We've all experienced food waste at home; the bag of salad in the crisper that you forgot about, the left over bread or the chicken fillets you didn't use on time.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency Food Waste Report, each household in Ireland produces approximately 150kg of food waste a year, costing up to €700! There are some simple ways that we can all help to reduce our annual food waste, saving us money and helping the environment at the same time.
Here are four tips that could help us all reduce food waste in our homes:
1) Plan Ahead
Make sure to plan ahead before you do your grocery shop; list out your favourite meals, and the ingredients you might need stock up on to create these delicious dishes. By planning ahead you can make sure that most of the groceries you buy will be used in your meals, this step will help in limiting your food waste.
2) Get Creative
You can be clever and get creative with some foods that are verging on the other side of fresh, like bread. Sometimes it can be easy to leave behind the heel of slice pan. But why not make good use of it? Use stale bread to create breadcrumbs. Or make some delicious French toast. Check out this video where Dougie from DougiesDinners shows us how to make a quick and tasty grilled sandwich using those left over heels of the slice pan:
3) Refresh
If you bought a big loaf of bread and it's gone stale before you've managed to finish it, refresh your by coating in water or milk and popping on a baking tray. Bake for around 8 - 10 minutes at 200 degrees. Who doesn't love some warm, crusty bread? Smother a slice in your favourite spread, like Philadelphia Cream Cheese and enjoy!
4) Freeze for Later
Chop up that battered banana that has been sitting in the fruit bowl all week, place into a freezer bag. Frozen chunks of banana is so handy to add your morning smoothie. If you've cooked a little too much and find yourself with left-overs, you can freeze them to eat at another time - making for a very handy and delicious pre-prepared meal.
Do you have other handy ways that you avoid food waste at home?
Check out this recipe from Jess Redden, Jess used Philadelphia to create this delicious stuffed chicken recipe.
