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Welcome to the February edition of Derbyshire Kitchen

Your regular helping of ideas and inspiration to create great food and cut food waste which costs Derbyshire council tax-payers £8.1m to deal with per year.  And your chance to WIN £100.

Could chocolate could be the way to your Valentine’s heart?

Sweet or savoury – what’s your perfect pancake?

There’s time to perfect your pancakes before Pancake Day on Tuesday 25 February. They’re easy to make with just flour, egg and milk and you then have endless possibilities for a sweet treat or a savoury snack.

Perhaps you just dress them with a squeeze of lemon or create a savoury filling. They are a great way to use up leftovers. Here’s some pancake inspiration.

Don’t be a rotter! Do you have food in the back of the cupboard that’s ‘spoilt rotten’? If you’ve got packets gathering dust or forgotten food in your fridge then check out Spoilt Rotten – the latest campaign to help householders reduce their food waste In the UK, 70% of food waste comes from our homes. But it doesn’t have to be that way! All we need to make the most of our overlooked, neglected food at home is a little inspiration and a little instruction. Great meals come from humble beginnings. Find out more.

Fake news that will save you money Looking to save money? Every little helps so why not swap your next takeaway for a ‘fakeaway’. Try our delicious curry or make a quick pizza. Not sure where to start then we have a pizza making video and a curry video. Next time you make a meal and have leftovers pop in a tub and freeze for another day and you have your own easy ready meal.

One potato, two potato, three potato ……4.4 million potatoes!

Every day in the UK more than 4.4 million whole potatoes are thrown away. That’s one big pile of potatoes! What a waste. Here are some simple tips to waste less tatties. Store them in a cool, dark place (not the fridge) They are safe to eat after the best before date You can remove any sprouty bits or peel them if needed. Don’t eat any bits that have gone green Cooked too much mash? Freeze it or use it to make fish cakes or potato cakes New potatoes can be used to make potato salad or roasted for another meal Try new recipes – how about this recipe for steak and delicious loaded wedges

Get ideas for making all sorts of food go further from our 50 Ways campaign

Karen cuts out waste before her weekend shop Karen of Chesterfield started 2020 with a resolution to waste less food. She said: “I plan to introduce ‘use up Friday’ whereby I concoct a dish from whatever is left in the fridge towards the end of the week, prior to going shopping at the weekend.” We loved this idea and she won the competition in the last issue of Derbyshire Kitchen. She is now the proud owner of a Morphy Richards slow cooker. Thank you to everyone who entered and sent us some great ideas. Read on for your chance to be one of 15 winners of £100 cash.

Clear out your kitchen electricals and you could WIN £££

Have you got any old, broken or unwanted electricals lurking in your kitchen? Is your toaster toast or your kettle run out of steam? One of these or any other old household electrical, could win you £100.

From Monday 2 March to Sunday 5 April 2020 we’re running a campaign to encourage all Derbyshire residents to recycle any old, broken or unwanted electrical items with the chance of winning a £100 cash prize. Take them to your local household waste recycling centre and exchange each item for a golden ticket. Type in your unique ticket number(s) online at www.derbyshire.gov.uk/electric and find out instantly if you’re a winner.

So get digging out those electricals and please encourage friends and relatives to do the same. The more items you take the more chances you’ll have to win. There are 15 prizes of £100 to be won.

It costs Derbyshire council tax payers £43 million a year for the county council to deal with waste in Derbyshire which residents choose not to recycle. If we all recycled more we could help to cut these costs.

The competition and campaign is being part-funded by Recycling Lives - the contractor which works on our behalf to collect and recycle electrical items taken to our recycling centres.