Monday 31 March 2014

The Round-Up for the No Waste Food Challenge March

It has been a wonderful month. It's good that the weather now is straightly heading for the warmer and more pleasantly type. Whatsoever, it was a wonderful month, because so many lovely entries poured in for the No Waste Food Challenge - really inspiring.
I am really glad that Elizabeth's gave me the opportunity to host the challenge for March.
Thank you to everyone, who joined in this month. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did ... at least. To many more months of not wasting food.

Right, I reckon we should start with the round-up now and get some more ideas. Let us travel through the posts as the month kept progressing ...

Quite early in the month Choclette from the Chocolate Log Blog had some Almond Mincemeat Slices for us.



So, do you think when you have some leftover chocolate mincemeat in the freezer, this is something for you? Think harder, at least the frangipane top totally intrigued me.

Next up is Alida from My Little Italian Kichen. Well, I don't know if I am allowed to say this, but she has some gorgeous little nibbles for us. There were some olives lurking in the fridge, so Alida had to do some Quick olive nibbles with puff pastry.


olives in puff pastry

Isn't that lovely? Sure, you can make them also, if you have puff pastry lurking in your fridge ...

For the next post you might need to familiarize yourself with the term 'brownie detox' in connection with 'addiction'. Kate, the Gluten Free Alchemist, brings us Chocolate-Banana-Coconut Brownies. Several cheeky over-ripe bananas were brewing trouble.



Kate opens her post with a question, I couldn't find an answer to: 'Who can resist brownies?' Hm ... eh ... let's have a very very close look at that picture  and let us do a quick mini survey: Can you resist those brownies?

After you have finished pondering over this fundamental question, I like to take you back in time on my very own blog ... let's say about two years back. It was very close to my beginning of blogging. I did some risotto burgers from leftover risotto.



I just wanted to share it once more, because I liked it so much.

For all those, who thought we are doing a sweet and savoury alternating kind of round-up, I have to disappoint you, we stay savoury. But down blame me, blame Anne from Anne's Kitchen. Oh, sorry, that wasn't nice to be said, especially since Anne has such a lovely looking and delicious dish for us: Honey and Mustard Sausage Casserole. Hey, you see, there is something sweet in this savoury dish, too.



Apart from that, the dish offers so much more: stray leftover potatoes, kidney beans and some rather tired celery.

Did I tell you already that the bananas in Kate's, the The Gluten Free Alchemist, kitchen were looking for trouble? Yes, I did. Instead of going bananas because of that, Kate did come up with a more delicious plan: Coco-Banana Freeze Bites.



Now you even might to want to encourage your bananas to go over-ripe.

I still believe that Janice from Farmersgirl Kitchen was tempted to serve Slow-Cooked Pulled Chipotle Brisket. I can't really prove it though. You can check it later for yourself. Although Janice did refrain from using green food colouring, there still were leftovers from that brisket. Good, it freezes nicely. However, Janice also made a lovely Leftover Chipotle Brisket Curry for us.



You see? There is something green ... oh, that are peas ... fine.

From something green to something red and to saving tomatoes. Manjiri from Sliceofme has something comforting and homely for us: Tomato and Lentil Soupy Broth.


1-IMG_6582 (Copy)

Check it out and you know that you want something of it. Do you feel it already?

In case there are no tomatoes nearby to be saved, there might still be the possibility you need to save some children or even grown-ups from starving. Ness from Jibber Jabber UK has the perfect solution for it: Pasta. No, not any kind of pasta, but Hotdog pasta.


Hotdog pasta - www.jibberjabberuk.co.uk

Right, I have to mention there are some beautiful vegetables like carrots and green peppers as well.

Speaking of veggies and children, Louisa over at EatYourVeg was having a photoshoot with her children and ... lots of veggies. In fact, quite a heap of veggies. This called for a Photoshoot Soup or rather a Butternut Squash and Red Pepper Soup.


Eat Your Veg | Butternut Squash & Red Pepper Soup

As we got your mind working here, we conclude: lot's of veggies will do a lovely soup, so you eat a lot of veggies.

Actually I have an idea right now, that is not due to my own brain. What would you think of having some lovely croutons in that soup? I'd think it be lovely. So, why not try then Tina's Sourdough Red Pepper Croutons. Read all about it on her blog: the Worktop.



That's something lovely for leftover bread. At least it worked out perfectly for me, when I tried it this month. The croutons are great in a salad or ... hey, don't judge me ... even as nibbles.

Now to something completely different. For this we follow Jane to her blog Onions and Paper. For sure you are aware of having a plan in life. Even if you don't have an overall universal plan for your life, it's at least good to plan a few things. Jane gives us a great plan for Eating Cheep-ly - five days, no waste. It's a great post and I am sure you will get some fine ideas. That might even lead to not wasting something that you wouldn't have thought of as wasting something when you simple throw it away. Do you get me? Maybe you do, if you read the post. I even tried something of it myself already after reading it.

While you might later head over to search for what I was referring to, we now head over to Corina and Searching for Spice. There we'll find some yummy Beef Noodle Soup.


Beef Noodle Soup

You don't have to cook the exact same soup. It all depends on the kind of vegetables you have left over and whether you want to tread the same dangerous way as Corina did. It was a battle between being economical and being tempted to eat more.

Let us see then, whether Siobhan - we know her better as Vohn - will be able to tempt you with her "everything but the kitchen sink" Meatloaf. When you have a closer look at the post on Vohn's Vittles, you will see that there was quite a list of things Vohn wanted to use up creatively. Among those things were chicken livers, beef mince, pork sausagemeat, pancetta, ground pistachios and breadcrumbs


Sliced meatloaf and herbs

You can already see, where this will lead to. That meatloaf will not be finished in one sitting, but ... see for yourself ...

I don't know how you feel by now, but I need something sweet again. I reckon a cake would do the job perfectly. Good that Ness from Jibber Jabber UK has a Microwave upside down pineapple cake for us.


Microwave upside pineapple cake

When you have some pineapple slices left at home you can go for it, too. You know, those package sizes in shops can be tricky sometimes.

I hope that satisfied your craving for something sweet as we continue with my post about three uses for tomato sauce. Let me just mention one very simple and totally yummy one ...



... this Four-cheese Pizza. For the other two uses, you have to check it out yourself.

Of course I could have mentioned, that the two other uses involve pasta, but then again we are going to focus on pasta anyway with Katharine from Leeks and Limoni. It's going to be Spring Vegetable Pasta Gratin. Already the name of the post makes me happy, because of the Spring part.


Pasta al gratin primavera

Then the obvious use of cheese mad me even happier. Definitely a great way to deal with odd vegetables lurking in the bottom of your fridge.

For the next dish there have to be other items lurking somewhere. To be more precisely, it will be plantain. You can read all about it at Chef Mireille's East West Realm. Mireille has some Ghanian Street Food for us: Tatale.


Ghana Tatale

I had plantains a few times already, even in more authentic environments instead of my home, but I have to say, so far I like this dish the most judging by the looks and the recipe.

When we move over to EatYourVeg again, we don't want to talk about authentic shapes, but rather original shapes. Louisa got inventive with bringing us Salmon Fishcake Stars. The kids love it.


Eat Your Veg | Baked Salmon Stars

Have a guess then what leftover-something you could use in those lovely looking fishcakes? Well ... mashed potatoes

Are you happy now? Oh, some seem to be quite difficult to please when it comes to that. Chase no further, but rather try Quinoa Rice Pudding with Saffron from Spicy, Quirky and Serendipitous.



Here you go with some lovely pudding using leftover rice and quinoa and ... always remember ... the little things are what brings you happiness.

Among those little things are of course also muffins. Therefore it is only fitting that we go on with Camilla from ... eh (be careful, I said this wrong before) ... Fab Food 4 All. Camilla has some scrumptious Blueberry, Banana and White Chocolate Muffins for us.


Mothers Day, Mothering Sunday, healthy, cupcakes, fruit

Really great, Camilla had some blueberries in her freezer and even better ... they didn't have freezer burn. So, have a muffin or two or ... if you want more, make your own.

On the other hand, you might like some more pasta. Pravina from Indo Global Food has a dish for us: Vegetable Penne Pasta.


Penne Pasta with Vegetables

A good way to use up some vegetables lurking around somewhere.

Yes, indeed, so many lovely dishes we had this month. Thank you once more to all, who had a share. Can you imagine what would have happened had we all been into wasting food? I don't want to ...



Hang on as the No Waste Food Challenge goes on. In this very April the quest will continue over at Jibber Jabber UK. I am sure Ness will be happy, too, when you flood her with all your lovely and delicious ideas ...

16 comments:

  1. Gosh what a lot of delicious things to do with leftovers. Great w\right up Chris, really enjoyed reading it and there might be one or two things I'd quite like to make too ;-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Choclette. Now I have here a powerful bookmark so to speak. There are indeed a few things I have to come back to.

      Delete
  2. Great round up post! Happy to hear that you tried to sourdough red pepper croutons!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Tina. It was lovely, but ... for me they work also dangerously good as snacks as I said.

      Delete
  3. Love this round up Chris - full of laughs and delights! Lots to bookmark here! Vohn x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you very much, Vohn. Somehow, I was hoping to hear that from someone. So your comment makes me very happy.

      Delete
  4. Replies
    1. ... I would say so, too. Everyone did a really good job.

      Delete
  5. What a fab bunch of recipes and great ways to use up all those ingredients! I sort of wish I had some chocolate mincemeat lurking somewhere!!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ah, that is so true. At times life can really be tough, but the time will come, when we have chocolate mincemeat lurking somewhere.

      Delete
  6. I never knew you were quite so funny Chris - stand up awaits me thinks! Great round-up, look forward to your next show:-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for that, Camilla. However, I am not so sure, whether I will be able to maintain that for all my shows.

      Delete
  7. We keep hearing about the amount of food that gets wasted but looking at all these fab ideas it's hard to imagine anything ever needs to go to waste! Apologies again for not having a photo in my post this month - I promise to do better in April!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ah, no worries about the photos. Yes, food doesn't have to be wasted, but I guess partly that wasting can be attributed to people taking the comfortable way and not wanting to invest the time to use all the food in a meaningful way.

      Delete
  8. What a fantastic round up! Sorry it's taken me so long to come by and visit, but I just wanted to say a big, proper, hearty thank you for all your hard work. It's much appreciated!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No worries, sometimes things are like this. I am glad you like it. Well, it was a lot of fun, too. Above that, your big, proper,hearty thank you makes me feel better right now ... just at the right time.

      Delete

Why not leave a comment!? I love to receive messages.