Friday 25 September 2015

Ticking Five Goals in One Meal














I'm feeling a bit under the weather this week all sorts of aches and pains including  ear ache. I'm sure it is the change in the weather.  Every year the change from summer to the much colder weather seems to affect me, does anyone else experience this?  I haven't felt much like cooking, so simple food is on the menu this week, however I can still tick my own personal goals with just simple food.  So what are my personal goals I hear you ask ( well maybe not but I'm going to tell you anyway)

ZERO FOOD WASTE - As a child my mum used to nag me to eat my food saying there were starving children in the world and there was me wasting food.  At the time, I would just roll my eyes and mumble under my breath that they were welcome to my brussel sprouts.  Many many years have passed since I was a child, no I'm not saying how many - and food waste has got to obscene proportions.  You only have to look in the bins outside the supermarkets to see tons of perfectly good food being thrown away, but it is not only the supermarkets that are guilty of this.   Love Food Hate Waste reports that 15 million tons of food is thrown away in the U.K. every year, 50% of this is from our homes.  All of the energy, land and animal suffering (oh I am being controversial this week, probably because I'm feeling poorly and grumpy)  that is involved in producing this food.  Transporting it to the shops - more energy, pollution and destruction of land to build more roads for all the lorries - just to throw it in the bin! This week I had some left over mashed potato so made some potato cakes, it's a nice feeling saving food from the bin.  The 'love food hate waste' website has lots of ideas to use up leftovers.  I often think leftovers make the best meals, bubble and squeak being one of my all time favourites.  Do you have any favourite 'left over' recipes?  For these I added some rice flour (you can use plain), salt and pepper and dried tarragon (or any other herbs you want), rolled it out, cut out some circle and popped them in the over with a little oil brushed over.






ORGANIC - The amount of chemicals sprayed onto food is frightening, do we really know the long term effect consuming the combination of those chemicals has on us?  By growing my own I know exactly what goes onto them - very little.  A bit of organic feed and that's it.  There is nothing better than going out and picking the freshest of veg, still full of goodness because they haven't been transported half way across the world and sprayed with who knows what.   Now as you have probably noticed, I am a novice at growing my own, but I have managed to grow a few things including these tomatoes, and with a lot more practice and space I hope to grow more.  Animal welfare standards are also higher in organic milk etc. which brings me onto the next point.

ANIMAL WELFARE - 25 years ago me and the kids decided to stop eating meat and fish, that was our decision, just as the bearded one made the decision to carry on eating meat and fish.  I still eat eggs but try to ensure the chickens have been treated properly so buy free range.  I lived beside a poultry farm where the chickens were crammed into cages and never saw the light of day, they had a short and terrible life, and of course male chicks had a worse fate.   We used to have our own chickens and that will be the first thing I will do when we move back out into the countryside, it will be so good to eat our own freshest of eggs again from our own free range chickens.  Yes, before you say it, being vegan would be even better and I was for a while, but being unable to eat gluten already limits my options food wise.  As long as we all do our bit, meat eaters and vegetarians, for the best animal welfare we can make a difference.  Sorry do I sound preachy?  I'll shut up now.

PRODUCED LOCALLY - I will never managed to be totally self sufficient, we would starve if we had to rely on what I can grow, so will have to continue to buy produce.   However I try to buy as many things as possible that are locally produced.  It puts money back into the local economy, as Cornwall is one of the poorest regions in the U.K. we certainly need it.  It cuts down on food miles and through the box scheme I use it gives the local farmers a fair price.  I would rather my money went to keep them going than into the supermarkets pockets.  If farmers continue to go out of business we will have to rely on food shipped in from overseas, bad for the planet and our economy.  Now if only we could grow bananas in our fields as the bearded one has to take one to work everyday, he's addicted to them!

COOKING FROM SCRATCH -  I like knowing exactly what goes into my meals, no e numbers lurking, no added colourings and in my case no hidden gluten that causes me to run to the loo all day!  It's not always possible, when I get home from work really late there's nothing better than a Sansburys Free From pizza and a glass of wine  At the weekends when we have been busy and there is a house full to feed, the new Indian takeaway up the road is extremely tempting, but on the whole my meals are cooked from scratch.  Better for my pocket, health and waistline!


So a simple meal of cooked from scratch potato cakes made from left over locally grown potatoes, free range locally produced poached eggs and home grown organic tomatoes ticked my goals.    I'm only human, I don't always manage to achieve my goals, but it is something I am working towards.  I'm sure many of you do all of these things already, but I'm getting there.

I'm working extra hours again this week and painting, this is the last room to paint!!!!! Yay.  I'm missing popping around to visit you all but fingers crossed I will have more time soon.

For this post I'm joining Amys lovely Five on Friday

Chickpea xx

41 comments:

  1. Thank you for sharing such important information. The eggs look like they're cooked to perfection. And the potato cakes look so good!

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    1. They were good, I usually make bubble and squeak with left over potatoes but this was a nice change.

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  2. I always get ill at equinox time more or less, spring and autumn. Wrestling with a heavy cough and cold now, as well as muscle trouble. I'm terrible for wasting things, could easily use my stale bread for stuff.

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    1. Ah I didn't think about the equinox, I often get poorly in spring as well.

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  3. I do not need to be gluten free but more and more I am moving away from wheat. I make potato cakes and bubble and squeak and use gram flour. I know there is not much in there but it is a little bit more protein and I like it. I am going to try replacing some of the flour in my pastry with it, I already use it in my bread along with spelt flour and cornmeal. My garden did not do too badly this year and I hope that with the raised beds and the digging and soil improvement it will do even better next year. I will be putting red onion sets in next week and soon it will be time for garlic.

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    1. Before I became gf I didn't even think about using different flours, but there are so many alternatives out there that really taste better than plain old wheat flour. I won't be putting anything new things in my veg patch in case we move. Just finishing off the kale, chard, lettuce and runner beans and hoping the tomatoes in the greenhouse will turn red soon.

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  4. I have just got over a bout of flu not sure if it' s linked to the seasonal change or not. I too do try not to waste food and love bubble and squeak or potato cakes. I use stale bread for bread puddings and freeze or preserve surplus garden produce for the Winter. Your personal goals with food are to be admired.

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    1. Glad to hear you are on the mend, as for the goals, I'm trying :)

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  5. Simple homemade food - just what I love x

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  6. Good post and it follows rules we try and keep to, our world has changed so much from when we were children. My other rule is to eat seasonal food, which would come under your eat local food.

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    1. Yes it does, I know what is in season by the veg box and get very excited when new things come into season. It included a butternut squash this week, a lovely autumn surprise.

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  7. Hello Chickpea. So sorry to hear you are feeling rubbish, it can often be the case when the seasons change and it was the solstice last week. Thanks so much for the potato cake recipe, we'll definitely try those. I have just found out I'm intolerant to gluten, yeast, eggs and dairy! A bit of a nightmare. I've done gluten-free before but no yeast, eggs or dairy products calls for a massive change in my diet. Even wine contains yeast :( Hope you feel better soon, friend. If you have anymore fab recipes please send them my way! x

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    1. Oh crikey, and I thought it was hard enough being vegetarian and gluten free! If you click on gluten free on the sidebar there are some gluten free recipes there.

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  8. Good for you Chickpea. Your eggy leftovers supper looked delicious. I grow a lot of our food at my allotment and shop locally and carefully and cook from scratch and I honestly never throw away food. It is so worrying how much is thrown away and I guess that it is a reflection of how cheap and nasty mass-produced food has become. I hadn't realised Kneehigh were a Cornish troupe. I saw their production of Brief Encounter at Bath a few years ago and I still remember it as it was performed with such verve and exuberance and the technical side was simply astounding. Definitely a company to catch again.

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    1. Oh Brief Encounter was excellent! Yes they are much loved here in Cornwall, we are very lucky :)

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  9. Get well soon. I do agree with you on all your points. I get quite cross when they serve up enormous meals in restaurants, practically a whole iceberg lettuce as a salad. You feel obliged to wade through it as you don't want to leave anything. Have fun :-)

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    1. Thanks Crimson, feeling a bit better already :)

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  10. Five very good food goals for us all to strive for! A good reminder. I love bubble and squeak too and sometimes make extra veggies just so that we can have it! I hope that you are feeling better soon, I feel all out of sorts right now too, I think that the change of seasons does it too! Thank you for joining Five On Friday. I hope that you have a great weekend! xx

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    1. My pleasure Amy, thanks for setting it up x

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  11. Your eggs look delicious. I get mine straight from a local farm. There is an honesty box and for £1 a dozen (odd shapes, but that's part of the charm) they are quite a bargain. I also hate food waste and try very hard to cook/bake carefully to avoid wasting anything. X

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    1. I believe that happy chickens equals good eggs :)

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  12. That poached egg looks delicious. I try and cook from scratch as much as possible. Joan at www.aviewtothefells.com

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  13. Before children I went to a fabulous restaurant that served the Dutch dish Rijsttafel.
    Rice dishes served with lots of different side dishes.
    So when I had children I would save all the small leftovers and chop up chicken, beef, eggs what ever I had then all sorts of veggies and chutney and put them in little dishes. Along with toasted coconut raisins and chopped peanuts for topping the rice. Then everyone would pick what they wanted to top their rice. It was lots of fun and the children loved it.
    Much like a Korean Bar B' Que that is served with lots of side dishes.
    Now I just make stir fries with them.

    cheers, parsnip

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    1. That sounds delicious parsnip, I may try that with the grandchildren :)

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  14. As you have probably gathered I am passionate about good, local and seasonal food and hate supermarkets. We try to produce all our own veg and fruit, and most of our own meat. If we had to buy meat regularly we would give it up. I am currently doing an online course called 'Global Food Security' a free course run by Future Learn this is being run by Lancaster University. It might be something that you would be interested in. It is stunning just how much control supermarkets have in brain washing people, and just how wasteful they are.

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    1. Just looked at the course Anne, it looks really interesting, will definitely sign up for one when I have more time.

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  15. My big food 'score' was finding a puffball mushroom almost as big as my head. I've also been grabbing apples from trees on-site, and my stinging nettles are coming back for a second growth before winter sets in.

    I also abhor food waste, I was raised in a large family, so frugality was a necessity. Frugality and waste avoidance is the inspiration behind the great cuisines of the world... how do you turn the things you're forced to eat into something delicious?

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    1. I have to admit I am scared of picking mushrooms, knowing me I would poison the whole family!

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  16. I hate food waste too. I try not to throw anything away at all, or if I have to I feed it to the hens and then they give me eggs back in exchange x

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  17. That is five great goals that more and more homes should adopt, even if people went down the route of buying locally produced food it would make a big difference, I remember when food was seasonal and we would look forward to the summer for salads and soft fruits, now they are there all year round with 1000's of miles under there belts. your potato cakes look lovely :-)

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    1. I love eating seasonally, it gives you something to look forward to :)

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  18. I agree with all of your goals and try to follow them myself too. Even if we sometimes don't always manage to stick to them due to pressures of life etc, I think that having the goals in your head in the first place makes you try that little bit harder and we at least try and do what we can. Yesterday I gathered together all my "just about to go off if I don't use them now" veggies and threw them in the slow cooker to make a lovely veggie curry - it tasted great and I've got several low cost meals out of it!

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    1. I love veggie curry! I've just put all the cauliflower,and broccoli that needs using up into a cheesy bake, tastes even better when you have managed to use everything up :)

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  19. We put all left over boiled potatoes into a freezer box, and use it to fill up quiches and other oven bakes. Put out to defrost in the morning, don't microwave. Gently cut up, don't use kitchen machinery. These two tips are needed to prevent them getting soggy and shapeless. It always gives me a sort of triumphant feeling to snatch stuff from going to waste. Harry from Holland

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  20. I'm with you all the way on this post. I hate wasting food of any kind and always think that left overs make some of the best meals.

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