Freeze your food
The freezer comes into its own over Christmas and the New Year. Follow some of our tips so that you don’t end up throwing away good food that could easily be re-used at a later date. There really isn’t much that can't be frozen until it’s needed!
Below is a selection of tips from the Love Food Hate Waste Campaign. Visit the website for more advice.
CHEESE
Cheese seems to be cheaper in larger pieces and easily goes mouldy. Buy it in larger blocks then cut it into small blocks and freeze. Use what you want when you want it and it never goes to waste.
YOGHURT
Packs of yogurt are often a tempting buy as they get near to the use by dates, but who can eat 12 pots of yogurt in a day? Frozen yogurt makes a lovely dessert. Those expensive tubes of fromage frais made for children are actually easier to eat once frozen, and half of it doesn't get left in the tube as it normally does. If you have a big family sized pot of yogurt to use, try pouring it in an ice lolly mould.
FRENCH STICKS
Buy fresh French sticks and cut into 3 portions. Freeze those you won’t need immediately and when you do need them pop them straight into a hot oven for a few minutes to revive.
LEMON JUICE
Roll the lemon up and down your worktop, pressing hard. When you extract juice you will get more. Juice not required can be frozen in ice cube moulds to use another time - great added to water to give a refreshing zing.
CREAM
Whip any leftover cream before you freeze it to stop it from becoming grainy when it’s thawed.
FREEZING LIQUIDS
Remember that liquid expands by 10% when frozen, so do not over fill containers – leave a 2.5 cm space in a 500ml container or a 1.5cm gap in a 300ml container. If you don’t do this, soups, sauces and fruits in liquids will push off their lids, once frozen.
PARMESAN
Fresh parmesan can be expensive. To make it last longer here's a handy little tip... Grate the whole wedge of parmesan into a container and place in freezer- it'll last for ages! Delicious sprinkled over bolognese when serving or added to cheese sauce
PEPPERS
Buy own brand, cheap peppers and dice the tops and bottoms for use in spaghetti bolognaise for example. Slice or dice the remainder. Freeze them in one pepper portions which make it easier to follow recipes.
CHICKEN STOCK
If you have roasted a chicken, freeze the carcass. Once you have two or three, boil them up for a couple of hours with two or three pints of water, a few chopped celery stalks, onions, carrots, a bunch of parsley and bay leaf to make chicken stock. Measure into pint portions and freeze them to be used whenever you need it.
LEFT OVER VEG
If you have a few veggies left from a meal but not enough to reuse for another meal, put them in a container and freeze. Add any other leftovers such as veg, pasta, spuds or beans to the container as they arise. When full, make up a couple of pints of stock add the contents of the container and cook until tender. Wizz in the blender adjust flavouring and consistency to your liking and enjoy. Almost free soup that tastes different every time!
Find out more
Visit the Love Food Hate Waste website for lots more information and tips