After shock figures reveal £13bn of ‘old’ food is binned yearly, but most is safe to eat… here is how you can stop being a waster with some handy tips and recipes
With a bit of forward planning and handy kitchen know-how, you could save yourself hundreds of pounds a year on food
BRITISH families are chucking out £13billion worth of food annually – costing each household £700 each year.
And out of the 7.3million tonnes of food binned, 4.4million of that was avoidable, with consumers dumping unwanted items such as stale bread and gone-off milk.
But it does not have to be that way.
Here we show how, with a bit of forward planning and handy kitchen know-how, you could save yourself hundreds of pounds a year on food.
IT is time to reassess just how much food you are buying — and work out what really ends up in the bin.
How much of your household food waste is down to poor planning?
Or are you sucked in by all those multi-pack buys and deals at the check-out?
Most vegetables, fruits and store cupboard favourites can be eaten after the date on the pack.
Remember, best-by dates are not for safety but for taste and texture.
Always eat meats and fish within the dates suggested, but it helps to apply common sense.
Our vegetables are not pulled from the ground with use-by dates, which are put on food that goes off quickly.
Menu planning, and being honest about how much you are willing to cook and when, is a good place to start.
Take into account those days when you are pressed for time, or the odd night when you are just too lazy to cook.
Do not go to a supermarket and buy food as if you are making an à la carte meal every night. It will only go to waste.
Yes, it takes time and yes, it might be the last thing you want to tackle when life is hectic enough.
But once you get into the swing of it, it is not as hard as it sounds.
It makes sense to search for some simple recipes on supermarket websites then order your ingredients directly from the store’s site.
And the more you do it, the easier it gets, especially if you work on a two-weekly cycle and the whole “operation” becomes familiar.
It can, however, be especially tough if you have become used to running a canteen service in your kitchen, where family members demand and expect different meals at different times.
Getting everyone to sit down and agree to meals beforehand is a really good place to start from.
Given you are probably going to have to fight hard to turn around current eating habits, you need to go into discussions armed with facts and figures regarding the impact of food waste, not just on our wider environment but on family finances as well.
Being able to prove the benefits of reducing food waste to each family member might help to tip the balance and get them on board.
Even stroppy teenagers can understand the plus sides if they see that something is in it for them, such as extra pocket money.
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But despite meticulous planning, things can still go wrong.
Someone might not turn up for dinner unexpectedly and leave a meal untouched.
If this is the case, rather than throwing it away, it is worth learning the art of “rechauffe”, as the French call it.
This has an elegant-sounding name, but basically it just involves rehashing your leftovers.
Pasta dishes are often delicious simply fried with a little olive oil the day after being made.
Pesto pasta, Bolognese and pasta in simple tomato sauces all lend themselves brilliantly to this meal-makeover.
They are also much tastier when fried rather than stuck in the microwave, especially if you sprinkle with grated cheese before serving.
Never throw away leftover vegetables either.
Turn them into bubble and squeak and serve with a fried or poached egg on toast for a delicious day-after meal.
A SAVVY SHOP IS THE KEY
CUTTING down on your food waste is all about being savvy, says Sun Consumer Editor DANIEL JONES.
Plan your meals so you don’t buy too much.
You want to be healthy and eat lots of salad and vegetables, but you don’t get the vitamins if you have to bin them. T
hose of us who draw up a list can save money each year on food. And watch out for deals such as buy one, get one free that lure you into buying more.
You do not save money if it goes off. If there is a great offer then buy it and freeze it right away. But make sure you don’t forget about it.
Food will also go off quicker if you do not store it correctly.
Fridges should be set at between 0C and 4C but many households have them too warm. Get a thermometer to check that older fridges are accurate.
Sainsbury’s is giving them away at the moment. Too hot and it goes off too fast. Too cold and food freezes, which ruins salad and veg.
Organise your fridge. Fruit and veg should be at the bottom where it is cooler. Keep dairy, preserves and dressings at the top. Meat and fish should be in between.
If food looks a bit manky, it does not mean you need to bin it. But be more careful with fish and seafood.
Your nose is a good guide. If it smells funny, the chances are something is wrong.
Wilting lettuce can be saved by cutting the stems and putting in cold water.
This brings it back to life to form the base of a perfectly acceptable salad — even if it looked beyond saving when you found it in the salad drawer.
If you have overestimated portions of rice, put leftovers straight in the fridge after your meal and mix them with chopped vegetables such as peppers and cucumber, along with canned sweetcorn and tuna to make a perfect packed lunch for the following day.
If reheating rice to make fried rice or using it to stuff vegetables such as tomatoes or peppers, do so within a day and make sure it is steaming hot all the way through to avoid food poisoning.
Meanwhile, unwanted boiled potatoes can be made into hash browns and rosti, frozen to top a shepherds pie or turned into fishcakes.
If you discover any long-forgotten sprouting potatoes in a drawer, you can still cook them, having cut off the little growths.
They only need to head for the bin once they are turning green or leaking brown liquid.
Stale bread is perfect for French toast, made by dipping it in a beaten egg with a little milk and ground cinnamon or vanilla essence.
And if you find an old wedge of cheddar, remember it is usable if the mould can be removed and has not grown deep into the cheese below the surface.
Flouting the use-by dates on perishable foods — and relying on common sense inspired by careful smelling, studying and even tasting foods — can be fine for adults in robust health.
But it is recommended that babies and children, the elderly and anyone with a compromised immune system, plus pregnant and breastfeeding women, stick strictly to the rule book and follow the dates.
Dustbin dinners
DON’T despair if you open your fridge or cupboard to find wilting veg, out-of-date milk and stale bread.
Here, CHRISTINA EARLE shares handy tips to help you avoid throwing all that unwanted food into the bin.
Peppers: Have they all shrivelled? If so, don’t worry because your past-it peppers will still taste nice. Providing they are not mouldy, you can cook them and add to recipes. Chop them up and pep up your pasta dishes.
Cereal: Don’t head straight to the bin if your favourite cereal has gone stale. It can make a great grain substitute when baking muffins or cakes. Crush the cereal really finely and add it to your normal recipe, just like flour.
Yoghurt: If your natural yoghurt is starting to turn, add some cottage cheese and transform it into a dip. Chop up some cucumber and carrots or serve with nachos for a healthy treat. Why not season it with curry powder for a little extra kick?
Butter: You can still cook up some tasty dishes with butter as it begins to turn. Use it to create the base for a butter chicken curry. It will taste great and save you splashing out on a takeaway. Or try adding it to mushrooms for buttered mushrooms, an old English favourite.
Milk: Use it in baking. Sour milk is a good replacement for buttermilk, yoghurt or sour cream. Some recipes even call for soured milk, which normally requires you to add a spoonful of vinegar. Ideal for making pancakes, waffles and biscuits.
Biscuits: Don’t bin them if they are stale. Instead, get your pinny on and turn them into a lovely base for a mouthwatering cheesecake. Top it with berries that are going soft for an all-round winner.
Tomatoes: If they are looking a little shrivelled, don’t chuck them. Cook in a pan until they turn to pulp and they will make a great base for a sauce. Fry them for two minutes and have them on toast as a healthy snack. Or cook, then blend them, to make a pizza topping with added oregano.
Bread: If your loaf has gone hard, don’t feed it to the birds. You can pull it to pieces and make breadcrumbs. Then, using an egg and some flour, it’s easy to conjure up breaded chicken or fish.
Frozen veg: You can safely eat frozen vegetables thee months past their use-by date. If you have got a lot in your freezer, add the veg to pasta sauce or turn it into super-healthy ratatouille.
Avocados: Open them up, scrape off the black areas and there will be some edible green bits left which taste just as fresh as those in date. Add your avocado to salads or spread on toast for a healthy breakfast.