Waste diary & BBQ watermelon rind challenge

In the spirit of our waste diary challenge posted last week I undertook a "fridge cleansing", which purged a lot more waste than we normally would generate.  It was time to confront all those disposal dilemnas that I hide away at the back of the fridge.

The fridge clear-out put my compulsion for hoarding relishes and condiments under a harsh spotlight.  So many that I could not recall how long they had been there and that I could no longer face eating.  Getting rid of the contents and rinsing the jars can use a lot of precious water, but we are told by the Council that containers and jars must be clean-ish before putting them into recycling.

Our waste from meal preparation was minimal, just avocado skins, seeds, carrot peelings and the like.  I snuck the end slices of the tomatoes onto sandwiches - breaking my silly habit of throwing out the ends.  Instead of wasting the crusts on the end of bread, I put them in the freezer to use for breadcrumbs later. That tactic does however have a limited life span, as there are few uses for breadcrumbs in my cooking repertoire!

This photo from The Guardian by Tristram Stuart shows three identical Romaine lettuces purchased at the same time and stored for ten days, from left to right 1) at room temperature 2) in the fridge and 3) in a glass of water like cut flowers.  Inspired, I kept herbs in water (refreshed daily) and they stayed fresh much longer. 

Our biggest volume of waste was watermelon rind!  Apparently the white flesh and green skin is used as a vegetable in many Asian countries and contains great vitamins, minerals, fibre and antioxidants.

I love that you can so easily find recipes on the internet for weird and wonderful ingredients, like:
Watermelon Skin Halwa
Barbequed Watermelon Rind with Sauces
Watermelon Pie from southern USA

Someone has even dedicated a whole site to fill your belly, not landfill with watermelon

The challenge now is to give them a go.  BBQ watermelon rind first...

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Top 10 vegan & vegetarian recipe websites we love

Eating less meat and more plants is not only for compassionate and environmental reasons, it is also healthy and great for those trying to trim down a little.  (I have a confession that I am loving The Biggest Loser's Friday Masterclass and they encourage proteins from plant sources!).   I'm loving cooking with my Gastrolux non stick cookware too - no toxic emissions and no oil required!

Here's my top 10 online resources for scrumptious vegetarian and vegan dishes, with favourite recipes picked out for you.

http://bittersweetblog.wordpress.com/e-books/
Four e-books by vegan author Hannah Kaminsky to download for just US$5 each with amazing recipes for ice cream and sweet treats made with no eggs or dairy.    RECIPE PICK *  Buttered popcorn ice cream!  

http://veganfeastkitchen.blogspot.com/
HUGE list of recipes from Bryanna Grogan, author of 8 vegan bookbooks and The Vegan Feast quarterly newsletter.   RECIPE PICK * Marinated tofu that's kinda like fetta
 

http://veganyumyum.com/ Lovely photos to accompany yumyum recipes and helpful "how to" section with how to Supreme an orange, how to slice a mango, etc.
RECIPE PICK * Avocado Wasabi Salad (pictured)  

Martha Goes Green vegetarian cookbook  Independently published in Melbourne, Australia, printed on recycled paper with vegetable inks, with over 50 vegetarian and health conscious recipes.   Available to buy from Biome with all our vegetarian recipe books.  RECIPE PICK * Chocolate Tofu Mousse

http://www.flickr.com/photos/47633560@N00/
Japan and the US have been crazy for Bento boxes long before the "waste-free" lunch box trend hit Australia.  SV Mama is a member of the Flikr Vegan Bento group that has lots of photos of Bento lunches.  Not actual recipes, but lots of ideas to fill up little boxes, like pictured here: Garlic Bread, Ravioli with Marinara Sauce, Pineapple Guavas and Sauteed Brussel Sprouts. Not sure I could get brussel sprouts past the kids!  
 
http://www.kurma.net Cooking with Australian Vegetarian Guru, Kurma Dasa.  Vegetarian and vegan recipes, invite Kurma to cook for you and follow his culinary adventures on his blog.  RECIPE PICK * Barbequed Haloumi with Chargrilled Asparagus and Salsa Verde

http://bokchoybohemia.com/ Everything Vegetarian and Kosher, gloriously humane comfort foods.  
RECIPE PICK * Vegan Thom Kha Tofu soup.   For those of us who usually miss out on this amazing Thai soup.

http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/  Won the US Veg News Veggie Awards – Readers Favourite Bog in 2007 and 2009.  Lovely photos and recipes for wholefoods without a lot of processed fat and sugar.  RECIPE PICK * Mini Crustless Tofu Quiches

http://www.backyardbowls.com/acai_bowls.html
Not the exact recipes, but ideas you can try - you just need to track down some Acai pulp!  If you’re everin Santa Barbara, look up Backyard Bowls.  To make Acai bowls they blend the frozen pulp of the Acai berry with fruits and coconut milk into a thick smoothie. Put that blend in a bowl, top it with granola, fresh fruits, Goji berries and honey.
 
http://seitanismymotor.com/
German influenced, so some great gluten-free breads and vegan sausages.  The longest link list of other Vegan food blogs I’ve ever seen.  Learn to make Seitan, which is made from wheat gluten and when cooked looks a lot like meat. RECIPE PICK * Olive and Seitan Sausages

When you go shopping for supplies, don't forget your reusable shopping bag! 

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Meat Free Mondays gives different angle on vegetarian study

Thank you so much to one of our readers, Meg, for this referral to the Meat Free Monday website and the actual WWF report How Low Can We Go?

It is fascinating how there were several news angles that could have been taken from the WWF report, but the media picked up on the bad news/more sensationalist headline that "a vegetarian diet can harm the environment".  Actually, the report was looking at the greenhouse gas emissions involved in the UK food system, and the scope for reducing them by 70 per cent by 2050.  

The Meat Free Monday article gives a much more balanced assessment of the WWF report.  The report said that livestock rearing alone accounts for 57 per cent of harmful emissions from UK agriculture.  It indicates that a vegetarian diet (with dairy and eggs), a 66 per cent reduction in livestock production consumption, and technologies to reduce nitrous oxide emissions from soils and methane from ruminants, had the potential to reduce direct supply chain emissions by 15-20 per cent.

According to the Meat Free Monday article: the report pointed out that any change in meat consumption patterns would have to be managed carefully. Less animals would mean less animal feed, for example, freeing up arable land, but how we compensate for a diet lower in meat, eggs and dairy could also have an adverse effect in terms of emissions. A switch from beef and milk to tofu and quorn could mean we need more arable land, not less. Emissions could be reduced nine per cent with a switch from red to white meat, the report also said, but would see an increase in the import of soy meal for poultry feed.

The report warned that "careful assessment" would be needed to avoid "unintended consequences", however. If the livestock industry contracted and collapsed entirely then the UK would be dependent on low-cost exports from other countries - it might make us healthier, but the environmental problems associated with meat production would simply be shifted elsewhere.

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Vegetarian no longer eco. Who moved my cheese...?

Photo of Chocolate Tofu Mousse from Martha Goes Green Vegetarian Cookbook

In the world of eco-friendly, one thing is for certain... change!  Just when you think you have the goal posts lined up for what is the most eco-friendly choice, someone moves them.  This is not a criticism, we love the intellectual and ethical deliberations, but I'm not good at change.  When it comes to change, I turn like an ocean-liner...slowly.

It happened with palm oil and soy.  At first, it was virtuous to be replacing petrochemical oil with with a plant oil, for example producing a palm wax candle instead of a paraffin candle -- but then the environmental movement made us aware of the rainforest destruction being caused by palm and soy plantations.

Bamboo is the perfect eco-friendly material, a fast growing and self-renewing plant requiring no pesticides or fertilisers that can be used for food, clothing, paper and building -- but now we've learned that we need to look for "panda-friendly" bamboo.  This is bamboo that does not deprive pandas of a food source, like Moso bamboo, which has no leaf growth on the first five metres of the stem.

Recently, the WWF has released a report that shows a vegetarian diet is not necessarily better for the planet than meat.  The UK study found that many meat substitutes were produced from soy, chickpeas and lentils that were grown overseas and imported into Britain.  It found that switching from beef and lamb reared in Britain to meat substitutes would result in more foreign land being cultivated and raise the risk of forests being destroyed to create farmland. Meat substitutes also tended to be highly processed and involved energy-intensive production methods (quoted from the article at Times Online "Tofu can harm the environment..")

When I read this story, the first thought that came to mind was "who moved my cheese" again? One of our Biome team introduced me to this great change management concept.  Your "cheese" may be your career, a relationship, your neighbourhood peace and quiet, your environmental values.  For those of us who struggle with change, it may be worth a look.  Who Moved My Cheese? is about helping you to enjoy less stress and more success by learning to deal with the inevitable change.

The WWF study is not course-changing for us vegetarians, but it is a nudge to the bow.  It encourages everyone to think about where our food comes from and to eat more foods that are less packaged and less processed - the same principles for whatever diet you follow.

More reading and vegetarian recipe books at Biome.

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