September 29, 2021 -- International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste

United Nations / Food and Agriculture Organization announce:

 

29 September 2021

International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste

 

 

FAO's Nine Tips for Reducing Food Waste

1. Start Small – Take smaller portions at home or share large dishes at restaurants.

2. Leave Nothing Behind – Keep your leftovers for another meal or use them in a different dish.

3. Buy Only What You Need – Make a list of what you need and stick to it. Don’t buy more than you can use.

4. Don’t Be Prejudiced -- Buy “ugly” or irregularly shaped fruits and vegetables. They are just as good but look a little different.

5. Check Your Fridge – Store food between 1 and 5 degrees Celsius (33.8 and 41 degrees Fahrenheit) for maximum freshness and shelf-life.

6. First in, First Out – Try using produce you bought previously (freeze or pickle). Stack up your fridge and cupboards moving older products to the front and newer ones in the back.

 

7. Understand Dates -- “Use by” indicates a date by which the food is safe to be eaten, while “best before” means the food’s quality is best prior to that date, but is still safe to eat after it. The "Sell by" date is helpful for stock rotation by manufacturers and retailers.
 

8. Compost – Some food waste might be unavoidable, so why not set up a compost bin.

 

9. Donate the Surplus – Sharing is caring.

 

Source: http://www.fao.org/zhc/detail-events/en/c/889172/

#ZeroHungerHero #NotWasting #KitchenMemories

Quick Meals

Busy people often don't have time to make healthy meals.

 

This is a quick list of some meals I grab when I am focused on a project and want to spend my time on the project and not on cooking and cleaning up.

 

Overnight Oats - add a layer of oats in a dish with a lid. Cover oats with milk, add some cinnamon and stir, add lid, store in fridge overnight. When ready to eat, add a bit more milk and eat plain or top with fruit, fresh, dry, or canned.

Mug O’Scrambled Egg with Salsa - crack an egg into a mug, add a dollop of milk, some black pepper and a bit of salsa. Whip and stir egg mixture. Microwave on high for two minutes. Eat straight from the mug or use as a toast topping.

Pasta Salad - Bring a pot of water to boil, add package of pasta (macaroni, ribbons or shells, for example), Stir and simmer for 8-10 minutes until pasta is cooked. Drain and store pasta in covered container. Take a portion of the pasta and stir in black pepper and mayo or pesto.

 

Salmon Salad - Drain a can of salmon, place salmon in a covered container. Add mayo and stir.

 

A Dish of Fresh or Canned Fruit

 

Tip: Add a dollop or two of canned fruit juice to a glass of milk and yogurt to make a fruit lassi. Add cinnamon and cumin and stir, if desired.

 

Cream Cheese and Fruit Toast Topping - Spread cream cheese onto a piece of toast. Top with pieces of fresh, dry, or canned fruit.

Baked Potato Salad - Pierce potato with a fork. Microwave one or two potatoes for 4-6 minutes or until cooked. Let the potatoes cool. Dice potato into cubes. Add mayo and black pepper, and stir.

Beans on Toast - On toast, spread a layer of canned or cooked beans. Top with Parmesan Cheese.

 

PB&J - There are dozens of ways to make a PB&J but the simplest is to spread a thin layer of Peanut Butter on one slice of bread and jelly or jam on the other slice.

 

 

September 17 -- Talking Health But Doing Sickness

Talking health but doing sickness

—Patricia Kinloch, Health Services Researcher in Samoa

The quote above is the title of a book on Samoan health. I find it to be a very profound epigraph.

How often do we talk health and do sickness. We talk about ridding our people of disease and we support industries that release carcinogens into the air. We talk about healing, and we use drugs that have side effects that are later found to be lethal. We talk about raising healthy children and we isolate our young mothers with little or no support.

The Samoans see sickness as a disruption in the social order. Illness, in Samoan culture, is much bigger than germs and biology. They recognize that illness is not just an individual issue. It affects the community and the group to which the person belongs.

It is important to see that even our ideas about illness are culturally based.

From: Native Wisdom for White Minds by Anne Wilson Schaef