Helping to prevent food waste one recipe at a time.
Happy New Year! May I take this opportunity to wish all of my readers and fellow bloggers all the best for 2017. May it be the best year yet for you all!
Now that the Christmas decorations have all been cleared, and the fridge looks remarkably empty after a fortnight of festivities, it’s time to see what we can make with all those leftovers.
The No Waste Food Challenge is a monthly challenge created to encourage us to use up our leftovers, those last bits and bobs in the back of the cupboard and the last few spoonfuls of jars from the fridge or cupboard instead of throwing them in the bin. The challenge was originally created by Kate over at Turquoise Lemons back in 2012, but in January 2014 I took over running it when Kate took a step back from blogging. So this January, the No Waste Food Challenge has turned five years old!
I never cease to be amazed with the creativity of the entries the challenge receives every month, and this year, with new beginnings and all, I want to raise things up a notch. I want the No Waste Food Challenge to remain a great place for bloggers to link up and share their recipes, but I also want it to become more of a community orientated platform for sharing ideas. I want YOU, my dear readers, to share your recipes, photos and food waste prevention tips! To find out more (and to be in for a chance at winning a £25 Amazon voucher!) read through these fantastic recipes for jazzing up your Christmas leftovers and find out how to share your ideas at the bottom of this post.
Still got leftover cheese from your Christmas cheeseboard? Grate it and use it to top these refried lentils with garlic scapes for nachos! This recipe was created by Joanna from Green Gourmet Giraffe in Australia to use up the leftovers from taco night earlier on in the week. Refried lentils make for a nice change from kidney or black beans too. Very creative!
Is there half a red cabbage languishing in the back of your fridge after the other half was made into a delicious braised red cabbage side dish for Christmas? Shaheen at Allotment 2 Kitchen used up her leftover cabbage with this Very Easy Red Cabbage Pesto. Look at the colour of that! It’s one for the garlic lovers, Shaheen says, or you could saute a bit before using it in another dish. She used hers in a pasta salad. Incidentally, leftover braised red cabbage freezes really well.
Leftover dried fruit, sherry and bread after the holidays? Camilla over at Fab Food 4 All whips up this Wholemeal Bread & Butter Pudding to impress her family. Made with dairy free spread and milk instead of butter and cream, this pudding offers you a healthier start to your New Year dessert table.
Are your Christmas pistachios going a bit soft (did you forget you bought a bag for that one recipe and the rest is lying neglected in the back of the cupboard?). Shaheen got creative with hers with this Any Green Vegetable Gratin packed full of all sorts of veggie goodness! You could even throw in some of those leftover Brussels sprouts!
Leftover turkey? Sick of turkey sandwiches? Kate the Gluten Free Alchemist comes to the rescue with her delicious Chicken, Squash and Gruyere Quiche. Ok, this version is made with leftover Sunday lunch roast chicken, but the same principle applies – leftovers make awesome quiches. Why not make one and take it with you for a winter picnic lunch this New Year? Climb a few hills, kick start those New Year fitness resolutions – with quiche!
These Mincemeat Swirls with a Brandy Glaze from the BakingQueen74 is a great way to use up a half a jar of luxury mincemeat. Pop these swirls with their scone dough into the slow cooker, and return later to the house smelling amazing and your bake all ready to be eaten! What can be better than that?
Do you still have a jar of mincemeat in the cupboard? You had best intentions of making mince pies before Christmas, but never found the time? Kat over at The Baking Explorer used her jar of mincemeat to make a rather delicious yeasted Mincemeat Plait. Why not give it a go? She also used some bread flour and fast action yeast that were going out of date.
Leftover cake? Little Miss GF (Kate, the Gluten Free Alchemist’s daughter), got creative with their leftover chocolate cake and some sparkly sweeties and made the cutest little Snowman Cakes! Aren’t they adorable? I love reading about children who have a passion for baking, and what better way to upcycle some leftover cake than to coat it in frosting, turn it into snowmans and cover them in sweeties and glitter!
Use up the last bits and bobs from your cheeseboard with this Cheeseboard & Chutney Quiche from Kavey Eats. I love a good cheeseboard as much as the next person, but admittedly, it can get a bit same-old by the end of the festives, so this is a great way to jazz the leftovers up a bit.
Still have a few clementines lurking in the fruit bowl? Why not try this Clementine and Harissa Braised Beef Stew from Ema at De Tout Coeur Limosin in France. A winter warmer of a dish, perfect for these cold January evenings. A little jar of home made harissa appeared in my last veg box of the year, so I will definitely be trying this recipe out soon.
To quote Helen from Roast Chicken and a Country Walk, “It’s a cliche but we all need a recipe like this at this time of the year. Something easy, something healthy, something to bring new life and a new sensation to the tastebuds before we pack up the rest of the turkey and stick it in the freezer.” Helen’s Lemony Leftover Turkey Pitas are just the thing we need.
Bought too many cranberries this season? Choclette over at Tin & Thyme suggests freezing them in a single layer before transferring them into a freezer bag for use later. Then, you can take out as many as you need to make your own Cranberry Sauce, to add colour and flavour to smoothies and drinks or add to a cake or even pancakes! She’s got plenty of other tips on how to make the most of your Christmas leftovers. Pop over for a visit!
Have you cooked too many black beluga lentils? It happens! Shaheen over at Allotment 2 Kitchen salvages hers with a Black Beluga Lentil Salad with Avocado. The perfect combination of healthy and delicious. Hand’s up, who else has never heard of black beluga lentils until now? Puy lentils will work too.
Jane over at Onions & Paper says, “It’s a funny old time of year, isn’t it? The fridge fills up with all kinds of leftovers, you think you have enough food for a month and then all of a sudden it’s practically empty and you’ve not bothered to go shopping – and there’s nothing for lunch. Time for a fridge dive to see what you can put together out of the remaining odds and ends.” Jane dove into her fridge and this Butternut Squash Soup with Cheese Puffs is what she created with what she could find. Perfection!
Still working your way through that leftover turkey? Margot at Coffee & Vanilla jazzes hers up by making Leftover Turkey & Leek Calzones. You could even thrown in some leftover Christmas herbs too. Margot says any cooked meat would work well in this recipe.
Last but not least, this Parmigiano Reggiano Chicken (or Turkey) Filo Pie from Foodie Quine is the perfect way to use up leftover festive turkey. You could easily add in some ham, cranberry sauce or even leftover sprouts too! At this time of year we like easy recipes like this!
JOIN US WITH THE NO WASTE FOOD CHALLENGE
I challenge you, dear reader, to share your own recipes and tips to help prevent food waste! You don’t have to have a blog to enter, simply let me know your recipe or tip in the comments below and fill out the Rafflecopter form. You can share an image of your dish, if you like, on Twitter or Instagram as an extra entry option. Tag me @tangoraindrop and use the hashtag #nowastefoodchallenge to help spread the word! I will include a selection of my favourites in next month’s round up, where we’ll get to do the challenge all over again! Bloggers – link up with the linky tool as usual to be included in the round up – click here for the full No Waste Food Challenge rules. If you want to enter the giveaway, leave a comment about your recipe and enter via the Rafflecopter form.
HOW TO ENTER
For your chance to win a £25 Amazon Gift Voucher enter using the Rafflecopter form below. Share your recipe or food waste prevention tip in the blog comments. Come back and tweet about the giveaway every day for more chances to win!
TERMS & CONDITIONS
This giveaway is open to UK entries only. Entrants must be age 18 or over. The winner will need to respond within 30 days of being contacted; failure to do this may result in another winner being selected.
The prizes are offered and provided by Elizabeth’s Kitchen Diary. The prize is to win a £25 Amazon Gift Voucher. There is no cash alternative and the prize is not transferable.
There is no entry fee and no purchase is necessary to enter this giveaway.
The promoter (Elizabeth’s Kitchen Diary) reserves the right to cancel or amend the giveaway and these terms and conditions without notice.
Entry into our giveaways will be deemed as acceptance of these terms and conditions.
If you need some help using Rafflecopter, here’s a quick clip to show you how. Rafflecopter will pick the winner at random from all the entries received. I will be verifying entries. Any automated entries or those who have claimed they have made the mandatory blog post comment and really haven’t will be disqualified. It’s mandatory! Please make sure your comment is eight words or longer or Google views it as spam and this negatively affects my spam score. All entries with comments fewer than the mandatory 8 words will be disqualified and deleted.
Closing date is midnight (that’s 00:00 hours, 12 am on Sunday night/Monday morning) on Monday 30 January 2017 (GMT). The winner will be announced shortly afterwards.
Chewy Trail Mix Oatmeal Cookies
Plan meals around the order of food expiring first
If I make to much food instead of wasting I pop it in a plastic container and freeze for another mealtime .
Don’t take best before dates as gospel, use your senses to know if food has gone off. Use by dates are another matter!
I plan meals for the week ahead and order my groceries online, that way I just buy what we need rather than buying a lot more than I need if I actually go into the shop. I tend to come home with loads more items than we need especially cakes, biscuits and sweets. So by doing an online shop, I save money and have less waste.
I always plan my meals for the week and only buy what I need
Check out the reduced aisle in supermarkets and make a meal out of what you have in your fridge.
Use the freezer, it is so handy to fill it with items nearing their expiry date, and for meals you’ve prepped.
I make sure I plan my meals for the week and shop accordingly.
Make a stew or soap just throw everything into a slow cooker easy!
Chop salad and keep in a bowl the day you buy it so it’s always ready to add to meals. You’ll make sure you use it up.
Freeze food rather than let it go bad in the fridge, prep it up and you have it ready for when you need it! x
buy reduced price veg, cook and freeze or make into soup. can be priced at 5p and 10p so very cheap.
I always freeze excess meals and also make a lobby with leftovers each week. xx
I freeze leftover fresh herbs from bags and drop them in stews,casseroles etc no need for defrosting
Try to freeze any leftovers, then you have a meal for another day
Keep your peelings & cut off veggies & add to a cliplock bag you keep in the freezer. When you have enough, make up deliciou fresh veggie stock!! Then start again
Always a curry……
Make bread and butter pudding from bread that is past it’s best. You can make it savoury by using cheese, bacon etc
get a good blender and rather than throw veg and fruit away turn it soup or a smoothie
Shop when you’ve eaten, it’s amazing how a little hunger pushes up the food bill!
I love to make a soup with the leftovers and bones of a roast chicken.
Only buy what you need
I keep spare space in my freezer so I can pop what I won’t use in time in there. Other than that, I find the Love Food, Hate Waste really useful – I can pop in the ingredients I have and it comes up with recipe suggestions.
Meal plan and check your fridge contents before you shop. This way it saves you duplicating on ingredients x
our leftovers are given to the dog saving money all the time and the dog has a healthier diet
use leftovers well and plan another meal with them or freeze for future uses
Soups x
M tip is to buy a bigger roast than needed. You can then use the remainder for sandwiches throughout the week and make a lovely beef stir fry as well. For the extra 1-2 pound spent buying a bigger joint you get a lot out of it
I freeze extra veg and fruit and leftovers.
Making sandwiches and freezing stuff.
Turkey & potato cakes with any leftover veg included dipped in cranberry sauce & pugs in blankets sausage rolls
You can turn anything into a chili my kids love that, not that theres many leftovers
soups 🙂
I freeze as much as I can when it looks like we’re not going to eat it before it goes bad.
Planning for what you need to use is the best tip I was given. Between that and the dog, food waste is pretty low in this house!
I make soups and smoothie out if left over food
I always keeps the leftovers from Sunday dinner. I put them in a bowl and make patties and do bubble and squeak with them . My children have loved this ever since they were young.
Use left over meats for sandwiches or muse them in a curry or pie
Freeze leftovers immediately unless you know you’re going to eat them the next day
we have a dog, no food ever goes to waste with him around
Use leftovers in sandwiches but best is to cook just what you need at the time.
We usually do a stew in the slow cooker with any bits of veg and meat that need eating!
we very rairly have waste , so i cant give a tip as we dont need to
You must be doing something very right then – tell us what you do so that you don’t have any food waste. Share the knowledge! 🙂 Congratulations on being randomly selected by Rafflecopter as the winner of the £25 Amazon gift voucher!
Chicken pie or bubble and squeak out of left over veg
Dice up vegetables with short shelf lives and freeze which can then be used to do roast veg or to make soups.
I love to make bubble and squeak with the leftover veggies
Tupperware is essential! Leftovers & bolognese made of lots of different veg is a common dinner in our house!
Never buy ; bogof of three for the price of two. The expense of storage in your freezer and probably forgetting it’s there.
Freeze foods separately so left over Bolognese you should freeze the meat sauce and pasta separately and left over grated cheese then you can use for more variety of meals x
Bubble and squeak or a nice stew or soup
I like to use almost all of our leftovers in a soup, there’s not much that I can’t add to a soup.
We always try to ensure we don’t serve too large portions of food so there is so much food on the plate that you can’t eat it! We also try to re-use as many left-overs as possible, for example left over veggies from a Sunday lunch, can be reused to make a delicious Bubble + Squeak.
curry with our leftovers.
I like to buy a chicken, roast it and have a roast dinner, then will have leftover chicken wraps for the next day lunch and make a curry with the rest and that will do next day dinner then lunch with a baked potato on the next so 3 days worth of meals
I try to buy fresh food daily so I don’t have much waste.
Leftover vegetables areused to make soup.
Any food left on my plate gets eaten by the cats. If I am not quick enough some of it may get stolen before I have finished
I like to plan ahead. I buy a gammon joint, cook it in the pressure cooker, then we eat it for a few days on sandwiches, in alfredo, quiche, wraps, with BBQ sauce in a jacket potato.
its always bubble and squeak after a roast. fry up all the left overs with a poached egg on top
Old bread can be used to make breadcrumbs for batter
We make a big curry with our leftovers.
When it comes to a sunday roast we keep the left over turkey/chicken for sandwiches for work or just for lunch
I plan what I am going to cook for the week ahead. That way I don’t buy unnecessary food when I go shopping. Also any leftovers we either have for lunch the next day or freeze hardly any waste that way x
i do a big curry with the turkey and we have to for days afterwards, it tastes so good and nothing goes to waste
We always put it in a clipsafe tub and put it in the fridge for the next day
don’t peel potatoes, buy big potatoes. Slice the skin off thickly. Mash on day 1, potato skins day 2, no waste.
Leftover food for the following day
i batch cook and meal plan, this helps prevent any food waste
I always freeze left overs (well what can be frozen) or have it for lunch the next day, meal planning helps a lot also!
Avoid tempting offers at the supermarket to buy extra food which often goes to waste – just buy what you need.
i organise my shopping on meals and plan what we need rather than buying food for the sake of deals.
Always eat up leftovers for lunch the next day, failing that, pop them in the freezer!
Plan in advance and meal plan, also only buy what you need.
Always a fan of christmas leftovers – and great creative ideas here. But nothing beats a turkey sandwich for me – with leftover cranberry sauce and stuffing 🙂
My tip for preventing food waste is not to hold too much store by the dates – a far better indicator is to see how it looks and smells! Also to make use of the freezer – it’s amazing what freezes, and of course you can then keep things for ages.
We never have wasted food as the birds get any left overs. I freeze everything so don’t get much waste. Any left over Sunday dinner goes to make a bubble and squeak the next day.
I have a few tips and they are Keep and actually eat and re-use leftovers. I treat best before and use by dates as guidelines…smell it instead. I compost as well. I also freeze things like herbs, cheese etc and use as and when instad of buying and throwing out.
Plan all your meals for the week ahead and use expensive ingredients in more than one meal to ensure they are not wasted.
I freeze even the smallest leftovers until I have enough to mix together and fry on both sides until crispy
I work out the weeks menu and shop just for what we need
Be creative!If a recipe asks for chicken, you can easily swap it for leftover turkey. I make a lovely turkey risotto between Christmas and New year.
My tip is to meal plan, then hopefully you won’t have any leftovers so not wasting anything – or if you do end up with extra, make soups with any odss and ends you have in your fridge
I don’t have many left overs, but when I do, I turn it into a pie or curry, or I will add other things to them and make a meal ot of it
To reduce waste buy smaller amounts of food and left overs can be made in o various meals, such as Bubble and squeak one of our families favourites.
The best way to reduce waste is not buying too much in the first place. Plan your week’s meals, make a list & think carefully about which pack size suits your needs, especially on perishable goods.
love good old fashioned bubble and squeak, using leftover potatoes and cabbage or greens from sunday dinner, makes a nice monday dinner with a gammon steak and poached egg
My food waste tip is only buy what you need fresh food wise
Leftovers from an evening meal eg lasagne makes a lunch for my hubby the next day. We keep a close eye on ‘use by’ dates and think well ahead what we will eat on what date. Leftovers from our Boxing Day buffet are wrapped well, put in the fridge and we have them for lunch or tea for the next couple of days
we like to make a throw together dinner which will consist of any sad looking veg and eggs, potatoes plus cheese it looks different every time but always tastes amazing and is a one pan quick meal which we add a couple of slices of bread that are normally hanging around in the cupboard
I like to muse leftover veggies, mash etc and make little patties out of them, fry them off then top with a poached egg
Use overripe bananas to make banana bread
Make sure you can use every bit of the fruit and veg possble
I tend to make a stir fry to use up all the leftover veggies and meats from the week
Make a shopping list for all the meals you need for the week, then buy what you need according to the list. Don’t buy extras and you won’t have waste.
I’m a very snacky sort of person and don’t mind a lot of foods cold (it’d disgust other people!) I often put any leftover dinner I don’t eat in the fridge and then eat it the next day as lunch or a snack.
Don’t just throw unused vegetables – saute them, curry them, make some soup or bubble and squeak.
Any out of date or over ripe apples, simply cut up and freeze to use in pies, crumbles etc
My food waste prevention tip is – NEVER be tempted by supermarket BOGOF offers!! You always end up throwing food away so in effect your not saving in the first place! Half price offers are MUCH better 😉
I keep all the last few bits of veg and throw them in a stir-fry
I usually use it to make a chunky soup or a casserole
Plan, plan, plan, meal planning to reduce waste it has been a revelation for me.
If vegetables are slightly past their best I make them into soups and stews x
I freeze absolutely everything! I even make frozen gravy and stock cubes ready for the next meal when we have leftovers.
I’m a firm believer in zero food waste and hardly ever have to throw food away. My top tip is to make your freezer your best friend. Whether it is freezing leftover portions of meals or freezing anything and everything else – there is no need to waste food. I manage to freeze any berries if they don’t get eaten, grapes, egg whites, cooked apple, blanched green beans if i get a surplus from what i grow in the garden. Bread gets frozen. Grated cheese is brilliant to freeze. So really no need for waste!
I save food waste by meal planning! This means I only buy what I need 😀
I buy what I need and I use everything. I rarely waste food because it’s something I hate doing.
make a note of the best before dates on foods at home and plan meals around the products
I avoid waste at the moment by cooking food that I know they will eat all of, I try not to experiment to much but will always let them try something if they ask.
In my house we leave it in the kitchen for a few hours and usually one of us will get peckish and eat! But if that doesn’t happen we freeze leftovers for lazy/busy days!
meal plan! and only buy food that are part of your plan.
i freeze my left over turkey , and use it up for sandwiches and roasts throut the first 3 months of the year
My tip is to plan the meals you are going to make for the week, and only shop for that…also, for example, right now I have kale and spinach left in my fridge and am eating at my boyfriends tonight, I have told him what I have spare and we are making a meal that uses up what I have left…I hate waste!
I meal plan and then use any leftovers up for my lunch.
Batch vook eith seasonal produce is the perfect solution composte peelings so you can grow all your own veggies too
I bulk cook on a sunday and portion it up and stick it in the freezer for easy week day meal prep! Nothing is ever wasted!
We always find ways to make use of our leftovers, whether it’s in soups,or as lunches for the next day.
MEASURE BETTER AND PREVENT LEFTOVERS
I hate food waste and always make something new with my leftovers, i make good old fashioned rissoles with left over meat from my Sunday roast. Most leftovers i make into a pasta bake or add to gnocchi in a cheese sauce.
Use dry bread for breadcrumbs and freeze. Cut up unwanted lemons and freeze slices for drinks
I commented a few days ago but I’ve also added a recipe to the linky now
I like to make a lovely bubble squeak with leftovers from Sunday lunch 🙂 thanks for the giveaway!
We plan absolutely everything we’re going to eat for that week so we have no food left over at all, ever! We’ll buy a specific number of carrots etc (rather than just a bag) as we plan how many meals we’ll need carrots for and how much we’ll use per meal. We also freeze any meat that’s about to go out of date so that it doesn’t need chucking and we can use it at a later date.
If their is any left over veg, then they all get put in the blender and some stock and made into a soup
I keep my chicken carcass after a roast, boil it and add vegetables to the stock to make a healthy soup.
My husband tends to take leftovers in for his lunch the next day. And I’ve found that some leftovers, like meat and veg can work really well as part of a stew, curry, or stir fry the next day.
I usually just pop left over meat etc in a sarnie, never tried a casserole sandwich yet but theres a first time for everything!
We keep a note pad in the kitchen and each time we waste or throw away something we write it down. It helps us see what we perhaps buy to much of and can make sure we don’t buy so much of next time we are shopping. xx
I’ve just started experimenting with soup making. A great way to use up any leftovers.
I’ve just started experimenting with soup making. A great way to use up the leftovers.
Use leftover boiled potatoes in the following nights curry!
Some great ideas here. My tip for saving food waste is to have a Household Control File. My has plastic sleeves and my routines for the day which I tick off with a dry-wipe pen. I have a space for ‘What’s for dinner’ and ‘what’s for tea’ Every morning I look in the fridge and freezer for what I have, then I write down the menu accordingly. I also have some use-up recipes in the same folder for quick access, and I plan my meals loosely the day before I go shopping.
I save money in the home too be making my own disinfectant and cleaning sprays, from things such as ordinary vinegar, bicarb and tea tree oil. It costs just pennies and they work extremely well for me
We either use any left over food for lunch or dinner the next day or freeze it.
I find that almost anything goes well in a sandwich or a toastie!
Always put leftovers in the fridge and date mark them. The easiest tip I can give is to use leftover veg, cheese, scraps of meat, etc in a omelette or as they are called now a frittata. Add chilli flakes and herbs and you have an authentic meal
We waste very little, making quiches, stir frys and soups really helps use up small quantities of veg and avoid throwaways
I try to plan meals but always leave one evening a week to use up whatever I have left in the fridge – it’s great fun coming up with something each week!
I grow my own vegetables and fruit and make jam with the blackcurrants, raspberries, gooseberries and red currants that I grow and chutney from the apples and green tomatoes. You don’t need a huge garden for growing a few vegetables and you can grow lovely herbs on your kitchen windowsill and potatoes and lettuces in pots outside the back door. When you next buy a small pot of growing herbs from the supermarket, take half of them and plant them into a large pot or into the garden and you will be amazed at how well they will grow and you will never need to buy any again.
i love to make soup with veggi leftovers, i tend to mix and match though and just throw it all together and see what it turns out to be 😛
make your freezer your friend, I cook from scratch and often have food left over so freeze whats left and have it in a week or two for dinner or for lunch
I make salads and smoothies with fruits and veggies that remain after cooking certain meals, so they don’t get old and thrown away.
Plan meals, use grocery lists, and avoid impulse buys. This all usually works for us 🙂
Never cook or shop when you’re hungry, you’ll always buy or cook with your stomach which equals waste!
@lifeappears on twitter
Utilise your freezer and make a big pot of food, eat what you want the portion up what’s left and freeze for another day. Most fresh vegetables can be frozen, just prepare as usual, freeze and cook from frozen.
my tip for no food waste is this,make small amount of food and if still hungry later make a snack afterwards.if we do sunday lunches or with lots of veg ect a great fry up for another meal is always nice
I love leftovers, especially Christmas dinner leftovers. We had Christmas away from home this year, so a few days after I cooked a whole Christmas dinner from scratch just so we could have the leftovers. It was awesome and fed us in many different ways for about three or four days.
If you have any leftover potatoes and/or veg, don’t throw it out. Once cool, cover and store in the fridge until the next day, when you can put it all together with some seasoning and make tasty “bubble and squeak”, or something similar depending on the ingredients.
Having a pooch there’s very little to no food waste in our house. What leftovers can’t be stuck away in the fridge/freezer for the next couple of days or taken in to work soon get gobbled up 😉
We have a family tradition where we fry up the left over veg and potatoes and have it with cold meat, pickles, crusty bread and coleslaw for Boxing Day lunch and dinner.
I try to buy what I will use, the bits that dont get eaten, I freeze for another day.
My waste prevention tip is to meal plan for a week and shop with a shopping list. That way we only buy what is needed.
YES I’m Drooling over this sandwich right now! That bread looks like the killer leftover sandwich bread too!
I try not to waste food; if I cook too much then I tend to refrigerate or freeze the extra for another day.
Great ideas for leftovers…I was always big with soup but now you’ve given me a lot more options!
I love the creativity, thanks for sharing!
i love to make stews with my leftovers they are always so tasty
That leek and turkey calzone has my name (and teeth marks) all over it. 🙂 Loving all the delicious leftover ideas!
I always check cupboards for staples then meal plan to save wastage x
make extra and have for lunch the next day
We always meal plan to make sure we use up all the ingredients we buy each week.
SAdly I can’t go in your draw but I really love this post and your entertaining writing – I still haven’t quite got the fridge under control but it is almost there after christmas – but now we are coping with hot weather which takes away the appetite and means I can’t be bothered putting on the oven – the weather is finally cooling tonight so there will be leftover meals soon!
Plan meals for the week.
Leftovers either get taken by my husband to work for his lunch or we freeze them. Hate to waste food here but we are not very adventurous with meals x
I’d put meat and vegetable leftovers with an onion in a pan, enough stock to cover it, cook for a bit add s&p, thicken with cornflour. This can be the base for lots of sauces including curry
plan your meals in advance means less wastage
These are some great ideas for ALL leftovers! I’m loving that sandwich. It’s big, thick, and the bread looks wonderful. I bet it tasted great. 🙂
The meals all look really healthy. My tip is to freeze food the day you buy it, then it won’t be left in the fridge and thrown away because its out of date, it works for me!
Don’t shop on an empty stomach and ignore 2 for one offers!
I hate when we waste food. This is great, so many great ideas on using up all our leftovers. I’ll bookmark this for later as a reference.
if you buy frozen vegetables you can use them when needed and hopefully will be next waste
I meant less waste! 🙂
Such an admirable project. I’m an unofficial member of the food waste police–at least if you ask my kids. Thanks for all of these great ideas for using up holiday leftovers. I still have some cheeses and love that chutney cheese quiche idea for one.
There are some great options here. When I was a kid I hated leftovers. Now I LOVE them…and go out of my way to make sure there actually are leftovers.
Do a list to plan your meals and stick to
What great ideas! We always have a ton of leftovers! Now I know what to do with them!
Use up leftover or extra veg in soup – I throw in anything with a tin of tomatoes and some herbs.
I love reusing potatoes with leftover cheese to make potato cakes. They are versatile and other leftovers can be used, ham, chicken or veg added too.
work out menus and only cook whats needed if any left freeze
I’m bookmarking this for next year but most of the recipes could easily be also used to use up any leftover cooked meats. Thanks for sharing.
What a bunch of great ideas! I love the red cabbage pesto. WE made most of our turkey, with turkey curry night and turkey broth made from the bones 🙂
Great tips and ideas! I rarely every have leftovers in my home. My family eats A LOT!
Freezing! Batch make and freeze meals ahead of time and freeze leftovers/food you might not use before it goes off.
I try to plan meals a week in advance and shop according to the meal plan.
I also often cook bigger portions on purpose and freeze half.
I make chilli to use up leftover peppers and onions!
This is comfort food to the max!!! I used my leftover stuffing and served it with leftover gravy and cranberry sauce. The cheese was good in it, but I don’t think it needs it. Everyone loved it!!
I use veg for my sons baby food
My waste prevention tip is to have invest in a deep freezer, and batch cook then freeze meals. It saves things going off and it allows you to save money because at least 1 week of the month I do no food shopping and just use food that I have in the freezer for meals.
I only cook what is going to be eaten.
I always get a bigger roast on a Sunday and make it into a pie on a Monday and a fried rice on a Tuesday. Saves time, energy and waste.
i always freeze leftovers and batch cook to prevent waste
Don’t be oiled into buying these offers in supermarket for buy two get one free as your buying more than you need and its normally thrown out. try freezing left overs or if you have loads left over from Sunday roast make a bubble and squeak the next day. Any wasted food in my house gets given to the birds anywhey
We freeze a lot of stuff. Always leftover fruit so we chop and freeze to add to smoothies or home-made ice cream.
For me, the freezer is my ally, it’s just my boyfriend and I at home so I leave some fresh veg out but freeze a lot, like chopped carrots, chopped onions and halved onions for when I’m roasting chicken, roasted red peppers, lemon wedges, spring onions…any ingredient that I know I want to have handy for any dish.
I forgot to add that to me, leftover meat can easily go into a rice salad or a tomato sauce and have it with pasta and any veg can be turned into a veggie Spanish tortilla. My mom used to make Spanish tortilla out of leftover pasta, I didn’t like it myself because for me that pasta was lacking parmesan cheese! Hahaha! I’m one of those that I likes to have some pasta added to my Parmesan cheese 🙂
Food waste prevention tip would be to be careful when doing the shopping – always do it on a full stomach and plan meals ahead!
Having a weekly meal-plan to avoid too much food-waste
I make larger meals, and freeze A LOT. I also add oats to bulk up meals.
We grow much of our own veg so can pick just what we need in season and freeze in meal quantities any surplus for later in the year. A large, energy efficient chest freezer in the garage is a godsend 🙂
my tips are to do lots of batch cooking and freezing
I make a big pot of soup with any veg that is past it’s best.
Start by not buying too much. And if you can’t resist those special offers, then portion and freeze straightaway.
I always make really large dinners so then we have some left over for lunch. Means all the ingredients get used and perfect for my partner to take to work.
I love bubble and squeak for left over veggies
We’re trying to pre-plan our meals to stop us buying extra food, which we’re definitely guilty of. We’re also going to try sharing food items more (I’m vegetarian so went tend to make different meals).
I make food in large batches and then freeze them in batches to be defrosted later 🙂
I love leftover sandwiches with a lot of turkey, ideally some brie and stuffing! Great collection of recipes, I will definitely use some for next Christmas! 😉
I always freeze left over food, especially casseroles, soups and lasagna
keep chickens! any food waste we have goes straight into them!
I love leftovers – so there’s no waste in my house. Put any leftovers into a bowl and I will eat it for my tea the day after!
We freeze left over cooked meat and veg for use another day – or put in the fridge to use immediately the next day. Our best use of left overs was when we discovered that toasted sandwiches made with left over lasagne (and a little extra cheese) are delicious!
I google my leftovers to see what I can make with them, I’ve made bread and butter pud with stale bread or grated it up to make breadcrumbs to put in things like meatballs or pasta bakes
Make enough for lunch the next day so you have something yummy to take to work and save spending on pricey coffee shop lunches.
Great blog post so interesting to read
I have one of these health grills…it’s amazing how great leftovers taste when you have crispy griddle marks to enhance the flavour. I had a turkey and stuffing panini, and also put flat cakes of potato and brussels to make crispy bubbe and squeak…scrum!
I freeze left overs to have another day
I always try to cook in the knowledge there will be leftovers with a view to knowing what I’m going to do with them before I cook, I can then easily get anything else prepared or have it ready to freeze without it languishing in the fridge for days.
As it’s January I’m back on a health kick, so to make it easier I batch cook and freeze all my excess meals to prevent temptation. It can really help waste as well if your controlling portion sizes
My food waste prevention tip is to make a food plan for the week and when shopping only buy whats needed to stick to the list
Just about anything leftover can be turned into a delicious dish by covering it in cheese sauce, topping with more grated cheese and baking until piping hot and bubbling. I was going to say “except Christmas cake” and then I thought about how delicious fruit cake and cheese are together, and now I’m not so use it wouldn’t work!
We freeze them, I love smoothies, love using fruits and veggies for smoothies, I don’t waste anything! x
Our council has provided a food waste bin which has actually really focuses the mind when you see how much goes into it! Food waster has gone down since we got it I am sure!
I freeze left over meals and ingredients, saves a fortune in the long run!
I try to plan our meals so that if we have leftovers then we can use them for lunches the next day.
Always bulk food out with near dodgy looking veg and make plenty of soup and of course freeze freeze freeze. Ohh and buy a chest freezer.
I use the slow cooker and make dinner which lasts two days
Freezing leftovers rather than put them in the fridge, where they are forgotten about, helps to save a lot of food that would be otherwise wasted.
Always freeze leftover veg to use another day x
My tip for not having food waste is to fully utilise the freezer. My Mum made bubble & squeak which we loved as children. Bread & butter pudding to use up the staler bread. Nothing was wasted in our house then so I suppose I grew up just automatically wasting nothing.
I always remember that food that has passed its best before date hasn’t necessarily gone bad. If it smells fine as well as looks and tastes fine, then keep it.
I have an extra column on my calendar where I write the name of the food beside the date it goes off so I can use it before or on that date
If I find veg going soft, I chop them, cook them down together slowly and freeze them to use as a base for sauces or soups.
we make open-face sandwiches using bread that we spread with cranberry sauce, filled with brussels sprouts that have been chopped into quarters and tossed in a hot frying pan, topped with some left-over cheese. Pop them under the grill until the cheese melts. They are very tasty.
we have made bubble and squeak with out left over beg and we have also put a few bits in the freezer
I’m so excited by that Red Cabbage pesto, as I do have that half a red cabbage in the fridge! One of my top tips is to grate the ends of your cheese and keep the grated cheese in the freezer, then you can add just the right amount to the top of a pizza, or gratin dish.
The biggest one for me is to never cook or shop while hungry… it sounds funny but once that tummy starts grumbling portion sizes increase!
don’t over fill plates and freeze the left overs or with certain dishes it can be blended and turned into a soup
My tip is to plan meals in advance and then freeze any leftovers.
I like to make a nice bubble and squeak with my left over Christmas dinner. mash, cauliflower, roasts and brussels
If I’ve got anything left over in the fridge, I make an omlette with it. There are so many things you can use, mushrooms, tomatoes, peppers, cheese, ham, sweetcorn, even left over roast potatoes, veg or meat from the previous day’s dinner. It saves throwing anything away, it’s quick, easy and you can have a different omlette every time 🙂
Always plan your meals before shopping and, when home again, make sure that you put the shopping away with the product with the shortest use-by date at the front – e.g. with yoghurts, I put stand the short date ones on top of the ones with a longer date when I put them in the fridge. This ensures that the ones that will go out of date first are used first.
I am really careful what I buy and how much I cook but if there are leftovers I freeze and use up later in soups
my family love casseroles so i generally use any leftovers in that
Write a list before you go food shopping beccause then you aren’t buying things you’ve already got which normally results in waste.
After a roast dinner, we mash up the leftover veg and potatoes and have bubble & squeak the next day, really tasty and a great way to get more veg inside the kids 🙂
Only cook what you need – this reduces the leftovers and food waste
When I have left over vegetables, that needs to be used up, I make a Beef Stew. I can put a mixture of lots of different vegetables in it and it always tastes so nice!
I avoid food waste almost entirely by pretty much exclusively buying frozen veg. If I buy fresh I try to cook it and freeze the leftovers quickly.
whatever little food you have left like a little bit of cheese etc – freeze it and use to make soups
Always meal plan always make ingredient list don’t over cook or over estimate ingredients
smoothies are great for using any fruit and veg you have . they taste great too 🙂
we batch cook dishes and then freeze them, or just have the same thing over a few days. Also, planning meals helps me to only buy things I need, so reducing leftovers.
I always meal plan. Veg and leftovers gets frozen for when we need it. Bread gets whizzed into breadcrumbs and frozen to use later. My recipe this week was turkey pie using leftover turkey from Christmas dinner.
I check dates on everything, never buy more than I can eat and ignore sell by dates and look at the condition of food instead xx
We do turkey curry and with left over potatoes my husband frys with bacon and sausage for breakfast
I freeze as much as possible, so I now have the remains of pork, vegan yule ring and a yule log in the freezer. Leftover veggies are either made into a bubble and squeak or roasted and frozen to form the basis of soups, stews, pizza toppings or pasta sauces.
We like to save up the ends and bits of veg that can’t be eaten, freeze it and when we want to make stock we can 🙂
When i have veggies that are going over i make a lovely soup in my slow cooker, thnaks.x
I plan my meals for a week ahead and omly buy the ingrediants I need. This means i get the most out of my meals with leftovers from one meal being used in the next meal and it also means I only buy what i need meaning food does;y gwt thrown away and waisting
Whether meat, vegetables or pasta, I always cook too much, and freeze the remainder. There is a special drawer in my freezer full of cooked foods that I just need to add to dishes i’m currently preparing. Dishes such as curry, potato hash, and others can be made different each time depending on what is available. Anything we can’t use, I give to our bantam hen or place on the compost heap. Nothing is wasted!
Freeze the turkey etc. If you get fed up of it then it saves waste
I don’t have a large household, it’s just me and my partner so I am always sure to freeze everything I can.
Don’t be afraid to use things that need using up in dishes that you wouldn’t usually. Nothing too off the wall (i’ve done very off the wall – some were great, some not so much but no real disasters!) but peas in a macaroni cheese, carrots in a spag bol. That sort of thing!
I make coleslaw out of most fruit and veg I have lying around. Also a roast dinner meatloaf – whizz the leftover meat and veg and add breadcrumbs, spices and an egg and bake in the oven.
Plan in advance and do some meal prep. If you make a large batch of something, freeze portions for later 🙂
We very rarely have any leftovers but meat normally goes into sandwiches and vegetables are used for bubble and squeak.
I freeze my leftovers and microwave them when we haven’t got anything in for dinner x
I NEVER THROW AWAY THE BROCCOLI STALK OR CAULIFLOWER LEAVES AS THEY ARE GREAT IN SOUP AND ADD SOME STILTON AND BLITZ
I find pretty much all leftover can be revived by frying with new onion and maybe adding a new ingredient to it.
Plan meals and freeze leftovers if you can’t use next day. I usually make soup or bubble and squeak with leftover veg . Leftover meat usually ends up in a casserole.
I batch cook soups and pasta sauces in a soup maker, then freeze a couple of portions of each for quick meals to take to work over the following weeks. This is great for using up any leftover vegetables!
try to plan in advance if meat is left from the night before use it for sandwich or curry the next day or mix and match with other products making a stew for instance
i freeze small quantities, both cooked and uncooked food. this way you don’t waste. 🙂
I use leftovers to make soup
My tip would be planning in advance to avoid food waste, and buy what you need, not being tempted by other items!
Freeze any leftover portions and then use for work lunches etc
One of our favourites is to freeze leftover rice then when we have some chicken breast left we soften an onion and some garlic and red peppers before adding the chicken, smoked paprika, a squeeze of tomato paste, a little chicken stock and the frozen rice. Cook until all the liquid has gone and then steam with the lid on until dry.
Make use of your freezer. Freeze things while still fresh then it will last longer
Don’t be extravagant with your food buying. Just buy what you need.
We also do a weekly menu in our house detailing what means we are going to eat on which days. I make my shopping list & stick to my list when shopping. Our cupboards are always bare by the end of the week but we waste very little food & by buying only the things on our list, we save on impulse buys…
I’m not great at minimising waste but always try to batch cook to easily predict and calculate what we will need for meals.
Popping leftovers in quiche is always my favourite, but using them to make pasta sauces is equally yummy!
My sweet favourites are using up cakes in trifles, egg whites in meringues and bananas in banana freeze bites. I could go on and on……….. I HATE waste!! xx
Be open about putting food together – a meal doesn’t have to be meat and 2 veg. My daughter is happy to eat leftover meat with scrambled egg for instance 🙂
I make sure I only buy what I need and stick to meal plans so we don’t have any waste.
i like to cook bigger portions so i can freeze some or save leftovers for lunch for my little girl the next day. she is a human dustbin!!
Just work out portions so that you don’t cook too much.
only buy what you will use
make sure you only use what you need!
I meal plan for the week before I go shopping and I always check the fridge and cupboards to see what I already have so I don’t buy duplicate items and try and plan meals around what I already have
I really enjoyed all the tips and recipes for using up leftovers in this post. Thanks for including one of mine. I just made a fab curry sauce today with a load of carrots that were way past their best. I made a curry paste in my blender with onions, garlic, chilli, ginger and tomatoes, but added all of my rather squidgy carrots. They blended well and now I have a jar of fab curry paste.
I hope you had a good Christmas and I wish you a very Happy, Healthy and Fulfilling 2017.
Great roundup Elizabeth, I will have to try the stew with clementines and harissa I think!
Freeze food and use for another time, even if its a quick soup or a little dinner at work
Food wastage is hard to avoid when you have small children. The best way to avoid it is to avoid letting the kids snack too much between meals, and giving them their meals at a regular time each day. You’ll still have wastage, but hopefully less than you might have done.
The freezer is your friend – you can freeze a majority of leftovers to use another day
I love turkey, mushrooms, onions and gravy over chips
If there’s veg and meat left over we tend to put them all together to make either soup or stew depending on what there is.
I put things in date order in the fridge so that I go from the top of the fridge first.
I like to save leftovers and freeze them to preserve the nutrients and keep them for longer
So many great ideas, not only for Christmas leftovers but generally to use up extra food. I’m definitely going to try out some of the recipes. And thank you for mentioning our calzone.
Freeze – freeze leftovers and then reheat for another day!
if i cook to much i always frezze it
I only ever buy what I need, and I plan ahead for meals for the week, so I know exactly what to buy.
I freeze soft fruit from Autumn to use throughout the year.
When I make a stew or pie, I always freeze a portion for midweek.
I always freeze unused veg, meat etc and even stock that the vegies have been cooked in. It can be used for soups etc
There are a few ways to prevent food waste: stews, freezing, stir frys and making home-made soups with leftover veg.
I make curries and stews with things that need to be used up quickly and then freeze them if cooking a lot
I’m a great believer in saving food one roastie at a time. I reckon even if there is only 1 roast potato or parsnip left, you still pop it in a freezer bag. Soon have enough leftovers for a whole dinner. So my tip, is nothing is too small to waste
I always use left-overs in a pasta bake or a quiche – if not I’ll freeze and use it as topping for jacket potatoes!
Mine is more of a money saving thing… but does involve ‘leftovers’.
When I buy meat, I usually buy large portions – a lamb of leg for example. No way can my partner, daughter and I eat a leg of lamb in one sitting, but we slow cook it and get at least three meals from the meat. My favourites are lamb curry and shepherds pie (which is amazing with chunks of lamb btw!!!). I also do the same for whole chicken, or at Xmas time, turkey. Going back to the money saving, it usually works out loads cheaper doing that compared to buying smaller individual packs 🙂
Left overs take them to work or throw them into a new dish, don’t waste anything
What little food waste I have go in to a stew 🙂
Use by dates are often a suggestion, especially with eggs and tomatoes, those go on for weeks! I use everything in soup, and keep leftover wine to flavour stews and pasta sauces. I also cook big batches and freeze a lot immediately.
i usually do a casserole with the meat so im saving food that way x
I meal plan in advance, so if I am cooking a large chicken or other piece of meat I will include leftovers into the plan. Saves chucking out half a joint because it was sat in the fridge for too long.
Make sure you freeze things before they go off & don’t be afraid of eating leftovers for breakfast – no reason why the first meal of the day can’t be non-traditional ‘breakfast’ foods!
I fry up left over veg, make pizza out of dry bread, I try not to waste anything
Meal planning is great for only buying what you need, therefore less waste and also batch cooking and freezing is a quick way to make a weeks meals too. 🙂
I dont waste anything, if i cant use it the next day, i always freeze till i can use it
I offer stuff that’s close to it’s use by date to my neighbours. It would only be getting thrown away otherwise and they seem to really appreciate it, so everyone’s happy! 🙂 x
Putting food in the Freezer is obvious, but a lot of food that you might think of might not think of might be okay to freeze
Freeze stuff before it goes out of date and gets wasted
My tip is too freeze everything but keep a note of what you have in the freezer (I have a little notebook for this.) You can then google recipes which have these ingredients.
We have loads of turkey that we have stored in the freezer now ready for many meals in January:) Also all the veg we made bubble and squeak.
My tip is to shop regularly and locally – for just a couple of meals at a time so no waster
Freeze any left overs.
Alwsys cut back on the amount of food you buy,most people myself included always buy to much
I don’t really have any as I’m terrible for wasting food, but I know in theory meals should be planned in advance!
I plan our meals for the week as I’m writing a shopping list, that way I only buy what I need, I find this saves money and reduces waste. I also take for lunch the next day whatever we had for tea the night before!
Soup is an excellent way to use up random veg that is best it’s best also planning meals in advance cuts down waste.
I often put leftovers in soup whole or as a stock
Pizza, stir fry or bubble and squeak as you can use whatever you have got
I always split big packs of food up into one person portions & freeze them this stops a lot of waste 🙂 x
Simple keep all your fruit and veg. in the fridge
Simply cook a bit less – if anybody should be hungry then have a cheese course
Brussel sprout Bubble and squeak – take your left over xmas sprouts (boied) with mash spuds and chopped bacon – mix together and season.. then dollop into a frying pan – make sure you get a ice golden borwn on one side before turning and repeating
We always freeze leftover portions so we can use them later in the week
There are only two of us: when I buy a chicken, after it’s been roasted (and a breast and a leg eaten) I make the carcass into stock and use the left-over meat to make sandwiches and, added to some of the stock, soup; whatever stock isn’t used I freeze.
I always freeze an extra portion if I make one for those nights where I am in on my own.
My favourite way to save waste is Monday Curry. I throw everything in thats left over from Sunday Dinner, plus a few extra vegetables and pulses and make a gorgeous curry x
Ignore ‘use by’ dates. Use common sense and the other senses you have. If it looks OK and smells OK, chances are it won’t kill you.
Making sure I have plenty of fairly small freezer containers (plus lids!) and labels; being disciplined about labelling makes a big difference to how likely I am to return to something frozen.
Use the carcass of your roast chicken to make your own tasty low salt chicken stock. Freeze it in blocks for making pies etc
Anything left over from the weekend I take to work on a Monday and Tuesday. They say there’s no such thing as a free lunch, but it feels like I get one for two days of the week!
Using up ingredients to make soups, coleslaw or a bubble & squeak type meal
Make a lovely soup with leftover vegetables, stock and scraps of meat. Add red lentils or smoked split peas foe extra flavour and texture.
As other people have suggested, making soup is an excellent way of using leftovers. I also make coleslaw. Freezing some foods can also reduce wastage, of course.
I check my fridge/freezer before I shop so that I don’t buy what I already have. We often make the next days dinner/lunch out of leftovers from dinner.
Keep suitable leftovers that you can’t or won’t use for dog.
We always do a weekly menu before the weekly shop and stick to it. This includes working out how many slices of bread are needed and freezing those that are not needed! We have very little wastage.
Freeze left overs many people don’t know the amount of food you can actually freeze once cooked
Check your fridge then set out a weekly meal plan then write your shopping list and stick to it. I did this throughout 2016 and saved over £40 a week!
I make vegetable soup every week with any leftovers from our vegetable box, plus lots of frittatas with leftover teas.
measure portions to pevent too much food being cooked
I tend to use leftover beef and veggies from the roast dinner. Best thing to do is add it all into a slow cooker with some gravy or stock and put it on for 4 hours on high, or 6+ on low. Perfect leftovers stew every time!
I tend to cook more than needed at meals and freeze the rest to save time at a later stage
My tip is to plan your meals and shop accordingly. Then use any leftovers for lunches.
Make soup. No seriously, almost anything seems to be ok in soup and I’ve made some odd-sounding combinations from the contents of the fridge, but they all seem to taste good.
If you have a bread waste problem like we had,simply buy a small loaf.It worked for us.
mix all your leftovers and fry in the pan till a wee bit crispy on each side then eat
A lovely and tasty collection of recipes to use up Christmas leftovers here! My tip for not wasting leftover wine which often gets forgotten about in the fridge is to freeze it in freezer bags or use your ice cube tray so you have some ready for your next culinary creation.