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This week is Food Waste Action Week and it's all about helping people reduce their food waste and highlight simple easy ways to save money.

The good news is that reducing food waste doesn’t require complicated changes or strict rules. In most cases, it’s about a few simple habits — planning a little better, storing food properly and finding easy ways to use up ingredients that might otherwise be forgotten.

Reducing food waste often starts with knowing what to do with the ingredients you already have. Some foods tend to be thrown away more than others — usually because they go stale, ripen quickly or get left at the back of the fridge.

To make things easier, I’ve pulled together recipe collections for a few of the most commonly wasted foods. If you’ve got bread that’s going stale, bananas turning brown, leftover potatoes or a pack of ham to use up, these recipes will help you turn them into simple, delicious meals instead of waste.

Start with the ingredient you have and see what you can make from it.

A surprising fact I found out this week is that in the UK around 25% of our household food waste is actually down to cooking and serving too much? In the US, it's about one third? If the average household wastes around £1,000 a year, then just the one simple step of measuring out portion sizes could save £250. In the US, it's estimated food waste costs the average family of 4 around $2900 per year, so one third of that is $957!

Bread

A loaf starting to go stale doesn’t need to go in the bin. From crispy croutons and breadcrumbs to hearty puddings and savoury bakes, there are plenty of simple ways to turn leftover bread into another meal.

Leftover Bread Recipes Even if you're bread has gone stale, there's still plenty you can do. This collection has lots of sweet and savoury ideas. Leftover Bread Recipes

Bananas

When bananas turn brown they’re actually at their best for baking. Their natural sweetness makes them perfect for cakes, muffins, pancakes and smoothies.

Ideas for Overripe Bananas What to do with overripe bananas? This collection of 30 ripe, overripe, browning, or blackened banana recipes goes well beyond the usual banana bread and includes ideas from smoothies to oatbars, brownies, cookies, waffles, syrups and spring rolls. Get the Collection

Potatoes

Cooked potatoes are one of the easiest leftovers to transform. Whether you’ve got roast potatoes, boiled potatoes or mash, they can quickly become a new dish the next day.

What to do with Potatoes? Potatoes are one of the most wasted foods, yet there are so many great ways to use up leftover potatoes. Whether you're craving a hearty breakfast, a tasty lunch, an extra side dish or another great dinner idea, this collection of potato recipes has loads of inspiration. Browse the Recipes

Ham and Gammon

Leftover ham is incredibly versatile and can stretch into several more meals. It works beautifully in quick pasta dishes, salads, soups and simple midweek dinners.

Leftover Gammon and Ham Leftover gammon and ham are incredibly easy to turn into quick, tasty meals, and this collection of 10 easy leftover ham and gammon recipes will help you use up every last bit! Leftover Ham Recipes

Top Tips to Reduce your Food Waste

Check out this simple tips to help reduce your food waste this week and start saving money on your food shop.

15 Top Food Waste Tips Here's a quick list of 15 easy ways to reduce food waste at home, focused on habits that fit around busy family life. Get your Food Waste Tips

Reducing food waste doesn’t mean complicated meal planning or eating the same leftovers for days. Most of the time it’s about a few small habits — keeping an eye on what’s already in the fridge, storing food properly and having a few reliable recipes that turn odds and ends into proper meals. The ideas above should give you plenty of inspiration to make the most of the food you already have at home.

Until next week!

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