Are you throwing out more food during the hots spell? Are you finding your lettuce and cucumber are going off before you get to use them?? You’re not cooking as much heavy, hot dinners and you’re finding your veggies are being chucked out?
The cost of living has increased so much over the past year or so, it’s a shame to be wasting food – food that cost you money!
Here are a few easy tips from the leading food saving app Too Good To Go on how to save money on food shopping:
- Plan ahead so you only buy what you need.
Plan your meals for the week in advance so you know exactly what you need to buy. Write a shopping list and then stick to it when you’re in the supermarket – try not to be sucked in by impulse buying.
Try to be ‘kitchen savvy’ in your planning too. For instance, planning multiple meals that use the same, or parts of the same, ingredient means that you’re not buying a new set of ingredients for every meal.
- Make use of the whole ingredient
Embrace the chance to explore new ways of working with ingredients. Why not have a go at making a broccoli pesto using the broccoli stalks that you’d usually throw away, or keeping the peel on your potatoes when you’re mashing them? Little changes like these really can make all the difference. - Don’t discount fruit and veg based on how it looks
Don’t judge food by its appearance! Oddly shaped or bruised fruits and vegetables are often thrown away because they don’t look ‘perfect’ but in reality, they taste exactly the same. Even those more mature fruit and vegetables are perfect for smoothies or juices. - Take care of how you store your food
Storing your food properly is one of the keys to extending its lifespan. For instance, onions can make root vegetables go bad quickly so best to keep them stored apart from things like potatoes or carrots. And m
Many fruits like apples, pears, bananas, and nectarines emit a natural chemical called ethylene which causes premature ripening, so always keep these away from each other so they can ripen at a steady pace.
- Check your fridge temperature
Keeping your fridge at the correct temperature is also key for keeping your food fresh. Setting it at below 5°C is ideal for extending the life of perishable foods like milk or yoghurts. - Understand date labels and trust your senses with ‘best before’ dates
There’s a big difference between ‘best before’ and ‘use-by’ dates. Often food is still safe to eat after the ‘best before’ date, whereas it’s the ‘use-by’ date that indicates when it’s no longer safe to eat.
Before throwing out food that’s past its ‘best before’ date, make sure you use your senses to look, smell and taste whether it’s actually gone off. You’d be surprised how many food items are perfectly good to eat way beyond this date.
- Keep your kitchen organised.
Rotate goods when new items come in so that your fridge, freezer, and cupboards are stocked with the food you need to eat first at the front, and food you’ve bought more recently at the back. Try and audit every two weeks or so, so you know what needs eating before it goes off.
- Take care with your portion sizes
Recent research carried out by Too Good To Go to mark the UN’s International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste (observed annually on 29th September) found that 23per cent of us throw away food at home because there is too little left on their plates.
To counteract this, try to find your own hacks for measuring food so that your portion sizes work for you. For example, a standard builder’s mug of rice is usually enough to serve four adults when cooked.
- When in doubt, freeze it!
The oldest trick in the book! Virtually anything can be frozen if you don’t think you’re going to be able to eat it in time. Batch-cooking meals to keep in the freezer for a later date is a great way to make sure your fresh ingredients can still get used while they’re at their best.
- Get creative with your leftovers
Nowadays, many of us are in the habit of wanting to eat something new every day, but don’t be afraid to get creative with adapting a simple dish. For example, you can change a classic Bolognese sauce into a chilli con carne, meat pie or even a lasagne.
Or why not try to plan a ‘potluck dinner’ once a week? Bring out all your leftover portions from the week and share with your housemates, family or friends for a fun DIY, meze style dinner.
So don’t chuck it out, use it raw, cook it and freeze it. Keep your food waste and your food bills to a minimum! See also https://www.bordbia.ie/industry/insights/global-sustainability-insights/tangible–consumer-facing/food-waste/
