Food waste: how to cut down

[Lentilweaver]

How much food do you waste? I am trying to reduce mine. A number of factors. We are vegetarian and eat a lot of fruit as well, and these days I find fruit or veg goes off really fast. ( Tesco or Sainsburys shop) Then unforeseeable factors, like this week DD had norovirus and couldn't eat much. Then next week, DH is out a lot but didn't tell me so I ordered the usual veggies he likes. Sometimes bread or cheese also goes to waste despite my best planning efforts.

Strategies I have thought of:
(1) Turn the old fruit into smoothies
(2) Buy frozen veg ( we have limited freezer space though so can't do too much of this).
(3) Batchcook and freeze ( again see above though).
Other tips?

Hardly any.

I don’t overbuy. Things like fruit I would buy basics, things like satsumas or bananas last longer so eat berries first. We have frozen plums and apples from our garden, and mixed frozen berries as back up if we ran out for some reason. I would then give Ds frozen berries warmed up on yogurt or pancakes.

Things like bread I cut loaf in half and freeze if plans change and we are going to be eating it as much.

Veg I would just eat, roast up with couscous it will last several days in the fridge. Or make soup or fresh pasta sauces and freeze

I aim for a food shop every 4-5 days so bread, milk and essentials stay fresh.

What fruits & veg are you finding don't last the week? Tbh most veg should last 2+ weeks if stored properly, similar for fruit with the exception of soft fruits.
Do you meal plan? This means you're only buying what you need.
Can you get more freezer space? We have two large freezers (one upright in the kitchen & a chest freezer in the garage).
Definitely smoothies are great for using up fruit that's past its best.

Agree with the above re bread - put either half or all in the freezer & take out as needed. We freezer bread, crumpets, sandwich squares etc many of which can be toasted from frozen.
I make pasta sauce with whatever veg I have around too.

Freeze the bread,you can get out for toast as and when and the night before for sandwiches. Cheese freezes ok too. Cut up and freeze. Might be a bit crumbly but hey ho🙂

We're also vegetarian and we waste barely anything. (I probably would if I t were just me as I'm a useless cook, but partner prides himself on making sure nothing goes to waste). Re: fruit and veg, we get an Odd Box each week and then a monthly Tesco's big shop for all the basics. Topped up with bread / eggs / milk etc from the local one when needed.

Meal planning helps. Things like plums/apples if they are looking a bit sad can be stewed and used for a few days kept in the fridge.
Bananas I’ll peel, chop and freeze (freeze them on a flat tray then pop them in a bag, don’t take up too much room then). Or make a banana cake.
If med veg is looking a bit sad I’ll make a ratatouille that will keep a few days.
Other veg will keep cooked in the fridge for a few days.

If bread regularly goes to waste, can you buy half loaves or freeze half?

What happens with the cheese? Ours lasts for ever in a tub. Grated cheese can be stored in the fridge (normal can too, but then it a a crumbly pain to cut.)

We also use a lot of tinned sweetcorn - just thinking about freezer space.

I used to waste a lot due to the unforeseen factors too. Don't buy so much food at once. Restrict purchases of the fresh foods that go off more quickly to what you'll eat that day and the next. This was hard but really makes a difference if you buy lots of fruit and veg. Menu plan including snacks. Go through fridge and non refrigerated fresh foods every evening and freeze anything on point of expiry that you'll not need the next day. Tinned fruit and veg. are as nutritious as "fresh" and don't take up freezer space.

All if your suggestions are good. Others I can think of are

Make Jam
Make Chutney
Stewed fruit is lovely and can be frozen and eaten hot or cold
Eat frozen veg instead of fresh
Make veggie chilli/curry and freeze

Storing things like salad veg in zip lock bags helps them stay fresh and crisp for much longer.

I meal plan for every 4-5 days and stick to it. Day 5 is often a soup to use any odd bits in the salad drawer.
Aldi fruit and veg lasts 5 days.
I throw nothing away.

Thanks so much for the tips. More freezer space is hard as we live in a small London flat. But can definitely meal plan better and freeze cheese.

Things I find go off quickly
Bananas
Berries
Okra, mushrooms, eggplants
Herbs like coriander, spring onions and mint
( We are Asian so eat a lot of the above)

We both used to work at the office so am still trying to come to terms with WFH and more meals and more cooking. Am not the most organized but trying to get there.

I need to make an apple cake and pasta sauce today!

I always save little bits and pieces and most lunches are a challenge to use them up. Leftover potatoes can be used in a frittata with half an onion, half a pepper, or I cube them and pan fry with chopped garlic and herbs. Leftover cooked meat I'll add to risottos. I freeze Parmesan rinds and add to pasta sauces/tomato based casseroles. I like the challenge!

We make our bread and the end can get a bit stale so the get turned into breadcrumbs - you can freeze them and use them frozen.
I also always freeze chillis. They are easier to chop up frozen and never go off! Ditto ginger. I grate it frozen.

Bananas - I make pancakes for toddler with banana blitzed into the batter.

Berries - buy less. They aren’t in season now apart from autumn raspberries so will have been shipped from miles away, hence already going off when bought

okra, aubergine - only buy if in meal plan. Or have quick veggie curry recipe to use up and have for lunches.

Mushrooms - quick garlic mushrooms on toast for breakfast or lunch

We found storing bananas individually in a ziploc bag in the fridge keeps them for about a week. Take them out to warm them up before eating if Y9u don’t like cold bananas. Also buy them when they are more green if possible. I get a weeeks supply delivered from Tesco and they keep stored like that. Also why are you wasting cheese? I keep mine for ages. It freezes well. Grate it and freeze. I also freeze a weeks supply of bread

It's also about making sure you use up what you're freezing, rather than freezing the waste then buying more fresh. So you then have space freed up for the next lot of fresh that you need to freeze.

So if you buy alot of bananas and they don't get eaten, peel and freeze them. But don't then buy the same amount of fresh - plan smoothies in a few times for the week and a much smaller amount of fresh bananas and alternate between smoothies using the frozen and fresh bananas eaten as they are.

Shop your freezer and cupboards before buying anything - pick one item and try and plan a meal around it. Do that two or three times for that week.

If possible, try also only buying what you need for the next few days. We no longer do 'big shops' and its made such a difference to our waste. Then I'm working with what we actually have leftover (which is often quite a bit) rather than assuming there won't be leftovers and buying more.

There's just 2 of us , we like a good variety, so used to waste quite a lot.

I've been using these bags for nearly a year📧

www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00BND0SD2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

They are fantastic , & keep veg fresh for a long time. I don't use them for potatoes & onions ( separate dark cloth bags), & mushrooms in paper bags.

Any fruit and veg waste goes in the compost bin outside.

hardly any.

• meal planning, using up fruit that perishes more quickly first.
• storing veg/fruit correctly (mostly in fidge)
• buy veg/fruit that keep well (carrots, apples, cauliflower, iceberg...)
• if we have leftovers (rarely) we either freeze or make savoury muffins (mix with egg and bake in muffin cases. perfect for lunch boxes)

bananas store well in the fridge too, they do go brown but don't go mushy.

I think food waste is sometimes less about storage and more about imagination and eating it even if you don't want it or fancy it. Some things could be a smaller lunch, especially if you are at home so not reliant on a packed lunch. Things like herbs, mushrooms or spring onions can usually be added into most dishes.

We don't waste much. Barely anything is thrown away. Any meal leftovers are put into an old Chinese takeaway container and I take it to work the next day as lunch.

I think it's odd that people don't just use it, use up what they have. If we have stuff that needs eating then we do just that, eat it. I struggle to understand why anyone wouldn't.

My friends years ago laughed at my 'bits and bobs' meal. Now they all do it. Their kids love it! You sell it to them with a jolly announcement. Rarely, I had odd bits that needed using up, A bit of leftover lasagne, a bit of pork pie, a bit of this a bit of that. So I'd bung some chips in the oven. And then everyone would eat a bit of whatever needed eating. It's like a kind of tapas!

Now when we very rarely have a bits and bobs dinner, My boys say ' Mum what's for dinner' and I'm reply 'bits and bobs', they say: ' great I love bits and bobs, haven't had one for ages! '.

Over-ripe bananas = Nigella’s banana bread 😛 - or if I’m feeling healthier I chop them up and freeze them as they start to go over. They can hen be send in mothers from frozen, or just blitzed to make a lovely but healthy banana ice cream.