Cooking up the stock

It is amazing how delicious stock made from vegetable peelings can be! It is so easy and costs hardly anything at all to make.  I can't believe we've only just realised.

We've been cooking up our chicken carcasses for many years, usually adding a bit of onion or leek and some herbs to the pot. In an effort to reduce food waste and get more from our food generally we started to add bits of vegetable peel, carrot tops, the trimmings from leeks etc, which featured in my book, 101 Ways to Live Cleaner and Greener for Free. This makes a most delicious stock which we use as a base for making soups and risotto, both of which are great ways of making a cheap meal and using up leftovers as you can put anything in them really. (It's Tip 6 on page 23!)

But then we didn't have chicken for a while.  Gradually the stock in our tiny freezer diminished but the desire / need / longing for lovely warming home-made soup didn't.  That's when Mr Pitt had the idea of trying just the vegetable peel.

So out came an old ice cream tub and all week long we gathered up all the off cuts and peel from every meal we made. In went the carrot ends, the onion peel, potato peel, the floppy green ends off the leeks. A couple of apple cores went in and some orange peel and then into the stock pot to get boiled up just like we'd do with our chicken carcass, but without the chicken.

The vegetable peel stock in progress.

It works!  The ice cream tub is now fully and permanently employed. We've been collecting all our vegetable peelings, keeping them in the ice cream tub in the fridge so we can have a regular boil up even without the meat.

The compost heap doesn't seem to mind.  The peelings get there eventually, but we get more value from them first.

Bon appetit!

Risotto made with vegetable peel stock.

 I think the people at Part-time Carnivore, Come Veg With Me and Love Food Hate Waste,  will like love this, but I wonder what Nigella and Jamie would say?

The Swishing Challenge

I've set myself a little challenge this year.

I'm not going to buy any new clothes for the whole of 2013!

Do you fancy joining me?

We can't all do it, because we need someone to keep at least the more ethical parts of our clothing industry afloat, but if you want to take up a challenge, be kind to the environment and save money too, then here's the plan... For the whole of 2013 I will not purchase any new item of clothing. At the same time I'm going to consider what's in my wardrobe and what I actually wear. I am going to select two items every month and take them to one of my local charity shops.

So does that mean no new clothes at all? No 'new' clothes.  That's right.  But clothes that are 'new to me' are allowed. For specific occasions I'm opting for second hand or "preloved" items. The thing about preloved fashion is that someone loved it enough once to buy it and loved it enough to pass it on when they no longer had use for it. So all it needs is for someone to love it again. I like that!

It's funny how when you make a decision like this, things happen that fit perfectly into your plan.  They were probably happening already, but you weren't attuned to them and so they passed you by un-noticed.

I was walking down Watling Street in Towcester and a red dress caught my eye in the window of a shop.  I didn't allow myself to pay it too much attention because I'm not buying new clothes, remember!  But as I walked back past on the other side of the street the name of the shop caught my eye and I just had to go in. "Re:Love".

From the outside the shop, looked like an exclusive boutique, inside was a very warm welcome from Jackie and Caroline and some very inclusive prices.  This is just the sort of shop I love, somewhere you can find that piece that's a bit different, something that is really you rather than just this year's latest fashion, that everyone is wearing.

An old favourite I hadn't worn
for a while is feeling loved again!

So the first part of the challenge is going well so far.  I've managed two months and bought no clothes at all.

Down-sizing my wardrobe, is going to be a struggle, because I'm a natural hoarder.  I've heard all that stuff before - if you haven't worn it for a year then you should let it go.  But I often like to dig out an old favourite that's been lying long lost at the forgotten end of my wardrobe.

The thing is though, I do love a challenge.  So now it is set, I'm determined.



Despite my in-built reluctance to part with things,  I picked out two dresses in January that I haven't worn for a long time.

  They are ''occasion' dresses.  I've worn them both at weddings.  But I thought that next time I have an 'occasion'  I have newer favourites that are likely to be chosen over these two, or I might find something that is 'new to me'.



For February's charity shop offering, firstly I've picked a shirt I love the style of, but know it is not my best colour!

Secondly, here's a skirt I adore, but have only ever been able to wear it with a safety pin at the waist.  I have heard lots of people say they keep clothes that are just a bit too small.  I heard someone the other day refer to 'incentive jeans'.  But keeping something that is too big? Silly me!  I hope someone else finds it, fits it and loves it for me soon.

The Food Waste Scandal

It is good to see that the horrendous amount of food that we waste is a hot topic in the press this week. This is something that we have to act on to keep the conversation going until we actually do something about reducing the appalling waste that is a global concern. It is hitting the headlines because of a new study by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. They say "it is estimated that 30–50% (or 1.2–2 billion tonnes) of all food produced never reaches a human stomach. Furthermore, this figure does not reflect the fact that large amounts of land, energy, fertilisers and water have also been lost in the production of foodstuffs which simply end up as waste. This level of wastage is a tragedy that cannot continue if we are to succeed in the challenge of sustainably meeting our future food demands."

When I was researching my book about reducing waste, 101 Ways to Live Cleaner and Greener for Free,  I read Tristram Stuart's Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal.  Reading Stuart's book and writing the Reducing Food Waste section of my book, made me realise how much food we waste in my family, even though we have long tried not to.

 I'd carefully store leftovers in the fridge so as not to waste, only to forget about them.  'Why throw it away now when you can put it in the fridge and throw it away on Thursday?' was a common family joke. But in writing some of the shocking figures about food waste that you can find in my book and will be hearing in the news this week, we became only too aware that we could do a lot better.

So, we started our 'Waste Not' campaign.

Plan you meals
First of all, we went back to planning our meals, like I used to when the children were little. In planning (see Tip 3 from 101 Ways...), I'd always make sure I included something that either cooked from frozen or from store cupboard ingredients as we'd often find we'd all be out on occasions.

Portion Control
Secondly, we made an effort to portion control.  You don't need to cut up and cook a whole head of broccoli and/or cauliflower for a family meal for 6 people.  I know roughly who eats what in our family so I started cutting a set number of florets for each person - and that's often only one of each..  That way we had some left for in the week or we'd use the rest the next week.  We cut down on the amount of meat we bought for a joint.  We'd long had a habit of cooking enough for unexpected guests.  But in fact, you can always do a bit more veg from the store cupboard if you do have extras.  We managed to get the portions under control.  My husband said, 'Oh dear, I didn't cook enough' the first few times it all got eaten in one sitting.  But we just kept reminding ourselves that we were reducing waste.

Do You Need to Peel?
We also made sure we wasted as little of what we were preparing as possible. So, if carrots didn't need peeling, we didn't peel them.  If they did need peeling, we'd put the peelings and the ends in the stock pot to boil up for soups (see Tip 6).  We'd cook up the outer leaves of the cauliflower instead of having cabbage. And we always eat the stalk of the broccoli raw.  Just peel off the outer bit, which tends to be woody, and cut into strips.  Taste it for yourself! It is delicious and nutritious.

Leftovers for Lunch
I started checking the freezer for small portions of frozen leftovers that I could have for lunch while I was at home writing, instead of always making a sandwich.

Bag a Bargain
When we were shopping for something to eat on the day, we started to check the reduced items in supermarkets, .  Not only did we feel we were reducing food waste, we were bagging a bargain at the same time.

Finish Up What's in the Freezer
So for 2013, we are going to keep up the good work. Money is tight this month - it took a five month break from work to sit down and write my book! - so we have decided to use up the stocks in the freezer as well as continuing to reduce waste and squeeze every ounce of goodness out of any food we buy.  That way we will be able to let our finances recover as well as making sure we don't end up with stuff that's been in the freezer for five years that we no longer fancy using.

So, January is going to be the month for 'Wait and See Pie', 'Surprise Stew' and 'I'll Decide What's for Tea When I've Defrosted It'.

So far, we've had turkey curry and turkey, bacon and leek in white wine sauce. And it wasn't even this year's turkey - our portion control is now so good we used up all the turkey within 3 days, except for a bit of stock we froze for soup.

The turkey curry was an adaptation of Hugh Fearnley-Wittingstall's chicken curry recipe from  The River Cottage Family Cookbook and the turkey, bacon and leek dish was made using a béchamel sauce.

Tonight's delight will be Jamie Oliver's Prawns with Chilli, Parsley, Ginger and Garlic on Toast (Happy Days with the Naked Chef - remember that one?) as I found two packets of prawns at the back of the freezer from when we'd bought them on BOGOF probably! Bon appetit!

Christmas Shopping in the Bag

So, the book is finished and available on Kindle.  The paperback is on its way to the printers, but is out of my hands at the moment.  That can only mean one thing...

Yes, I have to accept that it is nearly Christmas!

And that means ... Christmas shopping, planning the social calendar with family and friends, buying Christmas cards, deciding what to eat... and opening the door to Harry Potter's bedroom to find all the stuff I stashed from last Christmas.

Some people (like my lovely sister) have amazing abilities with tissue paper and curling ribbon, but I'm not one of them. So having arrived home from my shopping trip to Bath Christmas Market, where I managed to find lovely local foodie Christmas presents for all the family (hope they aren't reading this blog), I then wondered how I was going to manage to wrap up these goodies.  I can't deny the smug grin that crossed my face when I got down my pile of accumulated gift bags that gets stashed at the top of the cupboard under the stairs (Harry Potter's bedroom) each year.  I have more than enough bags in all shapes and sizes to sort out this year's Christmas wrap.

If you didn't do it last year, don't miss out this year.  Grab those discarded gift bags, ribbons, bows etc and you will save yourself time and money next year, as well as doing your little bit towards a greener Christmas. If, like me,  you did store away a stash of stuff from last Christmas, join me in allowing that smug smile to lighten up the Christmas countdown. There are advantages to being 'green'!

Blackberry Crumble

Throughout this month I have been doing a lot of research about food waste for my forthcoming book.  I was horrified to discover that in the UK we waste 8 million tonnes of food and drink every year. That's a huge carbon footprint for absolutely no need!

Reading about food waste and its carbon footprint has certainly focussed my attention on trying not to waste food myself.  Any food waste I do have goes to my compost bin or my wormery and will then get used to grow future years' vegetables and for potting up my non-hardy plants to over winter them in my conservatory which has really just become a green house.

We will always have food waste, because even if we use our banana skins to fertilise our roses, it is still food waste.  I can't imagine we are ever going to eat our banana skins and I don't imagine we will eat our tea leaves and coffee grains either.  But much of our 8 million tonnes of annual food waste is thought to be avoidable.  That is, we are wasting food that we could have eaten.

I have actually bought very little since thinking so much about food waste.  My weekly shop is now tiny.  That is partly because I have a few vegetables in the garden but also because I am making sure I use up everything I buy.  A couple of weeks ago I bought two chicken breasts from the butcher's - proper whole chicken breasts - not the trimmed pre-packed ones we see in supermarkets.  I made a casserole with them which provided one main meal and then I used up the remaining casserole liquid as a pasta sauce and used the chicken in a sandwich, then in risotto and then boiled up the bones with some leek trimmings and onion peel to make stock for soup.  I'll admit that when my grandma asked me to stay for lunch and share the cooked chicken she had asked me to buy from the supermarket I had to suppress the 'Oh no, not chicken again' thought.  But it did make me realise that I had probably been buying and wasting far too much food.

Now I am buying much less and so I have much more chance of making sure that I use every scrap of food I buy.  But I also realised how much food there was around me that was going for free - just in my garden.

I have often joked that my best vegetable crop is nettles, but I rarely use them in cooking, though I did make a batch of mini quiches with some nettles I pulled up from around a row of carrots and they were delicious.  But all in all I have always thought that there is a lot more in my garden that might be edible and so  I decided to invest in a little help in the form of Richard Mabey's Collins Gem book, 'Food For Free'

I had no idea that you could eat so many leaves and berries, that fat hen can be cooked and used like spinach and that mallow leaves can be deep fried into crisps!

My experimentation is yet to start.  I haven't exactly been adventurous with my harvesting this weekend. Yesterday I combined a bit of gardening with some blackberry picking, so now I'm off to make a crumble.  But, the carrot peel and other vegetable trimmings from this evening's roast dinner are in the stock pot awaiting the chicken carcass and I'm planning to use the resulting stock to make some nettle soup and next weekend I'm going to try out Richard Mabey's recipe for 'Autumn Pudding'.

Olympics get my green gold

Yesterday I had an amazing day at the London 2012 Olympics and aside from the fantastic atmosphere, lovely location, inspiring sporting achievements going on all around, I'd also give the event a gold medal for green thinking .

There are things you can't take in.  It is pretty similar to getting on a plane.  You need to make sure you don't have things like nail scissors, pen knives, aerosols in your bag or pockets because you have to part with these at the security. I'd really like to know what will be done with all the stuff that gets handed over in their 'zero to landfill' ideal.

Also, like on a plane you can't take in liquids. But, you can take in your own empty drinks bottle, which once inside you can refill with water from the various fountains. Worth it when soft drinks are £2.30 and beers £4.30.

I did take in my own sandwiches for lunch but planned to eat from the various food stalls on offer in the evening.  I was impressed that the food  I bought was served in compostable packaging and there were bins for this compostable packaging, for any food waste and for recyclables.

View over the Park Live area at the Olympic Park
 with the Velodrome in the background

The recycling bins at the airport security style entrance.

Wild flowers were a big feature of the landscaping

Here's the link on the London 2012 website to read more about how this Olympic Games is making efforts to have sustainability at its heart. http://www.london2012.com/about-us/sustainability/

I hope it will inspire other events and festivals to think green.

Ten Green Bottles and One Clear One

I was alarmed to read the other day that the average UK household uses around 330 bottles and jars a year. Alarmed, yes, because I'm sure I can get through that many in a month!

I was reading about glass recycling in the UK, and was not surprised, given the UK's (and my own) liking for wine that Britain generates a surplus of green glass cullet (the broken down glass that is then formed into new bottles) but has a shortage of clear glass required by the British food and drinks industry.

The next time I walked into my kitchen I noticed my ever growing hoard of empty glass jars.  You know, the ones you keep just in case you feel like making blackberry jam next September.  I'm going to try to cut down on my hoarding habit and admit to myself that yet again I probably won't make time to make jam.

But the other thing that struck me about this issue is that the increasing popularity of Pinot Grigio (comes in clear glass bottles) must be a blessing for the UK glass industry! Nice to think I'm doing my bit for the planet.

Cheers!