Food – Don’t waste it!

The first post I ever made to my blog was about food waste and this week I’m inspired to write about it again. I suspect if you are reading this you may be aware of the increased media coverage of the food waste issue and of the celebrity and corporate endorsements. There are plees for change in the way we as individuals consider food and food waste, to the operation of commercial organisations and the catering idustry, and also to government policies. Without a big pledge from all sides I think it will be really hard for any significant changes to be made.

A few programmes on BBC have caught my eye this week; ‘Eat Well for Less’ and ‘Hugh’s War on Waste’ which was also featured on The One Show. Eat Well for Less not only challenges the amount of money families are spending on food, but also challenges the amount of food purchased and wasted! I often watch food education programmes feeling like I’m being taught to suck eggs, but this one is great as it challenges our behaviours, habits and beliefs about food. I watched Eat Well for Less having just been to the supermarket and so I was left carefully considering each item as I unpacked it and put it away.

As I mentioned in my previous post here, I’m very careful about throwing away as little food as possible. I do my best to buy only what we’ll use, to check what needs using up, and then to cook portion sizes that are not excessive so we don’t find ourselves with lots of leftovers. Despite all of this we still have a good number of cans of soup and beans in the cuboard and I know we have fajitas wraps that may be over a year out of date. We’re not perfect by any means and we certainly eat well, but what we do invest in we do our best to use and enjoy!

As a nation we are buying food that won’t be eaten, hiding it in cuboards (sometimes for years on end! – my parents do this!), and then finally throwing it away. We’d save alot of time and effort by just throwing some cash in the bin right?! And still many of us are concerned about the poverty and starvation of those in countries with far less than we have.

I don’t think we are spiteful or malicious in our actions, being greedy simply because we can. Instead, we seem blissfully ignorant of what’s going on and the impact of the habits and behaviours we have unintentionally adopted. Also I’m not preaching this to others any more than I am preaching it to myself and laying down a personal challenge to waste less.

This week I made a very exciting discovery – my local ASDA is selling wonky veg! I know that ASDA introduced the sale of wonky veg in some stores in 2014, but it’s finally been rolled out more widely and I am so pleased with my bag of wonky carrots! I don’t care if my carrot is kind of stumpy, if it looks like it needs the toilet, or if it looks more like a hand! It’s a carrot. If it tastes like a carrot and was farmed with consideration to the environment, then I’m happy as good old Larry with my carrot!
As individuals I think we should see food waste as a challenge…

• can we use up everything in the cuboards/fridge/freezer before shopping for more?
• can we create a new meal to save throwing something away?
• can we do our food shopping based on nutrition, farming/production methods, and cost, without being swayed by appearance?

If consumers can take these small steps as individuals, I believe corporate orgnaisations and even the government will start to pay attention. It’s a little bit ‘chicken and egg’ but it shouldn’t hold us back from starting the process of change.

I’ll leave you with this, a poster created over 95 years ago by the US government during the first world war.

A special little corner of the earth – Everglades City

Everglades City has captured a little piece of my heart. It’s such a quirky, backwards kinda place, though I write that with total fondness. I like backwards and I like Everglades City. Life does not seem passive or idle here, instead it’s more like life has slowed down and happiness has been revved up.

In the past we have stayed at The Ivey House in Everglades City, but this year we are on Marco Island. We made the drive to Everglades City to go out on a airboat ride with Captain Jack’s Airboat Tours. Capt. Ken was our tour guide and he took us on a thrill ride through the mangroves with ease. Capt. Ken previously spent many years on a fishing boat so was full of knowledge about the area, sharing with us facts about the snakes, the alligators, the birds, and even the famous drug smuggling escapades. We also happened upon a gaze of raccoons (that’s a group of them!) who were so friendly they came right to the boat and I’m pretty sure would have jumped on given half the chance. I imagine Americans wouldn’t be so excited, but we don’t get raccoons in the UK so we thought they were pretty adorable!

Lunch was at the acclaimed Camellia Street Grill. It’s a firm favourite of ours and of many, many others! As with many other restaurants in this area, the decor, atmosphere, and the demeanor seem to give an insight into the owners and the local way of life. It’s abit like you are welcomed into their home and they are sharing their best family recipes with you.

Food at Camellia Street is as fresh as can be, just as you would expect from a seafood grill in a fishing village. It’s also plentiful (take this as a bit of a warning). We ordered the shrimp, chicken wings and home made soup for appetizers and our entrées included the catch of the day – Grouper, and a burger. Our eyes were a little to big for our bellies so we all did that stretch you do when you’ve eaten to much, then settled into a food coma for the drive home!

My little tips for you – The sweet potato fries are pretty special. Go ‘blackened’ rather than fried as there’s much more flavour and you can really enjoy the freshness of the fish. TAKE BUG SPRAY – while we were eating the mosquitos were too, and don’t even get me started on the sneaky no-see-ums!

I’ll leave you with a little fact… Everglades City is home to the nation’s smallest post office!

Moon Fish

This is a Moon Fish. Fairly unexciting.

Moon Fish, Orlando. Very exciting.

Having heard good things about Moon Fish and needing somewhere to go for dinner for our last night in Orlando, we made our 8pm Friday night reservation.

The restaurant has a similar atmosphere to Seasons 52 (which I wrote about previously here), though it’s a bit lighter and there’s lots of interesting art work and ornamental decoration. Also, there’s a giant fish tank behind the bar which is very cool!

Moon Fish claim to serve the ‘freshest seafood’ and have won a number of awards which are proudly displayed at the entrance. The menu is ‘fusion’ cuisine so many dishes have an asian style twist, such as wasabi, szechaun, teriyaki, crushed nut crusts. Its innovative but not in scary ‘what the hell will I be eating’ kind of way.

So what did we eat? Well our appetizers were enough to earn this restaurant its place in our family history. Hubby and I shared a Tataki of smoked lamb and watercress. (I’ve just googled Tataki and it’s a Japanese cooking method where meat or fish is seared briefly). Hubby said it was the best lamb he’s ever had so I played the dutiful wife and let him eat most of the cute mini cutlets and we donated one to my parents to try. My intentions weren’t purely altruistic however as instead I was tucking in to the most amazing crab cake! There isn’t much I wouldn’t do to get my hands on that recipe!

My entrée was the macadamia crusted Mahi Mahi with pineapple mango salsa. The fish was fresh and cooked to perfection and the flavour combinations worked really well.

Dad ordered the chef’s special – Trigger Fish. It was described as a ‘buttery’ fish which seemed a curious word to use until you tasted it. I loved it and went halves as Dad preferred my Mahi Mahi. The truffle chips and side salads are also worth a mention!

Finally it’s important to at least take a look at the desert trolley. OMGosh it’s like pudding for giants. Our petite waitress (who was excellent btw) offered us the most excessively big piece of chocolate cake I have ever seen, demonstrating perfectly why so many americans are a little larger than the average human being (sorry, but it’s true!). Having enjoyed the sophisticated and modern menu until now I was a little disappointed by the rolling desert trolley of death. I skipped pudding while Mum, Dad, and hubby shared the apple cobbler. There was plenty on that one plate for three.

Moon Fish is swanky and lavish (*pricey), but if you are able to enjoy it it’s worth it! It’s a real treat and I’m sure my family will be going back, if only for the ground-breaking crab cake.

   

Foodie in Orlando

To the many who have visited Disney World Florida, the title of this post may seem like a contradiction in terms – Americans are not famous for their gourmet cuisine. Instead burgers, hot dogs, mac & cheese, bottomless soda, and donuts are more likely to spring to mind. While there’s also a few the vegan organic paleo juicing addicts lurking in American, I still think my husband’s best friend Ronald MacDonald has captured the hearts of most.

So back to the title. Someone named Fran Lebowitz once said “If you’re going to America, take your own food.” I beg to differ.

My family have been visiting Orlando in Florida for many years, shunning Disney and the rentless fast food chains for golf, kayaking, outlet shopping, and YES, good food!! It really does exist in Orlando.

Seasons 52

We’ve been to Seasons 52 many times enjoying consistently good food, friendly service, and the beautiful lakeside location. The resturant is a bit dark and moody but if you sit on the terrace on a sunny day it’s pretty special. Mum and I both try to eat low fat diets most of the time, so the health conscious menu at Seasons 52 is perfect for us!

Lucky me – I went twice in one week during our holiday. On our first visit Mum and I shared a Flatbread ‘sans fromage’, and for my entrée (I’m in America afterall) I had lemon and herb roasted branzino. Delicious!! The ginger and agave soda was pretty heavenly too. The only downer to our Mum and daughter lunch date was our cranky waiter (I’ll be kind and not name him on this occasion) who was disapproving off our choice to have a cheeseless flatbread, took personal offence to our wish to skip pudding (who needs a three course lunch?!), and huffed at our choice to abstain from alcohol (I think he anticipated a hit to his tip).

Lunch no. 2 for me featured olives and a stunning glass of King Estate Pinot Gris, followed by maple-glazed roasted chicken. Again, yum!! In fact, we all enjoyed beautiful food and thankfully impeccable service from Oreste who was friendly, helpful and knowledgable about the menu.

By the way, if you happen to come upon King Estate wine, it’s really worth a try! They claim to be ‘Kings of Pinot’ and my tasty glass gave me not reason to argue with their exultant claim.

Celebration 

In Celebration we usually eat lunch at the Columbia which is really good. I recommend it. And I especially recommend the white sangria which they mix up at your table.

This year we made a brave decision to change things up, to break from routine, to explore pastures new – we ate at a different restuarant! Shock Horror. And it was good! So good in fact that I fear our tradition of visiting the Columbia may be put on hold (or entirely replaced) with the Lakeside Grill at the Bohemian Hotel. I chose the Panzanella salad, Mum chose the roasted chicken sandwhich, and Dad and hubby both devoured the lakeside burger with bourbon brown sugar onions that have been fondly memorialized. We were seated on their terrace by the lake where we relaxed and took in the ‘old-world elegance’ of the Bohemian hotel which they claim provides and ‘peaceful and inspiring’ visit. Not a bad description and I’d happily have spent many more hours on their sunny Floridian luxury terrace.

I have one more Orlando restaurant I want to write about but I’m about to head out to watch the sunset, so I’ll tell you about it later!

September Foodie Penpals

A few months ago I joined the Foodie Penpals group, a great way to be generous and share a passion! – Food! . In short, once a month I send a foodie parcel to another foodie, and someone sends one to me. The idea is to ask your penpal what they like, then to find tasty food items (and sometimes recipes, small gifts) to send your penpal.

Information about foodie penpals can be found on the blog below and it’s totally free to join in. Many people post pics in the Foodie Penpals facebook group, tweet about the yummy parcels they recieve, and lots of the foodies blog too. There’a something really nice about sending a gift parcel to a stranger just for their enjoyment! Carol Anne faciliates the group and really does such a great job of it!

http://thisisrocksalt.com/foodie-penpals/

This month Gillian sent my parcel of goodies and she understood me perfectly. I don’t have a sweet tooth at all and enjoy cooking and eating healthy food. Gillian sent me:

• Beetroot, potato and spinach crackers
• French goat’s cheese
• Carrot & cumin vegetable cracers
• Seaweed infused seasalt flakes
• Spicy spanish beans
• A giant chocolate coin (which hubby spotted instantly and  almost inhaled!)

What made it even better was all the information Gillian emailed to me. She had collected the goodies from different places around the Scottish highlands and she told me where each item came from and what to have it with, for example the cheese with the beetroot crackers, the seaweed sea salt with squid, and she was spot on! I love the care and effort ‘strangers’ put in to create a parcel I love, and then it’s such fun to try new things which other foodies love.

Honestly, if you don’t mind spending a few pennies each month to make someone else’s day, get it involved!! Here’s some of the other parcels i’ve recieved…

By the way, Tony’s chocoloney (a Dutch brand) is totally amazing and ethically produced too. If you go to Holland, get someof Tony’s chocolate!!

 

The Guildford Gin Festival

In 2012 Jym and Marie came up with a brilliant idea. The Gin Festival. A simple yet genius idea from which I have benefitted. Twice.

Last year I went to the London Gin Festival near Kings Cross with a gin loving friend, and my taste in gin has forever been ruined – for the better. To explain, at the gin festival you get to try artisan gins from all over the UK and beyond, and you are encouraged to try them straight so that you can taste the individual ingredients that make them so unique. Tonic is available (Fever Tree really is the best!), but you don’t need much as its only to complient the gin and take the harsh alcohol taste away. The Gin Festival opened my eyes to the true taste of gin, and I’m sorry to say that Gordan’s hasn’t cut it since!!

Yesterday I went to my second Gin Festival in the beautiful grounds of Guildford Cathedral, and the sunshine was out to greet us! There was a lovely marquee where the bars were, and the punters happily spilled out into the sunshine outside enjoying their tasy gin tipples on the grass. Perfect!

There’s over 100 gins at the festival so it’s hard to make a dent in tasting them all. I tried Silent Pool, Sir Robin of Locksley, The Lakes, and a Rhubarb and Ginger Gin liquer (links below!).

The Silent Pool bottle is just stunning! The sort of bottle you will probably never open as it looks so beautiful on the shelf. More like a work of art!

My favourite ‘everyday’ gin (who drinks gin everyday?!) is Sir Robin of Locksley. It’s smooth and slightly sweet, with a hint of grapefruit. Great with tonic, and as I discovered yesterday, great with elderflower tonic!

If you like gin I totally recommend a little trip to a Gin Festival. A few friends, and few gins – sorted!

http://www.silentpooldistillers.com/

http://www.locksleydistilling.com/robinhoodsgin/

The Lakes Gin

http://www.edinburghgindistillery.co.uk/product/edinburgh-gins-rhubarb-ginger-50cl/

Surrey Half Marathon

Yesterday I completed my 4th half marathon – The ‘Surrey Half Marathon’.

I ran this race last year as well and loved it. The course started at Guildford Leisure Center, and we ran to Woking town center and back. It was my first experience in a race where it felt like I was running in a crowd, and where supporters lined the street shouting encouragement and having a really great time. It also helped that I had done plenty of training, so the run was fairly easy and I was able to speed up in the last few miles finishing in a time of around 1 hour 54 minutes. Of course, I entered for 2015 as soon as entries opened.

This year was a little different. This time there was little training! (Oops!). I’ve still been hitting the gym as always, and I’ve done the odd 5km since Christmas, but certainly I haven’t been ‘getting in the miles’. The Surrey Half this year felt like more of an experiment to see what my body is capable of. Also, the route was different, with a few unexpected hills towards the end of the race which gave my sore feet a battering. 

I was running with my best friend Sophie, and I’m so glad she was there with me as it was added determination to keep going as she was running so well – better than me! I didn’t want to let her down.

My biggest mistake wasn’t lack of training (though it was a factor), but instead it was that I haven’t worn the trainers I ran in since last year. After only 5 miles I could feel the blisters forming (not cool!) and I knew I was in for a very painful experience. I tried not to moan too much – sorry Sophie! We ran the last few miles pretty much in silence, with the odd whisper to each other. We were both pretty shot! Even so, we finished in 2 hours 5 mins. Pretty happy with that given the absence of training!

The best thing about running organised races like the Surrey Half is the spirit of the whole thing. It’s like a giant party where the runners, spectators, sponsors, and most amazingly to me, the volunteers all come together to help everyone else have a great day. And it really is a great day.

Here’s a few tips for anyone planning to run a half marathon:

• Plan everything for race day well in advance, including travel arrangements, what you’ll wear, any race admin you must complete on the day, and what you will eat pre-race, and during the race if needed.
• Run – the best training for running is running! Hit the road, clock up the miles, and let your body get used to running longer distances. There really is no substitute.
• Nutrition – make sure you drink lots of water the day before, and include healthy carbs in your meals to ensure you have lots of energy on race day! Breakfast on race day should be something tried & tested, and not too heavy. Trust me, you don’t want to run with a full tummy!
• Wear socks  & shoes you know are comfortable. Sore feet can ruin everything!
• Be excited, look forward to the atmosphere, and be positive. Running really doesn’t ‘mean’ anything, we do it for the enjoyment and personal achievement. So have fun!

Now to dream up my next challenge 🙂

My kitchen Aid completes me

I honestly don’t think I will ever own everything I need for the kitchen.

Before I ‘got into’ cooking and become the foodie that I am now, I had a very normal kitchen; a few pans, trays, a spatula, and wooden spoon, you know. I then started baking a lot more and trying out recipes, and with that my kitchen kit got bigger and bigger. For Christmas this year I was given (on request) a chef’s knife, which is so much better than any knife from a standard knife block. I feel like a pro! Now I just need the knife skills to do my beautiful utensil justice.

My baking kit is spreading and has now taken over 2 whole cupboards in our small kitchen. I have so many cake tins, yet I never seem to have the size I need, and I have icing in almost every colour of the rainbow carefully wrapped up in tins to keep it fresh. Oh, and there’s also the other cupboard which is full of baking ingredients. To give you an idea, I’m sure I have at least 5 bags of icing sugar, and bread flour, plain flour, corn flour, self-raising flour, wholemeal flour, wholemeal strong bread flour, spelt flour…. And despite trying to avoid too many carbs, yes I need it all 😉

Years ago when I went to university (makes me feel so old!) I bought a little bargain food processor which is still serving me well. I also have a hand mixer which my brother gave me (which has been use endlessly), and a hand blender which I mainly use for soups. Of course I can easily claim to need a static blender, a bigger food processor, and a Nutribullet would be a welcome addition as well.

Anyway, what got me started on this blog post was the acquisition of this little beauty…

I own a KitchenAid, and I can’t quite believe it! A good friend of mine was selling this K5 and I just couldn’t refuse it. I feel like I’ve arrived as a baker. As if there is now no baking recipe that me and my KitchenAid cannot handle together. Like we are at the start of a journey together that will last a lifetime.

The next step… to learn how to use it! I’ll keep you posted 🙂

Waste Not

My husband and I spend a lot of money on food because we often have friends and family over for dinner, and I guess, because we both love to eat well. That said, one of my ‘big things’ is not to waste food. Whether our fridge is packed full of food, or it looks like the ice plains of the Arctic, I can still throw together a meal! Hubby always says its amazing how I can make a meal from nothing.

As you will come to know, I am a big fan of cookery shows. In fact, if the TV is on and I am in the room, you’d be safe to bet your last tenner that I am watching someone cook, eat, or talk about food. Some people may watch the Corrie omnibus on a Saturday morning, but you’ll find me happily watching Saturday Breakfast. Anyway, I have digressed! I have been watching Jamie & Jimmy’s Friday Night Feast on Channel 4 and have loved the focus on tackling food waste in England. They have been encouraging people to cook with the less used parts of animals, less beautiful fruit and veg, and featuring organisations who are actively trying to change perceptions and habits. I am particularly excited about the announcement that Asda will be selling misshapen fruit & veg in some stores at discounted prices (read more about it here). In my opinion, wonky veg just adds to the fun of eating! 😀

In 2013 The Guardian reported that “The average UK family is wasting nearly £60 a month by throwing away almost an entire meal a day, according to a new report that reveals the scale of the ongoing challenge to reduce household food waste.”

In our house, food is only thrown away if its brown/green/white and furry, if it’s as hard as a rock (new food is cheaper than new teeth!), or smelly to the point that it may actually get up and walk out the door! Of course, the real challenge is to consume things before they reach this point 😉 and I think we do a pretty good job. We rarely throw away food. But I’ve still been inspired to be more organised when shopping and more creative when cooking to make sure that nothing goes to waste.

Yesterday I discovered it was National Pizza Day. Pizza isn’t really my kinda food, but I knew a man who would enjoy celebrating! As fun as it is to make pizza dough (it really is – I’ll share a recipe soon), we had a white baguette leftover from Sunday that I didn’t want to see it go to waste, so feeling inspired I set about making Baguette Pizza. I realised the bread itself wouldn’t be all that appetising, so I went to town a little on the toppings in the hope of creating some authentic Italian pizza flavour. (I can just see Italians weeping as I write about authentic Italian pizza made with a french baguette!).  I also used up the leftover baked beans, so hubby really was happy! 😀

Here’s the recipe for my Baguette Pizza