As the cost of living keeps rising, lots of us are looking for ways to cut down how much they spend during this festive period. If you’re wondering how to save money on your festive meals, you’ve come to the right place.
We’ve pulled together a few tips to help you freeze your festive food bills and make sure you’re not wasting food this Christmas:
Did you know the average UK household throws away more than half the food they buy for Christmas?
You’ll be surprised at the top five festive foods we’re most likely to waste, they are cheese, biscuits, chocolate, vegetables and mince pies.
It can be difficult to work out how much food you’ll need. But wasting food wastes money, it’s as simple as that, so only buy what you’ll eat this Christmas.
One of the ways to stay on budget this Christmas is to plan your meals.
Make sure you plan for the number of guests you are cooking for, estimate your portion size and consider their dietary requirements.
Remember you don’t need to buy everything new, look in your cupboards and freezer for ingredients you already have at home before you go food shopping and don’t forget to write a shopping list.
For more tips on meal planning head to Love Food Hate Waste .
After buying all the food you need for your festive meals, make sure you know how to store them so they’ll last as long as possible.
You can use your freezer to extend your food’s shelf life throughout Christmas – most festive foods like vegetables, cheese, milk, cranberries and even gravy can be frozen.
Find out how to store different kinds of food safely from Love Food Hate Waste.
Need some inspirations to spice up your festive menus? You can find interesting recipes for Christmas and Chanukkah on BBC Food.
If there are leftovers, remember to store them properly to keep them fresh for longer.
Make use of your leftovers to create delicious meals over the holidays such as turkey curry, vegetable pies, and warming soups – find festive recipes from Hubbub.
You can also share the leftovers with your family, friends, or even with neighbours – let’s spread the joy and help reduce food waste this festive period.
And finally, most of us will have some food waste over the festive period. Please recycle things like plate scraps, veggie peelings and bones in your food caddy or food and garden bin at home. They will be turned into compost in Greater Manchester – find out more about what happens to your food and garden waste.
You can also find more general tips on reducing your food waste from our Buy Keep Eat Repeat campaign.
