Happy New Year AND 2000 Views! Have a Cookie

Hello all, I hope you had a wonderful New Year, and are still feeling as terrible as I am! Today also calls for another reason to celebrate... The Global Hot Potato has just reached over 2000 views!!! What better way to celebrate than with an absolutely, mouth-wateringly indulgent vegan, dark chocolate cookie recipe?!?!

OK... So it's not perfect in terms of environment sustainability... Chocolate isn't locally sourced, neither is coconut oil... BUT... It's a hell of a lot more environmentally friendly than buying chocolate bars or pre-packaged sweets... It's also cheaper in the long run, and more rewarding! I encourage you to select fair trade ingredients only! And no dairy products included, which gives us extra brownie points...


Vegan, Dark Chocolate Cookie Recipe

Ingredients
(makes ~20)

110 g (or 1/2 cup) coconuit oil
100 g (or 1 cup) soft (light) brown sugar
50 ml (or 1/4 cup) almond/soy milk (water if neither)
1 tbsp vanilla extract
250 g (or 2 cup) plain flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
120 - 150 g (1 cup) dark chocolate (chopped) - check to see if it contains milk products!!

Additional:
Baking parchment

Recipe

1. Preheat oven to 180C/160C (fan oven) or 350F/320F (fan oven)
2. Mix the coconut oil and brown sugar together in a large bowl until creamed.
3. Now add the almond milk and vanilla extract, until mixed well. The mixture should be quite wet.
4. In a separate bowl, combine flour with the baking soda and baking powder.
5. Gradually add the dry mixture to the wet one, until well combined. After this, add in the roughly chopped chocolate chips, and any other additions of your choice (e.g. hazelnuts, cinnamon, fruit, etc.) and mix together.
6. Use a tablespoon to scoop out balls from the mixture, roll them in your hands gently to form a sphere, and then place them on baking parchment (on a tray). Then, flatten the balls with your hands, and ensure there is a lot of distance between each one. (I do about 3 batches with 2 separate baking trays - each with 5 cookies on).
7. Bake for about 10 mins - check after 7 to see how they're doing. Ensure that they're not too squishy before taking out. Sometimes my cookies needed 15 mins - use your judgement! (REMEMBER: cookies will harden when removed from the oven, so don't over-bake!!!)
8. ENJOY! :)

Post-Christmas Food Waste Facts and Foibles

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Food Waste - how it is recycled from RecycleNow on Vimeo.

Almost all of us waste food, whether we'd like to admit it or not. Although some items are destined for waste, like fruit peels, egg shells and meat bones, we throw away food that is perfectly edible, sometimes without realising. Here are some food waste facts, provided by Recycle Now and Love Food Hate Waste:

1. Approximately 7 million tonnes of food waste is generated in the UK each year
2. The average household wastes around £470 worth of food per year
3. The average family wastes around £700 worth of food per year
4. About half of the food wasted in the UK comes from our own homes
5. Wasting edible food contributes to 4% of the UK water footprint
6. The common food to be wasted is fresh food, such as, vegetables, fruit, bread, etc.
7. In the UK, we chuck more food in the bin than the packaging around it
8. If you throw food in the bin, the waste goes to landfills where it decomposes and releases vast stores of methane. This is equivalent to the emissions produced by 25% of cars in the UK, and thus is conducive to deadly climate change.
9. HOWEVER, food waste reduced by 1 million tonnes from 2007 and 2012. And potentially more since. If we follow France's example of retailers donating their surplus, then we can seriously make a huge impact!

Source: www.foodwastenetwork.org.uk

I thought this post to be particularly apt the day after Christmas, a day in which we engorge and spoil ourselves greatly, and consume lots of food (probably more than is necessary). This ultimately results in large quantities of waste. Although we can treat ourselves to this one day of indulgence every year, in a world where 793 million go hungry, it would the very least to ensure that we try to utilise all our leftovers. Here are a few recipes to consider before throwing away those tasty bites!

• Turkey and Potato Curry, instead of curry paste, make your own here
• Put any leftovers on your own homemade pizza
• Take a Moroccan twist with your leftovers with this Fruity Turkey Tagine
• Use your root veg to make a tasty Leftover Veg & Orange Cake
• Try a Christmas Leftover Pie
• Or, absolutely ANYTHING ELSE YOU'D LIKE!