Easy ways to reduce your food waste

The week-long Eid Al Adha holidays have come to an end and people all over have shown the precarious symptom of being unable to find the will to go back to work. Many decided to travel; some expats flew back to their home countries, while the rest stayed back in Oman and enjoyed the long holidays with their friends and family here.

Festival holidays are always special, as you know there is always something to look forward to. Celebrations galore, new clothes, exchange of gifts, and of course the delicious food that you always overeat, which can send you into a food coma for the next couple of hours. During these nine days, Oman did not just celebrate Eid Al Adha, but the Indian expats from Kerala also celebrated their harvest festival, Onam. The celebrations are as grand and large for both festivals. They involve new clothes and lots and lots of food. While during Eid, the meal is meat-heavy with shuwas and biryanis, Onam is associated with the sadhya, which is a number of vegetarian dishes served on a banana leaf.

However, what follows after savouring the sumptuous meal is what people fail to ponder over. Huge quantities of food are prepared, a lot of it eaten, but a lot more goes to waste. According to Be'ah, Oman Environment Services Holding Company, food accounts for 27 per cent of municipal waste and its cost is estimated to be OMR57 million in a year. The amount of food is generally higher during festivals, especially Ramadan and Eid.

It's not just in homes that we find food being wasted in painful portions; it's the same in restaurants too. Food wastage is a huge problem that needs to be looked into. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), every year, 1.3 billion tonnes of food are wasted. This is equivalent to the amount produced in the whole of sub-Saharan Africa.

But for those who wish to consciously reduce the amount of food they are wasting at home, there are some easy ways that may just lead to saving kilograms of food. Cook less and count the number of people you are preparing the food for instead of cooking in bulk. Make sure you look at the expiry date on products before buying them and use them before they expire. Avoid impulse buys and always keep a grocery list that you will stick to.

Most importantly, make use of your leftovers. There are many innovative ways to use leftovers that you can find on YouTube and prepare a delicious meal for yourself. Every time you have the urge to waste some food on your plate, remember there are thousands of people starving in different parts of the world without even one square meal. In fact, one in every seven people in the world go to bed hungry and more than 20,000 children under the age of five die daily from hunger.

It is also up to hotels and restaurants to adapt sustainable practices that help in stopping/avoiding the mass wastage of food. Certain hotels in the country resort to methods such as recycling and reusing leftovers in innovating ways. Excess food is quite often recycled to the staff cafes. Hotel chains have even urged charities to focus on food wasted in hotels and restaurants and redistribute them among those in need.

World chefs gather to tackle issue of food waste

If you have ever thrown out food because it's started to spoil, or left food on your plate uneaten because you were too full or didn't like the taste of it, then you - like many others, myself included - have been guilty of food waste.

Roughly one-third of the food produced in the world is lost or wasted before it ends up on the table.

Food loss is food that's spoilt before it reaches the retail stage. Food waste is food that's fit for consumption but not consumed and discarded.

In a world where one out of nine people goes hungry, reducing the amount of food waste can be said to be a moral imperative.

And when you factor in the greenhouse gases emitted by food that ends up in the landfill, then it becomes an issue of sustainability as well.

The World Association of Chefs Societies, or Worldchefs, is tackling this issue head-on, through Feed the Planet, a Worldchefs initiative run in partnership with Electrolux and AIESEC.

At the Worldchefs Congress in Malaysia's Kuala Lumpur, Chris Koetke, chairman of Feed the Planet, told an audience of chefs and culinary students, "If you can improve your bottomline through looking at food waste and improve things on the planet, why wouldn't you?"

Feed the Planet has launched what's called the Food Waste Challenge - a plan that encourages chefs worldwide to start measuring the amount wasted from their kitchens, and make a commitment to cut the mountain of discarded food.

"Those of us in white coats - we cook a lot of food; we use a lot of energy; we use a lot of water; we make a lot of waste," said Koetke.

"So we have a responsibility to the larger society, to the planet, to make sure we're doing well in each of those categories."

ReTaste, a pop-up, not-for-profit restaurant in the Swedish capital of Stockholm takes the concept of reducing food waste one step further.

Twice a week, ReTaste serves up seven-course meals using mostly produce that would otherwise have been thrown out by supermarkets.

It's a collaboration between two companies, Retired Hen, a food sustainability consultancy, and Pauls Kok, a restaurant.

In an on-site demonstration at the Worldchefs Congress, ReTaste chef Christopher Ekman whipped up some dishes using produce given by local supermarkets. His menu included pasta made from stale bread that had been ground down and then mixed with flour, eggs and salt.

Ruth Osborne, cofounder of Retired Hen, had a message for her audience: "You make incredible food out of premium products. And … if you use your imagination, take those skills, you can also make incredible meals out of less than premium products. And teach people that actually, they're valuable and worth the enjoyment."

My takeaway from Worldchefs Congress is this: we all have a part to play in reducing food waste - whether it's finishing the food on your plate, or consuming that misshapen fruit.

7 delicious foods you never thought to grill

Sure, hamburgers and barbecued chicken are backyard grill staples. But for a special side dish—or even an unexpected main course—you can put your gas or charcoal grill to work! From a crispy sandwich to "grilled guacamole," we've got a bunch of unique grilling ideas to help you make the most of your next cookout.

1. Flatbread

By now you probably know you can cook a pizza on your grill. (Seriously—it's so good. These 15 ways to make pizza on the grill will prove our point!) But have you ever made a flatbread? Here's a recipe for Grilled Cheese & Tomato Flatbread that brings together the best of smoky grilled pizza with creamy cheese and bright garden-fresh tomatoes. Yum!

Test Kitchen Tip: Keep your eyes on your flatbread at all times. It will go from lightly browned to burned faster than you can say "Parmesan."

2. Grilled cheese

Let's say you're craving a grilled cheese—you know, something like our Best-Ever Grilled Cheese Sandwich. Did you know you can make grilled cheese, literally on the grill? (It's called a "grilled" cheese after all!) Simply build your sandwich, and place it directly on the grill grate to toast, the same way you'd toast a hamburger bun. Be sure to use thick slices of bread and plenty of butter.

Test Kitchen Tip: As with flatbread, this baby browns up rapidly. Keep your eyes on the grill; don't let it cook for more than a minute before lifting it up with a spatula to check on it. You might even want to consider using a copper grill mat since the cheese gets good and drippy.

3. Quesadillas

If you think about it, what are quesadillas but a Mexican-style grilled cheese? It stands to reason that you can grill up a classic quesadilla just like you would a traditional grilled cheese sandwich. Here's a recipe for Grilled Caprese Quesadillas to get you started, but once you get the hang of grilling quesadillas, you can improvise with the ingredients!

Test Kitchen Tip: You can place the quesadilla directly on the grates, but might consider using a copper grill mat. You could also consider using a parchment paper sheet. Just make sure the temperature on the grill doesn't go higher than 400° F.

4. Fajitas

It's no surprise that you can cook the meat for your fajitas on the grill. But you can cook your veggies over an open flame, too. Simply slice 'em into one-inch strips (so they won't fall through the grates), toss with oil and grill over direct heat for six to 10 minutes (or until crisp-tender and slightly blackened). For skinnier vegetable slices, you can place an oven-safe skillet over direct heat, and with the grill cover open, sauté those peppers and onions as you would over the stove.

Test Kitchen Tip: You might lose fewer veggies if you place them on a…wait for it…cooling rack! It needs to be all metal, oven-safe and able to withstand the heat of your grill. It will keep those veggies from falling through, and when you're done cooking, pick the rack up (wearing an oven mitt, of course) and serve!

5. Anything in a cast iron skillet

Literally anything you can make in a cast-iron skillet can be made in that same cast-iron skillet on your outdoor grill. For example, how about this Southwestern Spaghetti? Or a tangy Lemon Pepper Tilapia? It's also easy to use your grill for baking, especially when it has a temperature gauge. Both the Fudge Brownie Pie and German Apple Pancake are real crowd-pleasers!

Test Kitchen Tip: When using your cast-iron skillet on the grill, you're getting the best of both your oven and your stove. When a recipe calls for pre-heating your cast-iron, simply do so on the grill with the cover closed (as if it were your oven).

6. Fruits

Maybe you've tried grilled peaches and realized how wonderfully sweet the fruit gets on the grill. Just about any summer fruit can benefit from a little heat. Start by grilling pineapple with brown sugar (it's heaven!) or mangoes for a Grilled Mango & Avocado Salad.

Test Kitchen Tip: Fruit is another great opportunity for using a cooling rack or grill basket. Be sure to spray it lightly with oil to keep things from sticking.

7. Avocado

But wait…there's more! Why stop at the grilled mango for your Mango & Avocado Salad? Go ahead and grill up that avocado, too. Just cut them in half, remove the seed, brush with fresh lemon or lime juice and olive oil and grill them cut-side down for two to three minutes. For anyone who loves avocados, you'll want to give this recipe for Grilled Guacamole a whirl.

Test Kitchen Tip: When grilling avocado, keep in mind that it's a delicate fruit. It's important to brush it (or spray it) with oil to prevent sticking.

Obese people enjoy food less than lean people – new study

Global obesity rates have risen sharply over the past three decades, leading to spikes in diabetes, arthritis and heart disease. The more we understand the causes of obesity and how to prevent it, the better.

We are interested in understanding reward-driven eating. Laboratory experiments have shown that obese people are less rewarded by food than people who are lean. We wanted to know if this held true when people were in a more natural environment – that is, going about their everyday lives.

For our study, we developed a smartphone app to record spontaneous patterns of food wanting and liking as they occurred.

The participants used the app to score the intensity (on a scale of 0 to 10) of how much they wanted food whenever the thought of food popped into their head, regardless of whether they then ate or not. If they did eat, they rated the intensity of how much they liked their food (0 to 10), straight after eating. The app also recorded the time the participants ate and how long they took to eat.

Participants used the app continuously for two weeks. They also completed a questionnaire about their food cravings and attitudes to food, and had their various measurements taken (such as height, weight and body composition).

We grouped the participants according to their body fat. Of the 53 participants, 20 were a healthy weight and 33 were obese. Our analysis showed that obese participants reported slightly fewer food-wanting events per day – an average of five, compared with six in the healthy weight group.

Both groups resisted about the same proportion of food-wanting (30%) events. And the duration of meal times was about the same: about 18 minutes.

The intensity of the obese group's food wanting was not significantly different from the healthy weight group's food wanting, showing that obese people don't have more frequent or intense food-wanting episodes.

However, obese participants reported significantly less intense food liking than healthy weight participants, revealing that they enjoyed or were rewarded less by the food they ate. There was a strong correlation between wanting events and craving traits measured by the questionnaire, which was not seen in healthy weight participants. Thus, obese participants showed that their decision to eat was strongly driven by cravings and not by hunger.

In the healthy weight group, the intensity of wanting food when people resisted temptation was less than when wanting was followed by eating, as one might expect. And the scores for liking were high after eating. This suggests that, in people with healthy weights, the decision to eat or not to eat is based on the intensity of wanting, and that food enjoyment supported the decision to eat.

This pattern, however, was not seen in the obese group. Their decision to eat, or not, didn't seem to be driven by conscious wanting intensity, and their food satisfaction did not support their decision to eat. Emotional motivation in connection with cravings seems to be more influential in eating decisions in obese people than in healthy weight people.

Simple, Delicious Food For The Intermediate Days Of Passover

The Cooking's Just Begun — Pesach Part 2 And Healthy New Snacks To Pack For Play and Work

The Passover Seders are over and it's time to replenish your refrigerator. But don't fret: if you try my quick and easy fish ideas, you'll be out of the kitchen before you finish that last cup of coffee.

Fish Cakes

Use your own favorite croquette recipe with binder of choice. Use some of your fresh leftover herbs and mince into very small, chewable pieces.

I use Dagim tuna, fresh salmon that I grind or even fresh white fishes like flounder. To make it very simple, use any brand of gefilte fish. I use both Ossie's Fish and Raskin's Fish logs, both available in my neighborhood. Slice logs into pieces.

However you choose, bake mini cakes, slices or even ball-shaped cakes until golden brown on both sides and fully cooked on the inside.

Serve with your favorite condiments — I like to make a fruit salsa and a lemon, garlic, dill sauce.

Strawberry Rhubarb Salsa

1 Bag frozen bodek frozen strawberries and rhubarb, thawed and drained
1/2 box fresh strawberries, cut in quarters
1 Small red onion, diced
1 Yellow or orange pepper, seeded and diced
1 small Jalapeño Pepper, seeded and diced
Fresh parsley, finely chopped
Salt and pepper to Taste

Mix all ingredients together, let settle together in refrigerator at least 1 hour.

Lemon Garlic Dill Sauce

1 Cup mayonnaise of choice (full, low fat)
2 lemons squeezed for juice and some zest
1 cube gefen garlic
1 cube gefen dill
A taste of sweetener of choice

Blend together and refrigerate for at least one hour until ingredients to settle together.

Pack Those Healthy Snacks — Three New Products I Love

I can't keep enough of these products on my shelves. The children are even grabbing them, preferring these treats to the traditional goodies they enjoyed previously. All are available online as well.

Fruits By Pesha Dehydrated Fruits
Sea Castle Seaweed Snacks
Fresh From The Heart Cookies

And A Tip….

Now is the perfect time to make your lists of what you need, what you want and what is readily available. For example, I need two new pillow case covers, as my nephews wanted me to give them mine as their afikomen gifts.

I also need a bigger food processor and some more dairy cooking utensils. Make these lists now and also put them in a very visible place so that when you start unpacking next year you have time to purchase and tovel before the holiday.

Also, now is a great time to stock up on coconut and almond flours, ketchup made without corn syrup, new bottles of spices and many kosher spirits and wines.

Take advantage of the competitive prices and availability. Also support Made in Israel goods and foods, especially those manufactured in facilities boycotted by the BDS Movement.

Have a fun and relaxing Chol Hamoed!

New friendships, delicious food at Eagle's Trace: Culinary pros mentor students from Cordon Cool

Since 2005, residents and employees of Eagle's Trace have carried forth a proud tradition of giving back to the greater Houston area.

In 2017 alone, they volunteered more than 35,000 hours on campus and in the surrounding community, serving local schools as mentors and creating partnerships with nonprofits such as the Houston Cannery.

That spirit of service is continuing in 2018 as the culinary professionals of Eagle's Trace enjoyed a unique opportunity to share their talents and expertise with a group of students from the Cordon Cool Cooking School.

The Cordon Cool Cooking School is one of the newest programs offered by The Next Step Academy, a day treatment program specially designed to meet the educational needs of individuals with developmental delays, specifically individuals with autism spectrum disorders. There are two Houston-area locations, one just north of the Heights and another in Sugar Land.

On Feb. 22, executive chef Donald Mutin Sr., along with sous chef Keesha Oldham and lead cook Adam Perkey, hosted six students from Cordon Cool for an exclusive, hands-on cooking demonstration in the kitchen of the Garden Room Restaurant located at the Erickson Living retirement community.

Together, they prepared a popular signature dining dish enjoyed by residents of Eagle's Trace: marinated lamb chops with rosemary potatoes and a lamb mint demi-glace, served with a chocolate black bean budino cake.

"The students were incredible. We worked with them on fundamentals of the culinary profession, such as proper measuring and mixing of ingredients, portioning, baking and garnishing of the finished dish," said Mutin, who has more than 25 years of experience in the dining industry in the United States and Asia.

"To be involved with the students of the Cordon Cool Cooking School is one of the highlights of my culinary career," Mutin said. "As a teenager, I benefitted from the mentorship of many skilled chefs, even the great Emeril Lagasse when I was the sous chef at the Commander's Palace. So I understand the value of these rewarding partnerships and consider it a true privilege to spend time with these amazing young adults."

Those who attended the session from the Next Step Academy agreed, including Lauren Harrington Abel, the school's founder. She said that "it was so encouraging to see the staff of Eagle's Trace willing to meet our students where they are, without judgment or preconceived expectations. They seemed to have as much fun with us as we did with them. We need more partnerships like this in order to help children with autism become productive members of our communities."

Barbara Haney's son Bobby participated in the session. Haney is the creator of the Cordon Cool program.

"Our visit to Eagle's Trace marked the first time our students enjoyed the wonderful opportunity to visit a commercial kitchen and experience the real-life, day-to-day activities of a professional culinary team," she said. "These experiences are invaluable to creating relationships with professionals in the industry throughout Houston. Our ultimate mission is to create future employment opportunities for our students."

Taste Buds: Pennsylvania Dutch Market — eat delicious food with old people

When I entered the Pennsylvania Dutch Market in Hagerstown, I was interested in how the place compares to the Amish Market in Germantown, which is practically an institution. On Saturdays, the Germantown Amish Market looks like the United Nations — if the United Nations involved constantly bumping into people and waiting forever for fried chicken.

I went to the market during a non-peak time of Thursday afternoon, but it seemed the building had a wider walking path that prevented the bumper-to-bumper traffic of Germantown. Also, the Dutch Market in Hagerstown accepts credit cards for all of the stations, including the pretzel stand, where in Germantown, I would be required to count the coins in my hand like a pauper.

But traffic patterns and credit cards are nothing compared with the actual taste of the food. Thanks to my coworkers, I had a list of items I absolutely had to try. Slippery chicken pot pie, sticky buns, apple dumplings and hog maws were highly recommended. Hog maws, which are made from a pig's stomach, was something I knew I would never try — but I didn't tell them that.

Fortunately, I did find slippery chicken pot pie from the Farmer's Cookhouse. For the $6.99 combo, I chose baked corn as a side, but I was confused about my second choice. I asked the server, and he suggested Triple Beans, which includes lima beans. Now, I hate lima beans with a passion. They taste like nasty paste full of everything that is wrong with the world.

I was offered a sample, however, and I immediately fell in love with the sauce in which the side was drenched. I asked another server, who was so young I tried to ignore my understanding of child labor laws, who told me what was in the sauce. This is just a paraphrase, but she pretty much told me the Triple Beans sauce is basically a lot of sugar and ketchup. So there you have it folks: Sometimes, it's better not to know.

I took my soupy tray of food along with a bag full of desserts like a whoopie pie, sticky bun, shoofly pie and apple dumpling. I planned to share a dessert feast later, but I did get a cinnamon sugar pretzel and ice coffee to eat with my meal.

From the first bite, the slippery chicken pot pie tasted like someone giving me a warm hug from the inside. There's no crust, but the doughy pieces provided all the carbs I needed. The baked corn reminded me of mac n' cheese, with corn. The cheesy top layer and the creaminess below was delicious. I could honestly eat baked corn as a main dish. The Triple Beans were enjoyable to eat as well, but I'm pretty sure I could have tossed the beans out and just eaten the sauce.

Hours later, I realized that Triple Beans might as well be called Triple Farts. And so I beg of you: Make sure you place distance between yourself and the people you love after eating this food.

I may not order Triple Beans again, but I didn't regret getting a cinnamon sugar pretzel. If someone told me I could only buy one item from the Amish Market, I would choose a Dutch Twist Pretzel because you can get everything you need in one pretzel. If you want something that is savory that you could substitute as a meal, get a pretzel roll that's filled with delicious meat. If you want a dessert, get a cinnamon raisin pretzel and stuff your face with icing.

Pretzels are the one thing in Germantown that I feel is better than the facility in Hagerstown. Because Germantown is so crowded on Saturday, pretzel batches are constantly made, meaning a hot pretzel straight from the oven is almost always available. I thought I would be disappointed with my room temperature cinnamon sugar pretzel in Hagerstown, but I was pleasantly surprised that the flavorful interplay of butter, soft, chewy pretzel, and cinnamon sugar was still there. I recommend if you have the discipline, wait until you get home to heat up the pretzel.

Here's a quick rundown on Dutch desserts: Whoopie pies taste like huge swiss cake rolls made of love. The apple dumplings are delicious, but I wish there were more apples and a little less dumplings. I have no idea what Shoofly pie is (is it caramel filling? Why do the pie crumbs taste like powder?), but despite my confusion, Google cleared everything up when it told me that Shoofly is made with molasses, and that didn't stop me from finishing my dessert.

Overall, when you go to the Pennsylvania Dutch Market, be adventurous and don't worry about making a little mess.

Imade Borha can't cook rice and once burnt Top Ramen, but she is the adventurous foodie her friends rely on. She's ordered fried chicken through bullet proof glass and ate at a bowling alley that hosts Questlove every month. She believes food doesn't have to be pretentious or pricey for it to be good.