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Archive for October 15th, 2008

Tips and treats for Halloween

posted by Cptn

Halloween is fast approaching (and you thought Trick or Treat was to do with the latest bail-out of financial institutions), and there are a whole cauldron full of ideas on how to make some spooky savings, reduce waste and have fun at the same time.
“Figures suggest that last year we spent around £140 million on costumes for the kids, pumpkins for carving, decorations and trick or treat sweets,” Councillor Margaret Rogers, Devon County Council’s Executive Member for the Environment told the PRSD.

“This year we’re offering advice on how Devon families can make some spooky savings, reduce waste and have fun at the same time.

“Over one million pumpkins are sold each year for making lanterns, but the following day many of them find their way to landfill when they could offer families a few cheap and wholesome meals. Our campaign offers recipes as well as ideas for getting crafty with the kids and making your own costumes. People will be amazed at what can be achieved with what we already have in the house.”

Here are some Halloween Pumpkin Tips:

• When making a Pumpkin lantern, don’t throw away the insides, you could be throwing away a couple of nutritious meals and snacks. Separate the pumpkin seeds from the ’strings’, place on a baking tray, drizzle over a small amount of vegetable oil and roast in the oven for 35-40 minutes for a healthy between meals snack or a tasty topping to soups.

• Pumpkin makes a great ingredient for pies, soups, and even as a filling for lasagne – dig out the flesh while making a lantern, roast it in the oven with some herbs for an hour until it is tender and add some ricotta cheese to the mix and use instead of beef.

• Use the old lantern shell as a good start to a new composting bin, where it will break down safely and help provide compost for the garden rather than ending up in a landfill. For more details of composters visit Recycle Devon.

• Everyday leftovers can make a scarily cheap halloween night meal. A couple of beef or veggie burgers from the freezer, spaghetti and some olives can be combined to make eyeball pasta! Simply defrost the burgers and shape them into meatballs, placing a pimento olive into each one. Cover with some spaghetti sauce and bake for an hour at 180 and dish over spaghetti.

Tomorrow: cheap and easy zombies, ghoules, ghosts, and even Indiana Jones.