West Coast Reducers are holding a demonstration on green cleaning with questions and answers on 17th March 2012 Torridon Community Hall from 12 noon. Demos 12.30 and 2.30pm. RoWAN Zero Waste volunteers will be on hand to advise about how to cut waste. Refreshments available. Free entry - all welcome.

Pancakes are traditionally made on Shrove Tuesday to use up any remaining butter, milk and eggs the day before Lent begins. It’s also a great opportunity to use up any leftovers from your fridge or kitchen cupboards.

Love Food Hate Waste has the perfect recipe for creating something delicious from leftover yoghurt and overripe bananas which might otherwise go to waste. If you have any spare sultanas, flaked almonds or soft berries at home these all make tasty additions to the batter too.

Research shows that around 31,000 tonnes of milk is thrown away every year in Scotland, and fresh fruit and veg are one of the most wasted food types. Each year in Scotland we buy and then waste around £1bn on food and drink which could have been eaten. That's an average of £35 per month per household. So instead of sending your leftovers to the bin, why not follow our simple recipe for a Shrove Tuesday treat.

Jon Molyneux from Love Food Hate Waste commented: “Using up leftovers is really easy, especially on Pancake Day. Save money and a trip to the shops by using up what you already have at home. Pancakes are so versatile and as long as you have the basic ingredients of milk, eggs and flour you can use anything you like as an accompaniment. Plus, it’s a great chance to get creative with your leftovers.”

Ingredients:

1 egg lightly beaten

125ml milk

125ml yoghurt

2 overripe bananas mashed with a fork

150g plain flour

A pinch of salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 tablespoon brown sugar

Instructions:

Mix together the egg, milk, yogurt and bananas.

Sieve the flour, salt and baking powder into a large bowl then stir in the ‘wet’ ingredients and the sugar. The batter will look a little lumpy. Read more

How much of your festive food ends up in the bin? Save money and help your environment by cutting out waste.

Christmas Food Saver Tips

• Write a list before you do that big Christmas shop to prevent over-buying in the supermarkets.
• Use the perfect portion planner at www.wasteawarelovefood.org.uk to plan how much you need to feed your guests.
• Freeze the carcass of your turkey to make a tasty stock for soup later.
• Don’t bin the leftovers of your turkey, they will be tasty on a sandwich on Boxing Day or make them into another delicious meal, like turkey curry. You could even freeze leftover meat for later too.
• Store those Christmas vegetables in the fridge to make sure they stay fresh long after Christmas day. If you don’t get round to eating them in time, boil them up and freeze them in individual portions to enjoy your own home-made ready soups or other meals in January.
• If you’ve got leftovers from dessert, whipped cream can be frozen too or turn your Christmas pudding into a strudel or use leftover fruit and dessert sauces to make brownies.
• Even leftover party food can be frozen and enjoyed in packed lunches when the festive season ends.

Finally, for all the vegetable peelings and fruit trimmings you can’t avoid: remember to use your compost bin to make a rich fertiliser you can use in the garden.

RoWAN wishes you all a HAPPY WASTE-FREE FESTIVE SEASON

RoWAN will be encouraging people to cut their waste at 4 events as part of European Week for Waste Reduction. This week focuses on highlighting waste reduction activities across Europe. RoWAN volunteers will be visiting Scottish Water and  Inverness College with information and a prize draw quiz on how to cut waste and save yourself some money. 

 We also plan to deliver and help install a Green Johana at Gairloch Youth Hostel to help cut the amount of food waste going to land fill. We hope to use this as a demonstration site for those interested in finding out more about composting all food waste.

RoWAN volunteers are also running a free Wormery workshop Timespan, Helmsdale 2pm Sunday 20 November. Find out how a wormery works and how to set one up. A wormery converts kitchen food waste into liquid plant feed and rich organic compost.There is also an opportunity for questions and answers on winter composing.

Come to Living Food at Cawdor. Fun for all the family:

• Over 50 stalls packed full of local and organic produce and over 20 artisan craft producers.
• Chefs Theatre with demonstrations from Charlie Lockley of the Boath House,Jim Cowie of the Captains Galley and Bruno Birkbeck from the Torridon Hotel amongst others.
• Local musicians performing throughout the day
• Chainsaw carving demonstrations, Woodland classroom sessions, Facepainting, Circus skills, Producers treasure hunt, biodiversity bingo, baby footprints...and delicious food served all day in the Taste of Cawdor marquee.

Rowan staff and volunteers will be joining the Zero Waste Scotland team to promote ideas on how to cut food waste and get composting. It's also a great opportunity to join our growing band of volunteers to help people cut waste across the Highlands. Hope to see you there!