How often have you piled your shopping trolley high with food, taken it home, put it in the fridge and about a week later, chucked a lot of it straight in the bin because it’s gone off? You’re not alone. A 2005 study by the Australia Institute found we spent $5.3 billion a year on food we didn’t eat – estimated to be one supermarket bag worth of food for every three bags bought. This hurts your hip pocket and the planet. Smart shopping and cooking means less waste: so before you head to the shops, think about the meals you’ll be preparing and write a list.
When you’re shopping, check the ingredients list on packaged food. The fewer the number of ingredients, preservatives, colourings and flavourings, the better it’s likely to be. Also consider how processed the food is and how many ‘food miles’ it’s travelled before you buy it. Michael Pollan, author of In Defense of Food, recommends you don’t eat food your great-grandmother wouldn’t recognise! Fresh produce from growers’ markets, farmers’ markets or your local fruit and veg shop is likely to be fresher and last longer than that from supermarkets. Buy in season when food is plentiful and cheap and preserve it for later use.
SAVE FEATURE: Don’t throw away onion skins because they can be used to stain timber. Boil the skins in water for 15 minutes, strain and apply the liquid with a rag over timber. The mixture has the added benefit of deterring some insects. It also creates a deep rust, red-brown dye for wool.
How you shop will depend on the number of people in your household. But generally, it’s a good idea to do a big shop once or twice a month and little shops in between. If you can, walk to your local shops for smaller purchases. Fewer trips to the supermarket will save time, petrol and your sanity!
The next time you’re at the supermarket, notice what you smell as you enter. Many will have the smell of fresh bread. Why? Because the smell of bread makes you hungry and when you’re hungry, you tend to buy more. Supermarkets use other tricks to make you part with more of your money, such as placing chocolate bars near the checkout where they’re easy to reach (especially by little fingers), putting the most expensive items at eye level and locating essential items at opposite ends of the supermarket to make you walk down as many aisles as possible.
Be aware of the supermarket sales cycle and find out which day your supermarket re-stocks its shelves. The day before restock is generally bargain day. One research paper revealed shopping on Fridays can save up to 20 percent on your grocery bill, particularly with fresh produce and meat. Catalogue specials tend to start on Mondays which is the best day for specials on long-life items such as toilet paper, bulk laundry powder, nappies and coffee. But be careful with perishables because it’s likely bargain items are nearer to their use-by date. It’s not a saving if the item is about to go off and you won’t have the opportunity to use it.
Stock up when the Temporary Price Reductions (TPRs) are on. Obviously, you can’t do this with perishable items unless they can be frozen, such as bread. Another option is to buy in bulk and share with neighbours or friends. Also watch for the items stacked at the end of aisles, known as ‘gondola’ fixtures. Companies pay to have their products placed here (and advertised in catalogues) to act as a volume driver to increase sales. There are bargains here but the trick is to work out the unit price. Is a discounted six-pack of toilet paper cheaper than a full price 10-pack? The way to work it out is to do the maths and see what one toilet roll in either configuration costs. For example, if a 10-pack costs $8.99, one roll is 89 cents. If a six-pack costs $5.99, one roll is 99 cents. In this scenario, the 10-pack is cheaper. Keep this in mind when buying in bulk. You can generally save money buying this way but not all the time. That’s why it’s a good idea to get into the habit of unit pricing. In one survey, the cost per gram of Vegemite in a 150-gram jar was half that of a 60-gram jar. An individual tea bag in a box of 25 was twice as expensive as in a box of 200. Some supermarkets include the unit price on the ticketing strip and there have been calls for all supermarkets to include this information so consumers can make informed choices.
TIP: Teach your children how to do unit pricing, to check use-by dates, ingredient lists and to weigh items. It helps them to learn about food, additives, measures and cost.
Another trick to watch for is the ‘loss leader’. This is when an item is discounted to get you into the store in the hope you’ll be dazzled by other items in the shop. A classic example is champagne at liquor stores. The price for a bottle is reduced from $85 to $59.95 and kept at the very back of the store. They want you to grab a couple of bottles of full-priced wine on your way to the checkout.
If you’re aware of the tricks, you’ll be less likely to fall for them.
TIP: If you can’t find an item that’s been advertised in a supermarket sales catalogue, ask! Some retailers may give you a raincheck.
Do you know what you’re eating?
Many of us buy pre-prepared foods that are easy to heat and eat. But you might be surprised at what’s actually in these foods. The best way to find out is to look at the ingredient panel which lists in order from most used ingredient to least used. Shannon checked out what was in a frozen apple pie and found preservatives, flavourings and colourings as well as artificial sweeteners and thickening agents, such as seaweed and gelatine. Gelatine comes from many sources including boiled animal bones and hides or agar. She thinks the apple pie should be renamed ‘seaweed jelly’. If you make an apple pie yourself, it contains sugar, butter, flour, apples and water which is quite a different ingredient list. It goes to show you can’t judge a pie by its packaging!
CHANGE FOR GOOD: Rather than driving to the shops, walk and use a shopping trolley. They now come in plenty of funky designs, are easy to use and you’ll get some exercise as well. According to www.climatefriendly.com, $50 a week on petrol equals 5.4 tonnes of greenhouse emissions per year that would cost $137.04 a year to offset.
Fruit and veg are cheaper and tastier when in season. The easiest way to work out if something is in season is to watch the price: items are cheaper when they’re in season. This ties in with ‘food miles’ or how far the food has travelled to get to you. It’s better for the planet to buy food grown closest to you. Many fruit and veg stores have labels to show where food comes from. If they don’t, ask!
Just because you can’t afford an expensive cut of meat doesn’t mean you have to compromise on taste! It’s all about how you prepare and cook it. In some households lamb shanks used to be thought of as bones for the dog but now, if cooked slowly with the right ingredients, they can be a signature winter dish.
Cheaper cuts of meat include chuck steak, veal shanks, lamb shanks and oyster blade. If the meat contains a bone, roast it slowly so the flavour from the bone and marrow infuses into the meat. Try this with lamb shanks, veal shanks and lamb necks (ask the butcher to remove the scent gland from the base of the neck). Chuck steak and oyster blade contain a lot of tendon material and muscle so they are great in slow-cooked meals such as casseroles, curries and stews. Bacon bits or off-cuts have less fat, are cheaper than rashers and add flavour to dishes such as quiches, soups and homemade pizzas. You’ll also save money making a homemade pizza and it’s quicker than ordering one in.
Marinating and tenderising meat is a great way to increase flavour. Some old-fashioned tricks include:
Crush papaya pips with a rolling pin and add to a marinade. If you leave the meat in this marinade for a couple of hours, you’ll get a peppery taste in the meat. One papaya is enough for 2 kilograms of meat. Papaya contains the enzyme papain, which breaks down protein.
For each kilogram of meat, mix 1 teaspoon of bicarb, 1 teaspoon of olive oil and 2 tablespoons of wine or vinegar in a plastic bag or bowl. Add meat, try to remove all the air from the container and set aside for 2–3 hours.
For 1 kilogram of meat, crush 2 kiwifruit and combine with the meat in a plastic bag. The old sitting rule was ‘half an hour for ½ an inch’ (about 1 centimetre thickness in modern measurements). Remove as much air as possible from the bag. Kiwifruit contains the protein-dissolving enzyme actinidin.
Wipe each side of the meat with a small amount of avocado (which contains ethylene) and set aside for half an hour per 1 centimetre in thickness. Remove the avocado before cooking.
We know it’s challenging enough to decide what to eat at a restaurant: there are taste and health considerations, but what about environmental ones? A CSIRO and University of Sydney report estimates that for every dollar spent (farm-gate prices) beef generates 26.7 kilograms of greenhouse gases compared with 3.2 kilograms for pigs and 2.4 kilograms for chickens. They didn’t include figures for lamb, kangaroo or fish.
Apple peel cleans aluminium. If a pot has egg or cabbage stains, fill it with water, add apple peel and bring to the boil. The stains will come away from the pot.
To give iron a rusty look quickly, rub with some apple peel or spray apple juice over it.
Apple gives off a lovely scent, especially in winter. Put apple peel in a paper bag and leave in a dark spot for a week, shaking each day. When dried, add to potpourri and enjoy the fresh fragrance.
TIP: Remove the smell of cabbage when cooking by adding a slice of apple to the pot.
TIP: Save money by buying apples in season. You can store them in the fridge for months at a time. The way to tell if the apple is still edible is to tap on the side with your knuckle. It should sound solid.
Once all the flesh is removed, run a cotton ball around the inside of the shell and use it as a face mask to clean and moisturise, minimise wrinkles and plump up crow’s-feet. Also use as a moisturiser on your elbows, hands, heels and knees.
Use the skin as a bowl for dip at a party.
Use avocado as a hair conditioner. Massage 1 tablespoon of avocado into your scalp, wrap your head in plastic wrap and leave for 20 minutes. Rinse out with warm water. The enzymes in avocado nourish the hair.
TIP: To store a cut avocado, run it under cold water and cover with plastic wrap before placing it in the fridge. Avocado can’t be stored for long because it oxidises quickly.
Speed up the ripening process of fruit by placing it in a paper bag with a banana. Banana gives off the ripening chemical ethylene.
Add banana skin to compost to speed up production. Chop the banana skin before adding it to the compost and then spray the compost with water. This allows the enzymes to travel throughout the compost.
Put whole skins into the water reservoir of tree ferns, birds’-nest ferns, elkhorns and other rainforest plants to feed them.
If a banana is overripe, store in the freezer until needed and use it to make smoothies, banana cake, banana bread, muffins and banana fritters.
CHANGE FOR GOOD: To help children learn about food, Australian chef Stephanie Alexander set up the Kitchen Garden Foundation. Primary school children plant a vegetable patch, tend to it and then cook using the fresh ingredients from their garden. For more information, go to www.kitchengardenfoundation.org.au.
Beer can be used to wash your hair and is a great fertiliser for mosses, lichens and ferns.
Non-alcoholic beer or hop tea increases milk production in breast-feeding mothers.
Trap slugs by placing beer inside half an orange peel. The slugs are attracted by the beer.
Use beer as a meat tenderiser. Pour it directly over steak while it’s cooking on the barbecue. It also caramelises onions.
Many people throw beetroot leaves away but the small leaves are great in salads and the larger leaves can be steamed and served with finely chopped garlic and a squeeze of lemon juice. You can also use the chopped leaves in stir-fries or any dish requiring spinach or silverbeet.
Beetroot makes a great dye. To create the dye, mix 1 cup of grated beetroot, 1 cup of salt and 2 litres of water in a saucepan. Bring to the boil for 2 minutes, strain and leave overnight. Use this liquid as a dye. Blueberries can be turned into a dye in the same way.
DID YOU KNOW? Shortages during WWII meant beetroot, onion skins, spinach and geranium leaves were used to dye clothes.
Use the leaves to reduce skin irritation and relieve the pain of inflammation.
Keep bok choy and cabbage leaves in the fridge and place a leaf inside your bra to relieve mastitis. This works by bringing blood to the surface of the skin.
Use as a poultice to bring splinters to the skin’s surface. Finely chop cabbage to a mush and place a 1-centimetre thick layer over the skin. Cover with plastic wrap to hold in place.
Cabbage water helps relieve varicose veins by bringing the blood to the surface of the skin and allowing it to move around the body faster.
Pour cabbage water into a foot bath and soak feet to relieve aching legs.
TIP: If you grow arnica in your garden, you can make your own bruise cream. Crush 1 teaspoon of the leaves and stem in a mortar and pestle and add 3 tablespoons of Vaseline or add the ground arnica directly to a small Vaseline container and stir.
Make breadcrumbs. Place stale bread in the oven on a low heat until it’s completely dry but not browned. Crush with the back of a spoon through a sieve or in a food processor. Store the breadcrumbs in a canister in the pantry (the moisture has been removed so they won’t go mouldy).
Use to make crostini, croutons or Melba toast. Cut into the desired shape (cubes for croutons, thin slices for Melba toast). Toast slowly in the oven until golden (5–10 minutes in a fan-forced oven).
Use tail ends of white bread to make modelling clay. For every cup of mashed white bread add 1 teaspoon of salt and 1 tablespoon of water. Knead it then create any shape you like. Make your own beads. Shape the bread into beads and thread them along a satay stick. Then heat slowly in a fan-forced oven at 130°C (250°F/gas mark 1).
TIP: To make your own wallpaper paste, bring 2 cups of water to the boil and gradually add 1 cup of plain flour and 1 tablespoon of salt. Stir over heat until clear.
If you have a bunion or bump on the side of your foot or toe, relieve the symptoms with brussels sprouts. Cut one in half, place the cut half on the bunion, bandage in place and leave overnight.
Use brussels sprouts tail ends and leaves when making stocks and soups.
Shred them finely and use in coleslaw. Brussels sprouts can always be used as a substitute for cabbage.
Raw carrot gets rid of roundworms and threadworms which pass from dogs and cats to humans very easily. Drink a glass of fresh carrot juice each morning for 3 days. Use the same tonic for your pets in their food.
Cut a design into them to make a stamp.
Children can make funny-shaped vegetable people from carrots. It’s a great way to make eating healthy nibbles more fun.
Grow carrot tops in cotton wool (see page 215).
This is an extreme other use! Use cherry pips to make Christmas decorations. After eating the cherries, boil the pips and leave them to dry. While they’re still warm, thread each pip through the middle with a heavy darning needle and heavy cotton thread. Paint them with vinyl paint, folk art paints or shellac.
Use as fertiliser in the garden. If you don’t have a garden, use them as fertiliser in pots containing ferns or rainforest plants. Neighbours might like to use your old coffee grounds in their garden.
Add to compost.
Turn the grounds into dye. Add the coffee grounds to water and bring to the boil. Place the item you want to dye in the water until it’s the colour you like. Remove the item then transfer to salted water (1 cup of salt for 3 litres of water) to set the dye.
TIP: There’s a belief that coffee grounds keep slugs and snails away from your garden. The grounds are toxic to slugs and snails but a better way to keep them away is to mix equal parts sand and ash and place it around the border of your garden.
TIP: Buying takeaway coffee every day can add up very quickly. If you have two coffees a day at $3.50, that’s almost $50 a week or $200 a month spent on caffeine. And then there’s the disposal of paper cups and lids to consider. If you have your coffee in a café, you can read the newspaper at the same time and save $1.30 a day.
Most vegetable-based cooking oils can be reused as long as you strain them and remove any food particles. If you leave used cooking oil on your benchtop, make sure it’s covered so insects can’t get in. Store it in a dripping pot that has a grill and a lid that can be sealed. Some oils, such as olive, rapeseed and grapeseed oil have a low smoking point and can’t be reheated too many times because they become carcinogenic. Peanut, macadamia, avocado and canola oils are better choices when frying.
Old fats and oils can be used to grease bike chains. Just make sure there’s no floating matter or they will affect the lubrication.
Recycle fats and oils! Collect used fats in a 5-litre drum and have it picked up by an oil recycler. To find out who collects in your area, ring your local fish and chip shop and find out who collects their old oil.
TIP: To make your own dripping pot, as Shannon has done, use a metallic saucepan with a lid. Cut an old tin can so it makes a second lid and punch holes in the tin in a spiral shape using a small nail, working from the centre of the piece of tin to the outside. This makes the centre of the tin lower to create a funnel so the fat runs to the centre of the grill. To use, pour the used cooking oil onto the grill and any chunky bits will stay on the surface of the tin to be wiped away.
TIP: You can also remove floating matter from oil by using a square of muslin as a strainer. Place the muslin over the mouth of a tin can, secure with a rubber band and pour the oil onto it. Another option is used coffee filters but make sure the oil isn’t too hot or it won’t work because the coffee filter will collapse. Reuse the oil to make crispy roast potatoes.
DID YOU KNOW? In days gone by, people used to collect the fat from cooked meat, render it and reuse it for cooking other meals. The process of rendering involves heating the fat until it’s warm but not hot. Then water is added and brought to the boil. It’s then left to cool. The proteins sink to the bottom of the pot and the fat hardens on the top. The hardened fat is skimmed off and reused, and the protein soup at the bottom was added to stock. Rendered fat used to be added to face creams!
DID YOU KNOW? Cars that run on diesel can be converted to run on used vegetable oil. You can pick up your fish and chips and fuel at the same time!
DID YOU KNOW? San Francisco operates a service that collects any used vegetable oil from restaurants to recycle into biodiesel. The city expects to save millions because it won’t have to unclog water and sewerage pipes blocked by solidified cooking oil.
Remove dark circles under your eyes by putting slices of cucumber over them. It brings blood to the surface of the skin.
Place cucumber slices on your face to fade freckles.
Wash cucumbers and peel in broad strips to use as swizel sticks in summer drinks.
DID YOU KNOW? You can grow a cucumber into a square shape by putting a square plastic box, such as a takeaway container, around a young cucumber. As it grows, it takes on the shape of the box. Your cucumber will be easy to fit on bread for cucumber sandwiches. At Disney World, cucumbers are grown in the shape of Mickey Mouse.
WHY IT MATTERS: Australian researchers have found almost three-quarters of Australia’s migratory birds have disappeared over the past 25 years. Report author, Professor Richard Kingsford, said the bird populations were in decline because their habitats were disappearing in Australia, Southeast Asia, China and Russia. ‘The wetlands and resting places that they rely on for food and recuperation are shrinking virtually all the way along their migration path.’
Use up excess eggs in quiches, frittatas and egg wraps and place them in the freezer. To make egg wraps, combine 3 eggs, 2 tablespoons of self-raising flour, 1 teaspoon of cornflour, 1 tablespoon of milk and a pinch of salt in a bowl and mix well. Add just enough water to make the batter the consistency of thin custard. Pour into a hot frying pan in a thin layer and cook on both sides until just set. Repeat with remaining batter. Place the cooked egg wraps on a sheet of baking paper, store in large zip-lock bags or airtight containers and transfer to the freezer. Thaw and use to wrap around whatever filling you like.
Make lemon meringue pie. Use egg whites to make the meringue and egg yolks for the lemon butter.
Egg white can be used as paper glue.
Turn egg yolks into paint. To do this, mix egg yolks with pigment (available at art supply stores) and olive oil or linseed oil. The amount of each ingredient varies according to the viscosity, opacity and colour you want. Crack an egg, separate the yolk from the white—you must remove all the egg white—and place the egg yolk on some paper towel. Allow the remaining egg white to absorb into the towel. Leave for a day so it’s completely removed. Extract the yolk using a syringe. It’s what Leonardo da Vinci used for painting!
Fresh eggs from your own chook?
If you have the space, you might like to keep hens and gather fresh eggs. Check with your local council to find out if keeping hens is permitted where you live. In addition to fresh eggs, chooks make great fertiliser and love eating bugs, snails and slugs. Just make sure you buy them from a reputable breeder. When Jennifer was young, the family bought what they thought were hens. They turned out to be roosters. The neighbours weren’t happy about the early crowing!
Egg shells are high in calcium, so crush them up and mix with birdseed. You won’t have to buy shell grit.
They are alkaline so crush and scatter over the garden on citrus, azaleas, camellias and roses.
The next time you make scrambled eggs, blow the eggshells and decorate them! To blow eggshells, pierce the top and bottom of an egg with a darning needle. Hold egg firmly and push slowly so you don’t break it. Place your mouth over one of the holes and gently blow the egg into a bowl. Rinse the shells thoroughly by using the egg like a straw and sucking water from a bowl to clean out egg residue. Then fill them with warm jelly, place in the fridge to set and they’re ready to decorate. It’s a perfect substitute for chocolate Easter eggs.
DID YOU KNOW? Fennel in food or in a tea increases milk production in mothers and helps alleviate mastitis. It also helps reduce wind in babies.
Crush 3 cloves of garlic into a spray bottle and add 1 litre of water. Allow to steep overnight. Spray over plants to keep snails, slugs, aphids and flying insects away. Don’t use inside the house because of the smell.
Garlic is a great natural antibiotic and swallowing one small piece of garlic like a capsule is a great way to stave off colds and flues. It doesn’t give you bad breath if consumed whole.
Melons grow very easily. If you have enough space, throw pips into the garden and new fruit will grow. If you grow them over a weedy patch, the rapid ground cover will kill the weeds.
If you scoop out the fruit from the shell you can use the shells as dessert bowls. Toss it into your compost when you’re finished.
Add lemon oil to your broom bristles and sweep spider webs away. You can buy lemon oil or put pantyhose over the head of your broom and scrub a whole lemon over the top. The lemon oil keeps spiders at bay for around 3 months. Spiders hate lemons.
Use as a fragrance. Take the zest of a lemon and allow it to dry on a saucer in the sun for a couple of days. Put 1 teaspoon of dried zest into a spray bottle, add water and allow to steep. Use it to freshen up any room in the house.
Prevent hard water fur and limescale in your kettle by placing lemon peel inside and boiling. Let it stand overnight and rinse. Do this once a week.
Add lemon peel to washing-up rinse water to make plates and glasses shine. Don’t put lemon peel in the dishwasher because it will cook.
Use lemon juice to whiten clothes. Add 2 tablespoons of lemon juice to your washing rinse water.
Whiten a wooden breadboard by scrubbing it with lemon juice. Rub a cut lemon over the surface and leave the breadboard in the sunshine to dry.
Use lemon juice to clean urine stains from the pipes at the back and grout around the toilet.
To calm an upset stomach or heartburn, mix the juice of 1 lemon and ½ teaspoon of bicarb and drink while fizzing.
A glass of hot water with lemon juice, honey and an aspirin helps ease a cold. It’s a great source of concentrated vitamin C.
TIP: To grow your own pineapple, cut off the top 2 centimetres of fruit and the leaves and place cut-side down in the garden. Pineapples like tropical conditions but they will grow in most parts of Australia—the pineapples are smaller in cooler areas.
DID YOU KNOW? The Melbourne-based charity One Umbrella collects unwanted food or food that’s close to its use-by date to make meals for the homeless and hungry. In 2006 they provided 267,000 meals.
Most people throw the darker, outside leaves of a lettuce into the bin. But it can be lightly braised like a vegetable. Wash it clean before cooking or you might get bits of dirt in your stir-fry.
Use the outside leaves of lettuce to cover food when heating it in the microwave.
Add chopped to stocks and soups.
Remove rust from a metal surface by sprinkling a cut potato with coarse salt and rubbing over the rust.
Relieve itching by rubbing a thin slice of salted raw potato on insect bites.
Darken your hair or get rid of the brassiness in bleached blonde hair by dipping a comb in water that has been used to boil potatoes. Run the comb through blonde or brown hair several times. Set the colour in the sun.
Use as a facemask. Crush them up, spread over your face and leave for 10–15 minutes. This mask clears blackheads and is great for oily skins. It can also lighten freckles!
Tenderise pork. Crush strawberries (minus the leaves) and rest in a thin layer over pork for 20 mintues before cooking. Keep the strawberries on when cooking to form a kind of chutney.
The leaves on strawberries are a natural laxative. If needed, sprinkle in salads like a herb.
TIP: You can freeze strawberries and use them in smoothies, muffins and other meals.
DID YOU KNOW? An Australia Institute report found we threw out $2.9 billion of fresh food, $630 million of uneaten takeaway food, $876 million in leftovers, $596 million of unfinished drinks and $241 million in frozen foods. Similarly in Britain one-third of all the food that’s bought is thrown away and half of it is edible! This includes fruit and vegetables, bread and cakes and uncooked meat, fish and prepared meals.
TIP: Patronise farmers’ and growers’ markets. They cut out the middle person bringing fresh produce directly to you. To find one near you, visit www.farmersmarkets.org.au. Support fruit and veg stores or roadside stalls that stock locally grown produce.
DID YOU KNOW? Even though most people like to get a bargain at the shops, some low prices come at a huge ethical cost. Think about the circumstances that led to the biggest recall of meat in US history. Workers at a slaughterhouse were caught on video torturing ‘downer’ or sick dairy cows and mixing them in with healthier cows. Not only did this highlight animal welfare issues, a link has been found between downed cattle and mad cow disease. The slaughterhouse was a major supplier of beef to the US National School Lunch Program.
TIP: Cook excess food and store it in the freezer for those nights when you can’t be bothered cooking from scratch. It’s cheaper and healthier than getting takeaway.
Whether it’s reheating last night’s dinner, making lamb or chicken sandwiches from a roast or cooking bubble and squeak, most households eat leftovers. There are important hygiene issues to be aware of when stretching your food. Never freeze food more than once raw. If it’s been frozen raw, it’s okay to freeze again once it has been cooked but only once. Once it has thawed, you must cook it. And always put cooked food in the fridge as soon as it has stopped steaming so bacteria won’t thrive. This is particularly the case with dairy products. And here’s some alarming news if you regularly eat leftover Asian takeaway: you can only keep cooked rice in the fridge for 24 hours because it can harbour a heat-resistant toxin. This also applies to pasta. You can, however, freeze cooked rice or pasta but once thawed, you can only store it in the fridge for 1 day. Only reheat food to boiling point two or three times. Cooked meat (that’s well covered) can last for up to 5 days in the fridge.
TIP: Divide and store leftovers in small portions to speed up the cooling process. It also makes reheating a lot easier. Always cover leftover food in the fridge with plastic wrap or store in an airtight container so it will keep for longer. Don’t put steaming food in the fridge – allow it to cool to a tepid temperature to prevent excess bacteria forming.
How to make five meals from one leg of lamb
We’re fortunate that lamb in Australia is grass fed rather than grain fed—which is better for the environment, and perhaps tastier for the sheep. Enjoy your lamb for the remainder of the week with these ideas.
Lamb roast—roast in the oven with vegetables, such as red onion, parsnip, pumpkin, potatoes and carrot.
Lamb curry—sauté 1 onion, 1 carrot and 3 sticks of celery. Add 1 cup of diced lamb (or whatever is left from your roast) with curry paste and brown lamb on all sides. Dice 4 medium-sized potatoes and 4 medium-sized tomatoes and add. Cover with water and simmer until potatoes are tender. Serves 4 people – more if there’s more leftover lamb. Add boiled rice to stretch the meal.
Lamb fritters—coat slices of roast lamb in flour and milk and lightly fry until golden.
Shepherd’s pie—mince roast lamb in a food processor, add 2 tablespoons of plain flour mixed with 4 tablespoons of water and add leftover vegetables to the mince. Place in a casserole dish, add mashed potato to the top and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Cook in preheated 180°C (350°F/gas mark 4) oven for 30 minutes or until golden brown on top.
Lamb soup—throw bones and leftover shards of meat into a large pot and add 1 chopped onion, 2 chopped carrots, 3 sticks of chopped celery and any other vegetables you like. Add ¼ cup of barley and cover with 2 litres of water. For every 600 ml of water add teaspoon of salt and a pinch of pepper. Add a handful of freshly chopped parsley, coriander or celery leaves (don’t use dried herbs) and bring to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer until the contents are tender – the longer, the better.
How to make homemade gravy
Before you could buy gravy mixtures from the supermarket, people used to make their own using excess fat and meat juices from a roast. Place 2 tablespoons of cooking juices in a frying pan and add 1 teaspoon of sugar and 1 teaspoon of butter. When the butter melts, add 1 tablespoon of water. Let it bubble and brown, then add 1 tablespoon of plain flour and stir. When the flour has gone clear, gradually add water and continue stirring until you get the consistency you want.
Turn them into jacks! Children used to play jacks, knuckles or onesies using the dried-out joints from legs of lamb. After eating the lamb, wash the knuckle bone and put it on the windowsill to dry, then varnish. You’ll need 5 knuckle bones for a decent set.
How to make vegetable stock
Don’t throw your vegetable peels away! Use any clean bits of vegetable you’d normally throw out (or wash before you peel) to make vegetable stock. Place 1 kilogram of clean vegetable peels in a pot and add 2 litres of water. Simmer on a low heat until tender (usually two hours). Allow to cool and strain the liquid into an airtight container. Label and keep in the freezer. You can use the tail ends of many vegetables, including mushrooms, carrots, broccoli, cabbage and turnips. The French are renowned for adding to base stocks for years and years!
How to make chicken stock
Keep the carcass of your roast chicken to make chicken stock. Place the carcass in a pot of water and bring to the boil. Simmer for at least 1½ hours, strain and store the liquid in a labelled container in the fridge or freezer. If you add a couple of onions and vegies you’ve got instant chicken soup. Just don’t use the bones that people have chomped on!
TIP: Bury chicken bones under exotic plants. They act as a fertiliser like blood and bone.
DID YOU KNOW? People used to save wishbones from chickens to decorate a church for weddings. The wishbone was dried, painted silver and hung at the end of each pew.
TIP: To smoke ham or pork bones, place black tea leaves in the base of a frying pan, cover with aluminium foil and pierce the foil with a fork. Place the ham or pork bones on top, cover, turn the frypan to a low temperature and smoke. For every centimetre thickness of meat or bones, smoke for 1 hour. Use the smoked ham or pork bones in pea and ham soup.
DID YOU KNOW? The University of Sydney’s Centre for Integrated Sustainability Analysis has calculated that if we halve our average consumption of meat it would cut the average Australian’s greenhouse gas emissions by almost 25 percent. Cutting out one beef meal a week saves 10,000 litres of water and 300 kilograms of greenhouse pollution a year.
How to rectify cooking mishaps
What to do if you’ve added too much salt
Add 1 teaspoon of lemon juice or a couple of slices of apple, which will give the meal a sweet taste.
What to do if you’ve burnt a meal
If the burn is really bad, throw the meal out and start again: no one likes to eat charcoal. For a mild burn, put 2 slices of bread at the bottom of a cooking bowl and pour the burnt contents on top. This will draw off the moisture and reduce the ashy taste. Ash contains salt so adding something acidic, such as lemon juice or orange juice, will also lessen the ashen flavour.
What to do if you’ve burnt milk
Remove the scorched taste from burnt milk with a pinch of salt.
What to do if you’ve added too much chilli
Chilli is an alkali so you can reduce its intensity with acids such as lemon juice, yoghurt, pineapple or vinegar. Casein, the protein in dairy, bonds with the chilli and neutralises it.
What to do if you’ve added too much sugar
Reduce the intensity of sugar with a squeeze of lemon juice.
What to do if you’ve added salt instead of sugar to a cake mixture
Turn the mixture into playdough by adding water and food colouring. To prevent it happening again, make sure you label containers well.
CHANGE FOR GOOD: They’re becoming more green in the US government. Capitol Hill aims to use electricity generated from renewable sources, install more efficient lighting and move to hybrid and alternative fuel vehicles for all government cars. The privately owned food service, which makes 2.5 million meals a year, will start dishing out local organic seasonal food which can be taken out in compostable containers and eaten with biodegradable utensils.
DID YOU KNOW? You can grow mushrooms easily at home. Buy a kit from your nursery.
How to preserve fruits and vegetables
Fruits and vegetables are tastier and cheaper when in season. But, as we know, they can go off pretty quickly, especially in hot, humid weather. You can dry, stew, glacé, salt, pickle or freeze fruit and vegetables for later use. The process of drying removes moisture so that mould and bacteria can’t form. This can be done using the sun, microwave or oven. The important elements are heat, dryness and air circulation.
In the sun
This is the most economical form of drying but you need about 4 really sunny days in a row, which can be hard to predict. If you get rain, take the rack inside and allow to dry for longer. Make (using a wooden box and flywire) or buy a drying rack and cover it in fine-grade mesh so insects can’t get inside. Thinly slice the fruit and vegetables, place them on the rack, allowing space for air to circulate, and transfer to a sunny position. The fruit and vegetable slices don’t need to be turned because air circulates through the mesh. Bring the rack inside at night. The fruit and vegetables are dried when they are a leathery consistency. Once dried, store in labelled airtight containers in a cupboard and use all year round.
TIP: If drying berries, crush them between two plates to remove as much moisture as possible so they don’t rot. Continue this process as they’re drying out.
You’ll need to buy a specialist microwave drying rack. Place one layer of the fruits or vegetables on a microwave-safe rack and dry according to the manufacturer’s directions (the length of time required varies according to the rack and the thickness of the fruits and vegetables). Remove the rack from the microwave and allow to sit for 20 minutes. Wash the rack in boiling water after use.
In the oven
The technique is the same as with the microwave. Place the sliced fruits and vegies on mesh or cake racks and dry in an oven preheated to 70°C (150°F/gas mark ¼) for 1–3 hours, depending on the thickness of the fruit and vegie slices. Don’t allow them to brown. Once the fruits and vegetables are dried, they’re preserved. Store in a labelled airtight jar or container. They’re just like the bought ones!
TIP: To smoke food in the oven, cover a baking tray with 1 centimetre thickness of loose leaf tea under the mesh racks to flavour the food. Cook at 100°C (200°F/gas mark ½) for 1–3 hours. Don’t open the oven door until it’s completely cooled or your smoke alarm could go off!
Wash whole lemons and place them in a microwave-safe dish with salt and water. For each kilogram of lemons, add 2 cups of salt and enough water to cover. Cover and microwave on high for 4 minutes. Transfer to a container and pack enough salt inside (using your hands) to absorb all the moisture. Seal, label and refrigerate for 3–4 weeks.
TIP: To store oranges, lemons, grapefruits and other citrus fruits for long periods, melt some beeswax until it’s just liquified (not too hot) or paraffin wax and pour over the citrus fruit to coat the skin. They will keep like this for 1 month or even longer.
How to glacé
Combine 1 cup of water, 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of fruit in a pot. Gently bring to the boil over a low heat. When the syrup is clear, the fruit is glacéd. Store in a labelled sterilised jar. Use the juice from the glacé in cooking. Shannon loves using it over a madeira cake. She pours the liquid over the cake, warms it in the oven and the glacé syrup spreads throughout the cake. Yum!
Combine 1 cup of white vinegar, 1 tablespoon of salt, 2 tablespoons of sugar and 3 cups of water in a large pot. Add 3 cups of whatever fruits and vegies you like (it’s best to mix equal parts sweet and savoury). Most chutneys contain stone fruit, such as peaches, apricots, nectarines or plums. Other choices are tomatoes, onions, carrots and sultanas. If you want the chutney to last longer, add an extra 2 tablespoons of sugar and 3 cups of water and cook slowly until reduced to the desired consistency.