It’s back to busy and back to business saving food, time and our planet this September.
Whether you’ve got children starting back at school, older ones flying the nest and off to uni, or you’re back to working at the office, September can mean life gets more hectic.
When this happens, it’s easy to let good food habits slip your mind. A few busy days at work and suddenly the chicken is past its ‘use by’ date. It’s easy to do… but it’s also easy to master the problem and your food management, even when you’ve got a lot going on!
1.3 million tonnesof food wasted is fresh vegetables or salad, rather than finding it going off at the back of the fridge, let’s work together to find the solution to make the most of your food.
Why using up food matters and how it affects climate change
Wasting food feeds climate change. In fact, 4.5 million tonnes of good, edible food is wasted in UK homes every year. Every bit of food takes a lot of energy, time, water and land to produce, so throwing it in the bin wastes all those precious resources, especially if you're going to buy a takeaway instead!
The most wasted food in the UK is potatoes with a whopping 710 THOUSAND tonnes wasted in a year! Followed by bread with over 400 thousand tonnes going to waste, then milk with nearly 300 thousand tonnes down the drain.
Try these top tips and recipes next time you’re cooking to make your life easier as life gets busier this September.
Creative cooking
Short on time? We all have those long days where we get home and the last thing we want to do is cook a meal, luckily we have some fantastic fast and healthy recipes for you and your family, so that you can get the cooking out of the way and enjoy a tasty dish.
There are a few great chuck-it-all in together recipes that won’t take a lifetime to cook. Even better, these are brilliant for throwing in whatever food you’ve got to use up!
1. For using up veggies, a stir-fry is a great solution. Whether you’ve got classic ingredients like broccoli and carrots, or another of your 5-a-day like mange tout, these will all go beautifully in a stir-fry. This is also perfect for using up any leftover meat. Not only is it a delicious, healthy option, it takes minutes to make! In fact – you can do almost everything in one pot, wok or pan, saving on the washing up.
2. A hash is another brilliant way to use up your veg. If you’ve got leftover veggies from last night’s dinner, fry them off in a pan and pop them in the oven with some leftover roast potatoes. Top tip: you can also add tinned goods, a great way to use up tinned food at the back of your cupboard. Make your hash even tastier by adding a fried egg on top and personalise your hash to your taste, why not get creative and serve with those sauces, chutneys and pickles we stash in the fridge! A hash is delicious, super simple, and takes barely any time at all.
The brilliant thing about these food recipes is that they can work with whatever you’ve got available. It means more variety – they’ll taste different every time! – and your food won’t go to waste.
Check out our recipe hub to get some quick and simple meal inspiration and examples.
