Hello Dear Reader,

I am incredibly honoured to be guest hosting the No Waste Food Challenge this month, on behalf of Elizabeth’s Kitchen Diary.

This is a challenge very close to my heart, as I find it inconceivable how much food is binned in this country.
Apparently 7 million tonnes of food and drink is thrown out from UK homes every year, much of which could be eaten!
What a waste of resources – a massive long chain of resources. At the most basic there is planting, growing, harvesting, selling but many foods use even more resources due to transportation, processing, packaging, etc. That’s without even thinking about what an insult it is to the people of this world who don’t have enough to eat each day!

The No Waste Food Challenge was inspired by the Love Food Hate Waste campaign and is all about sharing recipes that have used up food which might otherwise have gone to waste. This might be fresh produce that’s been hanging around the kitchen so long it’s past its best, or leftovers that might otherwise have been scraped into the bin, or packets unearthed from the back of the cupboard during a clear out.

I love creating new dishes from leftovers – sometimes they are unusual but edible and sometimes a star is born. The next time you find yourself putting food in the bin, stop and think about whether there is any way it can be used!

A few weeks ago I had bought lots of beautiful local summer berries for dessert for a family dinner.

The left over berries were put in the fridge and nibbled during the week. By the end of the week they’d been pushed to the back of the fridge, forgotten and neglected. Past their best and with not enough of each one to make a dedicated recipe, I threw them all together to make a mixed red berry jam. It was really just an easy way to quickly use a pile of old berries and I had no plans to blog it, hence the lack of step-by-step photos! However the end result was so delicious I just had to share the recipe with you!

Red Berry Jam – recipe

• 100g white currants
• 100g red currants
• 100g red gooseberries
• 100g plums, halved and stones removed
• 100g damsons, halved and stones removed
• 200ml water
• 350g sugar

1) Place fruit and water in a pan, bring to the boil, turn down the heat and simmer for 30 minutes.

2) Add sugar to the fruit and heat over a low heat until the sugar is melted.

3) Bring to a rolling boil and boil for about 10 minutes until reaches setting point.

4) Allow to cool slightly and then pour into sterilised jars. Don’t forget to label.

Jam is an easy way to avoid food waste but there are lots of other ways. I’d love to see your ideas too, so enter in the link below.

Please do tell your friends about the No Waste Food Challenge and encourage them to think about their own food waste. For more ideas on minimising food waste visit the other bloggers who have linked up their recipes below!

 

Vohn
x

CHALLENGE CONDITIONS:

1. Please link up your url using the linky at the bottom of this post.
2. Feel free to republish old posts just make sure you add a link to the current challenge and add the challenge badge (the blue badge at the top of this post).
3. Make sure you link up before the end of the month (that’s 11.55pm GMT, 31st October 2014)!
4. Posts will be added to the No Waste Food Challenge Pinterest Board to help spread the food waste prevention love!
5. Please make sure your post includes a link back to Elizabeth’s Kitchen Diary and Vohn’s Vittles.
6. Tweet @TangoRaindrop and @VohnsVittles with the tag #NoWasteFoodChallenge and we will retweet all that we see.

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