Best ways on how to cut down on home food waste
Would you like to save money by avoiding food waste? Would you like some great ideas on how to make food last longer? Would you like to protect and save our planet by reducing the methane emissions from the landfill and preventing pollution? In this post I would like to introduce you not only on what things you can do to avoid food waste but also the best ways on how to store certain types of foods. Let’s start straight away!
Tips on how to avoid food waste
Writing a shopping list will avoid foods which are not really needed to be purchased which might go off before you even have the chance to eat them.
Sometimes we have enough food in the fridge but we are lacking ideas on what dishes to prepare with them. A good example is if you have eggs in the fridge and maybe you tried to eat fried eggs search on Google for “Eggs recipe” or “Vegetarian healthy eggs recipe”
Don’t buy food just because they look healthy or they’re cheap as they will only fill up your fridge, making it look aesthetically pleasant but in reality you don’t like the taste of the food or for example you don’t fancy eating it that week. It will be a shame to waste it.
Make sure that all the food stored in the fridge which expires first is kept at the front, which is easy to grab and see so that you don’t forget about it.
Use vegetables which have gone soft or vegetable scraps (root, skin etc) to make a lovely healthy tasty food to be eaten with a lovely warm piece of bread or some crackers. To add herbs stems can be used to flavour your olive oil if left inside it for about a week.
Try to clean up your fridge once a month as that will help you to evaluate on what vegetables, fruit or any other food you are not consuming. Maybe sometimes buying a smaller amount would just be a good way to ensure that it all gets eaten.
Another great way to avoid food waste is to donate it, give it to a neighbour or to a family member or friend who lives nearby.
Find below some ideas on how to store certain types of food, how to store them and increase their longevity
Onions and garlic: they are best to be kept in a warm place and away from the sunlight.
Tomatoes: to keep their taste and quality it is better to keep them outside the fridge at room temperature. Otherwise if you prefer you can keep them in the low shelf of the fridge.
Potatoes: keep them in a spacious, dry and dark place with plenty of ventilation to avoid them wrinkling and rotting. If you keep potatoes in a close container that will affect their quality and don’t put them in the fridge as it will spoil their taste.
Herbs: my advice is to store them in the fridge in a sealed bag apart from basil. In order for them to last longer you can also put them in an ice cube with some water or olive oil and freeze them. In regards to basil the two main ways to store it would be to either store it in the fridge wrapped up tightly in some film (to avoid moisture) or you can store it in some water next to a window.
Bread: a good way to store leftover bread is to slice it and freeze it. If you freeze it make sure that you put the bread in a plastic wrap and then wrap it tightly again (but don’t squash it) with some foil. In order to keep the bread fresh and soft it is crucial to double-wrap it. If your bread goes stale though don’t throw it away. Instead give it to the birds or make some lovely croutons with it to add to your salad.
Celery, broccoli and lettuce: the best way to keep your celery, broccoli and lettuce crispy and fresh is to keep it in the fridge wrapped in foil.
Bananas: Keep them separate from the rest of the fruit (especially pears and apples) as their stems are well known to produce ethylene gas which makes other fruit ripen. Also to prolong the life of your bananas a good tip is to wrap the stems with some cling film.
Green onions: Put them in a glass or jar filled with an inch of cold water (just enough to cover the roots and then place them on the kitchen windowsill. Your green onions will stay not only fresh and green but they will also continue to grow! You also gained a new lovely plant to add to your kitchen decoration.
How do you store your vegetables, fruit or any other types of food? If you have any tips please feel free to share them down below in the comments!
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