Food wastage

[forgotmyusername1]

Apparently the average family throws away £800 a year of food.

I can honestly say we throw next to nothing.

What are your top tips for avoiding food wastage?

Are you a user or a chucker?

I can't say I have ever noticed a difference in taste of out of date yoghurt or cheese that has grown a bit of mould. We don't eat much cheese so it almost certainly goes out of date (as I said, I never look at dates on cheese). I sometimes freeze it but don't like that it makes it very crumbly.

Id I am not going to eat the leftovers the next day I freeze it, no matter how small the portion is but I realise if you don't have freezer space you can't do that

I just don't leave half a portion. I'd leave enough for a lunch, which wouldn't be much less each, or we'd have a bit extra each.

Sorry if I have missed it on the thread somewhere, but what containers do people recommend for berries (raspberries and blueberries) and where do you buy larger quantities that are actually good for keeping for a while? (I don't want frozen ones, either bought or that I freeze myself).

I live alone and try to eat berries rather than other fruits for various reasons. I also live vey near a Sainsbury's local. But they only sell small plastic packs of berries and they are £2-3 each depending on size, and I use them a lot, which is getting unaffordable. So I'd like to go somewhere further away (have a choice of most supermarkets if I make the effort) and buy cheaper and bigger packs if possible and then keep them. But even the small packs seem to go furry very quickly, sometimes within a day or two. So I'm hoping that one of those berry containers that I see advertised at times online might be a worthwhile investment. any recommendations?

All my tupperwares once housed Chinese takeaway

https://againstallgrain.com/2017/08/11/how-to-keep-berries-fresh-longer/

Try this

thanks, I have all that sort of tupperware, but I know that there are special berry containers for making berries last longer - not sure airtight is actually what I want.

sorry, cross posted! Will look at that. There are lots of similar containers avialable, so wondering if anyone recommends one that really works

I freeze anything I can before it spoils
Or anything left over

Half cans of coconut milk unused by recipe, half cans of tomatoes etc labelled for next time
I freeze yoghurt for curries if I buy a big tub and it's not going to be used - in silicone cup cake cases in 2tbsp portions
Grate weigh and freeze Parmesan in bags
Feta freezes well
Tomatoes, celery - all frozen for cooking

And if I'm going away, neighbour has anything that needs using and vice versa

So much for me saying I dont throw away food. Made two cakes today, one isnt that nice, probably going to have to bin it. Then made some brownies, the batter (cooks privilege) from the bowl was sensational so I was really looking forward to it,,, but it wasnt cooking, taking ages and ages. So I turned the oven up and now its burnt on top. Havent cut into it yet, could still be raw in the middle for all I know

Disaster, may also have to go in the bin. Am quite upset. Lots of ingredients used in that.

I find they last longer if you wash them immediately and leave in an open container.

If it is cooked could you chop up and bring a loaf of ice cream on top?

Bung, even

We don't waste a lot. We freeze things frequently, don't over serve at dinner and if there's anything left and no one wants seconds, it goes in a pot for a lunch. We shop at Ocado because we've found their fruit and veg lasts longest, this has made a huge to our wastage. I meal plan every week as well, and make sure to use things that are more likely to go off quicker, sooner.

Well I cant eat cake (well a little), I was going to take it to people tomorrow that Im visiting

I have of course been impatient and cut a bit off, so its crumbled (as warned on the internet that you should wait until completely cool). Its rock hard on the edge with a bit of a chewy bit. Flavour is fantastic. But it looks carbonated on top and Im too embarrassed to give it out!!

Ive never cooked a brownie before. Im an excellent cook but not for sweet things, Im not a baker.

Perhaps a few middle pieces will be ok.

Im going to repeat on Monday to get it right, but its such a waste.

I detest chucking food away. Since lockdown where people were working hard to ensure that all supermarket shelves were stocked up, I refuse to throw anything away. We do have weird combinations for meals (tonight it was leftover tuna salad and roasties) but I don't care. Its only DH and myself and he doesn't complain!

Veg and fruit that are getting on a bit get chopped up and frozen, to be made into soup or crumble at a later date.

I chuck away too much food, am trying to do better but it's hard as a single person with a chronic illness. There's often half bags of lettuce/spinach, part of a loaf of bread, part of a tub of yoghurt/hummus etc.

You can freeze yoghurt and hummus. In fact finding out that you can freeze hummus was a game changer, Im so impressed with this!!

What annoys me is the lack of being able to buy single items, was in the shop today, I can only buy 4 lemons, not one. I can only buy a bag of carrots, not one. Cabbages are all too big, cant buy half, can only buy a whole one.

In the old days you could go into the butcher or deli and just ask for 2 slices of ham or something.

Apart from the warm months I make soup often, Sunday soup it just gets any veg in thats about. It does mean the exact taste is rarely replicated.

DH will eat anythjng out of date, he is a bit like, Martin in Sunday Night dinner. We also have our own little ratatouille, the cat has a taste if slightly unsure.

It’s very rare to chuck anything away, we did have some soft cheese get lost at the back of the fridge a few weeks ago so did chuck that, the only time I had food poisoning was with soft cheese.

@Leafbuds try frozen berries and then just take as many as you need, they are much cheaper.

I really hate chucking out food especially meat as an animal died for that ☹️ occasionally though I'll be unorganised and things will go off in the fridge
We were always chucking out half bags of spinach but I read on here that paper towel in the bags keeps it fresh and it really works!

We don't waste much at all. I buy food with the longest life I can. I buy 8-10 chicken breasts at once and freeze in packs of 2. I just defrost what I want to cook for dinner. I freeze food on the day I buy it then just take it out as I want it. If vegetables need using we make soup. We grow lots of fruit in our garden raspberries, strawberries, apples, rhubarb, cooking apples and cherry tomatoes, large tomatoes, vegetables sugar snap peas, runner beans, new potatoes and salad leaves and lots of herbs. I freeze some for the winter then give away quite a lot to family, friends, and neighbours. One neighbour gives me pots of honey in return. Another neighbour occasionally bakes me a cake and my friend takes a lot of cooking apples and brings me back apple pies. Lots of the fruit comes all at once and if we didn't freeze or give it away a lot would get wasted.

You can buy some veg loose in many supermarkets, more Tesco rather than Aldi/Lidl though. Cabbage I make into sauerkraut, but you can just put the cut side in a bag or clingwrap and it lasts ages in the fridge.

Sorry i agree with you about food waste but hate your poor blamung rhetoric here.
I am a frugal cook, mumsnet chicken etc etc and still worry about rhe rising price of food. We used no heating this winter (slept all in one room, in dressing gowns) and the electricity bill is still a terror every month. Some people are just poor and can't frugal their way out of it.

But surely you can still buy one lemon from the greengrocer and two carrots it that's all you need? And I've not come across a butcher that won't sell one chop or two slices of bacon.

You are reading something which isn't there

I am saying some people complain about the price of things while refusing to attempt to economise on usage

In your example it would be the equivalent of you complaining your gas bill was high while having the thermostat set to 25 with the windows open.

Or my example was complaining at the cost of electricity while doing 3 loads of laundry a day for a family of 4 as they will wash everything daily rather than rewear things which are not dirty