Reducing Food Waste

Invest in a model that features technology specially designed to keep food fresh for longer.

Examples include:

• light technology to preserve the vitamin content and nutrients in your fruit ’n veg
• smart technology to ensure your fridge is set at the ideal temperature for its contents
• intelligent tech to control the temperature of different zones of the fridge.

Remember:

• the ideal fridge temperature is between 0-5°C. Adjusting the temperature of your fridge could help to keep your food fresh for three days longer
• many items not traditionally kept in the fridge last longer there including all fruits (except bananas and pineapples) as well as garlic and eggs.

Ingeniously stock your freezer up with ingredients and batch-cooked meals that will make your future family mealtimes a doddle. The big freeze starts now…

• Freeze your 5-a-day if you can’t use your fruit ‘n veg in time. Some fruit and veg will lose their texture when frozen – you can deal with this by freezing them pureed or stewed. Whip up a quick pasta sauce or pizza base with pureed tomatoes and for desert stewed apples ready in your freezer for a quick apple crumble
• freezing berries you picked in the summer to inject some happiness into your autumnal porridge
• prepping easy freezer meals– soups and pasta sauces for healthy suppers in minutes
  freezing those herbs before they wilt so you can pimp up your meals.

Remember:

• many foods can be frozen to preserve them for longer including bread, milk, cheese, eggs, peeled bananas, blanched potatoes, yoghurt, herbs, avocados, butter, cooked rice or even wine!
• keep your freezer at the right temperature, usually -18°C
• keep your freezer full but not packed 75-80%.

Revitalise food with a press of a button:

• throw in potato peels and other veggie slices to make crisps
• some models have a dehydrate option and suddenly you have a healthy dried fruit snack (think citrus rings for cocktails, fruit chips) or even forage items such as seaweed, nettles or herbs
• no need to throw away leftovers in food that has lost its crispiness, air fryers will give new life to any soggy roast potatoes, tacos and even pizzas.

Use your blender wisely so you always make full use of the nutrients in veggies and fruit:

• use leftover leaves, stems, and peels of certain fruits and veggies to make nutrient packed soups and smoothies
• Green-fingered? Blend fruit and vegetable scraps to make them easier to break down in your compost pile.