Recipe cards cook up dinner delights

Friends who collaborated on a ‘waste not, want not’ cookbook are behind recipe inspiration at a Council-backed Community Fridge.

Pam Deacon and Glen Lee’s tips on turning ‘softish’ potatoes and ‘wrinkly’ tomatoes into tasty treats now feature on giveaway recipe cards.

They are available at the Glen Parva Community Fridge for anyone who collects produce but is unsure how best to use it.

The ideas come from Pam and Glen’s first cookbook, Why Throw Food Away, full of simple and practical ideas to transform the most random items into delicious delights.

Pam, 82, from Leicester Forest East, said: "I have always enjoyed cooking and making a satisfying meal out of nothing. Being brought up during the war, it was a way of life. My mother gave me the incentive to try new things. Our house was never just a meat-and-two-veg meal home."

She teamed up with 79-year-old Glen, who happily labels herself ‘the scribe’ in the partnership, to produce the cookbook, as throwing away decent food was an anathema to them both.

Glen, who learned about the Fridge while working for Glen Parva Parish Council, said: "Officers at Blaby District Council suggested having the recipes on cards so that people could take them away. For example, if the Fridge has turnips one week and someone asks 'What on earth can I do with these?', they’ll be given a card and full instructions on their use. We appreciate the opportunity that this partnership with the District Council has given and hope that the partnership will continue."

Pam added: "It was always our hope that our simple recipes on using up food that would otherwise be thrown away could reach a wider public."

The Community Fridge launched in April at Glen Parva Memorial Hall and is open every Tuesday from 2.30pm to 4pm.

Produce on offer is donated by local shops and supermarkets and is free to take by anyone. The aim is to cut food waste and make effective use of surplus food that might otherwise be binned.

Councillor Nick Chapman, Portfolio Holder for Community, said: "It’s wonderful to see how popular the Glen Parva Community Fridge has become. Anything we can do to help reduce food waste and support residents is a step in the right direction.

"That’s why it’s been such a pleasure to work with everyone involved, all the volunteers, Glen Parva Parish Council and of course Pam and Glen, whose cookbook has proved an invaluable addition. I’m sure their recipes, now on individual cards, are inspiring people to use food well."

For more information on Community Fridges across the District visit: Community Fridges

Councillor Nick Chapman
Portfolio Holder for Health and Community