It's time to trim your WASTE line

With all the delicious festive treats to tempt us with, Christmas is never the best time to watch your waistline. But with December an expensive month for many of us, trimming your waste can help avoid a New Year hangover.

Especially as a study in the UK showed that a third of households throw away more food at Christmas than any other time. The great news is that reducing waste doesn't mean missing out on all the tasty goodies that TV chefs and retailers want to offer us. It's more about a little planning, which will help save money.

It starts with a plan

So before you buy the turkey and trimmings for Christmas Dinner, check out our Festive Portion Planner below to see how much of everything you actually need. Then our number one tip (right through the year!) is MAKE A LIST of what you are going to buy before you go to the shop.  You'll get the right amounts and will only get the items you need. 

And try not be tempted by the bargain buys which are destined to go off in your fridge - but if you do, check out our advice on sell by/use by dates, and on how to make the most out of your freezer. 

Tip:  Catering for children?  For a five to ten-years-old, allow roughly two-thirds of what an adult would eat.

Make our wish come true this Christmas

Whatever you are having for Christmas lunch or dinner, we'd love you to make the most it.  So we teamed up with Calum Le Noury of Sarnia Hotels Group to share some of his tips for avoiding waste, and some delicious recipes for using up any festive leftovers. 

If you can't face another turkey sandwich, just pop to our Facebook page (facebook.com/recycleforgsy) to check out Calum's video clips. We've also put his tasty recipes in the "Downloads" section on this page, along with some of our own ideas for your Christmas leftovers. 

Saving money - it's not just for Christmas

We've compiled some of our top tips, which will stand you in good stead for the festive period.  However if you make these your New Year's Resolution, then could save hundreds of pounds in 2019. 

Just think of the treats that will buy. 

1. Lovely leftovers:  Being creative with leftovers is a clever way to save money and make what's in the fridge go further. Sunday's roast leftovers can be used in many dishes from cheeky curries to cracking risottos.
2. Perfect portions.  It's likely we've all got the perfect item for measuring a portion. A mug of uncooked rice is the right amount for four adults and the hole in the middle of a spaghetti spoon is enough for one person.  But if you're in any doubt, we recommend using the Love Food Hate Waste Portion Planner.  It gives you serving sizes and storage information for any food that you don't use immediately.
3. Cook from the cupboard.  With canned and dried foods in the cupboard and some fridge and freezer basics (see "Store cupboard essentials" in the "Downloads" section), you can pull together a quick meal to make the most of any leftovers.
4. Know your dates.  Checking dates saves money. Food can be eaten right up to a 'use-by' date or frozen. 'Best before' dates are for quality so there is no need to throw out food on the stated date - eggs being the exception.
5. It pays to plan.  A great way of saving time and money is to check what's in the cupboard, fridge and freezer and make a list before going shopping. Planning removes the hassle of thinking about what to eat every day and lets us enjoy food at its freshest.

More help, all year round

The UK's Love Food Hate Waste website contains lots more tips and tasty recipes, to help you cut out waste in the kitchen and save a load of money. 

And if you also want to stay in touch with the latest local information and promotions follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

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