Tuesday 25 August 2015

Still aiming for zero food waste

We had a rare treat on Sunday - roast chicken with gratin dauphinois and petit pois à la française. If I had to choose my last meal on earth it might be that one, although .......
It was very yummy, but I'm then left with a carcass, so in a large pot it went covered with water and simmered for about an hour. In the morning, I picked off all the remnants of meat and anything else edible which has then provided four meals for Jet. He was VERY appreciative! The liquid was then strained to provide me with a litre and a half of good quality chicken stock for the deep freeze.
We have two apple trees in the garden - both eating apples, but quite tart. We eat a large quantity of vegetables in this house, but many of us prefer our fruit cooked unless of course it's strawberries, bananas or blueberries. Whilst I was away last week, I believe the UK had had some wind and rain so there were quite a few windfalls. I collected all but the very worst and painstakingly cut off all the bruises etc before stewing them with a little vanilla sugar and ground cinnamon. It smells gorgeous and we all love stewed apple on our porridge.

I had a very peaceful day yesterday catching up with the cleaning and some sewing repairs. I'm still working through clearing the house of clutter. I must be ready for a new venture because I am very comfortable parting with items I've had since my early twenties. It feels great - as if I'm clearing the way for a new style of living.

Picture courtesy of the Internet

The weather was pretty awful here yesterday, so I was very thankful for the tennis ball chucker we bought for £3! It means I can give Jet some excellent exercise in much less time. There is a time and place for long walks and yesterday was not that time! He loves chasing the ball and is very good at bringing it back, although we are still working on him letting me have it back to launch it again :) I don't know who designed these ball throwers, but what a genius invention!

14 comments:

  1. We have one of those ball throwers for Sol he loves it, Roast chicken is a treat for us and I make sure we use everything we can from it like you making stock its such an easy thing to do, one of those things they should be teaching in school :-)

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    1. Yes, I grew up with my parents making stock and picking over the bones for the dog to have a treat! It comforts me that, although my parents are no longer physically with me, they are there in spirit!

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  2. Dinner sounded good.
    We have one of those throwers too. In the morning after feeding the animals. I sit on my bench in the paddock with a cup of tea and exercise my granddaughter's dog without leaving my seat. Idle or what?!

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    1. Brilliant plan. I have to admit to standing under the cover of the park buildings today to keep try dry whilst lobbing the ball for Jet. He didn't care and was shattered when we got back :)

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  3. One of those ball throwers would have been brilliant when we had Sophie the Border Collie, she loved to chase after balls, but the three we have now don't chase and fetch so much.

    Rosy will do it for a few goes and then she gets fed up, Suky runs to the ball and sits happily by it until you get there as if to say ' I've found it Mum', Mavis can't play as she can never be let off her extendable lead and knowing my throwing skills I would not keep the ball close enough for her not to throttle herself :-(

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    1. I wish I'd invented it - they've probably made a small fortune! I wonder if the inventor was a lacrosse player? Jet would chase it for hours if we let him - he quivers with excitement at the very thought! Our previous dog would chase after it a couple of times, then just wander off to sniff another dogs bottom .... Each to their own :)

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  4. You can't beat stock from the carcass it's wonderful stuff. It's technically free!!!

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    1. Free food is always great and I know it's not laden with salt either!

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  5. Do you freeze your apples after stewing them? I imagine that it would be great to have a steady supply for Autumn breakfasts. Jx

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    1. If there is ever any spare, I freeze it, but it mostly gets snaffled long before I have an opportunity to freeze any. I'm hoping to ask my neighbour if they'd mind me having their apples - they don't seem to be interested in them at all!

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  6. When I bake chicken breasts in the oven, there is usually some juice/stock in the bottom of the tray, which I drain off to add to the dogs' food. They love it.

    One of our dogs loves to chase a tennis ball and barks until we throw it. The other dog likes to chase a tennis ball for a little while but will then suddenly drop it and leave it behind. By the time we notice that she isn't carrying it, we can't find it!

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    1. Fortunately my husband was a keen tennis player and a PE teacher, so we have a plentiful supply of tennis balls around the place. I suspect we'll go through a few in the coming years.
      Jet has certainly enjoyed his chickeny treat!

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  7. Replies
    1. Thank you! It's nice to be back, although the weather isn't being very kind this week!! :)

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