The Folly Of Food Labels

I TAKE no notice of best-before, sell-by or use-by dates, I’m more of a sniff-by kind of a girl. If it doesn’t smell whiffy, it’s edible as far as I’m concerned. Now I’m pleased to hear — and a little surprised — that the Government agrees with me.


Environment secretary Hilary Benn has pointed out the sheer folly of slinging out perfectly good food just because it’s past its best-before date. Note, he's not suggesting that anyone ignores the use-by date, probably not wanting to get sued for an outbreak of botulism. Personally, I trust my own judgement.


My friends and I have different attitudes to that “best before” date-stamp on food. Some religiously throw out anything that has passed its shelf life while others use the date as a guide.


I, however, look on those dates as a challenge. A packet of custard powder that orders me to use it by October 7, 2009? Pah! I’ll make that raspberry trifle when I want to and I may not want to until January 7, 2020.


To me it’s always seemed madness (and somehow immoral) to throw away what is obviously perfectly good food. In fact, as a nation we throw away ONE-THIRD of all the food that we buy. I’ve written about this before here.

Not only is this an incredible waste of money but is environmentally disastrous. I refuse to believe that a tin of beans that is perfectly safe to eat at 11.59pm, suddenly becomes poisonous a minute later. If it were true, Dr Crippen wouldn’t have bothered with the hyoscine hydrobromide to poison his wife, he would have opened a dodgy packet of prawns and made her a sandwich instead. (In the interests of historical accuracy, Crippen TRIED to poison his wife but gave her too much hyoscine hydrobromide — she went screamingly mad and he shot her. Oh well... can’t win ’em all.)

Mr Benn said: “In the past, long before such labels existed, people would look at food in the fridge or larder and decide whether it was OK. Throwing food away costs us money. And if it goes to landfill it produces methane and that adds to the problem of climate change."

Mr Benn also said Britain must produce more food to avert world hunger.

If you look in the back of my cupboards you’ll probably find tins of Carnation milk that my grandmother squirrelled away in the war — the First World War. If bottles of wine from the Napoleonic era can make hundreds of thousands of pounds, my tins of Carnation must be worth a few quid, surely?

I haven’t poisoned anybody yet. At least, I don’t think I have. Which reminds me, I wonder what happened to my old schoolfriend who popped round for a sandwich in 2003? She hasn’t been back since.

Frugal Cleaning

EVERY once in a while the Marigolds and the feather duster come out at my home at Chez Disarray.

And yes, I am talking about spring-cleaning, not some weird practice for which certain men pay good money in Soho.

I do occasionally get caught up in CHAOS (Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome) because my house needs a good clean and tidy.

It’s then that I am particularly susceptible to all those advertisements on television, convinced that I must spend good money on something that promises me “one squirt and the dirt is gone”. One squirt, ten minutes of scrubbing, nine minutes of swearing and the dirt is gone, would be more accurate.

I have in the past spent a fortune on cleaning products, which admittedly all did a good enough job, before realising that cheaper alternatives are just as effective. So here are a few of my best cheapo cleaning tips:

1. A teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda on a damp cloth works as well as expensive cream cleaners.

2. Use vinegar for cleaning glass. It cuts through grease brilliantly. Use half vinegar and half water in an old spray bottle, put in a jar and dip in a clean cloth.

3. Essential oils are great for general cleaning too and very economical as you need so little. A couple of drops of tea tree oil on a damp cloth will disinfect surfaces.

4. Forget the proprietary clothes whiteners . Add a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda to your washing powder. Incidentally, you can cut down on the recommended amount of soap powder - at least by half if your clothes are grubby rather than dirty.

5. Here’s a great (and cheap) carpet stain remover: Mix white vinegar and baking soda together to form a paste. Then, work the paste into the carpet stain with an old toothbrush, or something similar. Allow the paste to dry; then vacuum up the baking soda, and the stain should be gone. Some stains may need to be treated more than once.

6. Vinegar comes into its own again in the loo. Pour a couple cups of vinegar into the toilet before bed, swish it with a toilet brush in the morning, and flush. This will sanitise your toilet and remove stubborn hard water stains.

7. And it’s vinegar again for the microwave. Fill a microwave-safe bowl with a mixture of half vinegar and half water, and put in on high for two minutes. Then, dip a sponge into the vinegar-water (be careful it’s not too hot) solution, and use it to wipe the food off of the walls of the microwave. It’ll wipe away easily.

8. Lemon juice is great for cleaning brass and copper. Mix to a paste with baking soda and rub on. Clean off and polish with a dry cloth.

9. The best tip, of course, is never to let anything get too dirty or stained in the first place. Then you will need minimal products and elbow grease to get everything clean and sparkling again.

If you have any cleaning tips you want to share, leave a comment or email me by clicking here.

Soft Soap Your Friends To Save Money

Bizarre tip of the day:

Here's a real cheapskate tip you could try if you have enough cheek! I'm much too honest to try it myself but I know someone who briefly got away with this.... Pretend that your washing-machine has broken down and ask family and friends in turn whether you can use their machine. It should work at least once with each person.

Sensible tip of the day:

Pause for thought if you are tempted to buy an item that isn't an absolute necessity. Wait a week, during which time decide whether you really want it and, if you do, it gives you time to compare prices or come up with a cheaper alternative.

If you have any tips you want to share, leave a comment or email me by clicking here.

Tips For Cutting Food Waste

I’VE written before about food waste here. Since then I have gathered a few more tips from family and friends. Readers have also e-mailed me with their own tips (click here if you want to share your ideas) or left comments.

1 Before you go shopping take a good look at your stocks of food and write a list of what you need. Then resist the temptation to buy anything that’s not on your list, unless it’s a really good bargain and will not go off before you’ve had chance to eat it.

2 Once a week, do a stock check and see what’s close to its ‘use by’ date. If you have too much veg, make soup and freeze it. Chop up fruit that’s near the end of its life and marinate in something fruity or boozy for a fruit salad or cook it for the base of a crumble. Old fruits are great for making ice cream or sauces, while black bananas are perfect for smoothies.

3 If you have soft left-over tomatoes, remove stalks and place whole into freezer bags. Add the frozen tomato to dishes where you would normally use tinned tomatoes, like bolognese sauce.

4 Make sure you rotate your tins and packets so that the oldest items are always near the front of the shelf.

5 Don’t stockpile spices and dried herbs. They start to lose their flavour after a while. It’s better to buy little and often.

6 Boil a chicken carcass or left-over meat from a joint in the vegetable cooking water to make stock. You can freeze this if you want.

7 Always use fish within a day of cooking. If you have left-overs you can flake it and add it to scrambled egg or make into a pate by mixing with cream cheese.

8 We never get left-over cake in my house, but some people do! Cake freezes well so don’t let it go stale or mouldy.

9 Never cook more food than you need. Get some kitchen scales so that you don’t end up with lots of left-over pasta, for example.

10 ‘Best before’ dates refer to quality not food safety and can still be used if they look and smell fine. ‘Use by’ dates are more serious and you should not eat products after this date. If you’re feeling brave read this article click here. but take it all with a pinch of salt!

Tip For Using A Glut Of Onions

THIS week I bought a huge bag of onions in Sainsbury's, Barnstaple, for 50p. It seemed a great bargain until I got the onions home and wondered if I would ever use them up before they went soft. So, before I got tears in my eyes contemplating squidgy onions sprouting green shoots, I phoned my mother for suggestions.

She gave me the recipe below, which has no name but which I think is an onion compote. Compote is not a word I would ever use with my mother, not unless I wanted that withering, "Who do you think you are?" look that I occasionally get when I use a "fancy" term!

You can serve it hot or cold, like a pickle, or to accompany a roast. I remember having it as a child with a ploughman's lunch - it's great with cheese. It's good spread thinly as a base for a Welsh rarebit or on you can use it on a pizza.

I made a big pan full and have frozen some and bottled some. It will keep about a month in a jar in the fridge.

Below is the basic recipe. You can add things like walnuts or raisins if you like. If you want to use it with pork, add some fresh sage. These additions should be stirred in near the end of cooking.

Onion Compote

1kg onions, peeled and roughly chopped
3 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp sugar or 100g runny honey
1 tbsp vinegar (you can also use balsamic or a red or white wine vinegar)
1 tsp salt
3 bay leaves (optional)
Water


Heat the oil in a large heavy-based frying pan over a medium heat.
Add the onion and bay leaves, stir and spread out evenly.
Add water until the onion is just covered.
Cover (with a lid or tin foil) and bring to the boil.
Remove the lid and stir in sugar or honey salt and vinegar.
Simmer slowly for an hour. Stir occasionally so the onion doesn't stick.
After 45 minutes, put the lid back on. If at any time during the cooking process it starts to get too dry, add a little more water.

How To Make Very Cheap Beer

IN these days of credit-crunching and frugality, let me give you the following recipe.

I should warn you that I haven't tried it so have no idea how it tastes. The website it came from says it creates "a delightful, if not usual, tasting beer". Make of that what you will!

If anyone is brave enough to make any, let me know your opinion either by commenting or by email (click here).

Nettle Beer

This is an easy recipe to follow. It is very cheap to make and follows a traditional English recipe. Before hops were widely used in the 17th century all sorts of plants were used to flavor the ale including nettles.It was also thought to help alleviate rheumatic pain, gout and asthma. Nettle beer can still be bought in the Czech republic and in the north of England where it is brewed with hops and is called Internettle.

Ingredients

900grams (2lb) young nettle tops
3.8lts (1 gallon) of water
230 grams (8oz) of sugar, brown or demerara sugar works best.
7.5 grams (0.25oz) of fresh yeast
small piece of toast
7.5 grams (0.25oz) of ground ginger

Method

Boil the nettle tops in the water for half an hour (you will need a very large pan for this or preferably a cauldron).

Keeping the mixture, strain and add sugar, stirring to dissolve. I mentioned keeping the mixture as the first time I did this I strained it and poured the liquid down the sink, so had to go out and pick more nettles. Also stir in the ginger. Pour mixture into a sterile container, ask at most home brew shops for details, if you don't have a home brew shop near you then a big branch of Boots should offer a Brewers bucket.

Spread the yeast onto the toast and float on the surface of the nettle liquid. Cover and leave for about 3 days at room temperature, do not allow the temperature to fluctuate too much as this will ruin the fermentation process.

Strain again and put into clean, strong screw top beer bottles, or sealable wine bottles (the recipe-writer used plastic bottles and said it still worked). This can be drunk after about 2 days.

The author said: "Still not sure how alcoholic this beer is as I have never drank more than one pint in a go; it does taste like it should be though. "

To find the recipe in its original click here.

Tips of the Day

Bizarre tip of the day:
Are your little dears using as much toilet paper as the Andrex puppy? Here's an easy way to put a brake on their consumption. Before you put the roll on the holder, step on it (not too hard) to squeeze it out of shape. Now it doesn't roll quite so freely and you'll find they use less.

Sensible tip of the day:
Do you keep throwing out stale bread? Buy a big loaf (you can buy half sizes but it works out dearer) and put half in the freezer in an old loaf wrapper (no need to use a new polythene bag). It defrosts really quickly, especially if you carefully separate the slices. Don't store your bread in the fridge - it goes stale faster there than in a bread bin.

If you have any tips you want to share, leave a comment or email me by clicking here.