Waste of time?

We made it to the end of January! If you’d spied our happy family in Aldi today as we ended our store cupboard challenge, you could’ve mistaken us for food tourists in some far-flung supermarket, staring in awe at the endless aisles of consumables.

While our store cupboard is far from empty, we’ve made a fair dent in it. It’s apparent which staples we favour: flour, oats, rice, noodles, pasta, quinoa, baked beans and which are the one-off impulse buys: looking at you pureed pumpkin and black beluga lentils. When we ran out of sandwich fillings we collectively decided ‘time was up’ – there are only so many tinned fish sandwiches a schoolgirl can take.

So what have been the positives to take from this challenge? It’s been fun and educational, most of all for our daughter, who’s seen what a bit of culinary creativity can produce, how to cut down on food waste and save money. Meal planning is now all about ‘what needs eating up?’ – a refreshing change to ‘what shall I pick up on the way home’. Oh and the fact I won the sweepstake; I'm straight down the corner shop!

See below for my tips if you too wish to try the #storecupboardchallenge

Photo credit: @typographic

Did you know?

We throw away 7 million tonnes of food and drink from our homes every year in the UK, and more than half of this is food and drink we could have eaten. Wasting this food costs the average household £470 a year, rising to £700 for a family with children, the equivalent of around £60 a month Source: WRAP

How to save money on your food bills and reduce food waste

1. Ask yourself what’s in the fridge?
2. What’s in the freezer?
3. What can we make with the leftovers?
4. Plan meals including packed lunches
5. Get the kids involved in meal planning and prep
6. Write a shopping list and stick to it
7. Only buy food when you need it
8. Don’t be tempted by offers, buy-one-free etc.
9. Freeze leftovers including bread, herbs, fruit
10. Think portion size, and add meat little and often.