THE UGLY TRUTH ABOUT WASTING GOOD FOOD
Imogen Blake
HOUSEHOLDS in Britain are throwing away more than £13 billion worth of food every year, according to latest figures in a UK-based study.
That equates to about 7.3 million tons of food wastage, says the waste and recycling body, Waste and Resources Action Programme.
The study found that people are much more likely to throw out certain foods than others.
The study also singled out 10 items which households are binning every week without fail.
Now the experts at Good Housekeeping Institute have shared their tips for how to make the most common foods last longer, which could save you money, as well as cut down on waste.
You can turn brown bananas into banana bread or cake.
Or even easier, when your fruit starts to brown, chop the bananas into segments and pop them in the freezer.
You can then use the frozen pieces to make ice cream, milkshakes or a smoothie.
With most of us keeping milk in the fridge door, the warmest part of the fridge, milk tends to go off quicker.
If you have a lot of milk left to use with only a few days left on the use by date, you can always freeze your cartons.
Alternatively, pour the milk into ice cube trays. It makes for the perfect dose for a cup of tea.
Frozen bacon will keep for two to three months, just make sure you freeze with sheets in-between each layer, so that it doesn’t form a large frozen block.
There is an easy way to reuse fizzy drinks before they go flat.
Pour fizzy drinks into ice lolly molds, allowing some room for expansion and freezing for easy and
Bread can be frozen and makes the perfect slice of toast. Make sure you slice the bread before freezing if you buy a whole loaf.
Chicken is among the most commonly wasted foods, despite the fact that you can use leftover slivers of chicken in hundreds of easy delicious recipes to turn something that was intended for the bin into a banquet.
Leftover chicken also freezes easily and keeps for four to six months.
The chicken carcass can also be boiled with herbs and spices to make a delicious home-made gravy, and can be used as the base for hearty soups and stews.
Over five million potatoes are thrown away every day in the UK. But if you have too many in the cupboard and know you won’t use them, cook them and mash them as mash freezes much better than whole potatoes.
Good Housekeeping also recommends parboiling them and freezing them so you can quickly cook roast potatoes any time you fancy.
Households throw away meals every day.
But this can be easily avoided by cooking larger quantities and freezing any leftovers you do not eat.
Just make sure you label the contents of your plastic containers so you remember what is in them and do not throw them out by accident.
Chips are another food we throw away in large quantities, despite their versatility in meals.
They can be frozen and reheated at a later date.
So next time you make a few too many, freeze them instead of throwing them in the bin, it could come in handy for midnight cravings. – Daily Mail