Fighting Food Waste: Vegetable stock

It's one of those things that I have always meant to do but never really got around to it: making my own stock.

I got the idea for this stock after chopping a truckload of vegetables to go into a beef stew. I had so many scraps it really seemed a shame to bin them all.

So I googled a bit and came up with the idea to make a stock out of them! You can virtually put anything in this that's a vegetable - I had the ends of carrots and onions, celery stalks and various peelings.

Essentially, I just put all the vegetable scraps into some water and brought it up to the boil. I didn't add any salt because I prefer to add it when I'm cooking a meal.

I skimmed the scum that rises to the top after a few minutes and then left it to simmer for about an hour or two.

Then I strained the whole lot with a fine sieve twice, to make sure I got out all the solids. THEN I binned the leftover veges!

The remaining stock was a lovely dark colour. I froze it flat in a sandwich zip-lock bag for use in a future cooking endeavor! It made about two cups.

Do you ever make your own stock? What kind and how often?

Fighting Food Waste: Caramelised Pear and Greek Yoghurt

I've had a recalcitrant hard pear in my fruit bowl for two weeks now. I began to despair it would ever ripen.

So instead of throwing it in the bin or compost I decided to cook it. I remembered some lovely stewed and baked pear recipes I had read recently and eventually settle on this one from (of all places) Fisher & Paykel's Our Kitchen.

It sounded pretty yum so I chucked butter, castor sugar (couldn't be bothered trying to find brown) and a dash of vanilla essence (because who has vanilla pods in the pantry?) into a small saucepan on low heat.

While that was bubbling I chopped up the Pear into small bits and threw it in the butter for five mins. Added a little water and let it simmer down to a thick syrup which took about 10 mins.

 Spooned over some natural Greek yoghurt, enjoyed. Oh my goodness, so good! it's probably too sweet for breakfast, would highly recommend for dessert though!

What do you do with old fruit?

Fighting Food Waste: Mince Pasties

Recently I had some uneaten burrito mince and some sausages in the freezer. It was a Saturday night and the pantry was a bit bare, so I googled a bit to see what I could do with my leftovers.

The answer that appealed to me most was - pasties! I had bought some puff pastry on a whim a while ago, not sure what to do with it but this was perfect.

Please forgive the photography in this post - I am aware it is a bit horrid. It was night and I was using my phone. A food blogger I am not!

Anyways, here is the method I used:

 1. Got out some frozen peas, carrot and corn.

 2. Chopped up the sausages into small bits and fried the lot in a saucepan until it was heated through and the veges were mostly cooked. Seasoned with salt and pepper. My mince already had a packet of burrito seasoning in it, but you could add curry power or paprika or ground chilli to taste.

 3. Cut each sheet of puff pastry into four squares. Scooped a little of the mixture onto each square.

 4. Fold each square into a triangle, crimp edges with your fingers. Look at that beautiful crimping! Ha ha. Transfer to lined baking tray. Brush with a little milk or egg so they brown up nicely.

5. Bung them in a hot oven for a while. I'm very sorry, I can't remember for how long. I'd recommend giving it ten minutes then checking!

These parcels got the thumbs up from fussy hubby, so will definately be making again! I was so happy to use up the things that a year ago, I actually would have thrown into the bin.

Got any new food waste-busting ideas for me?

Fighting Food Waste: Herb Butter

If you're like me and have a black thumb when it comes to plants, growing your own herbs is something that you may struggle with.

So when you do buy fresh bunches from the shop for whatever ambitious cooking endeavour you're embarking on, what do you do with all the leftover?

Well, you make herb butter.

This is an old frugality chestnut, but I recently saw it on Save With Jamie. I had some flat-leafed parsley left over and it was rapidly wilting in its little plastic container, so I thought I'd give herb butter a go.

The method is pretty simple. Get a big block of butter. Leave it on the bench for a while while you have a cup of tea and a sit-down.

Come back and finely chop your leftover herbs. I'm assured you can use any you like. I used my mezzaluna because I have hopeless knife skills (and also it's fun!).

Put the herbs in a bowl with the soft butter and mix it all up.

Spoon onto some baking paper and mush it into a little log. Wrap it up and twist the ends. Put in freezer.

Here's the important bit: remember it's in there! Take it out to spread on crusty bread for soups, on top of steak or whatever you fancy. You could also add some garlic to make it even more awesome.

Fighting Food Waste will hopefully be a series here at Surely Sarah, feel free to tell me your tips!