Know your dates
You can ignore ‘best before’, ‘display by’ and ‘sell-by dates’ on packaging. Use by is the only one you need to abide by as it refers to safety. Food can be eaten up to the end of this date but not after – even if it looks and smells fine.
Think first
If you’re about to throw something away, think if it can be put to another use. Will it go in a stock? Can it be frozen? Check out some recipe ideas below.
Ok, pizza for breakfast is no longer considered “creative”, but it’s pretty good if you ask me. If you have leftovers, don’t throw them away because you don’t fancy eating it again the next night. Make it a challenge! Make salads and sandwiches from your leftovers. Turn your stale bread into croutons or reheat in the oven, for warm bread with soup. Or if you don’t have a creative bone in your body (I don’t believe you), freeze your leftovers and reheat them whenever you feel like it. The most dangerous place for leftovers is in the back of a fridge. You’re going to forget about it, it’s going to go bad and it’s going to stink up your fridge. Do let this happen, reuse food wherever possible.
Make a shopping list
This stops you buying things
you don’t need or items you already have. Put a list on the fridge door and add to it as you use up items. Go
through your cupboards, fridge and freezer every few days to keep track.
Compost it
At TSPN we’re all about making fresh fruits and vegetables a part of everyone’s diet. But, when you cook with fresh foods, there will inevitably be parts of the food that don’t make it into the meal. However, that doesn’t mean they have to be thrown away. Things like eggshell, stalks, peels all end up in landfill creating methane emissions that are harmful to the environment. But these are great for composting, if you don’t grow yourself (we strongly recommend you try) you could take the left overs to a local allotment.
Just share it
Many people have food in their fridge that they aren’t going to use. If they the food is still in good condition and fit for human consumption, please consider donating it to a community Pantry. You will find the location of Pantries in our location section.