Did you hear me on Jim Davies morning show on BBC Radio Leicester? I was invited to talk easy eco, green cooking tips with Jim and a listener, Judith, who only eats vegetables she has grown in her garden, to help keep her grocery bills down.

Talking about vegetables and getting the most out of our food, always brings us round to leftovers – something I absolutely love to talk about (and eat!). But as Jim pointed out, it’s not always easy to eat fresh produce in time, plus conjuring up a meal from leftovers can sometimes leave us scratching our heads.

So to help us all get the most out of our food, whilst saving time, money, waste and energy, I have put together my top 5 products, plus I’ve posted links to some fabulous websites that’ll get you out of those leftover menu dilemmas.

1. Whirlpool WBC 3546 A+ NFCW Frost Free Fridge Freezer 6th Sense White
- your food storage best friend. Perfect for lengthening food storage times and ideal when batch cooking

2. Lock & Lock Food Storage Set 7 Piece
- not only are these fantastic for bulk cooking, they are perfect for keeping the portions right – no need to over cook, or over eat!

3. 3 Tier Stainless Steel Multi Steamer Pan
- fantastic for keeping in the nutrients in your food, plus they use less energy (3 vegetables can be cooked simultaneously on one ring)

4. Storage labels – ideal for keeping track on how long your food has been stored, plus they also show you when it has to be eaten by. No guessing or waste

5. FOOD STORAGE BAGS-POTATO-VEGETABLES- KEEP FOOD FRESH
- fruit and vegetable storage bags keep food fresher for longer, ensuring you have plenty of time to eat them up.

For some brilliantly practical leftover recipes, visit:

www.lovefoodhatewaste.com

Want to know what vegetables are in season, check out:

www.eatseasonably.co.uk

Have lots of ’spare’ land or want to find an allotment, visit:

www.landshare.net

I’d love to hear what your favourite easy eco cooking/storge saviours are, plus how do you get the most from your food. Do leave your comments below.

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Howling winds, rain, grey skies – isn’t it just perfect weather, for battening down the hatches and making some easy eco winter warming, homemade comfort food.

If you are anything like me, when it’s cold outside, particularly on a weekend, there is nothing more desirable than staying put and cooking a classic winter warming dinner, like toad in the hole or Sunday roast. And of course, none of these would be complete with rich, onion gravy.

According to the folk at British Onions, many people find that making onion gravy isn’t always as straightforward it would appear. Apparently there can be quite a difference of opinion as to what constitutes the characteristics of a good onion gravy. Some prefer it thick, chestnut brown, whilst other like it thin and light gold in colour. I too found this to be the case when I posed the question on Twitter, “how do you make onion gravy?’ the responses I received, included recipes using brown sugar, to stirring in leftover haggis.

As it would appear that we all have difference ideas about how to achieve the perfect onion gravy, with a quarter of people surveyed adding a secret ingredient, and over half using a store cupboard staple to enhance the flavour, British Onions are inviting people to help them put together their definitive online guide – The British Onion Book of Gravy.

So last weekend I decided that my time, money and waste saving batch-making mission, would be to make a stock-pile of onion gravy which I could then bag, label and freeze, ready to use whenever I needed it.

Using a selection of onions that the guys at British Onions sent to me, plus having a rummage in my food cupboards, I went about creating my own ‘secret’ recipes.

To kick off, I used the fabulous British Food’s Elaine Lemm’s classic onion gravy recipe to make my basic onion gravy mixture – here’s the link.

Onions sweated, sugar and balsamic vinegar and stock added, the first store cupboard essential I experimented with was tomato sauce. Not my immediate choice of ingredient when making gravy, but I must say I was pleasantly surprised. Not only did the tomato sauce turn my gravy a rich mahogany hue, it also added a delicate sweetness to the flavour. A definite favourite with my children, this goes perfectly with sausages (especially Lincolnshire).

The second batch of gravy I made, I added some mushroom sauce. What a contrast, a mature flavour, dark brown in colour and it also added a little bitterness to the gravy, if I’m honest, this was my least favourite. Saying that, I think it will go really well with the homemade cottage pie, that the OH has made.

The final ‘experimental’ flavour I tried, was by adding a touch of English mustard. Now this was the one I was least keen to go with, but I can honestly say, it was the best. The mustard flavour was subtle and the colour was a gorgeous golden brown. Without a doubt this was my favourite and I’m looking forward to having this one with my Sunday roast next weekend.

So, there you have it, three different, but fabulous British, homemade, storecupboard gravies, made in less than 30 minutes, perfect for freezing, full of goodness and inexpensive to make. The perfect easy eco winter warming meal’s finishing touch!

Now it’s over to you, what do you add to yours, or what could you add to create your own unique twist, I’d love to hear your recipes and hopefully you will see your own best every onion gravy recipe creation in the British Onion Book of Gravy!

Finally, before I go, I couldn’t share a recipe with you, without pointing out some cooking gadgets too, they may not be for everyone, but thought I’d share them anyway!

Can’t help crying when preparing onions? Well, this ‘invention’ may just be the answer you are looking for ‘Onion Goggles’. RSVP International Onion Goggles, Pink
Protect your eyes from the irritating onion vapours with these unisex, anti-fog goggles.

Cold gravy concern? How about the Deni Cordless Gravy Boat Warmer – just pour in the gravy and switch on. This ‘invention’ will keep your gravy (or sauce) at it’s optimum temperature for up to 30 minutes, plus it has a dripless pour spout.

Alternatively, you can just ‘hold your breath’ when chopping the onions and pour hot gravy from pan to plate and serve – that’ll save you even more money and energy!

www.britishonions.co.uk

Here’s another wonderful recipe and blog post from Katie Bryson from her fabulous blog www.feedingboys.wordpress.com Budget and time conscious, this superb summery meal was rustled up with the help of some tasty leftovers that Katie found in her fridge. Not only that, this delicious meal was enjoyed again the following day as a packed lunch, with stock in reserve for two more delicious meals to follow. Here it is:

Roasting a chicken is one of life’s simple pleasures. Not only does it fill the house with delicious aromas, but it provides a bounty of food possibilities.
So for the basis of our summer supper I smeared a bird with lemon and thyme butter, then stuffed it with lemons*.

My chicken looks like it’s about to swim the channel!

And here’s the little beauty resting after emerging from the oven, golden and magnificent.

I foraged in the fridge for ingredients for a speedy potato salad to accompany the roast. I used up a bag of potatoes I’d started using earlier in the week. The dressing is mayo, the end of a jar of pesto, three random leftover streaks of bacon and chives from the garden.

And to complete the feast I made some fresh milkshakes. On these super sticky hot days in urbanville, there really is nothing finer than sipping on chilled frothy fruity milk.
I chucked a couple of bananas in a jug with a slurp of maple syrup and a pint of milk. Whizzed it all up with the stick blender until it was frothy – bang done!
It’s a fab way to use up fruit that’s about to turn. Strawberries, peaches, mangoes and nectarines all work well.

Here’s our dog Lily, waiting patiently for chicken scraps. It’s her favourite thing in the world when I’m stripping the bird down ready to make stock with the carcass.
So the meal was a total result on the budget front. There were enough leftovers from the meal for Matthew’s packed lunch for the next day. Enough chicken to put in a pot for a separate meal. Plus the stock I made afterwards.
I’ve since made a tasty risotto, a meat pie and a fabulous Thai soup all using the stock – and there’s still some left! The only way I could top this thriftiness, is if I’d raised the chicken myself

*full recipe ingredients

Today’s Guest post is from Becky Goddard-Hill, mum of two, baby budgeting expert and author of the terrific ‘How to afford time off with your baby’. She is also a finalist for The Mads 2010 with her blog www.babybudgeting.co.uk. Here’s her post:

We are going to kick off by looking at how to avoid food waste:

According to the website www.lovefoodhatewaste.com, in the UK on average we throw out about one-third of all the food we buy – approximately £420 worth of food per family per year. Just think what you could do with that! You don’t want to waste food, but do pay attention to basic food safety and hygiene. If you realise that a food is going to go out of date before you’re going to use it, pop it in the freezer for another time. Any food past its use-by date should be thrown away. Best-before dates are different: they refer to food being in its prime before these dates but still edible though past its best after these dates. Understand food labelling better by checking out www.eatwell.gov.uk
Rather than waste food ending it’s life you could….
Give it to a neighbour

• Make your mum an extra serving of whatever you make out of it
• Plan your meals for the week so it gets used in time
• Check out my product review of Count on it labels which help you track when you stored your home made food. They are another great aid to reducing waste.
• Just eat it up….get out your cook books and get cooking even if it’s a batch bake for the freezer do try not to waste food.
• At the very least, compost it if you can!

You can avoid most waste in the first place by:

• Meal planning
• Not getting too swayed by fresh produce multi buys
• Rotating foods in your fridge and checking it regularly
• Rotating and checking stored canned and dried food, these have life limits too and can be easily overlooked.

Do try and save yourself some money by keeping on top of food waste.

Thanks Becky

Count On It labels, the easy peel label, freezer label. These removable labels are perfect for jars, freezing leftovers and baby food storage, freezing baby food. No need for Sharpies, Count On It labels self adhesive labels can be used on freezer bags, food storage tubs and glass storage containers. Ideal for safe food storage, they make First In First Out – they are an easy to use food storage calculator. Count On It food storage labels for safe food storage.

At Count On It, we love getting the most out of our food, keeping our grocery bills down and wasting less food, and we’re not the only ones. Katie Bryson who writes a fabulous blog www.feedingboys.wordpress.com knows exactly what it’s like to have a feed a hungry family on a budget and we are really pleased to have her guest blogging for us, sharing her tasty and budget-conscious tips and recipes. Here she shares with us a quick, easy recipe which you can rustle up with some of those tasty leftovers left unloved in the back of your store cupboards and fridge. Not only that, it’s a perfect snack for school lunch boxes and for when watching the football (or is that just me?). Enjoy:

Feeding boys who have bottomless pits for stomachs is my never-ending mission in life. Throw into the mix my firefighter husband who thinks we’re “haemorrhaging money” at the supermarket and it becomes something of a skill to keep everyone satisfied!

One of my most exciting discoveries last week was that a can of chickpeas costs a splendid 35 pence. I didn’t think you could buy anything in Waitrose at that price!

So with houmous on my mind, I found Rosie Lovell’s take on it in her fab cook book Spooning With Rosie.

Lots of Houmous
2 x 400g tins of chickpeas
6 garlic cloves
2 tbsps tahini
Juice of 2 lemons
4 tbsps extra virgin olive oil
2 tsps maldon sea salt

Drain the chickpeas and rinse thoroughly.

Place all the ingredients in a jug and whiz up with a hand held blender.

I found this tasty but garlicky – we all reeked for 24 hours after eating it!

I’m going to make it again this week with half the garlic and enhanced with a leftover jar of roasted peppers – if I don’t use them now they’ll just rot in the back of my fridge. You could also use up old jars of olives or sundried tomatoes – that’s the beauty of houmous, it likes a tasty partner in crime.

This recipe made enough to fill three dip-size pots. I’m a bit of a container geek and wash out and re-use most things. This time I’ve re-used mascarpone, ricotta and parmesan containers.

Tasty AND budget conscious – result!

Katie Bryson   www.feedingboys.wordpress.com