Did you know that the average UK family throws out around £700 worth of food every year, often simply because they bought more food than they needed? With many households feeling the pinch, it makes perfect sense to look at ways to cut down on wastage in the kitchen. We’ve scoured the internet for some of the best ways to just do that.
1 – Plan your meals
Being prepared goes a long way when it comes to food shopping. When you’re in the supermarket, and particularly if you’re hungry, it can be very easy to get swayed by the various buy one get one free and other discount offers. However, if you don’t really need something and don’t have a particular meal in mind when buying it, it can often become forgotten about once it enters your fridge and becomes the first sell-by-date casualty to wind up in the bin later on. If you plan out your meals for the week in advance, then you’ll be less likely to get drawn in to buying too much.
2 – Write a shopping list and stick to it
The next step is to prepare a thorough shopping list. If you’ve planned out your weekly meals then you should know exactly what you need. From your fruit and veg to your dairy and meat you can make your way through your list without getting distracted and reduce the need to make further visits for top ups later on in the week.
3 – Store food carefully
It’s important to look after the food you do buy properly. So much food ends up wasted because it’s simply not kept in the right places and thus goes off and has to be thrown out. By wrapping leftovers, freezing them with dates written on bags or containers and keeping your bread in a bread bin instead of out on the side you can make your produce stretch just that little bit further than it normally would.
4 – Shake it up
While bruised or slimy fruit and vegetables might not seem the most appetizing when you look at them they are still packed full of flavor and nutrition. If you don’t want to serve them on a plate then consider popping them into your juicer or blender to make a shake, sauce or fresh juice instead.
5 – Work with your leftovers
How many times have you been caught out at lunchtime and ended up with a less than tasty cheese sandwich to fill you up? We often invest a lot of time in making delicious evening meals but tend to neglect our pallet throughout the day. By cooking more than you need and saving the leftovers for the next day you can enjoy your evening meal all over again, and without the added cost.
6 – Take it home
Food waste isn’t just restricted to home cooking, lots of food gets wasted at restaurants too. It’s easy to get carried away when looking at menus and order more than you can actually stomach, so next time you find yourself with a plate still half-full, kindly ask if you can take it home in a doggie bag. Pizzas, curries and deserts are all great treats to store away either for later in the evening, or to take to work with you the following day.
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