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.

Keen to make sure I spread the Queen of Easy Green message far and wide, I am proud to announce that I am now writing a monthly eco, green column for my home town newspaper, The Boston Standard.

As New Year’s resolutions are still (hopefully) in the forefront of most people’s mind, my first column shows you how easy and green, it can be to save money whilst losing weight.

To find out more, either see the article below, or visit www.bostonstandard.co.uk.

Please feel free to add your own ideas and hopefully I’ll be able to include them in my next column.

Sponsored post

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

After seeing my guest blog post for www.energyrethinking.com, Simple skincare got in touch to say they had really enjoyed reading it, and my other easy eco blogs here and over at www.queenofeasygreen.co.uk , and would I kindly write a blog post for their Simple VIP’s.

‘Yes, I’d love to’, was my immediate reply and so I have.

The New Year is such an inspiring time to kick off great habits such as getting more exercise and eating healthier – but would you ever consider that you can do both of these and be more energy efficient at the same time.

Well, as the Queen of Easy Green™, I’ve written a timely guest post for Simple.co.uk to say – yes you can.

Not only that, you will find out how these can be achieved easily and econveniently, whilst saving money at the same time. To find out how, just bob over to my guest post at www.simple.co.uk – and please, don’t forget to add your comments and suggestions while you’re there, I’d love to hear them.

p.s. don’t forget while you are there to sign up as a Simple VIP – they have some great offers, discounts and prizes to save you even more money and keep you looking simply fabulous!

I’m really excited to say that tomorrow, Friday 12th, I will be Jonathon Lampon’s guest on his BBC Radio Leicester ‘Foodie Friday’ show. As the Queen of Easy Green™, I will be cooking one of my specialities, a quick, easy, time and money saving dish. I’m not saying what my dish is yet, other than it uses locally sourced meat, homegrown vegetables, frozen leftovers and misshapen supermarket vegetables and it tastes delicious.

I’ve never cooked on air before, so I’m a little nervous, hopefully it’ll all go well and Jonathon will enjoy what I rustle up.

As the Queen of Easy Green™, my aim is to show other busy mums like me that cooking fresh, tasty food in the kitchen can be quick, convenient and save them time, money and waste, if they have the right tools and know a few tricks.

On the show tomorrow I’ll also be talking about how we can all reduce unnecessary waste by using our freezer more, storing food correctly and how Count On It® labels and other kitchen accessories can also help us get more value from our food – whilst saving us time, something we could all do with more.

To listen live, visit http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/bbc_radio_leicester

After the show, I’ll pop up the recipe, so if you want to give it a try, everything you need to know will be here.

Speak soon

Lyndsey

Christmas is just around the corner, 45 days in fact and I expect, if you’re like me, you are just starting to get your head into gear thinking about presents for your friends and family this festive season.

Well, if you have a foodie in your life, I may just have the stocking-filler idea for you.

Count On It® labels, the versatile, self-adhesive, scratch-off memory jogger which takes the guesswork out of storing food at a glance, is now available to buy through a yearly subscription.

For only £24 (including post and packing) you, or your gift recipient can have 3 boxes of Count On It® labels delivered straight to their door every quarter for a year (that’s 12 boxes in total).

Perfect for keeping track on all of your perishable food, whilst saving time and money, Count On It® labels are ideal, not just for Christmas but all year round, as they can be used on all sorts of produce, sauces, mayonnaise, deli goods, meat, fish, frozen goods, weaning foods, the list is endless.

These easy-peel labels also stick fast in the fridge and freezer so are great for leftovers and batch-cooked food, then after use they peel off cleanly ensuring no sticky residue is left on your best storage tubs and bowls.

Not only that, Count On It® labels stick to all sorts of materials, paper, glass, metal, plastic, so whatever it is that needs tracking, Count On It® labels will do the job.

What could be a better gift for someone than something that helps save time, money and waste for the year?

To find out more, just visit our buy page to find out more.

No worries, now waste with Count On It® labels.

Lyndsey

Lisa Faulkner watching Tony sear his scallops!

Following on from my blog about Hotpoint’s Campaign for Cooking Confidence, here’s a short video of Lisa Faulkner explaining all about the campaign and how, since winning Masterchef 2010 she feels much more at home in the kitchen.

Masterchef 2010 winner, Lisa Faulkner interview

If you want to try the recipe yourself, like I did (and I can confirm, it’s delicious), here’s all you need to know:

Seared Scallops with spicy crab cakes and a hot & sweet syrup

Serves 4  – preparation time 30 minutes, 30 minutes resting time, 15 minutes cooking time – combined

12 large king scallops (roe off) –3 per person

100g white crab meat

500g potatoes

2cm piece of fresh ginger peeled

1 clove of garlic – peeled

1 tablespoon each of finely chopped fresh  – coriander, mint, basil

1 red chill  – deseeded

2 eggs whites

Zest of 1 lime

150g fresh bread crumbs

75g butter

4 tablespoons of olive oil.

Salt & ground black pepper – to season to taste

Method:

Crab cakes

1. Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Peel potatoes and cut into even pieces. Place in the boiling water and cook until soft ( approximately 10/12 minutes, test with a sharp knife, if goes through easily, they are ready)

2. Drain potatoes in a colander, place in a large bowl and roughly mash.

3. Finely chop the fresh ginger, red chill and the garlic clove and add into the mashed potatoes. Also add the finely chopped fresh coriander, mint & basil, zest of the lime, a pinch of salt and ground black pepper and finally add the crab meat. Mix together by hand.

4. Whisk the egg whites until fluffy and fold into the mix, this adds moisture and helps to bind the mix.

5. On a work surface, roll out a length of cling film,  place the mixture in the centre and roll into a sausage shape. Put in the fridge for 30 minutes. This gives time for the ingredients to bind, so they hold together during the cooking process. (tip: these can also be frozen too for use at a later date)

6. After 30 minutes take out of the fridge, unwrap the cling and slice into about 2cm thick disks and lightly coat with breadcrumbs.

7. Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium heat, add 2 table spoons of olive oil ,cook the crab cakes for 2 minutes on each side until golden brown.

Scallops:

1. Pat the scallops dry with kitchen paper

2. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a non stick frying pan, add 75g of butter and stir until foaming.

3. Add the scallops to the pan and cook for 3-4 minutes, turning once until lightly golden on both sides and tender to touch.

Hot & Sweet syrup

250mls white wine vinegar

1 clove garlic peeled

2 cm piece of fresh ginger peeled

1 red chilli

Zest of 1 lime

Method

1.Roughly chop the garlic, ginger and chilli.

2. Put all ingredients in a pan and bring to the boil for 8-10 minutes until slightly sticky.

3. Put in a liquidizer and blend.

4. Strain.

The sauce can be made in advance* ready to serve once crab cakes and scallops are cooked. *tip from Tony: freeze sauce portions in icecube tray – ready made sauce always to hand!

To serve:

Place the cooked scallops on the 2 crab cakes and drizzle over the sauce, garnish with flat leaf parsley.

With the summer gone (boo hoo!) and Autumn definitely upon us, Stewed! ’s cookbook couldn’t have come through my door at a better time. This beautiful book, by entrepreneur and passionate foodie Alan Rosenthal, gives a modern twist to my all-time favourite dish, stew. The 80 pages of one-pot recipes are from all over the world, categorised into the Americas, British Isles, Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. These economical, tasty, comforting and simple to make at home recipes are perfect for all the family and what makes them even more fantastic is that they use less expensive cuts of meat and, as we found, make enough for two family meals (we’ve yet to enjoy our second serving which is labelled up  in our freezer as I type).

We decided to opt for the classic Beef in Ale recipe and we wasn’t disappointed. All the family got involved, 5yo ‘chopped’ the carrots, 8yo fried the onions and OH sampled the Guinness! What I loved about it was that it introduced our family to beef chuck steak, which I must admit, I don’t normally buy. As Alan points out, stews and one-pot dishes are perfect for using cheaper cuts of meat as the slow cooking tenderises them beautifully and brings out their flavour.

What I also love about stews, is that they’re your classic ‘use up your leftovers’ kind of meals, those wrinkly carrots, bendy parsnips and mottled peppers (if only I could get some knobbly apples in, I’d be delighted – private joke!)

Alan has not only been busy working on this fabulous book, he has also launched Stewed! pots, ready to eat stews, which are available at Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, Budgens, John Lewis’ food hall and Ocado.

I love the book and can’t wait to impress my foodie friend with the Pot Roast Pheasant with sausage, cabbage and ale – I am a Lincolnshire Lass after all and your can’t get more Lincolnshire than that – though possibly you could by adding a turnip!

So, if fancy some fabulous, wholesome, family dishes to serve up through our winter (ouch!), you’ll love Stewed! book, so what are you waiting for! (p.s. it’s on sale over there  ➜)

Cheers Alan and good luck with your fabulous ‘Circle Line’ inspired idea!

Thanks, Lyndsey

Today I went along to BBC Radio Nottingham to talk about easy ways to get more for your money with food and save time too.

As you will know there’s been a lot in the press lately about food waste, the price of food going up and how supermarket packaging isn’t decreasing. We’ve seen programmes on the BBC, ‘Great British Waste Menu’ and Channel 4 ‘Food’ highlighting the issues surrounding food production, preparation, storage and wastage – and this is all fantastic to know, but  not all of us have got the time or skills to make radical changes, so my mission was to give people some down-to-earth, practical tips to help us get more for our money, without having to completely overhaul how we shop, prepare our food and what we eat.

In case you didn’t catch the programme, here’s my top tip to give you more for your money and more time for you (and no, there isn’t any convenience food to be seen – so it’s healthier too)

Budget food swaps where the only difference is the cost
• use long grain rice instead of basmati; dried beans and chickpeas instead of canned
• swap large, perfect peppers for bags of mixed peppers when cooking chillies, curries
• use canned tomatoes instead of fresh when making soups, stews or sauces
• buy frozen peas instead of fresh, you can have them all year round and use only what you need
• go shopping at the end of the day, when supermarkets and markets are reducing the price of their perishable produce
The hidden hero in your kitchen, – your freezer
• frozen food keeps longer than fresh, is more convenient, frozen vegetables and fruit can be more nutritious and tastier than fresh as it’s flash-frozen within hours of harvest, they are also in season all year round.
• Frozen food can help you with portion control, only cook what you need – the rest goes back in the freezer.
• any foods that are nearing their use-by dates which you won’t get chance to eat, stick them in your freezer and have them when you’re ready
• Don’t buy pre-grated cheese, grate your own and pop it in the freezer, you’ll always have some at hand to go onto of lasagnes and shepherds pies.
• Buy frozen fish, it’s fresher than fresh as it’s flash-frozen on board the boat within 4 hours of catch, unlike fresh fish which can take up to 48 hours to get to your local shop.
• TheNewIceAge.com has some great ideas and tips for getting the most out of your freezer
How to get a night off cooking every week
• When cooking something like chilli, bolognase, stew – double up the portions, eat one that night and freezer the other for another night the following week – don’t forget to label when you made it
• Invite friends/neighbours round for one night and cook for them, then them for you

Enjoy your own personal breakfast blend at half the price
• Save money on expensive boxes of muesli by buying big bags of your favourite oats, flakes, nuts, seeds and dried fruit, then mixing them together in a big jar or cereal dispenser
• To add an extra boost, sprinkle on frozen fresh fruit, like blackberries, they’re fabulously juicy and you can taste the summer all year round.

How to get a free lunch
• Use leftover cooked pasta and mixed with the French dressing, pesto, cucumber and tomatoes for a packed lunch
• Use leftover chicken or beef from Sunday lunch, shred and mix with beansprouts, salad vegetables, sweet chilli sauce and French dressing
• Or just mix chicken with leftover stuffing and mayonnaise and pop in some crusty bread.

Finally…
• Keep safe by storing food correctly,
• be aware of the ‘use-by’ labels,
• labeling how long food has been opened or stored in the fridge and freezer,
• keep yourself, your work surfaces and equipment clean

‘More for my money’ MMM (not for profit) campaign

Waste is growing problem in the UK and not only does it affect the environment, it affects our pockets too.

According the WRAP the average family with children throw up to £610 worth of edible food away each year.

Unfortunately, most of this waste occurs because people have lost touch with food, a lot of families today are used to eating pre-prepared food, perfect vegetables vac-packed and mass abundance.

The days of hunting and gathering are long gone, we don’t even need to forage at the supermarket ourselves these days, we can ‘virtually select’ our goods and they come delivered to our door.

As a consequence of this mass convenience, food is seen as a disposal resource, most people do not know, or even care, where our food has been grown, what’s in it and how much of an impact it’s production, transportation and packaging costs the environment – we just want it perfect, available and cheap and if we don’t use it all, or can’t be bothered to eat it, so what – there’s more where that came from.

This situation cannot go on forever and unfortunately one of the main reasons people are carrying on like this, is because they aren’t aware there is an alternative.

Fortunately there are people out there who do care and who have a long term view of what’s happening with our food and environment.

There are schemes, businesses, producers, manufacturers that are all doing their bit to help us get more value from our food – and that’s great. But, and it’s a big but, they are all ‘out there’, like buried treasure in the ground, without making a conscious effort to dig around and find them, they are buried from the mass.

That’s where MMM comes in. The idea for ‘More for our Money’ is to unearth all of these amazing businesses and put them in one, easy to find place – our MMM website.

So, wherever you sit within the fresh food and produce supply chain, grower, retailer, producer, household, if you want to find out how you can reduce your waste and save money, you can pop along to MMM click on the appropriate section and voila, a list of resources, tips, advice is there to help you.

Here’s an example, a busy mum wants to find out how she can reduce her weekly shopping trips

1 – she can click on retailers, and find out if there are local producers who can deliver to her door,
2 – click on kitchen gadgets to find out who provide tools to help you her get more out of her food, e.g. Count On It labels
3 – click on services and find Menu Planners who can devise her own personal shopping lists and email them across to her
4 – she wants to find out where she can buy British-grown, knobbly apples click on growers to find out if there any local to her

We want to help people get more for their money, reduce unnecessary waste, buy British whenever possible and help support local businesses and schemes.

If you’d like to find out more about MMM ‘More for My Money’ please drop me an email and we’ll put you on the mailing list and let you know when our site is live.

To hear the programme again it’s here Frances Finn’s programme

Thanks Lyndsey

A little while ago I was invited over to the John Lewis Christmas launch where I first laid my eyes on the fabulous Cuisinart Soup Maker. Being a massive fan of kitchen gadgets that not only make fabulously tasty food simple, but save time and money too, the Cuisinart Soup Maker fits the bill perfectly.

Extremely easy to use, the innovative Cuisinart Soup Maker (£139*) allows you to make fresh hot soup, with no added preservatives in just 20 minutes from start to finish. To use, set your cooking time, select the low temperature setting and gently fry any base ingredients; such as garlic and onions until soft on the non stick cooking plate. Mix using the stir function and then add all your other ingredients; vegetable, stock and seasoning, mix again and then set on a high heat and bring to the boil. Once boiled reduce the heat to simmer, set the timer and leave to cook. Once cooked use the powerful blend function to get your soup to your preferred consistency. Then simply pour the hot soup from the glass jar into your bowls ready to eat and enjoy. The Cuisinart Soup Maker benefits from a rapid heating element, which allows you to get started in seconds and a non-stick cooking plate that helps stop food from sticking and makes cleaning easy. There are four blending speeds to choose from, as well as a pulse function and the timer and temperature can be adjusted throughout the cooking process, giving you complete control at every stage of cooking. The stainless steel blades ensure soup is served exactly as you like it, with texture or silky smooth. A handy measuring cup at the top of the Soup Maker allows you to measure liquids. As well as preparing soups the Cuisinart Soup Maker is perfect for; sauces, dips, dressings, purées, smoothies, cocktails and desserts, it can also crush ice.

With a garden full of potatoes, carrots and courgettes, I will definitely be putting this on my Christmas wish list (if not before). Soup is the perfect nutritious and convenient family meal and this makes kitchen gadget makes the job even easier.

For more information call John Lewis on 08456 049 049 or visit www.johnlewis.com

Oh, just in case you’re wondering, yes I will be making my soup in batches and freezing. ;0)

*Prices and products are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change and therefore I would recommend calling to check prices and availability before going to press.