Tear & Share

Family & Food= Love

Why has it become so hard for us to sit around a table and share a home-made meal?
We have become a fast food nation. Why? Because it’s cheap and easy. However, cooking home-made food is not necessarily expensive. So step back and take some tips from the Spanish (Tapas), Italians (Antipasti) and the North Africans (Tagine). These cultures embrace the good things in life; food, family & friends. Sharing what we eat creates a sense of togetherness which is a feeling we all desire. This used to be a daily routine for us Brits but now about half of the Nation struggle to make this happen. Getting together around food creates closeness, good conversation and also has health benefits. So put aside those TV dinners, gather together, get involved and enjoy the things that truly matter in life.

How often do you sit at the dining room table with friends/family and share a home-made dinner? 
It’s important to get everyone involved, including the little ones. What are your views on this topic?

Broccolicious

Continuing on the theme of food waste this evening. Last night when I was catching up on episode two of "Food & Drink" I was inspired by one of Tom Kerridges dishes. The subject was based on cooking luxury food on a budget but the dish also linked back to not wasting food. The element of the dish that was inspiring and cost saving are broccoli stalks. So say Sunday lunch is over, you've eaten all the broccoli florets and you're left with the stem. Don't chuck it in the bin, use it for Monday nights dinner:

• Cut the stem into quarters and trim down the ends/edges (removing any woody parts, as you would do with asparagus)
• Once prepared place into a pan of salted boiling water. Cook for about 5 minutes, until they're tender but with a bit of crunch
• Finally, drain and coat the stems in a tsp. of butter and some cracked black pepper

To be honest, I wasn't sure on how it would turn out but I'm delighted to say it's absolutely delicious & flavoursome ( far better than the florets themselves).
So why not have a go? Remember, you'll be reducing waste and saving pennies!

Other ideas to use up leftover stems: Sliced up and used in a stir fry or cut into chunks for soup. Maybe it will work with cauliflower stems too?

Is our food too cheap?

Food Waste

I have been following the BBC TV series "Food & Drink" presented by Michelle Roux Jr. The first episode of series two was based on the topic of food waste. Watching this got me thinking about how easy it has become for us to just bin excess food. This has inspired me to write about the problem at hand and hopefully open peoples eyes whom may not realise.

Food waste has become a major issue in the U.K. Here are a few shocking statistics I found about the problem:

• British families are throwing away the equivalent of 6 meals per week in food waste
• Resulting in throwing away an average of £60 a month for a household
• Foods that are commonly thrown away; bread, milk, fruits & vegetables
• 86 million chickens were said to be discarded each year

This just gives us a small view into this major situation, but what can we do about it? Here are a few handy tips that can help:

• Understanding the difference between "use by" and "best before". These are labels that have to be used for legal reasons. However, we as a consumer need to use our senses to decide whether a product is perished or not. Vision, smell and touch are key elements on deciding if a product is gone off and NOT the date on the packaging. Note: For health safety reasons please follow them when it comes to meat & fish products.
• Your freezer is your best friend. If you have excess food building up in the fridge why not turn into those 6 meals? You can freeze and store them for up to 3 months.
• If the vegetables are looking a bit sad you can bring them back to life. Prepare your vegetables, place them into a pan of boiling water for a couple minutes, drain them and pop into ice cold water. Once that process is completed place them on a tray and into the freezer. Finally, when the vegetables are frozen store them in a container safely in the freezer.
• Help yourself by gaining knowledge on preservation methods. For example, left over fruits can be preserved by turning them into jams.

Questions I have been asking myself: How have we as a nation let food waste build up? Why don't we have the knowledge on how to purchase and preserve sensibly? Do we buy more due to constant offers in the supermarkets? Is our food too cheap?

What are your thoughts and tips on this subject?