thanks to this thread. I tend to jazz them up with herbs and spices and I now also use parmesan rinds, on the odd occasion we have one I’ll chuck it in the soup whilst it’s cooking and dig it out before serving and it imparts so much flavour – that would have gone in the bin before! In the past when I’ve needed juice from a lemon I would have used just that, now I make sure I zest it first and for example the other day I had some and made lemon and blackberry muffins. I also had a wrinkly nectarine in my fruit bowl, I normally would have chucked that out but I chopped it up, stewed it down and had it with some yoghurt. Recently I made a recipe from a book, ‘broccoli pesto pasta’ that none of us were keen on and I had a portion left over, so a couple of days later I whizzed up a tin of tomatoes, added some stock and the pasta and it made a much more palatable soup. There are so many ways in which I’ve used food up since reading your thread, I can’t remember them all and I don’t want to bore you to tears but thanks again for the inspiration.

One tip I read in a magazine recently was if you have a jar of Marmite that’s practically empty and you’re struggling to scrape any out, save it for when you’re making a casserole or stew, just pour some hot water in swish it around a bit and pour it into the stew or casserole. Something I would never have thought about!

For years now I have had a freezer inventory and meal planned which helps, I’ve just recently done an inventory of my food cupboard and listed the items in order of use by date on a spreadsheet so when I’m meal planning I’ll look on there to see what needs using up first. Our parents make DH and I food hampers for Christmas so we tend to get things we don’t use from day to day so it’s handy have the spreadsheet.

I don’t always have the time to post but I’m definitely going to read this thread and pop in when I can, I’m already changing and coming up with my own ideas of how to use things up which is brilliant and I’m looking forward to reading everyone’s ways of using food up for the year ahead.

bouicca21

Ideas, please. I have half a pot of Lidl’s fake caviar and half or more of a tub of cream cheese left over from making canapes Not going to have an occasion for canapes in the near future. What should I be making with them?

Mummy2cheekymonkeys

Not sure about the caviar but an idea for the cream cheese would be these https://www.spendwithpennies.com/cream-cheese-brownies/

Mummy2cheekymonkeys

I have about 7 jars of spicy apple and medlar chutney in the cupboard that I made over a year ago. It tastes very much like curry. I really like it with cold cuts but its taking forever to use as you only need such a small amount so last night I decided that for something different I would smother it all over a whole chicken and roast it. It came out really well and then I made up a batch of Bombay potatoes which were actually nicer then anything ive had from a takeaway! We had a friend round for dinner and the whole thing for the 3 of us only cost about £4.50 plus there is chicken left over for us today. Much cheaper then a takeaway!!