Is it a bird? Is it a plane? no it’s a Fridge-Freezer….the ultimate food hero!

A hero in keeping our food fresher for longer and in freezing foods for later; the fridge-freezer is a valuable tool in preventing food waste that can be found in any UK kitchen.

However, research has shown that food and drink is thrown away because they were not used in time i.e. it has passed a date label (e.g. use by, or best before date), has gone mouldy or looked, smelt or tasted bad.

But never fear – as most of our perishable (and often expensive) foods are stored in the fridge-freezers, we have come to save the day and help you with some top fridge and freezer tips;

Fridge tips 

• Make sure the fridge thermostat is set at 5°c
• You can store most of your fruit & veg in fridge (with exception of: pineapples and bananas – just keep them cool place instead; potatoes and onions need to kept in a cool and dark place)
• Fresh fruit and vegetables need to breathe – don’t store them in sealed containers/bags
• Foods with a high fat content, such as meat and cheese, need to be wrapped well, otherwise they will dry out
• Leftovers can be kept up to two days in the fridge – cover with a lid or with cling film
• If you are not going to use the food or drink before the use by date…freeze it

Freezer tips

• It is safe to freeze almost any food; if the food has a use by date, freeze it before that date. To eat the food, defrost it in the fridge and use it within 24 hours
• Always label foods that you have stored in the freezer with their contents and the date that you freeze them, to prevent you finding UFOs in the freezer (Unidentified Frozen Objects)
• Freeze foods in portions, as it defrosts quicker and you have the right amount of food you need to make the meal
• Keep a freezer list: note down items as you put them in the freezer and cross them off as you take them out – handy, as you know what you need when you go food shopping
• Grate hard cheeses and freeze in portions and use straight from frozen on pizzas, omelettes and pasta bakes
• Freeze leftover cake in slices and defrost a slice of a tasty treat
• Meat that has been defrosted and cooked thoroughly can be frozen again. Just defrost thoroughly in the fridge and re-heat until piping hot and serve
• Parboil potatoes (for 5 minutes), cool and freeze them for later. To use, just thaw them overnight in the fridge and roast as normal
• Freeze eggs before the best before date – just crack them first, then beat and freeze or separate the whites and yolks and freeze individually. Defrost in the fridge and once defrosted, use like fresh eggs and within 24 hours of defrosting
• Freeze over-ripe bananas – peel, cut into three and freeze. Blend from frozen to make a breakfast smoothies, or defrost and mash to add to a banana bread recipe
• Freeze leftover milk in ice cube trays – a handy tip if you are leaving on holiday so you’ll have milk in the house when you return
• Freeze leftover wine in ice cube trays – to use later when making stews, sauces, or to add to the mince when making bolognaise

With £860 million worth of food sitting in UK freezers, we can feed ourselves for 11 days just with the food in the freezer. Although food can be safely stored forever, the quality of the food deteriorates after three months, so it is best to try to eat frozen food within three months of freezing it. So why not make once a week or fortnight a freezer food night?  We’ve come up with some recipe ideas to use up the foods we found in our own freezer –

Leftover frozen pesto, sweet corn and peas – defrost the pesto and boil the vegetables from frozen, then add to pasta

Frozen egg white – Defrost and add to another egg to make an omelette or defrost and whisk and add to an American pancake recipe to make extra fluffy pancakes or whisk up to make meringues

Frozen ice cream – take scoops of ice creams, put in a blender and add some milk (depending on the thickness of the milkshake you prefer) and blend. Add your favourite chocolate bar (broken into pieces) for extra added sweet treat

Frozen bread or pitta bread can be toasted from frozen to be used in place of burger buns

Frozen potato wedges – cook and use instead of chips as accompaniment to dishes

Frozen crushed garlic, ginger or chillies – can be used straight from frozen to add flavour to main meal

Frozen pastry – defrost and use to make a hearty pie, tarts or pasty

Frozen seafood – added to stir-fries or curries straight from frozen, or

Use up those leftovers meals that are saved for a rainy day.

Calling all Love Food Hate Waste lovers… the ultimate raid your fridge and cupboard celebration is nearly upon us – on 21st February it’s Pancake Day (Shrove Tuesday)!

Traditionally, pancakes are eaten to use up the butter and eggs before Lent begins. Shrove Tuesday is a time to indulge and an opportunity to use whatever you have got in the kitchen. We don’t just mean the chocolate or fruit you have, but vegetables and meat too.

Start off with our basic pancake recipe (it makes between 6 and 10 pancakes)

• 1 medium egg (beaten)
• 125g (4oz) of plain flour – for a lump free pancake sieve the flour
• 300ml (half pint) of milk
• 1 pinch of baking powder

1. Mix together the ingredients above with a whisk and make sure it is lump free
2. Heat up a frying pan and pour in a little vegetable oil (do not use olive oil as this will make the pancakes taste of olive oil)
3. When the oil has warmed up, use a kitchen towel to spread the oil around the pan – this also makes sure that the pan is coated with a minimal amount of oil
4. Pour in enough batter to cover the base of the pan and quickly rotate the pan, to make sure the batter spreads around the pan
5. Cook until the edge of the pancakes come away from the pan – do not be tempted to stir or flip until the batter slightly changes colour and the edges stop sticking to the pan
6. Using a spatula, loosen the pancake and flip it over (don’t worry if you can’t flip it like the TV chefs, it’s better to eat it from the pan than the floor!)
7. Cook until the second side of the pancake is golden brown
8. Fold and serve hot

If you want to eat at the same time as the people you’re feeding, place the unfolded pancakes between sheets of greaseproof paper onto a plate placed on top of a pan of simmering hot water and cover with a clean tea towel to keep them warm until you are ready to eat them.

How could you eat yours?

You can go traditional, serving the pancakes hot, with lemon juice and sugar, but if you’re feeling more adventurous, try these combinations:

Savoury

• Wrap up your chilli with cheese
• Pieces of ham or chicken with chopped up vegetables and cheese
• Pepper, onion and mushroom with pesto
• Leftover roasted meat with branston pickle
• Pork and apple
• Cut up salmon fillet, with broccoli and added sweet chilli sauce
• Mixed vegetables with crème fraiche
• Leeks with goat’s cheese

Sweet fillings

• Slices of banana with chocolate spread
• Mashed banana and peanut butter
• Apple and orange slices with yoghurt
• Honey and crème fraiche
• Fun-sized chocolate bars or Creme Eggs, placed inside a folded pancake, then micro-waved for 30 seconds

There are lots of other ideas out there, just search the internet and magazines for ideas. Don’t forget to ask your friends and family too.

Top tips for leftover pancakes

• Fill up them up with your favourite sandwich filling take it for twist on lunch
• Spread chocolate spread or jam on them, fold them into cigar shapes and add them to your lunchboxes
• Save the plain pancakes and use them instead of a wrap for a Mexican dinner or use them instead of the cannelloni in a spinach and ricotta cannelloni baked dish
• Or freeze them for future treat. Place them between sheets of greaseproof paper and place into freezer bags and freeze. To reuse reheat from frozen with the pancakes stacked and covered with foil in a preheated oven at Gas Mark 1 on a high shelf for 10 – 15 minutes.

Keeping your lemons for longer

If you bought lemons for pancake day but didn’t use them here are a few ideas to make sure you don’t have to throw them away.

• To get most of the juice from your lemon – roll it hard up and down on the worktop or put it in the microwave on high for 10 seconds
• A slightly-squeezed lemon can be rejuvenated by placing it in just-boiled water for a few minutes
• Freeze leftover lemon juice in ice cube trays to use when a recipes calls for a squeeze of lemon
• Grate the zest and freeze for a later date
• Freeze slices of lemon – perfect to add to drinks on a hot day or for a party

It’s time to spread the love on Valentine’s day. Not just for your sweetheart, but for the environment and your pocket too.

Think about a traditional Valentine’s present… maybe a card, box of chocolates, bouquet of flowers and pretty gift-wrapped item. Now think about how much of that gets throw away within minutes of you giving it to your loved one – the envelope, cellophane wrapping, chocolate box, chocolate wrappers, ribbon, wrapping paper – the list could go on! Then in a week, the uneaten chocolates and the dead flowers will also be thrown away.

It doesn’t have to be that way, you can spend your money on a gift that keeps going and doesn’t involve most of your money going in the bin. Here are a few ideas for alternative celebrations that will still say how much you care.

A different card

• Use the alphabet magnets on the fridge to say your valentine’s message
• Get a personalised card with pictures on that can be framed as a permanent reminder for you both
• Choose a postcard (you could give a holiday for a present)
• Send a e-valentine’s day card, text or email
• If you’ve found the perfect card, make sure it gets recycled if it ever becomes unwanted

It doesn’t have to be flowers

• Buy a house plant instead, they’ll stay alive for ages and are a great reminder of you over and over again.
• Don’t just buy strawberries, buy strawberry plants – so in the summer you can have lots and lots of fresh strawberries whenever you want. If you don’t like strawberries, choose a different fruit plant or buy vegetables instead.
• If you do want to buy flowers, ask for them to be wrapped in paper which can be recycled. Then, when the flowers die, put them in your compost bin.
• Buy a recycled vase for your flowers, there’s lots of them out there, so browse a search engine for a unique gift.

Super chocolate

• Why buy a box of chocolate when you can buy big bars of chocolate and get more weight of chocolate for your money? And less to throw away afterwards, too.
• Use up any leftover chocolate (if there is such a thing) to make chocolate brownies.
• There might be a box of chocolates out there which is completely recyclable. If you find one, make sure it is put in the recycling bin.

Gifts from the heart

• Spend the day together
• Give an experience voucher – a spa day or driving experience to look forward to can really brighten up your day
• Buy your loved one a membership to something they love (membership to DVD rentals) or a course that they want to go on (i.e. sewing course)
• Adopt an animal – horses, tigers, polar bears can all be adopted without having to be kept at home
• Buy some pre-loved jewellery – second hand jewellery can have a lot of character and charm and be in great condition. You can buy it from specialist stores or charity shops and spend hours guessing the story behind the item.
• Pledge to do something special or everyday to give your Valentine a break – vacuum the house once a week, clean the bathroom or mow the lawn
• Repair or fix any items that your other half loves – you could replace their watch battery, or get a new heel or sole put on those comfortable shoes they always wear

And finally if you’re staying in for Valentine’s Day

• Rent or borrow a DVD instead of buying one
• Borrow some board games using Ecomodo
• If you are making a meal, visit Love Food Hate Waste recipes for some ideas using up items you already have in the house
• If you have any leftover wine, pour into ice cube trays freeze, to be used later when making stews and sauces
• Recycle any empty wine bottles

Let there be Love this Valentine’s Day – over and over and over again…

Can you imagine what £800 million looks like? I bet you never thought it would look like a mountain of milk, cheese, yoghurt, cream, or butter. Yes, we throw away that amount of dairy products! “Why?” I can hear you cry. The answer is that most of it is thrown away because we don’t use it before it turns into a green smelly thing in the fridge or cupboard!

It’s easy to love our dairy products a little bit more. Here’s our easy to follow guide to help your dairy products last longer and get used in lovely recipes, instead of finding a new home in your bin.

Step 1

Dairy products love the fridge and the freezer. First of all make sure that your fridge thermostat is set below 5°c and that your freezer thermostat is below -18°c. This can make a difference to how long your food can last.

Step 2

Get your portions sorted out. You’d be surprised at how little cheese is actually in a portion!

Step 3

Wrap it up well in the fridge. High fat foods including cheese, cream and blocks of margarine will dry out if they’re not tightly wrapped. This is why the corners of your cheese go hard and change colour if the cling film isn’t covering the whole block. Store your cheese, margarine or cheese in an airtight container – you don’t have to buy one, use an old margarine tub or takeaway container.

Step 4

Freeze it. Dairy products may seem like a strange thing to freeze, but some of them freeze quickly and easily.

Step 5

Whip up a tasty treat. Or follow the recipes below to create a lovely meal using up whatever is left in the fridge.