community fridges

Recently I have been watching a very enjoyable program. Jamie and Jimmy’s Friday night feast. Although the series is mainly about recipes and cooking, I have also been very interested in a part of the program called Food-Fight. This part of the program looks into some of the biggest wastage's of food in the UK and how they are caused. There are some unusual ideas like eating old cows instead of new-born calves and some obvious ones about eating a bigger variety of fish. However in one of the episodes there was something that caught my mind. The idea of a community fridge.

 As I said in my Lottie’s kitchen post, I love food charities and how they help the world. However A community fridge is purely just for your area or county and they are easy for you to make a difference to the less fortunate people in your neighbourhood. A community fridge is quite obviously a fridge or several of them place in your area or county. The fridge is there only for your sake and the sake of others around you. All you need to do is place some of your leftover food that hasn’t gone bad yet in there. A few unripe avocados, a two day old loaf of bread. It is as simple as that. And if you need food just go to the fridge and take something out for yourself. Everyone wins. You are getting rid of leftovers and sometimes even get food in return.

This is especially beneficial for an estate or block of council flats as it means that the chances of them running out of food will rapidly decrease. It will also majorly decrease the amount of food being wasted in the country which is at the moment about £13 billion pounds worth. With all this leftover wastage it could feed the 1.4 million starving children in Africa.

So overall with this brilliant idea we could:

·       - Stop food wastage

·        -Change the amount of hunger people in UK must face

And many more. 

This is how you can help: Suggest to your local MP or park workers to add this idea into the community. You will be surprised how many people benefit from it. Including you.

If you can think of any other ideas like this, I would love to know so please comment below.

Lottie X

the photo above is a community fridge in Southend where the idea has already been put to the test by Jamie and Jimmy. 

Kale and egg salad

on a Monday evening I always enjoy a particularly light meal. After mixing and matching different original ideas I came up with my own recipe for a salad, that is healthy, nutritious and full of flavour, protein and something your taste-buds would really appreciate. the good thing about this recipe is you can make it your own. this is the recipe for my Kale and Egg salad:

ingredients:

• An Egg
• A handful of kale
• Some cheese of our choice (preferable orange cheese)
• Any spices or dressing for the kale (such as salt or paprika)

For the egg: the egg can be cooked for your liking though I recommend not doing it scrambled as that would make it too flavoursome for the kale and the cheese . My personal favourite is a soft poached egg therefore I will show you the recipe for that

The kale: the kale like the egg can be cooked to your liking, it can be crispy or boiled. however as my favourite way to eat it is just cooked in the microwave then that is what I will explain to you.

Method:

1. To make the poached egg you need to: 
Add a small dash of vinegar to a pan of steadily simmering water.
Crack the eggs into a clear bowl or cup.
Create a gentle whirlpool in the water to help the egg white wrap around the yolk.
Slowly tip the egg into the water, white first. Leave to cook for three minutes.
Remove with a  spoon, cutting off any wispy edges using the edge of the spoon.
Drain onto kitchen paper – nobody wants egg like poaching water making their toast soggy or dampening their salad.

2. In order to cook the kale you then need to:

Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat.

 Add the garlic(optional) and cook until soft.

 Raise heat to high, and toss to combine. 

Cover and cook for 5 minutes. 

Remove cover and continue to cook, 

Keep stirring until all the liquid has evaporated. Season with salt and pepper to taste and add vinegar.(seasonings are optional)

3. Now you have your cooked Kale and freshly boiled egg you need to put the whole dish together. 

To do this you need to dry the kale and put it on your serving plate

You then need to grate some cheese of your liking onto the Kale. I recommend doing a mild and soft cheese such as mozzarella or red Leicester.   

finally, place your egg on top of the dish and serve.

You can tell if your egg is a good egg by seeing if when you cut it open it has a golden yellow yolk and starts to drip all over the kale. 

So there you have it. A healthy, simple, quick and easy recipe for a small dinner whenever you feel like it.

If you have any ideas for a healthy, simple and quick meal then I would love to hear then so please feel free to comment in the box below 

Thanks

Lottie X

School Dinners

If you read my last blog Food-Freaks then you almost certainly would have read my post “school menus.”  In this I was talking about the quality of the food at my primary school. However after I moved on to secondary school I decided to rewrite this blog from my opinion of the food at my current School.
 At my old school, everyone came in for lunch at the same time and there was never anyone missing out or getting caught skipping lunch as we were all young and didn’t care. However after starting secondary school I have begun to notice more and more that there are people that are skipping lunch. In my previous school this was not such a problem as they kept track of everyone that came in and out of the lunch hall. At secondary school, since everyone is now a teenager they have the strange thoughts of thinking that lunch is not vital. But guess what? They are wrong. Teenagers should not be skipping lunch just because they know that they will get away with it. My idea is to find a healthier more tasty option than some of school products as it will make teenagers more willing to come to lunch. It will also stop the number of packed lunches in the school. This is better for enviromental reasons such as less plastic wrapping and packaging is being used. 

In order to rethink the school dinners, they must be:

Cheap

As healthy as possible

A balanced diet

And food that can be made quickly and in big portions.

 After experiencing two different types of school lunches I noticed the same product that is served at every meal. Pasta. Whether with tomato sauce or just with plain grated cheese pasta always happens to make an appearance. Although pasta is not bad for you, having it every day is not the healthiest alternative. Many schools serve pasta because they know that the majority of children eat it and it is cheap, quick and easy to serve. However so are other healthier products such as jacket potatoes?  They don’t frequently make an appearance. Why not? I think that schools should be serving other alternatives to the main meal such as a healthy jacket potato with butter or protein like tuna or baked beans. Currently my school do an alternative of pasta and Jackets along with the usual salads, sandwiches and fruit and vegetables. However after asking a few of my friends from other schools, I have come to the conclusion that my school is only of the only schools that does this. Well this should change.

If you agree tell your school or your child’s school. They will most certainly be impressed that you raised awareness. Make a stand today and try to change the meal you have for lunch. If you want something healthier that’s also cheap and easy then ask for it. There are most probably people that agree with you and also want the healthier alternative. 

The picture above is my school dinning room.

Please comment below for ideas for healthy school dinners as I would greatly appreciate it

Thanks

Lottie X

Kale and Milkshakes

Over my last few posts I have been talking all about healthy eating. People talk about how children should not be eating junk food and only the negatives.

This post is different.

I want to tell teenagers that having a treat once in while is fine and will not damage your health.

The picture above is a MESSY MILKSHAKE. It is covered in white chocolate chips, marshmallows, whipped cream and smarties. My mum would call this a diabetic coma. Having this every day would be terrible it could cause illnesses such as type 2 diabetes or rapidly make you obese. However, having this once in a while is the complete opposite.

A balanced diet does not just include fruit and vegetables. It also includes some fat and sugar. People can conclude that it is ok to have sugar every so often. Especially if you are a growing child.

Unlike other children I love kale and sprouts and most other green vegetables. In honesty, I almost certainly enjoy these kinds of foods more than sugary products. However this does not stop me. 

When I am out with my friends or family or am at a special occasion I, like everyone else love having a milkshake or an ice cream sundae. And that is OK!

So if you are having a bad day or are at a party or occasion, then have some fun with food. Let the healthy eating go for a couple of hours, and trust me it will not cause any damage to your body.

The next generation

please check out my guest blog on My relationship with food by Lisa Roukin!!

http://www.myrelationshipwithfood.com/the-next-generation/