It started with a chicken...

There is a lot of stuff being said at the moment about the amount of food that is wasted each week by the average person. It is somewhat shocking that not only is food going to waste but most of it ends up in landfills. There is talk too about the "make do and mend" attitude evoked during World War 2 and the absolute need not to waste food generated by rationing. It certainly made people more careful and, perhaps, more inventive about the way they used what was available. And now people talk about the credit crunch, food miles and being eco-friendly, all of which benefits from not wasting food. I think I’m pretty good at not wasting food and being generally eco friendly so this week I challenged myself to a zero food waste week and it all started with a very large chicken.

Sunday night we sat down to our usual Sunday roast. I suspect that in some households this would be something of a rarity in itself. We sit down as a family for every mealtime – it is a pledge that we made when we had children. It’s not always easy and it does mean that we all eat at 7pm, which many people may argue is too late for small children. But that’s what we have always done and the children don’t think anything of it. A traditional roast is less popular now than it used to be because it takes effort and some cooking skills. But it works out well for me because I can get the meat and potatoes in the oven then go off and get me and the children bathed before it’s time to cook the vegetables. And it is a meal that the whole family enjoys without having to prepare different stuff for different people.

So Sunday night I cooked a huge chicken, roast potatoes, roast parsnips, leeks, broccoli, carrots and ready-made Yorkshire puddings for the children. The chicken and potatoes had been part of a special offer meal sold by Marks & Spencer for Mother’s Day – a meal for 4 deal for £15. As the chicken had cost £11.80 (it was BIG!), the potatoes, two bottles of elderflower presse and the stack of porfitarols had only cost £3.20. However, I did feel that I had to make really good use of that chicken for that price. Of the vegetables, the parsnips and leeks had come out of the garden so were especially eco-friendly (as well as extra tasty!).

For the Sunday roast I had used one full leg, one drumstick and most of one breast to feed two adults and two small children. So lots of leftovers. I also deliberately made extra gravy so I had some of that left over too.

For lunch on Monday I enjoyed a warm roast chicken, roast potato and gravy sandwich. Monday dinner was lamb chops out of the freezer, boiled salad potatoes, the last of the carrots and broccoli and the remaining mushrooms. For the children I made pizza pockets using the last pizza base mix, some left over pizza tomato sauce, the last of the ham and some loose sweetcorn.
During Monday I received an email from Ocado offering me £15 off an order of £85 or more for delivery Tuesday or Wednesday. So on Monday afternoon I sat down and worked out my order. I didn’t need £85 of stuff from them but I added some bits that wouldn’t go off in order to make up my order and to take advantage of the money off. Delivery was booked for between 10 and 11 Tuesday morning.

The remaining part of the chicken leg was devoured by my hungry husband on his return from work Monday evening.

On Tuesday morning, with an imminent food delivery due, I needed space in the fridge so I removed the chicken from the bone and decanted it into a food bag. I then boiled up the carcass and stuffing for an hour in order to make some chicken stock. This I sealed into warm jars and once cooled I put them in the fridge.

The shopping arrived shortly before 11. Everything was there as ordered but after the delivery man had left I discovered that one bottle of cider was smashed and cider had leaked into one of the bags of shopping. It had soaked into a pack of envelopes and a pack of sleep pants which fortunately has stopped it making a mess of my kitchen floor but did mean that I had paid for a bottle of cider, a pack of envelopes and 16 pants that were ruined. I would have to request a refund later but that did mean a waste of envelopes and pants that would be going straight to the landfill.

After getting the shopping put away I had to go out to Tescos to get the remaining stuff that Ocado don’t sell. It wasn’t a bother because I had already planned to go to the library and there are in the same shopping centre. It also meant that I could take all the Tetrapak cartons to the recycling skip. Libraries are the ultimate in reusing and definitely eco-friendly!

After lunch I broke a chicken breast into little pieces and cooked some leek. This I mixed with a tin of condensed mushroom soup and the leftover gravy to make pie filling. I cut a pack of ready roll puff pastry in half and cut out lids for 4 pies. I spooned the filling into 4 foil pie cases and put on the lids. These all went into the freezer.

For dinner that night I made chicken pasta bake with more of the chicken and that fed all 4 of us.

Chicken Pasta Bake (serves a family of 4)

Cooked chicken
170g wholemeal Penne pasta
295g tin Batchelors cream of mushroom condensed soup
225ml chicken stock or milk
Loose sweetcorn
Leek
Mushrooms
2 slices of wholemeal bread made into crumbs
Grated cheese

Preheat oven to 200°C, gas 6. Break the chicken into small pieces. Boil the pasta according to the instructions on the pack. Boil the leek and fry some mushrooms. Pour the soup into a large pan. Pour the chicken stock into the empty soup tin and then add this to the soup in the pan. Add the chicken and sweetcorn to the pan and bring to the boil. If all the family like leek and mushroom, add these to the mix in the pan too, otherwise put them into one ovenproof dish and have another ovenproof dish for those who do not like these vegetables. Once the chicken mix is thoroughly hot, transfer it to the ovenproof dish(es). Add the pasta and mix thoroughly then sprinkle over the breadcrumbs and the cheese. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until golden and bubbly. Serve immediately.

On Wednesday I needed to tackle the two packs of pork mince I had bought the day before because they had been on special offer. One pack I turned into 8 pork and apple burgers (using up 2 old apples and 2 slices of stale bread). These I froze. The other pack I made into meatloaf (using up 2 more slices of stale bread, and some shallots and garlic from the garden). I had never made this before and I wasn’t sure that we’d all like it. As it happened, neither of the children did like meatloaf so it was just as well I still had some chicken left over so I could quickly replace the meatloaf with cold chicken for their dinners.

On Thursday I used the last remaining 85g of chicken, some less than perfect vegetables and some of the chicken stock to make 3 portions of chicken soup. Then on Friday I used up the other half of the ready-made puff pastry to make two leek and potato pasties for dinner.

Creamy Chicken Soup (serves 3)

Oil
3 small carrots
2 shallots
1 leek
1 stick of celery
1 clove of garlic
2 small potatoes
½ pint chicken stock
Salt & black pepper
Sprig thyme
250ml single cream (or soya alternative)
85g cooked chicken

Peel and chop the vegetables and fry them in oil in a stockpot for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the stock, seasoning and thyme and simmer for 10 minutes until the vegetables are soft. Blend this mix into a smooth puree in a food processor. Return the puree to the stockpot and add the cream and chicken and bring back to the boil, stirring constantly. Taste and add more seasoning if necessary. Serve hot was crusty bread.

So what food did go in the bin during the coarse of this busy week? The chicken carcass went in eventually, after being boiled up for stock first. A bit of leftover meatloaf went in too, although I suspect I could have thought up some use for it if I had been inspired. A few leftover scraps from the dinner plates also went in. All the vegetable peelings and trimming went into the compost bin, as did the eggshells and the remains of the out of date salad. All the cardboard food packs went into the children’s junk modelling bag and went off to their school for all the children to use. Yoghurt pots, plastic bottles and trays were kept for gardening purposes. Plastic film from food packaging had to go into the bin. Still, I managed to go from Tuesday morning to Friday night without emptying the kitchen bin (and it’s not particularly big).

I’m glad I made good use of the chicken and I feel I got good value for money out of it, having got 8 adult dinners, 6 children’s dinners and 5 lunches out of it! And my freezer is well stocked with food for another day. Using up leftovers is not difficult but it does take a bit of thought, imagination and forward planning, particularly as often other ingredients are needed to turn the leftovers into something else and these may not necessarily be ingredients you happen to have in cupboard. So the next time you buy a chicken think about how else you may use it and also buy the other necessary ingredients at the same time.

On Friday night my husband came home from work, having detoured to Marks & Spencers on the way. He’d been looking for a nice bottle of wine but had got side-tracked by their latest meal deal and you’ll never guess what he came home with… yep, another chicken!