Waste Not Want Not
Waste Not Want Not is a cookbook based on the 10 top foods thrown out in New Zealand — bread, leftovers, oranges and mandarins, apples, bananas, potatoes, poultry, rice, lettuce, and beef.
WITH $1.7 BILLION of food wasted a year, this book gives the general household 80 fridge-cleaning recipes and 40-plus tips and tricks for minimising food waste and maximising flavour. If every household can stop one bad food-waste habit, it will make a huge difference.
Sarah Burtscher’s aim is to engage people with approachable and fun cooking while sharing a simple, essential, and sustainable message. Waste Not Want Not is cleverly broken down into chapters based on the fridge, pantry and the fruit bowl with easy-to-make, hearty and tasty recipes that will become go-to family favourites.
Following is a recipe from the book :
FRENCH TOAST TRAY BAKE
There are a number of bread or bakery product recipes in this book and for good reason! Twenty-nine million loaves of bread each year are wasted by New Zealand households. Shocking!
This is quick and easy to make in the morning: let the oven do the work, and it makes a good pud. In France, the dish is called ‘pain perdu’, meaning ‘lost bread’. Why lost bread? Originally, people made French toast from stale bread in order to make use of bread that would otherwise have been thrown away.
You will need
Clean hands
Chopping board + knife
Pie dish or small lasagne dish, approximately 20cm × 20cm, greased lightly with butter (using saved butter paper scraps)
Serrated knife
Mixing bowl
Wooden spoon
Fork/whisk
Ingredients
6 slices bread, buttered
1 cup frozen berries of your choosing 2 eggs
2 Tbsp sugar – I used coconut sugar 2 cups milk/milk alternative – I used oat milk
1 tsp vanilla essence
1⁄2 tsp cinnamon icing sugar, to dust maple syrup and fresh berries to serve
Method
Preheat the oven to fan bake 180C
Cut each slice of buttered bread in half diagonally to make two triangles. If you are using a loaf of bread, carefully slice thin slices then do the same.
Lay four bread triangles butter side down.
Sprinkle with frozen berries and repeat to form layers.
Finish with a layer of bread with the butter side up.
Beat the eggs and sugar together, add the milk and vanilla. Pour over the bread and butter and sprinkle the top with cinnamon, if using.
Leave for 15 minutes or so for the bread to soak up the custard.
Bake for 30 minutes until golden brown and the ‘custard’ is set.
Dust with a little icing sugar and serve with some yoghurt or cream and fresh berries, drizzled with maple syrup. Also lovely with fried banana and bacon!
For a less crispy top, cover with foil when cooking (I like it crispy)
Serving Size: 4–5 portions (photo is a double mixture)