The Greening of Gavin

Archives for December 2014

Potato and Leek Frittata

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Potato and Leek Frittata is one of the simplest meals to make.  You only need a few ingredients that are readily available at the greengrocer or in your own garden.

In fact it probably wouldn’t surprise you to learn that this meal I made for lunch today was 100% homegrown on our little suburban food farm!  I grew the leeks, potatoes, eggs, parsley, and beans.  I harvested the veggies about 30 minutes before I cooked our lunch, so you can’t get much fresher than that.

Potato and Leek Frittata

Here is how I made it.

Potato and Leek Frittata

Serves two

Ingredients

  • 6 free range eggs, lightly beaten
  • 1 large leek, halved and finely sliced
  • 2 medium potatoes, skin on and diced
  • 2 sprigs parsley, roughly chopped
  • 2 runner beans, sliced.
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • Salt and pepper

Method

  1.  Heat the oil in a non-stick frying pan, add leeks and saute until translucent.
  2. Move leeks to side of pan, add potatoes and fry for 5 minutes or until soft.  Stir to ensure even cooking.
  3. Mix leeks and potatoes and shake pan to distribute evenly over bottom of pan.
  4. Turn heat to medium.  Pour eggs into frying pan and cover with lid.  Sprinkle chopped parsley and runner bean over top.
  5. Cook until eggs have set.  If frittata is still runny on top, place frying pan under grill until cooked.
  6. Turn out onto a plate and divide into portions.  Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.

Potato and Leek Frittata

Not only is this dish simple, it is very delicious and healthy.

What do you think; is it something you would try?

And So This Is Christmas

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Our Teddy Angel

Our Teddy Angel

What a year!

Firstly, seasons greetings to all you out there who have read the blog and listened to the podcast during the year.  Without all of you to urge me on via comments, likes, personal emails, and iTunes reviews, I may have thrown in the towel a while ago.

Regular Blogging and Podcasting does take a fair bit of time out of my week, but I still believe that it is so very worthwhile.  Not only is it personally satisfying, but it has helped build a community of like-minded people who I just enjoy interacting with, as well as becoming a massive archive and knowledge base of our journey towards a more sustainable lifestyle.

I have mentioned a few times that we were going to have a very modest Christmas celebration today which was entirely focused around family.

We kind of had two celebrations today, one at breakfast, then one for dinner.

Breakfast was croissants, ham, and cheese with fresh fair trade coffee.  Kim, Ben, and I gathered around our modest tree and shared our presents.  There were only a few thoughtful gifts, mainly clothes for Ben as he is a growing lad, and a Sodastream.  We do like the occasional fizzy drink, so decided that we would produce no more waste in this area of our lives.  You get to reuse the same bottle over and over and can get the CO2 cylinder recharged or swapped.

Our tree

Our tree

Then we headed off to our daughter Megan’s house for lunch, which was delicious and played board games with Amy, Lawrence, Megan, and Jake.  We had a ball.

Back for a nap, then a Skype call with Adam, Sina, and baby Emily in Germany.

What a great day.  No consumerism necessary to have a brilliant time with family.  As I mentioned in podcast episode 091, you don’t need to buy your family’s love.  You just need to be present and in the moment.  I love and treasure all of my family, and had the best day ever!

Hope you had a great time today and celebrated in your own special way.  I will be back to regular posts next week, and Kim will be joining me in our end of year wrap-up podcast episode that will be published soon.  That should be a hoot.

Take care one and all.  Love and hugs to you and your family, and thanks for dropping by for each and every post!

 

TGoG Podcast 094 – Local Food Equals Less Waste

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Listen to the Episode Below (00:30:00)
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Local food equals less wasteWhen you grow your own food you are less inclined to waste it.  This is the basis of this weeks episode.  My belief is that organically grown local food equals less waste.

I talk about our failed 100 mile diet and how hard it was to stick to it, and the realisation I came to that most of our food is grown with the assistance of fossil fuels.  In the second half of the show, I give tips about how to prevent food waste.

I believe that growing your own food is one of the most radical acts that you can achieve in your own home.  You break that dependence on the industrial food system and become that little bit closer to be able to look after yourself.  Especially that most of our food is grown using oil.

Did you know that for every 1 calorie of food grown, it takes 10 calories of oil to grow it?  That is unsustainable considering that fossil fuels are a finite resource.  Something to think about when you tuck into your next meal.

It you liked the show, please click-through to iTunes using the button below the player, and leave a comment and a rating.  It helps push the show up the iTunes charts where it will reach others who may be thinking of beginning their own simple/sustainable journey.  Every little bit helps.

Also, if you have any questions or observations that you are burning to share, please leave a comment below.  I answer as many as I can and would love to hear from you.

Next week we have our Christmas Special where Kim and I share what we achieved this year, including the highs and lows.  I don’t know if we will be singing this year, but you never know.  I might even belt out a verse or two of a White Christmas, that old Bing favourite that gets a hammering around here at this time of year!