We’ve had an email from Jo:

Work was clearing out a stockroom the other day and unearthed a giant box of 10000 toothpicks which must have been there for years. My boss was going to throw them away but I jumped in to save them. Please tell me there is something I can do with them!

Like used matchsticks, they’d be great to use as spacers while tiling or you could use them to make modern, spiky ornaments.

Any other suggestions?

(Update 9:13pm: apologies for the unexpected downtime we’ve had this afternoon – our hosting provider had a server crash.)

Alice’s last “Reduce This” question is:

How to reduce the energy I use in cooking.

I’ve started putting any extra water I boil in the kettle into a thermos flask ready for the next cup of tea, but there must be loads of other ways to cut this down too.

We talked about ways to make the most out of boiled water back during our water week for World Water Day in March but I like this new focus on energy.

The biggest thing I think is using pan lids where possible – it amazes me how much less gas is needed to keep something at a rolling boil when there is a lid on the pan. I’d also recommend getting a range of pan sizes and using the most appropriate one for the task in hand particularly when boiling things in water – boiling eggs (which required a certain depth of water no matter what the diameter of the pan) being a prime example.

What have you tried? What works? What doesn’t?

Has anyone tried alternative cooking methods to cut down on fossil fuel use such as solar ovens?

We’ve had a “Can I Compost This?” email from Wynn:

Can I compost fish heads?

The answer to this, like meat & animal products, is usually no. Unless you have a sealed composting system or the like, the odour of the fish might attracted unwanted vermin to your compost heap and unless your composting area is really far away from your house, it might get a bit stinky for you too.

But like other animal bones, you can though use fish heads and skeletons to make fish stock. There is often quite a bit of meat on the heads of bigger fish like salmon, so don’t forget to save that: it can be used anywhere you’d use mashed up fish (salads, fish cakes, seafood risotto…) or in the stock to make a hearty soup. Like all stocks, it will freeze well if you’re not going to be able to use it straight away and if nothing else and you’ve got cats, the stock will make you a firm favourite with your felines.

Any other suggestions of things to do with leftover fish bits?

(Photo by mama)

We’ve had a clever “Reduce This” idea from “Someone else”:

I try to cut back, it’s true, but I love Doritos, so not having chips ever wasn’t an option. I did find a way which is perhaps a little easier on my health and the environment by baking some tortillas instead. We buy those tall stacks of 6 inch corn totillas, cut them up with a pizza slicer, and spread them out on sheets to bake them. we eat them with salsa, and you can find recipes online.

It helps me get the crunch I want, and one stack comes in a soft plastic bag, recyclable the same was as a bag on a loaf of bread, and contains enough to make quite a few batches. Yes, I still get Doritos occasionally, but I am weaning myself off them and those strange bags they come in.

That’s a great compromise – I love ideas that provide an alternative without feeling like a punishment.

For people that prefer potato-based crisps/chips, you can make them out of sweet potato in the microwave without needing tons of fat and packaging.

Any other suggestions for cutting back on snack waste?

• How can I reuse or recycle crisp packets?

It was my birthday (the big 3-0) last Monday and because I’m wild and exciting, I decided I’d like to spend the day making cheese. I’m determined to get quickly confident with soft cheese so I can move onto hard cheese as soon as I’ve got a room they can be stored in for 12 months (*insert misc house-moving grumbles here*).

I planned it out carefully to make sure we used up everything as efficiently as possible – we started making butter and used the leftover buttermilk to make buttermilk cheese (which was interesting because it was slightly sour), and I’d planned to whey ricotta from the whey leftover from the paneer and lemon-flavoured soft cheese making but there just wasn’t enough milk solids left to do it justice.

What else could I do with the watery whey? I’ve heard it can be a good protein drink for bodybuilders or people who just want to, um, build up their bodies — I tried to give some to our poorly-sick cat to help her bulk up but she was more interested in the leftover cream.

As I said, I’d like to conquer cheeses so will be producing a few litres of this a week – any suggestions? Recipes? Other ideas?