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<a href="http://www.gmagazine.com.au/blogs/julie#">G Challenge</a>

G Challenge

Think global, act local, right? Julie Grundy lives the challenge.

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Waste not, want not

Man looking into fridge

Credit: iStockphoto

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This month's challenge was sent in by G reader, Bronwyn Barker. To combat wasted food, Bronwyn challenges you to dig out the forgotten food items wallowing in the back of your cupboards and put them to good use!

So yesterday I braved the dark corners of my pantry to find out what was lurking in the back. I found 3 half-used packets of plain flour, all past their expiry date. Into the bin with those :(

I also found 3 unopened jars of jam, all well within their use-by date, as are the 2 opened ones in the fridge. I'm not sure what kind of jam emergency I was trying to prepare for! Must remember to have jam on my toast more often.

I also had a look in the freezer - I've got a habit of stashing leftovers in there, never to be seen again until we run out of room for new food. Then comes the purge, where we reclaim our Tupperware and freezer space.

I've come up with 4 items I'm going to use for the challenge:

  • a packet of red lentils, mistakenly bought instead of green lentils.
  • a giant tin of crushed tomatoes, originally intended for some lamb shanks months ago. The lamb is long gone, with a different recipe, yet the tomatoes remain.
  • two servings of plain, cooked orzo (pasta) in the freezer, leftover from an incident where my eyes were bigger than my belly.
  • a packet of frozen organic spinach, bought on a whim in the middle of winter.

So let's see how I go finding a use for all of these! Have a look in your cupboard - what have you found? What will you be trying to use up in this challenge?

Comments

The jam could be good for jam roly poly. This was something my mum made and it's really easy and quick.
You rub butter into SR flour to make a bread-crumb-like consistency. Then you add enough water to make a dough. Give it a knead and roll it out.
Generously spread it with jam. Then roll it up into a tube.
Pop it into a baking dish, and then make a sauce of sugar and water in a saucepan and boil it for a bit. Pour this over the top and bake in a moderate oven for 30 min.
Serve with cream. Delish!

That sounds delicious, Sara. That could get me through a lot of jam!