Eat the Stores - Catching the Dates

One glance through the fridge at the moment shows me that there are lots of foods that have seen their dates slip by, nay more like rush by, in a flurry of busy days, junk food eating and a complete and utter break from routine.

So this morning it was time  to set to and salvage everything that I could.

I don't throw food away ever, if it's not edible for us it can usually go to the chickens and be recycled into eggs, if it's too far gone for the chickens then it would go on the compost heap to be recycled into compost for growing next years vegetables ... but both these options are the absolute last resort and nothing ends up in the bin.

The carrots with a Best Before date of 26th December although sweaty in their bag were in pretty good condition, just one of them had a slightly furry hat ... which was quickly chopped off and popped into the compost caddy..

Then they were rinsed, patted reasonably dry and put onto some dry kitchen paper ready to be re-bagged.

Next I dealt with a lettuce that had been left untouched over the whole of the holiday period.  I chopped off the root end, peeled off the first couple of layers of leaves that were decidedly soft and droopy ... these did go to the chickens,who were suitably grateful. 

The lettuce was then also sat onto some dry kitchen roll ...

...and then popped into a Stay-fresh bag.

I get these from Lakeland and I have literally been using the same bags for years.  A quick rinse and dry between uses keeps them perfectly reusable. See them here. The paper towel wicks away moisture from the vegetables and then feeds it back as the stalk or vegetable starts to dry out, meaning that the food is kept in good condition.

It is also important to exclude as much air from the bag as  possible and I simply use pegs to keep my bags fastened while they are being stored in the fridge.

Before I found the Stay-fresh bags I used to do exactly the same with the cheap supermarket Smartprice bags, as long as the air is excluded this pretty much works as well.  So just use what you have.

Next I tackled a pack of peppers and a tub of very wrinkly tomatoes.  

These were all chopped up, and a couple of red and white onions were added to the mix.  With a drizzle of olive oil, some salt, pepper, mixed herbs and a squirt of garlic paste these were left to marinate in the fridge for a few hours before being roasted in the oven for our tea.  The veggies were served with a salmon fillet each and a good helping of Basmati rice.

Some of the nicer bits of the peppers and a couple of onion slices were added to some cheese for me and some ham for Alan for a quick sandwich for our lunch.

Well that's the most urgent of the veggies dealt with, the bits and bobs that are left can most likely be eaten as and when we need them over the next few days, but I will be keeping an eye on them.   I spied the packets of meat in the fridge when I was getting the ingredients out for lunch so I will be tackling that and the cheese shelf tomorrow ... yes Alan seemingly has enough cheese for a cheese shelf!!!

🥘