Food Waste Action Week: Some Tips on Using Up Leftovers

Food waste is a far larger problem than you might think. According to Love Food Hate Waste, UK households waste 6.5 million tonnes of food annually, 4.5 million of which is still edible food. Quite naturally, you waste money when you buy food you don’t eat, but the planet also suffers when so much energy is put into growing and packaging food that won’t end up being eaten.

In honour of Food Waste Action Week, which takes place from 7 to 13 March this year, we’re here to suggest some tips to avoid food waste and be kinder to your wallet (and the planet). Read on…

Boil, Blend or Bake

While you may not love biting into a mushy banana or soft apple, there’s no reason to bin your overripe fruit and veg. You can still enjoy them in a variety of ways.

Use up your wilting vegetables by boiling them into a stock or sauce, which you can use to create your next mouth-watering dish. You can also boil any fruit to make a delicious jam.

Browning fruits can also be baked into breads, cakes or pies, or throw them into your blender and made into a nutrient-rich smoothie perfect for any time of day.

Use Your Freezer

Maybe you don’t want to use your leftovers right away, or perhaps you have too much food in your fridge. If that’s the case, do put your freezer to good use. Freezing your food ensures it lasts longer, so even when you find yourself unable to eat it all right away, it’ll be right there waiting for you in your freezer.

Also, while fresh food is undoubtedly nutritious, frozen foods can be just as good for you. So if you find yourself constantly dealing with your fresh fruit and veg spoiling quickly, why not buy them frozen?

Get Creative With Your Bread

You might be tempted to throw out your bread the moment it loses its bakery-ready freshness, but even if your bread’s starting to go stale, hang on to it. There are a few things you can do make it just as tasty as if it were fresh.

Heat up your bread in your conventional oven so it’s warm and slightly crispy, then eat it with some olive oil. If the bread’s a little too old for your liking, you can make crunchy croutons to add to your salad, breadcrumbs for fried chicken or even sweet bread pudding.

Stir Fry It Up

If you’ve ever had Chinese takeaway, you’ll certainly know how delicious stir fries can be! Even better, stir fries are an excellent way of using up your leftovers, be it meat, veg or carbs like rice or noodles.

All you need to do is heat up oil in a wok or pan, throw in your ingredients and the sauce of your choice, move the ingredients around with a wooden spoon – et voila, you have a meal so tasty that there certainly won’t be any leftovers when you’ve finished eating!

We hope you’ll be able to use these tips to do your part in reducing food waste.

Until next time!