learn to ferment, pickle and jam

Pickling, fermenting and jamming have been used for thousands of years to preserve an excess of in season ingredients for later use. These methods of preservation are a great way to turn your kitchen scraps, leftovers and over ripe ingredients into delicious and gut healthy condiments. Turn any over ripe fruit into delicious jam or marmalade, veggie scraps into fermented vegetables or infused pickles perfect for your next salad or cheese board.

Make stocks, sauces & bone broths

Home made stocks and bone broths are one of the best ways to turn leftover food scraps into liquid gold. Simply freeze any vegetable scraps, meat or fish bones separately then when you have enough get your stock on. Stocks and Bone Broths are the basis to every good soup and great chef secret to adding a load of flavour and they tend to be a lot healthier than the store bought alternative.

Composting and worm farming

Composting and worm farming is the most natural way of recycling organic matter that can’t be used in the kitchen. It is so simple to compost; most scraps simply go into your compost bin or worm farm then all you have to do is give it a quick stir and let nature do the work. It’s a great way to divert waste from ending up in landfill; plus you’ll get great organic fertiliser perfect for your home garden and veggie patch too!

Understand best before and useably date

If something is labels with a “used by” date then it should always be used before that date come around. If its labels with “best before” then the retailer/brand thinks it’d be better if you used before that date came around, but will still be safe to eat after this date if the product has been stored properly.

Buy less shop more 

Shopping for ingredients more often and buying less is a great way to ensure you never have excess leftover, over ripe and out of date food in the kitchen that needs to be thrown out, it will also encourage you to eat fresher and healthier.

Plant your perishables

(basil, carrot, lettuce, leeks, celery, pineapple, fennel)

Using fresh salad and herbs in a dish is such a simple way to add a bunch of flavour and elevate most simple of dishes. When shopping for herbs and salads look for the bunches with the root still attached. Theses bunches are still alive, and will last longer and even continue to grow if you plant them or keep the roots in water. Some plants like basil will even grow their own roots if placed in a jar of water, which also prolongs their usage time. 

Store it properly 

Storing your food properly has to be most simple Zero Food Waste Kitchen Tips of them all. When you get home from shopping don’t just dump your bags on the counter or stuff them into the fridge. Take time to sort everything out, rotate your fridge and cupboards using the method of FIFO (First in First Out) ensuring any produce left gets used first and not forgotten about in the depths of the fridge.