Food Waste reduction Ideas

Pakoras

Bread Pudding

Did you know that food waste is responsible for around 8 percent of global carbon emissions? Roughly a third of the world's food is never eaten. Interventions can reduce loss and waste, as food moves from farm to fork, thereby reducing overall demand. There are obvious benefits such as the money we save, but there are some other, less obvious health benefits too...

Here are my go-to's...many of you probably do these too, but in case you don't... read on.

Share big dishes or short life dishes: I make coleslaw, to share with my neighbour as I can never use a whole cabbage and it has to be used up in a few days. In return, she makes soup or hummus for me. During lockdown, we made curries and delivered them to each other. It has become quite a tradition.

Meal Planning and Online Shopping: Plan your meals for the week before you write your shopping list – including breakfasts and lunches – then shop online to make sure you can get all the ingredients you need. You can delete items you don't need, change plans to allow for any items out of stock, save money and reduce food waste.

Freeze meat and fish on the day of purchase: Unless you're going to use it that day. That way, you won't forget about it til after the use by date.

Dinner Parties: Everyone makes a course and keep it small.

Freeze leftovers: – and warm up in the microwave.
Recent recent scientific studies have found that carbohydrates provide better nutrition if frozen or chilled and reheated – Check out the BBC Podcast Just one thing episode: Reheat Pasta .In this fascinating short radio documentary, The late, great Dr Michael Moseley explains thatcooking, cooling, and reheating starchy foods such as Bread, pasta, rice, or potatoes changes their structure intoresistant starch. This will then act more like fibre, feeding the good bacteria in your gut and causing a smaller blood sugar surge, protecting against gut issues and has even been found to significantly reduce the risk of digestive tract cancers by over 50%!

Slice Bagels, hot cross buns, teacakes etc. and freeze them. Toast these straight from the freezer on a slightly longer setting. Keeping them in the freezer means less waste.

Keep Bread in the fridge / freezer: Bread is one of the most wasted foods on the planet, and, like the pasta above, it's actually healthier for you if frozen (Resistant starch) You could make sandwiches on a weekend and freeze them for the week / fortnight.

Make Pakoras / rissoles: When I have a load of veggies I can't use up, sometimes soup isn't the best option. With plenty of onion as a base plus lots of flour and water, loads of curry powder, a bit of Chilli, cayenne salt, pepper and veg bouillon (plus eggs – unless you're vegan) Mix it all up to make a batter with finely chopped or grated veggies (peppers, celery, grated carrots or potatoes, broccoli, almost anything) and shallow fry spoonfuls of the mixture into very hot oil to make a batch of "pakoras" Pakora nerds – I know these aren't authentic don't judge me! My super secret ingredient is "Methi" or dried fenugreek in the mix and a bit of Ghee in the oil. (non – vegans only)
Fry one and taste it first, then you adjust the seasoning.

We have these pakoras in flatbreads / pitta with some salad and a bit of Mayo or Raita, it's a family favourite.
If you don't like the spice – just make the batter without the spices and use vegetable bouillon or a crushed veg stock cube or 2, fry the rissoles and enjoy!

Leftover's day -can be a fun and eclectic meal – you can really mix it up with a bit of curry, a bowl of Bolognese and a stir fry = Tapas – eco – style

Dreadful Red wine: – Make Glühwein / Mulled wine: Instead of throwing away that awful bottle of red plonk that you couldn't use in the spag bol or the beef / lamb stew, make a mulled wine with it. The sugar and spices hide the dreadfulness of the wine – and why should mulled wine only be for Christmas?

Stale bread:

1. Make Bread pudding – go online – there are loads of fabulous bread pudding recipes out there. My favourite is Old Orleans Bread pudding which we have instead of Christmas pud its less rich and every bit as tasty set on fire with a slug of brandy and a huge dollop of Chantilly cream on the side mmmm. Hungry yet? (sorry Wolfgang)

2. Make French toast: (Bread soaked in seasoned whisked egg and fried. This simple dish is much nicer made with stale – ish bread as the bread soaks up the egg mixture more readily.

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