I hate waste but....

Jess not all manuka honey is 'active' and antimicrobial .... and only medical-grade manuka honey is used on wounds.

We have inherited twelve bed hives up here targeted at making heather honey. They are managed by the local bee keepers but they are a friendly lot and are going to teach me how to beekeep. I will be allocated my own hive. How exciting is that? (Bee emoticon)

I used to use milk that had gone off to make croudie. I can still taste when it is off but it doesn't seem to separate in the coffee the way it used to.

Periodically I clean out the cupboards and anything past its date gets prioritised to use up, I have put some amazing things in casseroles with generally good results. I won't waste anything if I can help it.

Someone said they cut out the mould in bread but I have heard that is dangerous. We keep ours in the freezer and take out a slice at a time.

I quite like it when the DSs start behaving as if they are the 'grown ups' as mostly it shows they care. I think we used to do it to FiL as well but with limited success! I drew the line the other day one of them told me to change my text alert!

That is exciting jodie good luck with the bees.
yes the manuka honey thing - varies in the amount of manuka pollen and graded. Full strength is expensive! Not for spreading on toast.
I wonder if I should get some for MIL's legs? Cant see her sitting there with honey on her legs somehow. Not a messy person if you know what I mean. Puts the washing up liquid away under the sink every time. So glad DH did not inherit this gene.
There is research going on in NZ about medical uses. Must check it out.

Bags took me ages to click what a 'shower thought' is . When I was pregnant with DD1 I craved burnt toast and on a few occasions resorted to raking the bin for the endie slice to burn to a crisp and eat. However, my VERY eco-obssessed (but food wasting) DD carefully chucked the sliced loaf loose into the food waste bin on top of rotting meat scraps and tattie peelings putting the wrapper in the plastics and tins bin. To retrieve that was too much even for me.

used be able to at Morrisons, can get small jams there but they stopped the sauces now I believe.

I do agree we normally put date on them but with only 2 is bound to result in wastage, do wonder if that is just ploy to get us to buy more!!

I do think Wheniwasyouage a lot of the stuff is treated to preserve it so therefore is not very fresh when gets to shelves!

complicated nowadays!

You don't say celeb - a ploy to get us to buy more... how could that be true.
Or have they done a detailed bacteriological analysis of all food products at daily intervals, kept at different temperatures etc.
There is an interesting article on wiki which I think illustrates that none of this is based on exact science.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shelf_life
But interesting that we have a complicated concept of what "fresh" means.
Logically if it is not decomposing in any way, it is still fresh.
I think the refinements are that some fruit and veg tastes better freshly picked. Bread is a little more moist the day it is made etc. So the quality may deteriorate a bit, even though safety is not compromised.
My son did a dissertation once on the way the chemicals in oily fish change, day by day. A mackerel that has been in the fridge for 5 days might be safe to eat and have the same nutritional values but the taste would be very different to a freshly caught one.
Still don't understand why anyone would want to go to the expense of buying small jars of things unless you want a choice of 10 jams in the house. If you buy small jars you are wasting glass, plastic and your money. Just a different kind of waste really. Look at the "price pre kilo" on the shelf label.

quite simple really my OH DOES not eat jam, I occasionally do and a jar would sit in the cupboard for ages, does that explain it Jess M?

I would hazard a guess that it is EU Guidelines, I won some bath products in a raffle and hey ho hey has a BB DATE on them!! taking it a bit far really.

I would imagine as in case of Honey, it will last for months but they have to give all food products a shelf life, is not really straightforward.

obviously stuff tastes better fresher!

Parkinson's Disease only just come back onto net

As a child, I used to spend my summer holidays at my grandma`s in Lancashire, and she`s come to Yorkshire to fetch me, and stay overnight. I`ll never, ever forget the time she brought some bacon for her breakfast the next morning, and when my mother unwrapped it, it was crawling with maggots! My horrified mother was going to bin it, but my grandma protested strongly, picked all the maggots off, and fried it and ATE it, with relish. I think that`s taking waste not, want not, a bit far, but she lived to be 82!

Oh number That is gross! Yuk!

oh god just read #Tom Utley weekly column in Mail apparently his late Mum did the same thing with a huge joint of ham that she was feeding 20 people with !!!! how gross is that!!!!!!!!!

You mean, she wasted the maggots!! They're edible as well, you know

Locusts taste nice stir fried with soy sauce!

Seem to remember that tinned food was found stockpiled in Antarica for use by Scott and his companions on there ill-fated expedition. When opened it was still quite edible after nearly 100 years.

I was just reading about the difference between 'best before' dates and 'use by' dates on packaged food. Never really thought about it - but it seems best before dates merely tell you when the manufacturer considers that the product will begin to be of lessening quality - nothing to do with safety. Use by dates tell when a product may be deteriorating, anmd becoming unsafe.

I shall remember that.

Incidentally, I have now had two pots of Oxford marmalade develop mould when only a small part of the jar has been used, which seems odd.

What a great idea, I am such a dumbass I never thought about freezing the sauces ! Off to but ice cube trays in the morning!
PS my branston is at least a year old and we havent died yet......

If you enjoy butting ice cube trays far be it from me to comment .......

Nanado!

It's my new persona Ana I'm going to chill out and not take umbrage at anything any more. Even ...... No I won't mention any names. Peace and light. May the power, and your god or goddess, go with you

And no, I've not been on the all I've had is an Innocent smoothie.

It only has the same amount of sugar as a large banana.

I'm simple going to hand lose loose

And I might even freeze any left over in an ice cube tray

And the ice caps are safe too