18. Dec, 2020

Christmas Waste 2: Reducing Christmas Food Waste

In the first blog of this series, I gave details of the quantities of food wasted at Christmas. In this blog I give some information on reducing the waste. As always, the advice is avoid waste by only buying what you can eat. This entry finishes with a suggestion that you look at using a Bokashi system to ferment  cooked food  so that it can be composted safely. You can also use Council kerbside food waste  collections where they are offered.

 TURKEY The equivalent of  263,000 turkeys are wasted  yet leftover  turkey can be used it in any recipe which calls for leftover chicken.

If you cannot eat it freeze it. Post Brexit   with possible delays when we take back control at our ports and docks it may  be good to have  some  cooked meat in the freezer. Simply wrap it and  label it. Check out the New Zealand site  https://lovefoodhatewaste.co.nz/8-ways-with-leftover-turkey/ for a change or

BRUSSELS SPROUTS   It can be hard to resist special offers in December and you must (?) have sprouts at dinner even if 17.2 million Brussels sprouts  will be wasted.  They can be composted but are best eaten Bubble and squeak is quick, easy way of using left over sprouts, remaining roast spuds, and various veg, serve up with pickles

 https://www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/article/bubble-and-squeak

 

 CARROTS 11.9 million carrots are wasted at Christmas. I assume by people who do not like bubble and  squeak. OK this year let us go for something different.  Fermented Carrots.  Fermenting is a good way to make vegetables last longer  All you need for this  recipe is salt to make the  brine and  water. It will give the kids something to do:

  https://www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/recipe/fermented-carrots%206

 ROAST POTATO It is estimated that 11.3 million roast potatoes are wasted at Christmas. BBC Good Food have  plenty of ideas to use up leftover mash or roasties. If you do not use them all in the bubble and squeak,  they can be served them in tasty pies, soups, tortillas and fish cakes, or a classic hash. https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/collection/leftover-potato-recipes

CHRISTMAS CAKE If you have not made your cake  yet, there’s still time! Check out this recipe   www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/recipe/last-minute-christmas-cake.

At the end of the holiday when the  relatives have gone, and you are back in your bubble  the Christmas cake is still going strong! Check use-by dates on shop bought ones, but homemade Christmas cakes can keep for a good couple of months. Simply keep it in an airtight container. Or check out the recipes at https://easyfood.ie/recipe/5-ways-with-leftover-christmas-cake/

Love Food Hate Waste Christmas pages have lots of recipes and information go to  https://www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/search?search_api_views_fulltext=christmas

Bokashi your food waste

Why not buy a  pair of Bokashi bins for Christmas? These will deal with all types of food waste, that others say cannot be composted, by converting it into a pickled pre-composted that can then be buried or added to a normal compost bin without attracting rats!  The photo shows waste in a Bokashi bin

Low cost  Bokashi bins can be obtained from Getcomposting.com and a range of other suppliers. Details of using the bins can be seen at  http://www.carryoncomposting.com/416920212