Passing out Friday Flowers at White Rock Retirement Village

Last friday, we went to Walmart and picked out some flowers. Greyson picked red roses....he has good taste! And, Riley picked out some yellow roses. We took them to visit my Gram-Margie and all her friends at White Rock Retirement Village. Greyson and Riley were so sweet walking around, giving a flower to each lady we saw and saying, "Happy Friday!"

Each night when I put Greyson to bed, we say the #1 high and low of our day before we say our prayers. After passing out all the flowers, Greyson got in the car and said, "Mom, you know what my high was today? Giving those grandmas flowers." Yep, that made it worth the trip....right then and there!

"A cheerful look brings joy to the heart,
and good news health to the bones."
Proverbs 15:30

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Friday Fishcakes

On Day 5 of National Zero Waste Week, todays pot-luck lunch at Saints was a fabulous example of why I really should sort out my relationship with the fish thats lurking in my freezer at home.

Dont get me wrong, I actually like fish, but my imagination only goes as far as making fish pie, baking cod steaks or getting a battered fish from the chip shop.  Its the kind of thing that I cook at home because I feel I should, but never get excited about otherwise.

Hence, I really do have around a dozen pieces of tuna and cod that have been left in a frozen state, waiting for their release date from the freezer.   But eh thats progress, whenever I used to buy fish before I started The Rubbish Diet, chances were that it would remain in the fridge until after its use-by date then get bunged in the bin with the packaging intact!

But that was back then and despite my former disposition, I now feel that Ive got the inspiration to deal with my larder of frozen fish thanks to the fishcakes that were served today.

Now dont fall off your chairs will you, but I finally managed to capture the elusive Engin on camera today as he talked me through the contents of the fishcakes. And here he is, sharing the wisdom that just like soups, pies and stews, fishcakes are great for using up odd pieces of spare vegetables.

Todays fishcakes contained a mixture of salmon and sea bass, combined with mashed potato, chilli peppers, grated carrots and leeks.  I can also envisage theyd also be great for using up grated courgettes, cheese and any other bits and bobs that might be found in the average salad drawer.  The coating is something that Ive never got my head around but Engin explained that he uses a light batter made from eggs, milk and flour.

So my challenge now is to see if I can have the confidence to recreate fishcakes at home.  If I can, I know I will be extremely popular with the kids....well, thats if I leave out the chilli pepper.

Todays lunch made a fabulous end to whats been a great week here at Saints. Id like to thank owners Engin and Bernadette for being such great sports in supporting this years National Zero Waste Week and for the delicious inspiration and fabulous hospitality of their wonderful staff.   Its been a great opportunity to share some of their professional expertise in minimising waste and I now feel reinspired to shake up the menu on the homefront and put my leftover veg to much better use

Ive also had some brilliant company here too and Ive been joined by some of my lovely friends, many of whom have been more than happy to talk rubbish with me.

Take my friend Fi for instance, who despite it being her birthday today, got engrossed in discussing how she is busy concentrating on ways to minimise waste in a new business that shes setting up on the outskirts of Bury.  But just in case you feel sorry for her having to gab on about rubbish, dont, well be out on the town later celebrating her birthday properly and gossiping about other interesting things.

And on the topic of other matters of interest, it just so happens that BBC Radio Suffolks Rob Dunger dropped into town today, researching his new weekend show feature called "Looking Up", which highlights intriguing details about well used thoroughfares around Suffolk towns.  I managed to catch up with him for ten minutes, and was treated to a whole lot of fascinating facts about the history of buildings that line Abbeygate Street, where Saints cafe is based.  In fact, even the view from my favourite table at Saints reveals the pestle and mortar sculpture on the wall of what once was the old apothecary (currently a pasty shop).  And the clock face has an interesting fact about it too, which Rob will no doubt reveal when he covers Bury St Edmunds next week.

In the meantime, I think I may have blagged an interview with Mr Dunger on his programme tomorrow morning.   So if youre up between 6am-9am, do try and tune in.  Even if youre outside Suffolk, you can catch him online at http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/suffolk/hi/tv_and_radio/  In fact heres the chap himself, the very lovely Dungerman snapped getting ready to take photos of Bury St Edmunds for his Facebook page.

And do pop by here tomorrow too, as I will also be revealing the more serious side of what Ive been getting up to this week.   My focus has not just been on having a good time you know and tomorrow Ill be asking for your help in a blogpost which Ive prepared in order to support a very worthwhile cause.
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More information about National Zero Waste Week can be found at www.myzerowaste.com and details about Saints Cafe can be found at www.saintscafe.co.uk.

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day 5 Friday

Friday
Breakfast:
Cinnamon Oat-Bran Crunch
Combine three-quarter cup oat bran flakes with one cup fat-free milk, two tablespoons ground flaxseed and half teaspoon cinnamon.
Total ORAC points = 4,300

Snack:
Endive dipped into quarter cup salsa mixed with two tablespoons chopped avocado
One cup green tea
Total ORAC points = 5,200

Lunch:
Spinach Tofu Feta Salad with Lemon Dressing
One and a half cups baby spinach salad mixed with three plum tomatoes sliced and quarter cup chopped red onions. Add four ounces firm tofu (cubed or sliced) and one ounce reduced-fat feta cheese crumbled. Dress with one tablespoon lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste.
Total ORAC points = 3,900

Snack:
One sliced pear and eight walnuts. Top pear with quarter teaspoon cinnamon.
One cup green tea
Total ORAC points = 10,900

Dinner:
Flank Steak with Chimichurri Sauce and Mashed Cauliflower
Total ORAC points = 1,900

Eight cups of lemon water with one ounce of lemon juice per cup
Total ORAC points = 3,200

Total ORAC points for Friday: 29,400

((recipe))
Steak and Chimichuri
Ingredients:
4 oz. flank steak
1?8 teaspoon ancho chile powder
1?8 teaspoon sea salt
1?4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
1?8 teaspoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons finely chopped mint
2 teaspoons finely chopped cilantro
2 teaspoons finely chopped flat-leaf parsley



Instructions:
1. Line a broiler rack with foil and place it about four inches from the heat. Preheat the broiler.
2. Rub the flank steak on both sides with the chile powder, salt and 1?8 teaspoon of the black pepper. Let stand five to 10 minutes.
3. Using a fork, combine the garlic, lemon juice, vinegar, oil and cumin in a small bowl.
4. Add the mint, cilantro and parsley, the remaining 1?8 teaspoon black pepper and a dash of salt.
5. Stir until very well combined.
6. Set the sauce aside to let the flavors meld.
7. Place the steak on the prepared rack and broil about four minutes per side.
8. Stir and spoon the reserved herb mixture over the steak and serve immediately with the cauliflower.

Mashed Cauliflower
Ingredients:
1 cup hot cooked cauliflower florets
1?4 cup fat-free milk, at room temperature
1?4 teaspoon thinly-sliced chives
1?4 teaspoon garlic powder

Instructions:
1. Place the cauliflower in a blender or a mini food processor fitted with a metal blade.
2. Combine the milk, chives and garlic powder in a small bowl.
3. Add the milk mixture to the blender and puree about 15 seconds, scraping down the sides with a small spatula halfway through. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Makes one serving.

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The Friday Journal Week 2s rubbish highlights

So, hello you wonderful gaggle of bin-slimmers! Its almost the end of Week 2 of The Rubbish Diet challenge and what another fantastic week its been, with our EIGHT households dotted around the country - and New York - facing up to the challenges and in most cases overcoming their frustrations to reduce their waste.  Its been brilliant to see them reporting back on local recycling facilities that theyve discovered, and not just those provided by their local councils but opportunities supplied by chain stores too, which have take-back facilities for plastic film (e.g. supermarkets), batteries (e.g. Robert Dyas) and small electricals (e.g. O2 stores recycle digital cameras, iPods as well as phones).  As this week is all about shopping habits, its a great reminder to keep your eyes peeled for stuff that you can recycle when youre next in town.

And talking of eyes.  That photo up there in that top right hand corner, is by no way my attempt at creating an air of authority over our waste-busters.  Its more of a reminder that my personal highlight of the week has been my submission to middle-age with my commitment to varifocals. And with a 2-for-1 offer at Vision express, I decided to ditch the option of getting a free second pair of brand new specs and instead had my old reading glasses reglazed with my new prescription.  I cant even begin to tell you the joys at being able to see the screen properly.  Of course, if I hadnt chosen the reglazing option, I could have donated my old glasses to the Vision Aid Overseas scheme, for which Vison Express collected 10,000 pairs of spectacles in 2010.  If Im honest, Im now feeling a bit guilty for having had them reglazed and not donating them, but I only realised when it was too late. Other ideas for recycling unwanted glasses can be found over at MyZeroWaste.

Elsewhere, of more national interest, the £250m treasure chest to revert to costly weekly rubbish collections was launched today.  Rather than repeat myself, Ill recycle the blogpost that I wrote on the matter in September when the scheme was first announced.  It would be detrimental to revert to outdated weekly collection methods but hopefully the fund will enable those councils that wish to invest in diverting food waste out of landfill, to add such a scheme to their service.

News from plastics reprocessors also reveals that as more different types of plastics are collected, serious investment is still needed in proper separation methods to improve the quality of output from the recycling process, as well as harnessing a wider public commitment to recycle more plastic bottles within the household waste stream.  On the other side of the waste stream, it has also been highlighted that retailers are still finding waste reduction a key issue in their supply chains, despite making progress on their own operations.  It really does show that when you look at the wider picture, just like trying to improve things on the home-front, it can feel like three steps forward and one step back.


However, progress is being made throughout all aspects of the waste stream and highlights that every participant has a role to play!  And each effort counts, whether its the recently announced agreement amongst London bars & restaurants commiting to ditch the humble plastic straw,  or independent retailers like Mark Hall, pictured left, whose business provides a take-back scheme for customers to return their old Courtyard Chutney Co. jars.

For example, with each jar returned, customers receive 25p off their next purchase, which is great news for regular customers, Marks business and what he describes as "jar miles".  All jars, whether new or old, have to sterilised before use, so the process still saves the business money and with brand new sealable lids that conform to H&S regulations, jars can be back on display within days.

And finally, back to our bin-slimmers.  The most lovely surprise of the week was the news that Terry-Anna from Ipswich appeared on BBC Radio Suffolks Mark Murphy show on Wednesday with an update on her Rubbish Diet challenge. Having only created just half a rubbish bag of waste this week, she explained her strategy on-air.  Do listen in if you have a chance before next Wednesday.  Its a bit of a giggle and youll find it at 2hrs 36m into the programme.

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The Friday Journal Its all been happening in Week 1

What a week its been.  Very much of a whirlwind really, which kicked off in great style on Monday launching on BBC Radio Suffolk from Bury St Edmunds Household Waste Recycling Centre.

It really is incredible to see how much can happen in just five days. News coming in from the households participating in the challenge includes great discoveries of local recycling facilities that will help keep all sorts of materials out of the bin.




There have been challenges too, including one household, which was trying to find a convenient Tetra Pak recycling bank. Hopefully that will be resolved.
 

The bin slimmers have also been organising new storage facilities, recycling new things and have even given me access to their bins to see if anything had been missed.  And yes, it is rewarding to find stuff in a bin that can be passed on easily for recycling and already fits in with an existing recycling routine.

Ive made a few discoveries this week too, not least that all the recycling centres across Suffolk take plastic packaging such as rice and pasta packets as well as the polythene bags, but we can also bung corks in their timber collection and their media banks will accept VHS tapes, cassettes as well as CDs and DVDs.

Thats the thing with recycling centres, facilities are always changing so if its been a while, its always worth popping in for a bit of a gander, as was discovered by one of our participants today, who drives past most days but has never been in, except for one occasion as a passenger.

Other great discoveries include improvements over the last year to council business recycling facilities in Bury St Edmunds, which now includes heavyweight items such as glass. Having met with our borough council today, Im also looking forward to more good news being announced over the next few months.  Further afield, Aylesbury Vale District Council, home to one of our families, will also be announcing improvements to their service too.

This week, our local primary school commited to taking its own Rubbish Diet Challenge and has already started to investigate how they can reduce food waste over the next seven weeks, a project thats been adopted by their eco-club, so Ill be keeping an eye on how they get on.

And elsewhere, a local cafe, The Coffee House in Moreton Hall, signed up as a Tapwater.org refill station, enabling passers-by to refill their water bottles for free and reduce the need for bottled water. I only suggested it on Wednesday and by Thursday, they were on the Tapwater map.

So what with our Ipswich bin slimmer receiving her new slim bin from the council, a compost bin on order for another and a kitchen waste caddy awaiting delivery and some reports coming in of less waste, it has been a really good start to The Rubbish Diet Challenge 2012.  And I really cant thank the participants enough, as well as others who are joining in as the challenge progresses.

But the proof is always in the pudding and we will find out more at next weeks Monday Meeting, when a new set of mini-challenges will be set,

However, in the meantime, if you havent seen it before, do check out one of my favourite videos of this week, put together by Tim Atkinson, aka The Dotterel, whos taking the challenge in Lincolnshire.  The full blogpost can be found here.

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