Another week of our zero food waste challenge

Filed in Blog by on October 21, 2008 8 Comments
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Apple crimbleYesterday passed by with no food waste again. In the morning, Mr Green and I did a little shopping, but we spent about twenty pounds, which is nothing like we usually spend. So with monetary savings as well as compost and landfill reduction, we’re still inspired to do another week of our food challenge. We want to keep all our good habits in place and add some more, such as getting into better menu planning routines and digging things out of the freezer.

Today I’m going to make and freeze some apple crumbles. I bought some foil dishes with lids; the kind you get Chinese takeaways in. Each one should hold enough for two hungry people. I also have some vinegar with sugar dissolved in it – about half a pint. I prepared some for the chutney over the weekend, but didn’t need it all. I have about 4 oz of green tomatoes; all the other ones ripened off, so I’ll make a couple of small jars of green tomato chutney with the vinegar.

In case you’re wondering what the photo is today, it is officially known as Apple Crimble (according to me that is). It’s a rather indulgent pudding of a layer of stewed apple, topped with oats, butter and a little wholemeal flour, topped with custard, topped with a layer of whipped cream and dusted with cocoa powder. So it’s a kind of crumble / triffle – hence the name. I told you I had something decadent in mind last week. It bought forth silence from my two, which is a sure-fired ‘twelve out of twelve’………..

I’ve just taken stock of the fridge and we have the following to use up within the next couple of days:

remaining couple of tablespoons of a batch of dahl (that stuff just grows in the fridge – we’ve eaten some every day and it’s lasted over a week LOL!)
4 sausages
a couple tablespoons of gravy
1/2 bag salad
1/2 bag watercress
Grated rind of an orange (Little Miss Green wanted orange juice and I couldn’t bring myself to throw away the peel without grating it first <sigh>)
1 pint goats milk
1 tbsp grated onion (will be used in the green tomato chutney)
2 tbsp chicken casserole
1/2 tub cream
2 lemons
1 banana

For using up this week I have:

1 cooked jacket potato
1 bag kale
A tree full of apples that need sorting for either storage or preserving
batch of tomato topping for bruschetta

We’re at home all day, so I will be able to get through quite a lot of the bits and pieces in the fridge.

It will be sausages for one meal with salad or gravy and fried jacket potato slices. I’ll make the chutney, Little Miss Green has asked me to make a carrot cake, so that will take care of the orange rind. LMG can have the chicken casserole on toast for tea and Mr Green can have the dahl and tomatoey, bruschetta thingy on toast. (I’m always confused as to which bit the bruchetta is – I think it is the toasted bread, but I’m never too sure). That will be nice and easy and will use up more of the salad too.

There will be no problem using up the milk, as Little Miss Green is craving rice pudding and custard at the moment; it must be the cooler autumn days. And while I have the oven on for carrot cake, I’ll make some batches of lemon shortbread – I might make stars and angels and keep them for Christmas presents. Shortbread seems to last forever; it makes a great zero waste baking experience and a traditional present for people that is always well received.

I have to say, I’m really enjoying this new challenge and I’m looking forward to the time when it is no longer viewed as a ‘challenge’ but more a way of life. 🙂

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About the Author ()

I am a long time supporter of the Green and Sustainable lifestyle. After being caught in the Boscastle floods in 2004, our family begun a journey to respect and promote the importance of Earth's fragile ecosystem, that focussed on reducing waste. Inspired by the beauty and resourcefulness of this wonderful planet, I have published numerous magazine articles on green issues and the author of four books.

Comments (8)

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  1. LOL – I think LMG and I must be related…now that Autumn is here I just love rice pudding, apple crumble and custard. But it means I’ll need to get out jogging ;-D x

  2. maisie says:

    Well Done on this and the baking ideas.

    And as it is National Baking Week http://www.nationalbakingweek.com

    this all fits very aptly.

  3. Kris says:

    Lemon shortbread sounds a great idea – I can’t remember if I’ve tried making shortbread before.

    We had an unmitigated disaster last night 🙁

    I had small tuna steaks earmarked for tea but hadn’t gone any further in planning what to do with them, and when it came to it I was a bit fidgety about the usual options (eg new potatoes). I sort of fancied rice but didn’t have any, so instead went on a creative streak with pasta bows, packet mix sauce made up with milk (not something I’m good at…) tinned tomato and various vegs. I knew as soon as I dished it up that the proportions were all wrong and there was lots of pasta and it was barely glazed with an almost tasteless sauce leaving the accompanying veg and tuna looking quite lost. S gamely ate his portion, despite not being a big pasta fan at the best of times whereas in the end I’m ashamed to say I picked everything out of the tasteless pasta stodge halfway through.

    (And just to add insult to injury… I later discovered a gorgeous looking packet of luxury cous-cous type grains in the cupboard – how much nicer that would have been with the tuna and the same veg just stir-fried in the tomatoes!)

    I suspect this is the downside of having a very late phase of more adventurous cooking – occasionally you make something inedible!

  4. Di Hickman says:

    Had my first casualty yesterday. Due to being sick at the weekend I didn;t use the broccoli, went to use it last night and it was past it’s prime (furry). I use it to make broccoli/cheese bake and I am going to try making it and freezing it.

  5. Hmm, Christmas baking – my kids have plans to make our own sausages, gingerbread biscuits and assorted other home made/home grown gifts to put in a hamper/basket for Granny and Granddad.

    Wish me luck!

  6. Mrs Green says:

    Hi Mrs A; it certainly sounds as if you might be related there. Interesting too, as LMG DOES go out for a job every day – up to the church and back. So cute!

    Maisie that you for telling us about national baking week. You’ll see I wrote about it after reading your comment. I totally missed that one!

    Kris, a wonderful, fail-safe shortbread recipe is the Delia Smith one, which you can Google. Sorry about the disasterous meal LOL! I think there was something in the air, as several of us suffered mishaps. Still, we live and learn. I put too much lemon juice in the stewed apple the other day and Mr Green couldn’t eat it 🙁

    Do, I hope you are feeling better now? And the broccoli got it in the neck. No time to be ill you see?! 😉

    Sarah, the hamper sounds wonderful. We usually give foodie presents from LMG – always sweet treats though such as shortbread and something that is well received is cranberry and white chocolate cookies. I think you’ll have great fun. Making your own sausages? That sounds amazing; I wouldn’t know where to start……….

  7. Make your own sausages:
    http://www.channel4.com/food/recipes/chefs/hugh-fearnley-whittingstall/pork-sausages-recipe_p_1.html
    We watched him in River Cottage Autumn making some and DS now wants to try.

  8. zero says:

    😀 should be fun Sarah – let us know how it goes and thanks for the link.

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