Thursday 9 February 2012

A tour of my kitchen!


Welcome to my kitchen!


I thought that as this week's subject for the Rubbish Diet Challenge was Food waste (and I'm meant to be a bit of an expert on the matter, giving out advice on Love Food Hate Waste etc. ) I would share with you some of my favourite tools in the kitchen which I believe help to reduce what food goes to waste.

So #1 comes in as: Food Bag Clips!

So many packets may claim to have resealing properties, but I inevitably don't open them properly, or have very little faith in the lasting stickiness of what is essentially a line of sellotape the company has so thoughtfully (hem hem) provided.
They come in lots of shapes and sizes. Some people use clothes pegs, some use bulldog clips, anything will do, as long as you squeeze as much air as possible out of the bag first, and make sure there's not another hole at the other end or something!
Especially useful for breadbags, because, let's face it, the twiddly little best before label does Nothing to reseal.


Food bag clips - all over my kitchen! I find them especially useful on big packets - eg. big bags of crisps and bread

Waste Reduction Tool #2 : Tupperware

Well, if we're going to buy stuff in packaging, we might as well make it reusable!
This week I challenged myself to avoid using clingfilm. So instead of wrapping my sausages to put in the freezer, I put them in an assortment of tupperwares instead.
One of my favourite kinds of tupperware has different sections for lunches etc. - yes, getting a little geeky but it is very useful!

Tupperware - lots of free items available in the form of packaging. I use it for everything!
 Waste Reduction Tool  #3 Mugs with lids!

Being an avid coffee drinker (mainly at work) I was delighted to get a mug with a lid this Christmas.

When we worked with Food Waste Families last year, several of them found that they would make tea or coffee in the morning out of habit, but never get round to drinking it all. They were shocked by how much they were throwing away down the sink and the simple addition of a thermos mug meant that one cuppa could travel with them in the car, to work, and still be a nice temperature to drink for elevensies!

Often we don't think of things like flat fizzy drinks or dregs of cold coffee being 'real' waste, but it all adds up!

My fave Christmas present was a KeepCup, which keeps my coffee hot for longer with a lid. Genius.
So, come on then, what are your favourite tools in the kitchen to avoid food waste??

Don't forget to check out how other families are doing this week with their Rubbish Diet Challenge.

Final weigh in for the week : 1 bag of plastic bottles for recycling, half a black bag of kitchen packaging, one carrier bag full of plastic films for recycling.

1 comment:

  1. I think your blog is great!
    I actually use wooden clothespins as bag clips. My washing machine is right off the kitchen, so it's easy to just grab one when I need it.

    I've also found that using a transparent glass container (a Pyrex bowl or a canning jar or an Anchor Hocking dish) for leftovers helps me to notice what I have in the fridge, and so I'm more likely to eat what I have.

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