The Box (2)

 

When I buy a Waste Not box I consider myself honour bound to Waste Nothing!  So, here's what happened to the contents of the box,.

First to disappear was the grapes.  I couldn't be bothered to cook on Saturday evening so I had a cheese and tomato roll and about half the grapes.  I grazed on the rest during Sunday.

I roasted the most of the carrots, having some with my Sunday lunch and saving the rest to eat with salads.  I've saved a couple for making coleslaw during the week.

I also roasted half the peppers (again for eating cold) and saved the rest to have raw with salads or put them into a stir fry.

I had a few tomatoes in the fridge so I sorted through and roasted the softer ones and made a tomato puree which will become soup.  It's in the freezer now.

The apples are in the fruit bowl.

The potatoes have (mostly) been set aside for baking - a baked potato with cheese is one of my favourite evening meals.  I roasted a couple with my Sunday lunch.

Sunday is a PeakSave day so I get half price electricity.  I took full advantage and cooked the peppers, carrots and tomatoes when I cooked my Sunday lunch.  

The Box

 

I love getting a "Waste not" box from Lidl.  These boxes of joy contain vegetables which are at their sell-by date, or the bags have split or are damaged in in some way .  

This morning, for £2 I got

500 g pointed sweet peppers (paprika)

5000g carrots

750g cherry tomatoes

2 apples

500g grapes

1750g potatoes.

I had to sling a couple of tomatoes and I cut sections off a couple of carrots but everything you see here is useable.  Not bad for £2.

Many people are unwilling to take these but I enjoy the challenge of using everything - I waste not

Cottage cheese

 If there was one everyday item which I used to waste a lot, it was milk.  I know this isn't a problem for most people but in a household of one person who doesn't eat breakfast cereal and drinks her coffee black, it can be difficult.  

I buy UHT milk to use for tea/coffee when guests call unexpectedly.   If I know guests are coming I buy pasteurised milk.  The UHT stuff comes in one litre containers but I can buy just a pint of pasteurised and sometimes even less.  I can manage to use up the remains of a pint but a litre is a lot of milk!

So I make cottage cheese.  Heat the milk to just below boiling point, add a generous squeeze of lemon juice and stir.  The milk will curdle.  (IT IS NOT THE SAME AS LEAVING MILK TO GO OFF!   DO NOT DO THAT!)  Leave it to cool a little then strain it.  I use muslin inside my sieve.  Leave it until all the whey (a colourless liquid) has drained off then put the cheese to chill in a dish in the fridge. The whey can be used in baking.

It does not have the same texture as a commercially produced cottage cheese but it has more flavour.  You may want to add salt.

Small saving

Pasta doesn't take long to cook, but did you know that if you soak it, it will cook even quicker?  Just put dry pasta to soak in water for an hour or two before boiling. It will then only need a couple of minutes of cooking time, because it’s absorbed the water it needs, and only has to heat through.

I find that I can then put it into the pan with the sauce I am making (maybe just chopped tomatoes, pepper and onions) and heat both together.  That way I've saved both time and money.