Leftovers…Stops wasting them…

Did you know that in the U.K we throw away over 7 million tonnes of food from our homes each year… yes, that’s right, 7 million tonnes… the equivalent of £12.5 billion pounds each year!

Food waste makes me very sad. You just have to think of all the energy that has gone into growing your food, picking your food, packaging your food (and in some cases processing your food), delivering your food to the retailer..all to just be thrown away once it has sat in your fridge or cupboard for too long.

The “Best Before” date means exactly that, best before! (take a look here to understand your labels)  Not throw away the second it turns 00.01 on said “Best Before” date. Sad, tired looking vegetables can be made into hearty, soul warming soups, left over foods can be transformed into new exciting meals. My dad used to call them “starters” and not “left overs”. They were a way for you to get creative with your cooking, eat something you never thought you could create!

The most perfect example of the wonders of “starters” was what I created on Monday night.

Take
1 left over beef stew
1 left over tomato sauce
1/4 stick chorizo
2 cloves garlic
1 pumpkin
Sprinkle some magic “starters” dust over them (hollow out said pumpkin, fill with the rest of the ingerdients and roast for 2 1/2 hours)

Voila!
Now that is what i call a fantastic way to use your “Starters”

Love Food Hate Waste is a wonderfully helpful website, please have a look here. It tells you great ways to reduce your food waste, save time and money. If we all did a little it would add up to a lot.