Page 56 - Phonebox Magazine September 2015

Turning Food Waste into Tasty Treats
Every year in the UK, we throw away more than 30 million tons of food waste, most of which is perfectly fine to eat or re-use in another dish. Most of this waste ends up decomposing in landfill sites, therefore creating methane gas and contributing to climate change! Often, there are just a few simple things we can do to reduce the amount of food we throw away. Re-using food is often something we get worried about and we regularly throw away food because it has reached its use-by date, but there are many ways you can preserve and re-use your food.
Every month, in Buckinghamshire alone, thousands of loaves of bread are thrown away because the use-by date is looming. In fact, a lot of this bread is still perfectly fine to eat. Save some dough - don’t bin the bread! Instead, cut it up to make croutons, or even crumble it into breadcrumbs. Simply pop your croutons or breadcrumbs into a plastic freezer bag and freeze until needed. They’re a very tasty topping for soups,
lasagnes and pies!
Often we buy a big punnet of berries and never get round to eating them all, so hastily throw them away. However, if you have raspberries, blackberries, strawberries or blueberries left over, they are brilliant for using in ice cubes. Just pop a handful in your ice cube tray when refilling it with water,
and after a few hours your fruit will be frozen into the ice cubes! They’re not only a great colour, but will also infuse your drink with a lovely fruity tang – perfect for when you’re entertaining guests.
Alternatively, if your bananas are in their final days, make banana bread! In fact, the best banana bread is made with very ripe
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