During the confinement, in Spain food waste was reduced by 14% compared to the same dates in 2019, according to data from the Ministry of Agriculture.
Some of that trend may recede once we return to more normal daily rhythms, but the second quarter of 2020 has marked new habits in our lives, our homes, and our kitchens. We Spaniards have learned to make the most of our resources and take advantage of everything we have in the fridge, why would we leave aside the new good customs?
How to avoid food waste at home
Avoiding food waste does not mean that we should spend the day in the kitchen making recipes made with a thousand and one ingredients; It means that we must use our resources conscientiously .
There are four very simple steps that we can apply in our day to day to make the most of our food and to be able to enjoy all the quality, flavor and properties of fresh food , without any waste.
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- Think about the shopping list
If we dedicate a little time to make a realistic shopping list , instead of buying on impulse or inertia, we will be able to make better use of the food we buy.
Simple questions like, what am I missing in the fridge? What do I want to eat in the next few days? Will I have time to cook? When am I going to buy again? They make your shopping list more closely match your needs and the use that you are going to be able and want to give to the food you buy.
If you are going to have to eat at work every day this week, for example, it will be more useful for you to think of quick and easy recipes than to be able to take it to the office and buy accordingly . Perhaps this week is not the best time to buy a rib to cook at a low temperature and it would be better for you to ask the butcher for some hamburgers to cook back and forth, or a pork tenderloin that you can take in a sauce with a little rice. Buy and cook with a head! This post is sponsored by our partners Wigs
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- Cook in order of priorities
When we get home with the groceries, we all commit the sin of cooking what we most want first instead of thinking about what perishes first . If we have made the shopping list with our heads, we will have it even easier.
Taking advantage of fresh products such as meats, fruits and vegetables at their best will guarantee that we obtain all the nutrients and benefits of those fresh products.
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- Take advantage of everything we buy
You may have heard of the concept “use kitchen” before, and the term represents exactly what it sounds like: use every food item in the kitchen .
As we have said, it does not mean that we should spend the day cooking, just that we take into account what we have in the fridge, when each food expires or deteriorates and find ways to use all those foods avoiding waste .
Do you have half a pork tenderloin, two carrots, half a zucchini and a couple of leeks in the fridge but there are 4 of you to eat? Take advantage of what you have! Pull the spaghetti out of the pantry and think of creative ways to come up with a side, or find a recipe that has similar ingredients and adapt it to what you have in the fridge.
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- The final anti-waste trick: freeze!
And if you had bought food for 4 days and suddenly your plans for the week change, or Friday approaches and you know that during the weekend you will not be able to take advantage of all the purchases from the butcher shop: freeze on time !
Freezing in portions will allow you to thaw small portions when you need them and will get you out of more than one hurry; In addition, if you freeze on time and thaw correctly , you will preserve the nutrients and benefits of those fresh foods and extend their useful life. Imagine that instead of half a sirloin, two carrots and two leeks, you only have the carrots and the leeks… half a frozen sirloin would have come in handy. 😉
