Tina and Serena, who live in Grimsby, were selected to take part in regional challenge, to tackle their food waste. Read on to see how they've been getting on...
Week 1
The starter challenge was to keep a list of all the food the family throw away, how much of it, and why, day by day. This Food Waste Diary was to shape the cookery lesson and waste workshop with experts in future weeks, to get them focused.
You can have a go at doing this too - you might be surprised!
Week 2
Tina and Serena met with food waste advisors, and discussed what food was thrown away and why, during Week 1. One thing they noticed was that they were peeling lots of vegetables out of habit, which could have been washed and scrubbed instead. They were losing lots of edible food, and plenty of vitamins too. Any peelings could have been boiled to make soup or stock, or composted.
They also had several dairy items that had gone off. On closer inspection their fridge needed turning down by a few degrees, which might have kept them a little bit longer.
They also opened their goody bag, filled with useful tools to waste less. It included; their own fridge thermometer, a magnetic shopping list, a 'What's in the freezer?' whiteboard, and airtight storage boxes.
Talking about food waste and cutting out new recipes from magazines has already made them think carefully about the value of food. Tina said "It's certainly been interesting to see exactly what comes out of this household! I've not done proper cooking every night as I usually do, so it's less than usual. It still surprised me how much it actually is! I learnt that you can freeze fresh vegetables without cooking them first".
All the tips and advice can all be found on the Love Food Hate Waste website.
Week 3
Planning ahead is this week's theme.
By knowing what meals you are going to eat, and checking what needs using up regularly, less should go to waste. A weekly meal planner is available to download from the national campaign's website at www.lovefoodhatewaste.com under the "save time and money" tab.
Celebrity chef, Nigel Brown, came to visit and BBC Look North picked up on the exciting activities, and came along to film - so now Tina and Serena really are Superstars!
Nigel showed them how to make delicious sausage casserole, with herby dumplings, and banana cheesecake, with a ryvita crust, and elaborate spun sugar baskets - all from the stuff in their cupboards and fridge!
Tina said " It’s interesting how quickly my outlook on food has changed and I now try a lot harder to use up what’s in the fridge before it goes off, even compared to just a week or two ago.
On Sunday I cooked a full English breakfast and had a couple of bits of bacon sausages and tomato left over. In the evening we got a bit peckish, so I made a sauce from the leftovers to have with pasta. There was also enough left to bring to work for a tasty lunch"
Keep up the hard work ladies!
Week 4 etc ... to come!
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