The end of Zero Waste Week

So, National Zero Waste Week has finished, how did you get on?

I survived the green soup (happy to report it turned out to be a very tasty broccoli and stilton soup) and have a decidedly empty freezer.

We barely touched the cupboards as it turned out we had all kinds of food hiding in the freezer that had been forgotten about, until Mrs Green's Week spurred me on to burrow about in the frost. Among other treats we enjoyed defrosted veggie bean chilli and sustainably sourced cod, and a couple of white russians. Not a bloke in a furry hat but an v yummy drink made from vodka (freezer), kahlua (cupboard) and milk (an excess of milkman-delivered milk is a great excuse for a white russian).

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Having spotted a tin of custard languishing at the back of the cupboard, and inspired by the local hedgerow blackberries finally ripening (a month later than last year), I made apple and blackberry crumble. (We ate it before I remembered to snap a piccie so found this delightful dish on flickr.)

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And, while I was foraging I collected some elderberries too and knocked up a couple of bottles of elderberry syrup. Apparently elderberries are packed full of antioxidants and vitamin C so the syrup is supposed to be helpful with colds and flu (although I'd rather not be ill to find out). Not sure how good it is but you can find the recipe I used here.

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The elder tree is so jolly useful. A few months ago I made delicious cordial from its flowers and now I have syrup made from its berries. What a helpful tree.

Zero Waste Week for this year may be over but there are another 51 weeks to work on trimming down the trash before Zero Waste Week 2011…

Comments

[Anne Donald]

As fast as I use up things in the freezer, Malcolm comes home with things which were just too good a bargain not to buy!! Oh dear - I did buy 8 sample curtains from the local curtain shop - but they were only 25p each and I will use them (eventually). But I have decluttered a lot this year and we do recycle as much as possible, so I think we're not doing to badly!