making food last longer/cutting waste

[HelloMist]

Please point me in the right direction if there is a thread like this already. (there may be some pre-Covid threads about being frugal or reducing waste too).

Can we collect some tips for making food/household products last longer? And maybe meal ideas with what random items/cupboard basics we have left if we can't buy what we normally do. I'm worried seeing the supermarkets and online deliveries struggle with stock but would like to think about what I can do in a positive way and stay calm about it.

Hoping to keep this thread free of stockpiling debates or negative news. Thank you! :)

I'll start:

• use ends of bread?
• I like coffee but am starting to use a cheaper jar when I have a 3rd or 4th cup in the day, to save my favourite for first morning cup
• varying what we eat for breakfast as we might run out of favourites (peanut butter, milk)
• before all this I already tried to freeze surplus meat etc and write a clear list with dates so hopefully I can end up using it for other meals rather than throwing away. I'm freezing things like passata when I open it too.

Duchess flour freezes well too, if you've room for the enormous bag.

Oh another - sliced left over pizza wrapped in cling film (I know, don't get cross) and frozen can be dry fried face down in a pan straight from the freezer. Very quick cheat tea.

We're gonna need a bigger freezer 🦈

@tellmewhentheLangshiplandscoz - I made meringues with the chickpea water. They worked pretty well (actuallly cooked better than the times I've made meringues before, but I think that's because I did it more properly).

If I have a very large cauliflower I know the two of us can't finish in time, I will take half of it and make it into cauliflower couscous (cut up into small pieces and put in a blender for a few seconds). You can freeze this. To use, defrost and use as you would couscous.

You can freeze butter and cheese (cut into smaller slices rather than freezing a whole block), it defrosts well and you'd never know it has been frozen.

Make a big batch of soup and freeze individual portions. Lentil, celery, carrot and leek is my favourite soup.

Left over pizza? What’s that?

“Make a big batch of soup and freeze individual portions. Lentil, celery, carrot and leek is my favourite soup.”

Just not in bags and side by side or you’ll end up with an expanded, freezer drawer shaped block of soup that you have to throw on to the floor many times to separate 😁

We're gonna need a bigger freezer

Oh dear, we have been debating this. Just bought 1/4 of a heifer , was supposed to be sold to restaurants, but they are closed here. So far my acquaintance selling it has promised to freeze it for us.

you dont need to grate halloumi or feta when freezing it. It will come out the same way as it went in. Its only cheddar/red leicester etc that goes crumbly.

If it hasn't already been mentioned, check out The Batch Lady recipes

Use a teapot, you will get two cups from one teabag

If your older kids are used to helping themselves from the fridge or freezer, you need to set some ground rules. I have 3 - from early 20s to late teens. They all have different likes/dislikes and are in and out like a dog at a fair.

I was brought up in a poorer household. I hate wasting food. They have no idea how fortunate they are,

I’m putting a notice on the front of the fridge. They need to check that there isn’t anything already opened before they open anything. If something is dated best before a date in April, they ask a parent before they touch it.

Light heated .......but not!!

I decant freezer stuff out boxes into bags too ut saves a lot of space in my small freezer.
If i am buying mince in large packs i cook half and make meatballs with the rest and pop in a bag in a row and freeze. Ready meal and a quick fresh meal and half the space needed.
Keep the rind from parmesan and freeze. When cooking spag bol, soup, cheese sauce throw it in for extra flavour (and use less added salt as necessary)
Use the plastic boxes take aways come in for freezing meals in. I can do two portions for my hungry teens in one so easy for when i am working lates and they are shallower than many plastic tubs you buy.

Pmk
Some great ideas here

I haven't read the whole thread so sorry for any duplicate advice.

You can eat way more of most veg than you'd think. Cauliflower leaves and stalk both roast really nicely, same with brocoli stalk. You can add them to curries or shop them finely and stir fry them.

Save veg peelings in a bag in the freezer to make stock.

Use limp past its best lettuce instead of spinach

Repurpose leftovers - fish can be mashed up for fishcakes and frozen, rice can be made into arancini (as long as you refrigerate it within an hour and reuse it within a day), left over veg soup makes a good sauce alternative for pasta, shepherd's pie etc.

If you're running low on sandwich fillings and you have a blender (even a hand blender) you can make hummus easily from chickpeas, lemon juice, oil, and smooth peanut butter (which is much cheaper and easier to find than tahini). I use about a tablespoon of PB for each can of chickpeas and it makes loads. If you can't get chickpeas then it works fine with other beans as well. Of course by the point that you're eating peanut butter and bean paste you probably can't call it hummus anymore, but it stretches a long way and is nutritious and tasty.

If you have any space, lots of veg can be easily grown from scraps. You can grow potatoes from peelings, carrots and lettuce from their tops, dry and plant the seeds of tomatoes and peppers, and lots more.

If you're out of milk you can make oat milk by soaking porridge oats overnight.

You can thicken and increase the nutrition of almost anything by blending a spoonful of silken tofu in with it. Trust me, there is zero increased demand right now on silken tofu haha. I put it in porridge, in sauces, in smoothies - it's basically tasteless and just adds protein.

If you can get to Holland and Barrett you can buy 1kg bags of vital wheat gluten for a few quid, and turn it into a meat replacement called seitan. The only other ingredients you need are something acidic (lemon, vinegar), soy sauce/stock, and water. It's really easy and there's loads of YouTube videos on how to make it. It's about 80% protein so really filling, you can freeze it, and 1 bag of flour makes masses. You can use it to make "chicken" pieces, burgers, "meat" balls, put it in a curry etc.

Oh, for the potatoes, no, I don't defrost them. I just put them straight in the microwave (remove all wrapping first) and nuke for 9 minutes.

I'm experimenting with making slightly smaller portions - eg cooking 150g of rice where I might usually cook 200g, or using one tin of tomatoes for pasta sauce when I might usually use two, just because I'm mindful that these basics aren't easy to replace at the moment.
I'm also aware that we're not doing much exercise and I don't want to end up the size of a house!

You can’t actually grow carrots from carrot tops. The green parts will grow but they won’t grow into new carrots. Likewise you’d need a big chunky potato ‘peeling’ to grow potatoes since they use the mother tuber to sap all the energy from (just like humans!)

Aw that sucks hasa, I always thought you could! My life is a lie. OK, ignore that part of my advice haha.

skulks off to throw away carrots tops currently sitting in water on the window sill

You can use barley instead of rice for risotto. It's more nutritious too. Does take much longer to cook though!

It's not the only one out there, but you could have a look at a site like www.supercook.com/#/recipes which gives you ideas about what you can cook with very few ingredients. Also have a look for old war recipes - both my parents grew up in WWII, and the things they could do with potatoes and carrots and a bit of flour were astonishing.

How on earth do you manage to throw away bread? Grate it to make breadcrumbs and freeze. They come in useful for so many things.

Fish cakes are a well known use, but did you know you can fry breadcrumbs with garlic to make pangritata? Otherwise known as poor man's parmesan, because it adds flavour in the same way.

fauziaskitchenfun.com/recipe/fillings-toppings/crispy-pangritata/

Pasta bake : any bits of fridge veg but do include an onion, passata, leftover meat, glug of cream /cream cheese /full fat milk. Add garlic and herbs if you want. Mix with part boiled pasta, sprinkle with grated cheese. Bake for 30 mins.

Can use any pasta at all. Makes loads, tastes great.

Leftover bread can be made into puddings such as Poor Knights of Windsor (a favourite with children), Pain Perdu good for French baton or brioche, or Queen of Puddings surprisingly delicious.

@FallenMadonnawiththeBadBoobies i

have the same problem here. 2 teens who are just used to inhaling food and snacks. Very little thought as to what else it might be needed for how easy it will be to replace.

Tempting to try and find some sort of fridge lock!
As it is I've taken to locking biscuits/dry snacks in the car

A really cheap and filling meal is Fakorizo.

Soak lentils and a handful of chickpeas overnight.

Fry onions, carrots and garlic for a few minutes in olive oil. Add hot water and stock and the legumes. The water should cover the legumes by a few inches. Add a good glug of olive oil, a bay leaf, two teaspoons of tomato puree 100ml pasatta and bring to a fast boil. Cook until the legumes are almost soft, then add salt, pepper, cumin, oregano, tsp of vinegar and one cup of starchy rice. Once the rice is cooked, stir in a handful of chopped parsley.