GONE TO THE DOGS - ZERO FOOD WASTE

Well, that's another Christmas down, and fridges around the country are groaning under the weight of all those family dinner leftovers (in fact there is a food advisory ad campaign doing the rounds here right now to warn people of the dangers of food poisoning from tidbits that may have sat around in the summer heat for a little too long).  I didn't make it though the month completely guiltless despite my zero food waste efforts - I can own up to 1 cucumber, half an eggplant, quarter of a pot of yoghurt and a bunch of mint. So I'll wrap up the year with another quick couple of suggestions before coming up with a different personal challenge for January (but including a resolution to come up with a better food plan system from now on).

Anyway, now might be the time to indulge your pets a little if you do have more food than you can handle on your plates. That glib remark that I made in my first post about never having leftovers if you have a dog was based more in fact than humour. My dog, the first dog I've owned, is a little over 7 years old now and he has been instrumental in keeping my food waste to a minimum since he arrived -  puppy size -  into my life.

BOTTOM OF THE VEG DRAWER

I'm a serial offender when it comes to having a couple of limp carrots, a shriveled chilli and a few black spotted tomatoes hiding away at the bottom of the veggie drawer. But team it up with a dried up cob of fresh corn and some kidney beans and you've got the makings of some delicious vegetarian nachos.

LOST BREAD

Just a sprinkle of sugar, promise

The pre-sliced plastic wrapped grainy bread so favoured by folks in this part of the world is something of an anomaly in France, where they have a much greater fondness for the staple white baguette. Personally I prefer to buy my loaves from a baker (and consequently have an elaborate wrapping system of cloth and paper to keep them fresh for as long as possible in the fridge - though it's worth noting that bread freezes very well).

THE LONE BANANA - GO ZERO FOOD WASTE

nobody loves you, sad banana

Ah, the sad tale of the leftover over-ripe banana. Some people can only eat bananas when they're just past green and no further, personally I think they taste better when riper...but there comes a point...

FINAL 2013 MINI-CHALLENGE

One of my many delicious farm shop hauls from a local village in Kent, UK

December is a pretty excessive month overall; a merry-go-round of gifts, meals, drinks and parties means a pretty full fridge and a lot of leftovers. So my final month-long mini challenge will be a zero food waste December. To be honest I'm pretty good at not throwing out food but it does feel like over the last couple of months that regular small shops have been replaced by less frequent larger ones, and that I've also been buying more produce before finishing off what I have in the fridge. To put it bluntly, my shiny non food waster badge is getting a little tarnished. To top it all off, food goes off in a blink at this time of year (in the tropics) so it's even more important to keep those eyes smaller than your stomach!