BACK OF THE FRIDGE: How to use up excess milk

Milk is in the top 5 most wasted foods- about 5.9 million glasses are poured down the sink each year! Here are some ways to use up your milk:

1) Scones- there are so many variations you can try out. My particular favourite is a cheese scone! These are particularly good for when your milk is on its last legs- no one will know once they're cooked!

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2) Rice Pudding- these only require 3 base ingredients; milk, sugar and rice. To make your pudding more interesting, cook with fruit (e.g. strawberries, apricots, blueberries, raspberries), serve with jam or sprinkle some flaked almonds over the top. 

3) White Sauces- A staple for many meals, whisk up a quick white sauce from milk, flour and butter and pop in the freezer. Then simply defrost and use with your lasagne, fish, macaroni cheese or cheesy potatoes! 

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4) Smoothies- Mango smoothie can be made with 250ml of milk, 2 mangoes and a teaspoon of honey- perfect for those warm summer evenings!

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5) Pancakes- You don't have to wait until Shrove Tuesday to make pancakes! They are such an easy snack, particularly as the main ingredients are cupboard staples; milk, plain flour, eggs, vegetable oil and salt.  

SPILLING THE BEANS...The Most Common Food Waste

It is clear that we are more likely to throw away certain foods than others. This is largely due to varying lifespans and buying more of the food than necessary. See below some of the foods most frequently found in the food waste bin. 

Over the next few weeks, this blog will feature posts to inspire you with more creative ways to use these foods up- be sure to subscribe to posts at the bottom of this page so you don't miss them!

✿ MILK- pour milk into ice cube trays ready to pop into a cup of tea

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✿ BANANAS- overripe bananas are perfect for banana and chocolate bread. Alternatively I slice the ripe bananas up and pop in the freezer. I can then use the sliced banana in porridge for those cold winter mornings or for smoothies and ice cream in summer!

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✿ BACON- bacon lasts far longer when frozen. Separating the layers with grease proof paper avoids the strips from clumping together

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✿ BREAD- whole loaves last much longer than sliced as less surface area is exposed to air. However, at uni I tend to buy sliced bread and store in the freezer immediately after shopping. This way I can pop a slice straight from the freezer into the toaster or pop a couple of slices in the fridge overnight to defrost ready for a sandwich the next day!

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✿ POTATOES- if you buy a large bag of potatoes, it is often easy to know whether you'll use them all before they start sprouting. Mashed potato keeps well in the freezer, or alternatively parboil them and freeze ready for your Sunday roasties!

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✿ CHEESE- store in an airtight container or bag. Hard cheeses can be grated and frozen, ready to be thrown straight into a saucepan.

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Why We SHOULD Cry Over Spilt Milk

The Problem:

7.3 million tonnes of food and drink is thrown away by UK households each year. That's the equivalent weight of over 1 million fully grown African elephants or 139 Titanics.

So... who cares?

The impact on your purse:

✿ On average, each household wastes £470 per year on food waste and up to £700 if you have children. £470 could pay for a 4 night stay for 2 in a luxury hotel in the Cotswolds, or 9 trips to Cadbury World for a family of 5... definitely not worth missing out on!

If this is not enough to persuade you to change your food waste habits, take a look at some of the facts and statistics of environmental impacts of food waste:

The impact on our planet:

✿ Global food waste is the third biggest emitter of greenhouse gases after USA and China, contributing 3.3 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere per year.

✿  Water worth three times the volume of Lake Geneva is used to produce uneaten food each year

✿ Almost 1000 litres of water are wasted when one glass of milk is poured down the sink