A delicious to-go soup recipe plus the Big Outdoor Bloggers Cleanup!
This week sees the Big Outdoor Bloggers Cleanup – a country wide litter pick helping to tackle the problem of single use plastic. It’s also my husband’s week off work (the nature of his work means he works six days a week for five weeks and then he gets all his Saturdays in one lovely week off on the sixth week), so I conscripted him to help me.
From the Outdoor Bloggers website: “Research published in the journal Anthropocene suggests that humans have made enough plastic since the second world war to coat the Earth entirely in cling film, and that no part of the planet is free of the scourge of plastic waste. Everywhere is polluted with the remains of water containers, supermarket bags, polystyrene lumps, compact discs, cigarette filter tips, nylons and other plastics. Some are in the form of microscopic grains, others in lumps. And the impact is highly damaging to wildlife, nature, the environment, and our resources.”
The Meek Family, a well known outdoor adventure family and Ordnance Survey #GetOutdoors champions for 2017 and 2016, are trying rid the world of single use plastic through their Clear Plastic UK campaign.
Approximately 100,000 sea mammals die every year from entanglement or ingestion of ocean plastic. Motivated by this shocking statistic the Meek family have committed to removing 100,000 plastic bottles from the environment, encouraging people to stop using single use plastic, and lobbying big brands to stop using plastic packaging.
My husband and I have joined forces with the other members of Outdoor Bloggers to help the Meek family with their challenge. The Big Outdoor Bloggers Cleanup is an event with a difference – instead of all of us outdoor bloggers travelling to the same location for a cleanup, we’ve been asked to spend one hour of our time clearing up the countryside where ever it is we live.
So, yesterday morning my husband and I headed to one of our favourite Shetland beaches with a packed lunch and a roll of extra strong bin bags to see how many plastic bottles we could clear in one hour, and to find out where those plastic bottles had come from. The results may surprise you!
Watch the video below, my very first ever vlog, to see how we got on!
We gathered eight bin bags of plastic, approximately 500 bottles of various sizes, and we barely made a dent in the amount of rubbish that’s washed up on this particular beach. This beach faces south on the west mainland of Shetland, and it’s basically like a big beachy scoop collecting all sorts of bruck that’s floated up on the Gulf Stream.
Every Spring here in Shetland we have Da Voar Redd Up – the UK’s most successful litter pick, with over 20% of the island population volunteering to help clear the beaches and roadsides. Since 1988 over 1700 tonnes of rubbish has been cleared up and disposed of, and this year sees the 30th anniversary of the community initiative.
After speaking with the Shetland Amenity Trust this morning I am going to organise a Voar Redd Up for this particular beach, and my husband, after we had to carry all those bags back up the HUGE hill to our car at the top, has agreed to return to the beach with me to clear up more. If you live in Shetland and fancy joining my team, just send me a message via my Contact Me form, or message me on Facebook or Twitter. I’m also looking to contact the land owner to see if he might help us move the Voar Redd Up bags up from the beach to the road with his tractor (pictured in the top right hand corner throughout our video!). Many hands make light work!
Beach clearing is hard work and certainly builds up a hefty appetite, so after we’d tied the bags up and washed our hands in the sea, we tucked into our lunch.
I was inspired by a ramen noodle soup recipe video I saw on Facebook recently to create these shredded turkey (made out of leftover organic Shetland-reared Christmas turkey) and soba noodle to-go soups. They were super tasty, but the only problem was that sitting outdoors in 6°C means that the soup cooled pretty quickly. I’m inspired to create little preserving jar warmers out of the leftovers of the wet suit I transformed into Lady Amelie’s Steampunk Lunch Purse last year. Watch this space!
You might be wondering why the letter E is written on one of the jars – it’s because I like substantially more furikake seasoning in my soup than my husband does and we didn’t want to get them mixed up!
If you would like to help with the Big Outdoor Bloggers Clearup, at some point during the week between Friday 20 and Friday 27 January 2017, go out for a walk lasting an hour (or more) in the countryside close to your home/work/wherever you happen to be. Go on your own, with your family, take your work colleagues or friends along, it’s up to you.
While you are out, collect up all the rubbish you see (take a bag!). Look out particularly for the biggest four problems – plastic bags, coffee cup lids, straws and plastic bottles – these single-use plastic items are what the Meek Family are most interested in here.
Photograph of your “haul” at the end of your walk, preferably with you in it, and post it on twitter and/or instagram stating the number of plastic items you have collected with the hashtag #OutdoorBloggers, the campaign hashtag #Refuse4Good and tagging @ClearPlastic_UK. The Outdoor Bloggers will then follow up with a blog post on their site with some of the photos and a grand total of the number of bits of rubbish collected.
Put the waste in a suitable bin to give it the best chance possible of being recycled and not ending up in landfill.
Shredded Turkey & Soba Noodle Soup - To Go!
Ingredients
- 90 grams soba noodles (one bundle)
- 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
- 1 tsp tamari soy sauce or more, to taste
- 2 tsp beef stock granules I use Essential Cuisine
- 2 tsp Mara Seaweed Furikake or more, to taste
- 150 grams shredded turkey or leftover roast chicken
- 40 grams baby spinach leaves
- 50 grams carrots julienned
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Instructions
- Bring a pot of water to the boil and boil your soba noodles for 4 minutes. Drain and rinse under cold water and transfer to a bowl of cold water to wash thoroughly. Transfer to a clean bowl, drizzle in sesame oil and use your hands to toss the noodles to make sure they're coated in the oil. Set aside.
- Divide the tamari soy sauce, beef stock granules and Furikake between two 400 ml preserving jars. Add half the shredded turkey or chicken to each of the jars and top with half of the soba noodles.
- Add the spinach and finally the carrots and pop the lids on.
- Bring a flask of boiling water with you to work (or play!) and when it comes time to eat, fill the jars with the hot water, pop the lids back on and leave to sit for three minutes while everything heats up.
- Remove the lid and enjoy!
Environmental Information
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE
Dunna Chuck Bruck – A stop motion animation video my husband and I helped the pupils of the Aith Junior High School create. They went on to win second prize in the national Marlisco European video competition.
A Turtle’s Tale of a Plastic Bag – A stop motion animation highlighting the dangers of marine litter to the wildlife living in our seas written and produced by the pupils of Ollaberry Primary School in Shetland. Again, my husband and I helped them create this video and they went on to win the Total Green Schools Award in 2015.
More Information on Da Voar Redd Up
Become an Outdoor Bloggers Member
SHARING WITH SOME BLOGGING LINKIES
No Waste Food Challenge
Cook Once Eat Twice
Simple and in Season
SHOP THIS POST
Kilner 400 ml Preserving Jars
Mara Seaweed Furikake*
Inspirational Folk Rock by Audioboy Productions (the music in the vlog)
Yutaka Soba Noodles
Yutaka Organic Tamari Soy Sauce
*With thanks to Mara Seaweed for the Furikake sample.
Daydream adventurer. Expat Canadian. Foodie. Calls Shetland home, for now. One eye is always on the horizon.
Katie Bryson says
What a great idea and so interesting seeing what you found on your local beach!!!! Loving the noodle soup in a jar… great idea to take a flask with you to make the soup fresh and hot. Thanks so much for hooking up with Simple and in Season 🙂
Stephanie Jeannot says
I guess it is better to use other than Plastic like the glass jar and aluminum that you suggested. Makes a big difference to the environment. You are teaching those kids very well.
Nisha Syam says
The soup looks yummy – thank you so much for sharing it
Anosa says
Ok I am so blown away by this to go noodle soup I am loving it. And what a lovely way to spend a weekend. I am looking to see where I can join to do a clean up
Suz says
This looks lovely. We are going for our clean up this weekend. Who knows what we will find in Glastonbury!
ema says
that is such a great idea. Love soba noodles and perfect to take on a walk or hike in this cold weather. Yum
CourtneyLynne says
Omg can we say yum?!? I will have to give your recipe a try!
Heidi J Fowler says
That is so sad that there was so much trash on the beach. I’ll look forward to seeing your jar warmers in the future!
Annette, Four Acorns says
I can’t believe how much litter you picked upon what looks like such a remote beach! Well done on your hard work. We didn’t collect anywhere near as much in our little corner of Wicklow, Ireland, but we’ll do it very soon. Lovely video!
Annette, Four Acorns says
I forgot – #outdoorbloggers 🙂
Samahria Richie says
This looks like a good idea. I have not tried the soups in a jar, but this looks like a good idea for an outdoor outing. I think this project is a great thing to do. I would love to be a part of it.
Robin Rue says
This soup looks amazing! I have never seen anything like this before but it looks delicious.
The Food Hunter says
This is a wonderful post and I love the recipe.
Platter Talk says
Excellent idea for the carry along soup mix and thank you for your stewardship concerning our earth.
Maryanne says
This type of luch or snack is really simple and easy! I never imagine that, thanks!
Ceri Jones says
I’ve made noodle pots like this in an office cooking demo before, they are perfect for when you don’t have access to a kitchen! Also love how they make use of glass which is much better than plastic. What a great job you are doing being involved with the clean up project!
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine says
Now isn’t that just a nifty idea!
Helen @ Family-Friends-Food.com says
Wow – big thank you for helping to keep our environment clean. It’s really demoralising how dumping litter has become so normal for so many people 🙁
The soup looks terrific though, and very well deserved! Looks like it would be easy to vegify too, just by subbing some tofu or chickpeas or similar for the turkey. Brilliant!
Laura @ KneadWhine says
I love the idea of the blogger clean up. I cannot believe how many people just discard their litter!
Elizabeth O. says
It’s nice that you’re part of such a wonderful project to help out environment and the species that live in it. I can’t believe you cleaned up that much garbage! I hope that more people will join this movement. Your soba noodles look so good!
Josselyn Radillo says
Love this idea, the recipes is easy and it looks so cute on the mason jars! Love it
Ramya says
What a wonderful initiative. Honestly, thank you! AND you manage to include a healthy meal into that mix. #Lifegoals
Carol Cassara says
Lunches and snacks packed this way are getting more and more trendy but it’s perfect for people who are always outdoors! I think it’s amazing that you’re part of a project that helps clean up our surroundings.
GiGi Eats says
Mmmmm shredded TURKEYYYY for the win!
Michelle @ Vitamin Sunshine says
Love the ingredients in these– and how easy it is to get them set up! I love the idea of a clean up–
Lauren says
Wow. That looks so yummy! You inspired me !
Amber Myers says
This soup looks delicious.
I think it’s wonderful that you’re helping to clean up.
Donna says
I love the idea of the bloggers clean-up – what a worthy cause! And your ‘packed lunch’ looks amazing 🙂 Good on you!
Wendy says
Wow! What is a soba noodle made of? This looks delicious.
Tyane says
I might have to give this soup a try. It looks unique but appealing!! I also love the idea of keeping the soup in a jar. Perfect for packing lunches!
Miss Lozzy Beth says
Wow, this is such a unique way of making soup! I love how you have made it so to take an adventures, instead of haviny to have sandwiches all the time.
Corina @ Searching for Spice says
The soup sounds gorgeous – thank you so much for sharing it with #CookOnceEatTwice! I watched the video too and it’s quite shocking just how far some of it had come and how much rubbish there was on what was otherwise a beautiful deserted beach.
Johanna @ Green Gourmet Giraffe says
Wow what an impressive initiative – I am in great admiration of you and your work – and of your husband on his day off!
have you read about this art project using plastic bottles found in the river in Ireland? (Fergal is amazing) http://www.irishtimes.com/culture/art-and-design/why-i-built-a-raft-from-rubbish-to-row-down-the-barrow-1.2715338