How’s your ‘Use it up!’ challenge going?

Filed in Blog by on June 5, 2012 4 Comments
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Any of this lurking in YOUR freezer?

Any of this lurking in YOUR freezer?

What a fantastic response to my ‘Use It Up!’ challenge.

In case you weren’t around yesterday, I suggested people got on board with trawling through their freezers and cupboards to use up all those foods that were approaching, or indeed past, their best before date.

We’ve got people from the Netherlands to Australia stepping forward to help prevent food going into landfill while saving some money too!

Tristan agreed it was a satisfying feeling to use stuff up and said this is something he always tries to do.

Mieke said twice a year she tries to do this but warned us not to eat out of date tinned asparagus. Apparently the smell of it lingers for a good few days!

Sandy’s all signed up. She reckons they have enough food stashed away in the kitchen for at least a month!

Kristina from The Greening of Westford admitted this was something she badly needed to do and expressed how she’s always amazed at the meals she can create from foods stored in her pantry and freezer.

Jennifer from It’s not easy to be green is on board for next week; she admits she’s not good at keeping track of the food she buys. So next week she’ll be making 101 recipes with all the tins of garbanzos (chick peas) she’s bought!

I could obviously read Ann’s mind as she’s right in the middle of her own ‘Use it up!’ challenge. She’s discovered that lemon zinger tea, even when six years out of date still tastes pretty much the same!

Claire is champing at the bit. She has a lot of last year’s fruit harvest to finish off and bits of things that aren’t big enough to make a complete meal. Looks like Claire will be making some interesting buffet meals this week (and lots of fruit pies!)

Over on Facebook, June is raring to go. Like Sandy, she thinks she might have enough food at home to eat for a month.

I have to admit, I’m surprised how much food we have in the freezer. I think I mentioned it might be a month’s worth; that was a kind of tongue in cheek guess, but it looks like it might have been true! I’ll be sharing my riveting finds tomorrow.

In the meantime, step up to the pledge and let me know what you’ll be eating this week…

About the Author ()

I am a long time supporter of the Green and Sustainable lifestyle. After being caught in the Boscastle floods in 2004, our family begun a journey to respect and promote the importance of Earth's fragile ecosystem, that focussed on reducing waste. Inspired by the beauty and resourcefulness of this wonderful planet, I have published numerous magazine articles on green issues and the author of four books.

Comments (4)

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  1. I’ve been trying to use a few things up recently because we’re hoping to move house but I’m very aware that lots of areas of my pantry and freezer are still deep in odd tubs of leftovers and packets of things that I’ve forgotten about. We did have left over vegetarian puff pastry pizza for dinner and that was really yummy cold. I haven’t got time to shop for a couple of days so it’s the perfect time to see what we can find in the cupboards. Hopefully I’ll be able to make a use-up list as well and just buy a few fresh products to create meals for the rest of the week.

  2. RainbowDrops says:

    I have been reading your fantastic blog for just over a year and now finally decided to leave a comment!

    Through my job I raise awareness of the Love Food Hate Waste campaign so my freezer has been transformed into frozen blocks of chili, bolognaise, grated cheese and soup to use at short notice.

    My cupboards however…. they are overflowing with stuff! Like 4 types of pasta, cous cous, pearl barley etc. and so many types of flour I didn’t know existed! So my ‘Use it up’ challenge will be using up the storecupboard and finding a use for rice flour, gram flour etc! Some interesting meals ahead!

  3. Carrie says:

    Hi Mrs G. Great ideas all round! I find I am saving lots of money by not going to the supermarket regularly. We are left-overs freaks in our house and love nothing better than a dogs dinner of bits and pieces of previous nights dinners. So I am with you all the way on this one!

  4. Jennifer says:

    We did this in January. Used up everything that was “old” and gave away the rest to the post office during their can drive. We pretty much use as we go though, so I never seem to have much in my freezer except veggies we couldn’t eat fast enough and I didn’t want to lose. But I dream of a nice, big freezer I can keep an entire cow in. Yeah, that would be something….

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