Asda's Wonky Veg Box.

                                                                Asda's wonky veg box

Supermarket chain Asda have just launched a wonky veg box which costs only £3.50 and is loaded with seasonal vegetables.

Obviously I am overjoyed, as regular readers will know, I'm a huge exponent of eating 'real' food and you will have read over and over again how I deplore the fact that supermarkets demand such exacting cosmetic standards regarding fruit and veg, thereby rejecting tonnes of perfectly edible food, causing colossal food waste and crippling farmers across the UK.

I have written about Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall's war on waste and how he has challenged the food corporations who have such an overwhelming amount of power over our food supply. Now Jamie Oliver is on 'a mission' to cut food waste and get wonky fruit and veg back into our shopping baskets. It would seem that gradually we are beginning to see sense.

Asda's wonky veg box has enough vegetables in it to feed an average family for a week for only £3.50! I've already been contacted by several friends who have said they will be buying these boxes, most people (well, those with common sense) understand that there is nothing wrong with imperfect looking food. Once peeled and chopped up, a wonky carrot or parsnip is no different to a perfectly straight one.

Food corporations treat us like idiots, of course they don't really want to be giving us a weeks worth of vegetables at such low prices, they see no shame in discarding 'imperfect' produce, to then offer the consumer 'perfect' produce at higher prices, it's a clever marketing ploy, much like the 'use by' scandal which we've all bought in to.

Unfortunately, we've become a nation of fast foodies, we don't revere food in the same way previous generations have. Consumers are lured into cheap meal deals which can be chucked into the oven without any preparation. The fact that they are pure quantity over quality doesn't seem to matter.

A Co Op meal deal. On the face of it this seems like a good deal. £5 for all of this food.

However, these types of meals offer no real nutritional value, they are full of additives and calories and although filling, are literally just bland stodge. I occasionally make the mistake of using oven chips out of sheer laziness, I never enjoy them and funnily enough, although the birds in my garden will happily eat leftover potatoes, regardless of how I've cooked them, they won't touch oven chips even if I mash them up.

Bert put me to shame this week (he's been the recipient of my laziness in the past regarding oven chips) by telling me that Holly makes lovely homemade chips. Actually it was lovely to hear that Holly cooks so well, as I say, so many people (young working people especially) rely on ready meals and live on a diet of crap.

Rather than the method of twice or triple fried chips (which is quite laborious) Holly par boils potatoes, cuts them into chips, fries them briefly and then finishes them in the oven. Actually this is a relatively quick and easy alternative and having tried it I shall use this method in future.

Holly's chips
7 potatoes, peeled
200ml coconut oil
Sea salt and black pepper

Preheat oven 200c/gas 6
Par boil potatoes for 8-10 minutes

Cut potatoes into chips

Heat oil in a pan and fry chips for 5 minutes (don't overcrowd the pan, better to do this in batches)

Place chips on a baking tray (I line mine with greaseproof paper)

Cook for 20 minutes or until crisp and golden

Season with salt and pepper (and I guarantee, you'll never eat another oven chip again.)

                                                                    Lovely little Holly ♡

'Would you pour sand into the petrol tank of your beloved car? Of course not, your car was meant to run on petrol. Well, your body works in the same way. Your body was meant to run on good food: fruits, vegetables and lean protein. Treasure your body, eat good food.'
- Tom Giaquinto.

Love Donna xxxxxxx