Mince Pies

Making your own mincemeat and mince pies is surprisingly easy and a great way to avoid plastic wrapped shop bought versions. For us making mince pies definitely marks the start of the Christmas season, Gemma will usually bake them December 1st! The pastry recipe comes from Paul Hollywood and we can’t remember where the mincemeat recipe came from!

You’ll need a saucepan, mixing bowl, rolling pin, muffin/cupcake trays.

Serves 16+ (depending on how big/small you like your mince pies!)

Ingredients (when in italics available from the van)

For mincemeat

300g mixed dried fruit (approx £1.50-2 depending on fruit)

50g mixed peel (25p)

50g demerara sugar (15p)

1 teaspoon Cinnamon (approx 25p)

½ teaspoon Nutmeg (approx 13p)

1 bramley apple (or 40g apple rings 48p)

50ml alcohol (e.g brandy, port)

Juice of 1 orange

75g fat of choice (e.g butter, suet, coconut oil)

For pastry

375g plain flour

260g unsalted butter, softened

125g demerara sugar, plus extra for sprinkling (38p)

1 large egg, plus 1 beaten egg for glazing

Total cost from Incredible Bulk approx £3.64

Method:

Make mincemeat first, this can be made ahead of time and stored in glass jars.

Add all mincemeat ingredients apart from alcohol to saucepan and heat slowly bringing to warm temp and stir for 10mins and then let cool. Add alcohol and mix in well. Store in sterilised jar or place to one side to use later.

To make pastry place the plain flour and softened unsalted butter in a bowl and rub together to a crumb consistency. Add sugar and beaten egg and mix together. Tip out onto a lightly floured surface and fold until the pastry comes together, be careful not to over mix. Wrap the pastry in food wax wrap and chill for 10 mins.

To make the mince pies preheat oven to 220C/200C fan.

Roll out the pastry to 3mm thick and use a round cutter to cut out bases and place them into muffin trays. Put around 1½ tablespoon mincemeat mixture into each. Brush the edge of each pie with a little beaten egg. Re-roll out the pastry to cut lids and press them on top to seal. Glaze with the beaten egg, sprinkle with the extra sugar, then make a small cut in the tops.

Bake the mince pies for 15-20 mins until golden brown. Leave to cool before releasing them from the muffin trays and dusting with a little more icing sugar before serving.

Zero Waste Tips

Find butter wrapped in paper or make your own.

Any leftover mincemeat can be stored for later recipes.

Avoid clingfilm for wrapping the pastry as usually instructed and use a food wax wrap instead.

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Beetroot Red Velvet Cake

It was recently our wedding anniversary so we decided to recreate our red velvet wedding cake with a vegan beetroot version! We followed a Sharon Palmer recipe and modified the icing slightly choosing to follow the cashew icing from Deliciously Ellas carrot cake recipe.

You’ll need a mixing bowl, food processor, cake tin.

Serves 16.

Ingredients (when in italics available from the van)

For cake

3 beets, cooked, chopped with 2 tablespoons reserved beet liquid (we chose to steam ours)

175ml unflavored, unsweetened plant-based milk

100ml rapeseed oil (60p)

2 tablespoons chia seed (approx 10p)

1 tablespoon linseed, ground (approx 8p)

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

100g coconut palm sugar (80p)

250g plain flour of choice

65g ground almonds (£1.04)

1 teaspoon baking powder (approx 4p)

1 teaspoon bi carb (approx 3p)

30g cocoa powder (36p)

¼ teaspoon salt (approx 2p)

For icing

250g cashews, soaked 4hrs/overnight then drained (£3.75)

7 tablespoons maple syrup

2 tablespoons reserved beet liquid

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (approx 15p)

Total cost from Incredible Bulk approx £6.97 / 44p pp

Method:

Preheat oven to 190 C.

In a mixer puree cooked beets with reserved liquid from cooking beets until smooth. Once smooth add plant-based milk, oil, chia seed, linseed, and vanilla. Mix for 2 minutes and allow to stand for 5 minutes.

Mix in sugar, flour, ground almonds, baking powder, bi carb, cocoa powder and salt just until smooth.

Grease 2 round cake pans and pour batter into pans—dividing the amount equally between. Spread evenly. Bake for 40-45 minutes, until knife inserted into centre comes out clean.

Remove cakes from pan and allow to cool.

To make icing, place the drained cashews in a food processor with the rest of the ingredients and blitz until smooth, about 10–15 minutes – it should be thick enough to hold its shape but thin enough to smooth over a cake. Add a splash of milk or beet liquid if it gets too thick.

When cake is cooled, place the bottom layer on a cake pan. Spread with a layer of icing, top with the second cake layer. Ice top and sides of cake.

Zero Waste Tips

Use your remaining left over beet liquid for veg stock or watering plants!

Any left over icing can be used in porridge or used to stuff dates!

Make your own oat, soy or nut milk to avoid packaging.

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Carrot Cake

Another fantastic recipe from Deliciously Ella, this cake is scrumptious! And the cashew icing is very clever! This recipe is from her The Plant Based Cookbook.

You’ll need mixing bowl, cake tins, food processor.

Serves 10.

Ingredients (when in italics available from the van)

For Cake

400g plain flour of choice (buckwheat suggested)

1 teaspoon bi carb (approx 5p)

2 teaspoons baking powder (approx 7p)

200g ground almonds (£3.20)

400g coconut sugar (£3.20)

3 medium carrots (approx 250g) peeled and grated

100g raisins (50p)

600ml milk of choice (almond suggested)

100g coconut oil, melted

For icing

250g cashews, soaked 4hrs/overnight then drained (£3.75)

7 tablespoons maple syrup

2 tablespoons almond milk

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (approx 15p)

Total cost from Incredible Bulk approx £10.92 / £1.10 pp

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200ºC (fan 180ºC). Line two 23cm cake tins with baking parchment.

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, bicarb, baking powder, ground almonds and coconut sugar, stirring well to remove any lumps. Once combined, add the carrots, raisins, almond milk and coconut oil, and stir again until a batter has formed.

Pour the batter into the lined tins and bake for 35–40 minutes, until well risen and a knife inserted in the centre comes out clean – if it doesn’t, place the tins back in the oven for 5 more minutes.

Once ready, remove and leave the cakes to cool in their tins until room temperature, about 30 minutes.

While the cakes cool, make the icing. Place the drained cashews in a food processor with the rest of the ingredients and blitz until smooth, about 10–15 minutes – it should be thick enough to hold its shape but thin enough to smooth over a cake. Add another splash of almond milk if it gets too thick.

Remove the cooled cakes from their tins. Spread half of the icing over one cake to make the cake’s filling then sandwich the two cakes together. Smooth the other half of the icing over the top and serve.

Zero Waste Tips

Use home compostable baking parchment paper.

Make your own Almond Milk to avoid packaging.

If you have left over icing its great to use in porridge or to stuff dates!

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Malt Loaf

We haven’t had malt loaf for ages, a childhood favourite we decided to give baking our own a go. We followed a Meera Sodha recipe found in the Guardian, it was surprisingly quick and easy to make.

You’ll need 2 mixing mixing bowls, loaf or baking tin.

Makes 1 large loaf / 8-10 servings.

Ingredients (when in italics available from the van)

Rapeseed oil, for greasing

2 tbsp milled chia seeds (approx 15p)

150ml brewed tea, hot (we used 1 tablespoon of loose English breakfast approx 18p)

1 tbsp lemon juice

150ml malt extract, plus extra for brushing

80g coconut sugar (64p)

250g dried fruit (we used raisins, figs and prunes), chopped into raisin-sized pieces (approx £2)

250g plain flour

1 tsp baking powder (approx 4p)

½ tsp bicarbonate of soda (approx 3p)

¼ tsp sea salt (approx 1p)

Total cost from Incredible Bulk approx £3.05.

Method:

Heat the oven to 180C and grease and line your tin with baking paper.

Put the milled chia seeds in a small bowl with five tablespoons of water and leave to one side to bloom.

Meanwhile, put the hot tea, lemon juice, malt extract, sugar and fruit in a heatproof bowl. Stir until the sugar dissolves, then add the bloomed seeds, flour, baking powder, bicarb and salt. Mix well, then spoon into the prepared tin.

Bake for 50-60 minutes (the timing will depend on the shape of your loaf tin), or until a skewer comes out clean. As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, brush the top with more malt extract (or we used some date syrup for a bit of extra sweetness) and leave to cool. Eat warm with your favourite spread or wrap in baking paper and keep in an airtight tin, where it will get stickier and keep for up to a week.

Zero Waste Tips

Use home compostable baking parchment paper.

Reuse your tea leaves - should be good for a cup of tea to eat your malt loaf with!

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DIY: Bagels

These are so often found in plastic so we were excited to try Jeffery Robinsons recipe in his beautiful new cookbook The Modest Kitchen Journal:Summer.

You’ll need 2 mixing mixing bowls, saucepan, baking tray

Makes 6 bagels.

Ingredients (when in italics available from the van)

10g active dried yeast (15p)

4 teaspoons demerara sugar (approx 5p)

300ml water

450g bread flour

1 teaspoon salt (approx 5p)

1 teaspoon baking powder for boiling (approx 4p)

Total cost from Incredible Bulk approx 29p.

Method:

Bring flour and salt together and set aside. In another bowl pour your warm water with the yeast and sugar and leave to rest for 10 mins.

Make a well in your flour and pour your liquid and kneed for 10 mins. When ready put back in greased bowl and leave to rest for at least an hour, it should double in size.

Once ready tip the dough out and cut into 6 pieces. Work the pieces individually into balls. Next poke a hole into the middle of each ball and gently expand making a bagel shape.

When all bagels are made leave them to rest of a lightly floured surface, you want them to expand slightly but not over prove.

When ready bring a pan of water to the boil, pre-heat oven to 190C and prepare a baking tray with parchment paper. Add your baking powder to the water and when boiling add a few bagels and leave them for no longer than 15 secs and then flip them over for the same time on the other side. Gently lift out and place onto your prepared baking tray, add any toppings (seeds, salt) and pop in oven for 20 mins. Once cooked allow to cool.

Zero Waste Tips

Can be frozen if needed (handy to cut them in half first).

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Nasturtium Buns

A beautiful savoury bun to make while nasturtiums are in bloom! Inspiration from the amazing Loria Stern.

You’ll need food processor, 1 mixing bowls, jug, spatula, baking tray

Makes 12 buns.

Ingredients (when in italics available from the van)

Dough:

1 cup warm milk (dairy or nut/oat)

1 tablespoon demerara sugar (approx 4p)

1 tablespoon active dry yeast (approx15p)

2 eggs (or flax/chia egg for vegan)

6 tablespoon melted butter (or coconut oil for vegan)

½ teaspoon salt (approx 5p)

bowl full of nasturtium leaves (washed)

600g all-purpose flour

Filling

2 cups loose nasturtium flowers (washed)

Nasturtium pesto, or pesto of choice

Total cost from Incredible Bulk approx 24p.

Method:

First mix your nasturtium leaves and your flour together in blender. Then make the dough first by warming milk so that it’s lukewarm and pour into the mixing bowl with 1 Tablespoon sugar and 1 Tablespoon yeast. Stir and let it sit (proof) for five minutes or until it becomes foamy.

Then add the butter and eggs in the bowl with your proofed yeast, and mix until combined. Add the flour and salt and mix.

Knead dough until a large ball is formed and pulls away from the sides of the bowl. The dough should be smooth. If the dough seems too sticky, add 1 tablespoon more flour at a time until a smooth ball is formed.

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead with your hands until it is smooth and elastic (about 3-5 minutes). Form into a ball and lightly grease your bowl and place the dough instead, cover the bowl with a tea towel and put the bowl in a warm place to rise. Let the dough rise in a warm place for about 1 hour or until dough has doubled in size.

In the meantime, organise filling. Gather your nasturtium flowers and pesto.

Once dough is ready star to make the rolls. Sprinkle a flat work surface with flour.

Gently press the air out of the dough and form it into a rectangle.

Roll the dough into a 24” x 12” rectangle that is about ¼ inch thick.

Evenly spread a thick layer of your pesto with spatula/knife.

Add your nasturtium flowers in design of choice.

Roll up the dough tightly and cut into 12 equal sized rolls (each roll about 2” wide). Dividing the dough in half each time for the best (most even results without measuring!)

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and then place your rolls 4 x 3 on the sheet.

Cover with your tea towel and let rise until nearly doubled in a warm place, about 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 175 C.

*Optional: Swipe each roll with egg wash for a more golden, shiny bake

Once the rolls are doubled in size, bake them in the preheated oven until golden brown, about 15-18 minutes.

Zero Waste Tips

Can be frozen if needed.

Make your own pesto, wild garlic, nasturtium, basil.

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Rose Cardamom Buns

A beautiful bun to make while roses are in bloom! From the amazing Loria Stern.

You’ll need 2 mixing bowls, jug, spatula, baking tray

Makes 12 buns.

Ingredients (when in italics available from the van)

Dough:

1 cup warm milk (105 degrees F) (or coconut milk for vegan)

100g demerara sugar (30p)

1 tablespoon active dry yeast (approx15p)

2 eggs (or flax/chia egg for vegan)

6 tablespoon melted butter (or coconut oil for vegan)

½ teaspoon salt (approx 5p)

1 teaspoon cardamom (we ground seeds from our pods, approx 25p)

600g all-purpose flour

Filling

2 cups rose petals (washed)

50g coconut sugar sugar (40p)

1/4 cup rose water (we didn’t have so left this out)

6 tablespoon softened butter (or coconut oil for vegan)

extra 2 cups loose rose petal (washed)

Total cost from Incredible Bulk approx £1.15

Method:

Make the dough first by warming milk so that it’s lukewarm and pour into the mixing bowl with 1 Tablespoon sugar and 1 Tablespoon yeast. Stir and let it sit (proof) for five minutes or until it becomes foamy.

Then add the rest of the sugar, butter, eggs in the bowl with your proofed yeast, and mix until combined. Add the flour, salt and cardamom, and mix.

Knead dough until a large ball is formed and pulls away from the sides of the bowl. The dough should be smooth. If the dough seems too sticky, add 1 tablespoon more flour at a time until a smooth ball is formed.

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead with your hands until it is smooth and elastic (about 3-5 minutes). Form into a ball and lightly grease your bowl and place the dough instead, cover the bowl with a tea towel and put the bowl in a warm place to rise. Let the dough rise in a warm place for about 1 hour or until dough has doubled in size.

In the meantime, make filling. In a medium size bowl, stir together rose water and sugar. Then gather 2 cups rose petals, pink and red petals work best, wash off in a colander. Place in the bowl with your rose water and sugar and massage so that the rose petals macerate with the rose water and sugar mixture. Set aside.

Once dough is ready star to make the rolls. Sprinkle a flat work surface with flour.

Gently press the air out of the dough and form it into a rectangle.

Roll the dough into a 24” x 12” rectangle that is about ¼ inch thick.

Spread your softened butter with spatula/knife.

Evenly spread your macerated rose petals on the dough rectangle, trying to cover the surface to the sides. Scatter the other 2 cups of washed rose petals on the dough.

Roll up the dough tightly and cut into 12 equal sized rolls (each roll about 2” wide). Dividing the dough in half each time for the best (most even results without measuring!)

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and then place your rolls 4 x 3 on the sheet.

Cover with your tea towel and let rise until nearly doubled in a warm place, about 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 175 C.

*Optional: Swipe each roll with egg wash for a more golden, shiny bake

Once the rolls are doubled in size, bake them in the preheated oven until golden brown, about 15-18 minutes.

Zero Waste Tips

Can be frozen if needed.

Make your own rosewater by steeping extra foraged rose petals in water.

Find butter in paper or use coconut oil found in reusable glass jars.

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Cornbread Wedges

A fairly quick and easy cornbread recipe, original BBC Good Food recipe used milk and eggs but can easily be made vegan as we did for this meal.

You’ll need mixing bowl, jug, baking tin

Serves 6 people.

Ingredients (when in italics available from the van)

225g polenta (57p)

140g plain flour (we used wholemeal which is why ours looks a little dark in the image)

1 tbsp sugar (approx 3p)

2 tsp baking powder (approx 7p)

1 ½ tsp salt (approx 10p)

565ml buttermilk ( or milk (dairy or non) with a squeeze of lemon juice)

2 eggs (or chia/flax egg)

Total cost from Incredible Bulk approx 77p / 13p pp

Method:

Heat oven to 230 C.

Meanwhile tip all the dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl.

Beat together the buttermilk and eggs in a separate bowl.

Pour over the dry ingredients and mix together until just combined and you have a loose batter.

Pour the batter into a greased/lined baking tin and smooth the top with a knife. Bake for 25-35 mins until golden and a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.

Cool in the pan for 10 mins, then turn out, cut into wedges and serve.

Zero Waste Tips

If you make too much its good to freeze for upto 1 month.

Using home made oat/nut milk is the best way to avoid packaging, or find a milk refill station.

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Marzipan Almond Icing

This marzipan is simply delicious! So much better than the ready made versions you’ll find wrapped in plastic in the shops! Recipe from Delia Online.

You’ll need a large bowl, saucepan, rolling pin.

Makes 375g

Ingredients (when in italics available from the van)

90g icing sugar

90g demerara sugar (27p) (best if you blend in blender to make finer)

1 large egg beaten

few drops pure almond extract (or we used vanilla)

1 teaspoon brandy

175g ground almonds (£2.80)

Total cost from Incredible Bulk approx £3.07

Method

If you have a blender pop your demerara in and blend to breakdown into finer particles. Sift icing sugar and demerara into a large bowl, then stir in the egg.

Place the bowl over a pan of barely simmering water and whisk for about 10 minutes, until the mixture is thick and fluffy. Then remove the bowl from the heat and sit the base in about 5cm of cold water.

Whisk in the almond/vanilla extract and brandy and continue to whisk until the mixture is cool. At this point stir in the ground almonds and knead to form a firm paste on a surface lightly dusted with icing sugar.

Roll out the amount needed on a clean surface dusted with icing sugar, and keep giving it quarter turns (to keep it round) between each roll. Once it is rolled to the right size, cover the top of the cake.

Zero Waste Tips

If you have extra left over after covering your cake its great to stuff in dates, make marzipan biscuits or stollen.

Icing sugar is easy to find in a recyclable paper bag.

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Christmas Cake

Gemma made her first Christmas Cake not long ago following a recipe her mum shared with her. It was a great experience tending to the cake in the months before Christmas and it made a wonderful Christmas gift for Jacks parents! We’ve also in recent years adapted the recipe slightly to be vegan and it turned out great too!

You’ll need a large bowl, 20cm cake tin, baking parchment.

Makes 8-10

Ingredients (when in italics available from the van)

750g mixed dried fruit (approx £4-7 depending on fruit chosen!)

100g whole almonds roughly chopped (£1.40)

100g mixed peel (50p)

200g dried figs (£2.40)

300g plain flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (approx 13p)

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg (approx 13p)

zest 1 lemon

250g lightly salted butter or coconut oil

250g coconut sugar (£2)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoon clear honey or agave

1 tablespoon black treacle

4 large eggs or 4 tablespoons of chia seeds mixed with 16 tablespoons water

1/2 teaspoon bi carb (approx 3p)

1 tablespoon milk

3 tablespoon brandy plus more to feed after bake

Total cost from Incredible Bulk approx £10.59-13.59

Method

Heat oven to 140 C. Line the base and sides of cake tin with double layer of baking parchment.

If doing vegan version pop your chia seeds into a bowl with the water, mix and leave.

In a large bowl mix fruit, almonds, peel and figs. Turn well and add flour, spices and lemon zest.

In a separate bowl, cream the butter/oil and sugar thoroughly, add vanilla, honey and treacle. Still beating add eggs (or chia mix), then stir in the fruit and flour mixture.

Dissolve the bi carb in the milk and add to cake mix. Add the brandy by the spoonful.

Turn batter into the cake tin and make a dip in the middle using the back of a spoon.

Bake for 3.5 hrs, check if cooked, if not give it 10mins and test again.

Once cooked, remove from oven and leave to cool in tin.

Next day remove cake from tin, wrap in fresh baking parchment and put into airtight container or wrap in foil or wax wrap.

Keep the cake for at least a month before icing it, unwrapping and sprinkling further brandy over during the month.

Zero Waste Tips

Find butter wrapped in paper or make your own zero waste vegan butter (we like using a mix of coconut and rapeseed oil with shea butter).

Find refillable milk or make your own zero waste oat or nut version to use.

Buy honey, treacle and brandy in reusable or recyclable glass bottles.

When it comes to finishing your cake, make your own marzipan!

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Almond Biscotti

Avoid plastic wrapped biscuits and make your own. This was our first time making biscotti and we found them super easy to bake and really tasty! We found this recipe on Delia Online.

You’ll need a large bowl, baking tray.

Makes 16

Ingredients (when in italics available from the van)

50g almonds (70p)

25g ground almonds (40p)

110g flour

75g demerara sugar (23p) (we found this quite sweet and may reduce qty next time)

1 large egg (or you could try vegan alternative)

3/4 teaspoon baking powder (approx 3p)

pinch salt

a few drops almond extract or we used vanilla extract

Total cost from Incredible Bulk approx £1.36 / 9p per biscotti

Method

Preheat oven to 170 C.

Sieve flour, salt and baking powder into a bowl.

Add almonds, ground almonds and sugar and mix.

Add egg an almond/vanilla extract and first mix with wooden spoon and then with hands to form a smooth dough.

On a lightly floured surface roll dough into log about 28cms long. Place on prepared baking tray and place in centre of oven for 30 mins.

Remove from oven and leave to completely cool.

Pre-heat oven to 150 C

Once cool using a bread knife cut log into slices on slight diagonal about 1cm thick.

Place back on baking tray and back in oven for 30mins until golden and crisp.

Leave to cool, store in airtight container.

Zero Waste Tips

Buy ingredients loose where possible and look for reusable or recyclable packaging if not available.

Use a home compostable baking parchment and you can always keep after first use and use again - ours usually last a few bakes!

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Ginger Cookies

Avoid plastic wrapped biscuits and make your own. These are super tasty, easy to make cookie. The original recipe is from the Every Day cookbook from Deliciously Ella. You could switch out the ginger for another spice if you wanted - cinnamon would be nice!

You’ll need a food processor/blender, baking tray, rolling pin.

Makes 16

Ingredients (when in italics available from the van)

100g almonds (£1.40)

130g pecans (£3.25)

180g flour

95ml maple syrup

2 tablespoons ginger (approx 25p)

1 tablespoon coconut oil

1 tablespoon chia seeds (approx 15p)

optional:

16 dark chocolate buttons (approx 32p)

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (approx 3p) this will make your cookies rise a little and more doughy, if you prefer crunchier biscuit cookies leave out

Total cost from Incredible Bulk approx £5.75 / 36p per cookie

Method

Preheat oven to 200 C.

Place the almonds and pecans in the food processor and blend until a flour forms.

Add all other ingredients (leaving out chocolate buttons if using) plus 95ml of water and blend into a sticky dough.

Get baking trays ready, oil or line with baking parchment.

Dust work top and a rolling pin with flour and roll the dough out until its nice and thin and smooth. Use cookie cutter (or glass) to cut out cookies and put them on the prepared trays.

If using chocolate buttons now is the time to press them into the top of each cookie.

Bake for 15-20mins, until golden and leave to cool, store in airtight container.

Zero Waste Tips

Buy nuts and seeds loose from your local refill shop.

Look for maple syrup and coconut oil in glass jars (great for using as storage once you have finished the contents!)

Use a home compostable baking parchment and you can always keep after first use and use again - ours usually last a few bakes!

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DIY: Hummus

Our favourite hummus recipe is from the Green Kitchen At Home cookbook. It is super smooth and creamy thanks to a healthy amount of tahini in the recipe! Homemade hummus is so much tastier than shop bought versions and you avoid the single-use plastic container it comes in!

You’ll need 1 large bowl, saucepan, food processor/blender.

Makes 675g

Ingredients (when in italics available from the van)

200g chickpeas (approx £1)

1/2 tsp bicarb of soda (approx 3p)

1 tsp salt (approx 5p)

120ml tahini

juice 1 lemon

2 tbsp olive oil (approx 10p)

1/2 tsp ground cumin (approx 5p)

Total cost from Incredible Bulk approx £1.23

Method

Place chickpeas and bi carb in a bowl and cover with 600ml of water and mix until combined. Soak in fridge for 24hrs.

Drain and rinse the chickpeas and transfer to saucepan along with salt, 2 litres of water and garlic. Bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer for 1-2 hours until tender. Drain, reserving 120ml of cooking water and leave to cool.

Place the chickpeas, garlic, reserved cooking water, tahini, lemon juice, olive oil and cumin in blender and pulse until smooth.

You can add various toppings, we like smoked paprika, sumac, za’atar as options.

Store in the fridge, will keep for 1 week.

Zero Waste Tips

You could look to make your own tahini too from sesame seeds (we’ll post a recipe soon!), otherwise look for tahini in glass jars.

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DIY : Olive Oil Spread

This idea came about as we were moving towards a more plant based diet. We’d previously bought butter wrapped in paper but looking into plant based alternatives found that they were almost always in single use plastic. We then discovered that olive oil solidifies at low temperatures, around 7 degrees C and we had a eureka moment!

You’ll need:

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

A container, we used our old butter dish upside down!

A fridge!

Method:

Pour your olive oil into your container and place either at the back of the fridge or if that isn’t cool enough in freezer.

When spread is needed, simply remove and the olive oil will spread easily!

Zero Waste Tips

Use refill olive oil to avoid single use packaging!

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DIY : Homemade Stock

Homemade stock is a great way to utilise leftover foodstuff. Another great idea found in the Simplicious cookbook from Sarah Wilson, offering meat, fish and veg options.

You’ll need:

1 large stockpot or slow cooker

strainer/sieve

1 onion, coarsely chopped

approx 300g veggie scraps (whatever you have, although avoid large quantities of cabbage, turnips and bitter greens as they’ll make it bitter and include peels)

1 bay leaf or several sprigs of thyme

1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns

For beef: 1-2kg beef bones (marrow, knuckle, ribs, neck) and 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar.

For chicken: 1-2 leftover (cooked or uncooked) carcasses and 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar.

For fish: 1kg carcasses (don’t use oily fish) and 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

For veg: extra 300g of veg scraps if available (or simply make less)

The above qtys will make around 3 litres of stock.

Method:

Place the bones in a large stockpot with the vinegar and cover with cold water (for beef soak the bones for 30mins before cooking). Add enough water to cover the bones but make sure you have atleast 2.5cm space between water and rim of pot.

Bring to the boil. Then reduce heat and add the onion, veggie scraps, herbs and peppercorns and simmer.

Beef: 12-72hrs

Chicken: 4-24hrs

Fish: 1-3hrs

Veg: 30mins-1hr

If making in slow cooker, follow same procedure, once boiling turn down to low and cook for 4-24hrs.

Once cool, remove bones and strain liquid into a large bowl and refrigerate. If you have used bones in your stock once cooled you can remove the layer of congealed fat on top. Then divide and store - can freeze up to 3 months (fish 1 month).

Zero Waste Tips

If using beef bones you can get a second batch of stock out of the bones by using them again with fresh veggies etc.

If using bones you can also ask your butcher/fishmonger for a bag of bones.

Place strained leftover scraps in compost

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DIY : Vanilla Extract

Another great idea found in the Simplicious cookbook from Sarah Wilson. No more vanilla extract bought in plastic bottles and a great way to extend the life of vanilla pods.

You’ll need:

3 vanilla pods

125ml vodka (or bourbon, brandy or rum)

a clean sterilised long, narrow jar

Method:

Split the vanilla pods lengthways. Place them in the jar and cover with the alcohol. Seal, shake and store in the dark, give it a shake every few days or so and it will be ready to use in 4 weeks.

Zero Waste Tips

Make it bottomless and simply add more alcohol as you drain the bottle. Simply add new vanilla pods once flavour starts to wane. You an use pods when you’ve used the seeds for something else- so a great way to use them and not waste them.

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DIY : Yogurt

For fans of yogurt it can be hard to avoid plastic with not many glass-jarred versions out there. But help is at hand because its surprisingly easy to make your own. You can decide how much time and effort you put in, some recipes call for constant attention but we’ve had success with an easy slow-cooker almost leave it to it recipe. Instructions and recipe based on Daring Gourmet and Chelsea Green and utilise shop bought live yoghurt. You can also look to buy cultures, harder to find plastic free but there are cultures out there that don’t need heating and work at room temperature making the process even easier!

What you’ll need:

Milk - ideally un-homogenised and full fat

Yogurt cultures - from existing bio live yogurt pot, or you can use kefir cultures too

Either a slow cooker or you can do with a saucepan

Thermometer to measure milk temperature

The total time making the yogurt mixture is around 3-4 hours and then resting time of 10/12 hrs or over night - so plan accordingly!

Method:

We usually use around 2 litres of milk which makes 1 large jar of yogurt and around 100ml of yogurt cultures

Make sure your yogurt cultures are at room temperature - so take out of the fridge and place on worktop.

Place all milk in either slow cooker or saucepan if doing on hob. You want to get the milk temperature up to 85 degrees Celsius slowly, without burning the milk. You can do this on a high setting in the slow cooker or over a medium heat in a pan. This will take up to 2 hrs. You can decide how much attention you place on heating the milk. We’ve often just left the slow cooker to it and occasionally checked the temperature and given it a bit of a stir. If you are doing over a hob you will need to tend to it more ensuring you stir regularly to stop any scorching of the milk.

Once at 85C (and make sure it does reach this temp, we’ve often found the yogurt doesn’t take if it hasn’t quite reached the top temp) depending on how much time you have you can either keep it at that temp for a little while, up to 20/30 mins or you can start to cool the milk - we’ve heard that the longer you heat the thicker the yogurt. So turn off the slow cooker or remove from heat on the hob. You want the milk to slowly cool to 43 degrees Celsius. Don’t try to quicken up the process, this’ll take between 1 -2 hours.

Once the milk has cooled, take your room temperature yogurt cultures and mix in a little of the warm milk, then gently but thoroughly stir the cultures into the milk - don’t use circular motions but use an up and down and side to side motion (we’re not sure why)?!

Then place a lid on the slow cooker / saucepan and wrap in a large towel to help retain heat and let it sit for 10-12 hours / overnight.

You should then have yogurt! If you desire thicker yogurt you can look to strain the mixture through a muslin cloth to separate the whey but we often don’t bother / need too.

Jar up your yogurt and place in the fridge - make sure you save some of your yogurt in a separate jar to have ready to make your next batch and you should never have to buy yogurt in a plastic tub again!

Occasionally you may end up with yogurt soup where the mixture hasn’t set - this has happened to us once so far, we’re not sure why, potentially the milk wasn’t hot enough, but whats left is still good enough to eat and use and will still have plenty of good bacteria!

Zero Waste Tips

When looking for a yogurt starter you can find glass bottled yogurt so you can completely avoid single use plastic packaging.

Look for milk refills - Roddas, Trink and Mooon Milk are available around Cornwall!

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DIY : Sourdough Bread

We absolutely love sourdough with its unique taste and ancient history. Instead of being made with cultured yeast, sourdough bread is made by the fermentation of dough using naturally occurring lactobacilli and yeast. Because flour naturally contains a variety of yeasts and bacterial spores, when added with water, the naturally occurring enzyme amylase breaks down the starch into the sugars, glucose and maltose, which sourdough's natural yeast can metabolise. With sufficient time, temperature, and refreshments with new or fresh dough, the mixture develops a stable culture, known as a starter. Luckily one of our lovely customers gave us a sourdough starter, but you can see how to make your own starter here. Due to its fermentation time sourdough is thought to contain less gluten than regularly baked bread and can be an option for those that are gluten intolerant. It also has a much longer shelf life as well, not that it ever lasts long in our house!

We have trialled a mixture of different methods to bake our sourdough and have had success with the below.

What you’ll need:

1 sourdough starter

strong white bread flour

warm water

salt

Method:

A few days before you want to bake your loaf you need to start feeding your starter to make sure its nice and lively. Most people recommend using equal measures of water and flour to the measurement of your starter (e.g 100g starter needs 100g flour and 100g/ml water). After feeding leave starter for 12hrs in a warm place. Keep it covered but not airtight as it needs to breathe. After 12hrs the starter would have risen and start to bubble, a sign of a good starter is no liquid on top and lots of bubbles.

Now your starter is ready to go. For one loaf take 285g of starter (make sure you have some starter left over to make another batch), 425g bread flour and 9 g salt. Mix together in a bowl and then mix with enough water to make a sticky dough, slowly add the water to ensure right mix. Use your hand or a scraper to mix the dough. For 10 mins you’ll need to knead your dough, using your palm and the full force of your body to thoroughly work the dough. Now leave the dough in a bowl, cover with beeswax wrap and leave in a warm place for its first rise, usually for around 4-6 hrs.

Next, re-knead the dough to remove air and then you’ll need to shape so the dough feels firm and soft, we’ve found using an envelope technique best to create a seem and shape (see minute 5 on this video). Place a tea towel in a bowl, cover with flour and then place dough inside bowl so seam is facing up. Wrap towel over top and cover with beeswax wrap and leave for its 2nd rise - depending on your timings either leave at room temperature for around 6 hrs or leave in fridge for around 12hrs.

Your dough is now ready to bake. Set oven to 230 degrees centigrade and place dough onto pizza baking tray, seam side down. You’ll need to score the top of the dough to allow air to escape during baking (see minute 7 of video) Before placing into the oven make sure you either spray water inside or put a tray of ice cubes/water in the oven below where you’ll be putting the baking tray, this ensures a nice crispy crust that is a signature of sourdough. Bake for around 30 mins. You’ll know when its done as it’ll be golden and will sound hollow when you tap the bottom.

You should then have a beautifully baked sourdough loaf, no additives, no plastic packaging!

Zero Waste Tips

When tending to your starter you will be discarding parts of it, but don’t throw these away, there are plenty of recipes out there for discarded sourdough starter - we’ll share some of our favourites soon!

We don’t often have this problem but if you find you’re left with bits of bread starting to go stale don’t throw it away, blitz it up in a blender to make breadcrumbs and store in the freezer.

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DIY : Fruit Squash

We get through quite a bit of citrus fruit and are always looking for fun zero-waste tips for left overs, so we were excited to try this recipe we found on Farmdrop. Our method ended up varying slightly to theirs and having only done it once so far our only advice would be to go with what you think looks best!

What you’ll need:

left over citrus peels - start saving all your citrus peels in the fridge, you can either look to do all the same or a mix as we did, all depending on what type of squash you are hoping to end up with! We saved up until we had a decent bowl full (weighed around 700g and produced approx 250ml squash).

caster sugar

Method:

Weigh citrus peels in bowl, the farmdrop recipe then recommends adding an equal measure of caster sugar but we ended up only putting in about half of the amount as it looked like too much - we used enough to make sure all peel was well covered - it does look like a lot of sugar!

Mix together thoroughly and then leave on the side covered with kitchen towel. Again this is where our experience varied from farmdrops who advise leaving for a few hours/overnight, ours was left for a good couple of days before the sugar had properly broken down and all the juices had come out of the peels - we would stir every so often and just left it until it looked like squash!

Once we were happy we simply strained the squash from the peels and put into an upcycled glass jar and kept it in the fridge, ours has lasted a few weeks with no problems.

A great little extra product to get out of those left over peels and no more plastic bottles for squash!

Zero Waste Tips

We then rinsed off the sugar from the peels and left to dry out in front of the fire, once dried we then use as little extra firelighters - they really help out in the wood burner!

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DIY : halloumi cheese - plastic free!

Cheese is often hard to find without single-use plastic, especially halloumi so we thought we’d try making it ourselves. While our first attempts are not going to win any fancy food competitions it does taste like the real thing, so we’re super happy! Recipe followed found at Guardian.

You’ll need:

milk - we used just under 2 litres which produces around 6 slices of cheese

rennet - we bought veggie rennet, you can also try making your own from nettles but we didn’t have success with this!

salt

thermometer

muslin cloth

strainer/sieve

large pan

perforated spoon

large bowl

Overall time around 3.5hrs

Method:

Gradually heat milk in pan to 32-36 degrees Celsius, take off heat, add rennet (follow instructions on bottle for how much to add), stir gently and let it settle for 1 hr, in which time it should set like jelly.

Cut the jelly like substance (curds) into 1 inch cubes in the pan and let leave it to settle for another half hour.

Bring the mixture up to approx 38 degrees Celsius over a gentle heat, taking around half an hour.

Set up a sieve lined with muslin cloth over a bowl and use large perforated spoon to scoop the curds into the muslin lined sieve and leave for an hour to let the whey drain away from the curds.

Slice or shape the curds into oblong shapes.

Heat whey to 85 degrees Celsius, add 1 tablespoon of salt and once at temperature gently place the cheese curds into the hot whey to poach. The cheese will rise to the top when its ready, this can take up to half an hour.

When risen remove cheese and leave to drain and cool.

The cheese is now good to eat or you could store in brine. We’ve found that once stored in brine the halloumi becomes more like the regular squeaky halloumi found in stores!

To make brine add half litre of whey to half litre of boiling water with 100g of salt, allow mixture to cool and then pour cool brine over cheese in an airtight container.

Zero Waste Tips

Make completely package free halloumi by buying milk in your own reusable container at a milk refill station- there are now quite a few around Cornwall.

Any left over whey can be used in vegetable stocks, used in cooking to replace water and can be substituted for skim milk in most baked good recipes that require milk so don’t throw it away!

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