Whilst the rest of the country outside Auckland are finding a bit of new found freedom unfortunately we are still in lockdown mode. 

And for the Van de Elzen family, that involves cooking at home each night, trying to keep things including our food as interesting as possible. 

I've noticed that the subject of food waste has been in the headlines a couple of times this week. Feeling this is largely due to the fact that we have been forced to shop each week at the supermarket to provide breakfast, lunch and dinner to our family. But we also have to cook it. 

I have always been a huge advocate for teaching our kids the basic principles of cooking, as I believe its one of the biggest lessons we can give our kids. It is the one to cook from scratch. 

These lesson must also include the understanding of food wastage as we simply can't afford to throw away food. 

Food wastage can come in many different forms.  

• Buying too much food, then allowing it to die in the back of the fridge or pantry 
• Simply not knowing what to do with left-overs 
• Poor food storage and rotation 
• Lack of a food plan 
• Basic lacking of recipe or ingredient understanding (becoming more and more common as we rely on meal delivery kits or takeaways  

So this week we have a tasty little recipe using left over chicken meat, but can easily be replaced with any or meat or even just load it up with more vegetables. 

Left over Pad Thai 

Left-over chicken, shredded  

Sauce  

2 Tbsp brown sugar  

2 Tbsp Sweet chilli sauce  

2 Tbsp Soy sauce  

1 tbsp peanut butter  

Chilli powder or Sriracha   

1 egg  

1 onion, finely sliced  

4 cloves garlic, crushed  

2 tbsp cooking oil  

300g Flat noodles, soaked for 30 minutes  

1 cup bean sprouts  

1 Spring onion, diced  

1/4 cup roasted peanuts  

1 lime, optional 

Firstly make up the sauce by heating in a small pot the brown sugar, sweet chilli, soy sauce and peanut butter. Add in the chilli if you want it a but hotter! Cook slightly until the brown sugar is dissolved.  

Heat a large pan or wok, over a medium heat. Adding in the cooking oil followed by the egg, using a fork scramble and move to the side. Add the onions and garlic to the pan and saute until tender. Add the rice noodles with a couple Tbsp of the water and mix until well combined. Stir in the cooked chicken, sauce, egg, spring onion and finally the beansprouts.  

Serve on plate with some sprinkled peanuts, extra spring onions and a slice of lime  

Enjoy