In Britain, households spend about £169 on food shopping during Christmas, with most people tending to over-buy due to fear that there won’t be enough for everyone (1).
Along with the money that gets spent when it’s not essential, there is also a huge problem with food waste. In the UK, 5 million Christmas puddings, 2 million turkeys and 74 million mince pies are wasted each year (2). That is an awful lot of food waste which could be avoided if people thought about their choices ahead of Christmas.
We’ve rounded up some top tips to help you reduce your food waste below …
- Ask yourself who you’re cooking for:
We usually know how many people are coming over for Christmas dinner, so it begs the question, why do we always buy way too much. The fear arises that someone will go hungry, even though nobody has ever left a Christmas dinner hungry!
Prepare for the amount of people that are actually coming. You can use recipes to ensure that you have the portions right and remember, people need space for pudding.
- Only buy what people like:
While a lot of people do enjoy brussels sprouts and broccoli, a lot of people do not. Be conscious of what people like so you don’t end up wasting lots of food.
It is absolutely fine to eliminate any foods that you and your guests don’t particularly enjoy, even if that goes against tradition.
- Utilise leftovers:
There are so many great meals you can make with the leftovers of your Christmas dinner which will help you save money after the expensive period and help you prevent masses of food waste.
Why not make a pie filled with meat and the trimmings? A cheeseboard macaroni cheese? Bubble and squeak? All you need to do is search on the internet to find the best way to use up your excess food and feed your family for a few days after.
You could even create a wholesome, nutritious soup with all the veggies you have.
- Make your freezer your friend:
If you have food that you’ve not got round to eating, don’t just throw it away, why not freeze it. If you aren’t sure how to freeze certain things, then just research the best way to go about it and you will have even more food to last you the first week or two of January. This will also help you save money after the expensive Christmas period.
- Don’t buy fresh ingredients too far in advance:
When the Christmas period begins, people tend to get quite anxious that they will run out of supplies due to the shops being closed … for one day. It’s important to be aware that during this one day, you will not run out of food, so buying your fresh ingredients, such as fruits and vegetables, can be put off until closer to the time to make sure that they don’t go out of date.
- Eat your shake a day …
Other than Christmas dinner, there are also the other meals around the period that you need to shop for, but why not simplify things and fit BeNu into your meal plan? Christmas can involve limited nutrients and can leave you feeling sluggish afterwards, so enjoying some delicious Complete Nutrition shakes can make you sure that you have got everything your body needs, whilst still indulging and enjoying your time.