Reducing Food Waste at Home - Section Five
Tips and Tricks
Now we’ve got to grips with shopping smart and using the tools at our disposal to help make food last longer. But what about actually using up everything we buy?
When we invest our hard-earned cash in an ingredient or food product, we surely want to use up every last morsel?
How to use up ingredients
Buying ‘flexible’ ingredients that can make several different meals is a great way to make sure we use up the entire contents of our shopping basket. Incorporating these into a meal plan so we know exactly what and how much we need can ensure they’re put to good use – and freezing any extras can make them go even further!
If we’re short on freezer space, or just fancy something new, it’s perfectly possible to transform leftovers into an entirely different dish. Curries, risotto, pasta bakes, stews, soups and pies are all delicious destinations for leftover veggies, meat and fish. And fruit can become ice lollies, smoothies, crumble or compote.
Edible ingredients
It’s also easy to minimise waste from what we cook by changing how we prepare food. Broccoli stalks can be chopped and cooked just like the florets, while cauliflower leaves can be roasted or chopped up and added to soups.
Leftovers
What’s more, leaving the skin on fruits and veggies means avoiding a food caddy full of needless peelings and can be better for us – just wash well first. If you do prefer to peel, veg peelings can be cooked to make crisps, or made into stock. Why not try one of our tasty ‘use it up’ recipes below:
Food waste quiz
Progress
Section 5 out of 5 complete
Congratulations!
Kudos to you, making the most of every morsel!
It’s a scary fact that 60% of the food we waste from our homes in Scotland could have been eaten. Making sure we use up every bit of the food we buy has a key part to play in changing that.
Rethinking the way we prep, portioning correctly, and opting for flexible ingredients that can be shared between several different meals are all great ways to minimise food waste. Getting creative with leftovers is a tasty and effective tool too!