10 Things To Do With A Reduced Food Haul
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Buying reduced food is all very well, but when you do manage to grab a massive haul, it can sometimes be difficult to know what to do with everything. These are my top tips for sorting through your reduced food haul and making sure not a single bit of the money you’ve saved goes to waste.
I love buying reduced food; it’s something I have written about extensively on this blog and the majority of the meat and vegetables I buy come from the reduced section. However, there’s no point in saving all that money on food for it to end up going to waste further down the line. This post should help with what to do if you happen to get an amazing reduced food haul.
If you love buying reduced food then you might like my other yellow sticker posts:
The Best Time of Day for Yellow Sticker Bargains
10 Misconceptions about buying Yellow Sticker Food
The Big Christmas Eve Reduced Shop
Reduced Food and why you should be buying it
The Difference Between Best Before and Use By
10 Things To Do With A Reduced (Yellow Sticker) Food Haul
1. Make a list.
Before doing anything, make a list of everything you have bought this will help make sure everything gets accounted for and doesn’t end up lurking, unused, at the back of the fridge. Items can also be crossed off as they’re used up – I find this helps me keep on top of what we have.
2. Decide What To Cook And What To Freeze
The majority of reduced food is going to be very short-dated, but it’s worth taking a look through and deciding what you’re happy to freeze, what needs cooking immediately and what looks like it will last a few days. Once cooked food should be ok for at least 3-4 days, depending on what it is. Cooked food can also be frozen to make it last longer again.
3. Remove Excess Packaging
If you have a small freezer, it might be worth unpackaging some of the food and putting into smaller, reusable containers to save space. It always amazes me how big some plastic food containers are and these can take up lots of space in your freezer.
4. Double Check What Can Be Frozen
Check that food items can be frozen – it’s surprising how many ‘fresh’ fish and bakery items have already been frozen by the supermarket before you buy them and shouldn’t be frozen again.
It’s up to you whether you want to risk freezing a second time. Fish could be cooked and then frozen if not eaten immediately.
5. Make Sure You Know The Difference Between Best Before And Use By
While looking at dates on food it’s worth learning the difference between ‘best before’ and ‘use by’ and even when considering these dates, food doesn’t become poisonous at midnight on that day.
Use your best judgement, the majority of the food will be fine for at least a day or two. Best Before and Use By dates are discussed further in this post.
6. Start Batch Cooking
Take a look at your ‘needs to be cooked now’ pile and decide what to do with it.
Is there room in the freezer for batch-cooking things like chilli and curry?
Could cooked chicken be used for sandwiches and filling up lunch boxes? Having a plan for what each food item will be used for means it’s much less likely to get wasted.
7. Create A Meal Plan
Make a meal plan around your reduced items. Meal planning really helps us use all the food we have and avoid waste.
Look at what will need using up first and then slowly work backwards through the rest of the week. If you need some inspiration you could take a look at my recipes section or try downloading the Yummly app for ideas.
How To Start Meal Planning & Save Money
8. Blanch Veggies Ready To Freeze
If you’ve picked up lots of reduced vegetables these will need blanching before they can be frozen. Simply pop into boiling water for a few minutes, but don’t allow to cook through. Cooldown under running water then drain and freeze.
How To Blanch Veggies For The Freezer
9. Freeze Or Use Soft Fruits ASAP
Soft fruits don’t last long ordinarily, so even less time than buying with reduced.
Chop into chunks and freeze for making smoothies. They can also be made into fruit purees for cooking or made into sauces or coulis.
Pinterest is brilliant for ideas if you need some inspiration.
10. Share If You Can
If you’re struggling for room in your fridge and freezer after a massive haul, it’s always nice to share with family and friends!
And don’t forget that overfilling your fridge could cause it to work less efficiently, meaning it’s less cold and food will deteriorate more quickly.
