What Could You Do with an Extra £50 This Christmas?
Every month, UK families are throwing away up to £50 worth of good food and drink. When it comes to Christmas that’s a lot of turkey, trimmings and treats!
Making the most of our food and saving money this Christmas doesn't mean cutting down on the indulgence and fun. If anything, having a well-planned Christmas will leave us with more money in our purses and more time to enjoy ourselves. So what's the secret?
Love Food Hate Waste has some thoughts…
It pays to plan.
Christmas is probably the one time of year when even the most 'last minute' of us will sit down, ponder over who is coming to stay and make some sort of plan.
Planning your meals in advance will save you time, and ensure you always have something to feed the hungry hordes.
Take a look in your cupboards, fridge and freezer and make note of what foods you already have, this will help you to avoid doubling up when hitting the shops.
Write a list of what you need so you don’t buy what you already have or get tempted in store!
Know your dates.
As well as keeping up with all the social dates in your diary, don't forget to keep an eye on the dates in your fridge too.
Use up foods with the shortest dates first, and when shopping check to see if fresh foods can be frozen in case you don’t get round to eating them over the festivities.
Best before dates are for quality, so you can eat these foods after this date, they just may no longer be at their best - eggs are the exception.
Use by dates are for safety, you can eat or freeze foods right up to the end of the use by date.
Perfect portions.
Catering for family and friends, not to mention the unexpected guests, often leaves us unsure of how much to cook.
Love Food's Christmas dinner portion calculator and party portions calculator, remove the guess work by suggesting how much to cook.
Lovely leftovers.
Leftovers of bubble and squeak and cold turkey sandwiches are a Boxing Day tradition.
This year freshen things up with a Christmas salad; try a turkey, mango and lime salad and use up those leftover veggies and ham with a turkey, ham and leek pie. Or transform your Christmas panettone into a lovely bread and butter pudding.
Savvy storage
Simple tips on storing our foods over the festive period can help us make the most of them, and make them last into the New Year.
Ensure your vegetables are at their best for the main meal by keeping them in the fridge; most vegetables will stay fresher for longer stored in the fridge in the pack or bag they came in.
Most of our Christmas leftovers will keep for up to two days well wrapped in the fridge, or pop them in the freezer to have on a chilly January evening.
Top tips for your sprouts or your turkey can be found here.
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