At the Christmas holidays there is nothing missing on the table. That is precisely why you should try not to waste food. With these tips, you will take advantage of it all.
Whatever type of menu it is, most families enjoy very special dishes during Christmas. We buy food that we do not consume regularly and the menus are sumptuous, although this 2020 the number of diners should not exceed those of the family or coexistence nucleus. Not wasting food in the process is challenging.
NICE CHRISTMAS DINNER WITHOUT WASTING FOOD
If you want to prevent some of your good food from ending up in the trash after Christmas lunches and dinners, there are four tips you can follow.
1. PLAN AND COORDINATE WITH PRECISION
A Christmas menu is rarely improvised, but it requires careful planning. You should bear in mind that diners may want to repeat. Therefore, it is important to think carefully about the quantities you really need for the expected number of people, and also what you want to cook on other holidays.
It can be very helpful to discuss this with all family members beforehand. Usually someone only eats a few side dishes, while someone else wants a lot of a delicious sauce – if you know and take into account their individual wishes, you can buy more specifically, and there will definitely be fewer leftovers.
2. BUY IN ADVANCE
A good tactic for shopping is to spread it out over two days. First, get the ingredients that you can store for some time before the designated days. Second, on the afternoon of December 23rd or the morning of the 24th, you can buy the fresh products, such as fruits, vegetables, salads and those things that you could not get when you went shopping the first time.
This way, you ensure that perishable ingredients will last until used in the kitchen, because no one likes having to have a wilted lettuce on Christmas Eve.
If possible, do not leave shopping for the last of the afternoon. During the pandemic it is much better to avoid the crowds at the supermarket. And in the afternoon it is more likely that you will not find what you are looking for.
It is also not advisable to buy large family packs from the supermarket if you are not sure that you will use all the content in a reasonable time. By buying individual products, you can get exactly the necessary amount of food that you need for your recipes. In the case of fresh products you can do the same.
3. GET RID OF EXAGGERATED AMOUNTS
If you want to minimize food waste during the holidays, there are some habits worth breaking. Why is it necessary to eat so much? The pleasure is not in the satiety but in the taste and in the discoveries. If you put an excessive amount, you put the diner in the commitment to eat it all so as not to make you ugly. Or it will not repeat as you expect and you will have food left over. You can perfectly serve small portions that will not cause heavy digestion.
4. RECYCLE THE LEFTOVERS
Despite all your efforts, do you have any leftover holiday meals? That, in principle, is nothing serious, it depends on what you do with the leftovers.
One way to manage them is to save them and consume them soon. Perishable foods should be frozen as quickly as possible and never left at room temperature for more than a few hours. It’s best to store other leftovers in separate containers in the refrigerator. Take into account the different temperature zones.
Another more creative option is to use the food in new dishes. Stews of all kinds are perfect for this. You can give other products new uses. You can make croquettes, sauces, gratins … Cold roasts are good in sandwiches and salads or can replace part of the protein in other dishes.
The easiest thing to do is recycle your vegetable scraps. You can make them in the oven or to accompany rice dishes. Even dry bread can be made tasty rather than thrown away, for example in desserts or soups.
FOOD WASTE: A PROBLEM THROUGHOUT THE YEAR
Of course, you shouldn’t avoid wasting food only during the Christmas holidays, you should do it all year round.
Households bear much of the responsibility for global food waste. Spain is the seventh country in the European Union that wastes the most food, with 7.7 million tons per year, which is equivalent to the figure of 179 kilograms per person.
