It’s Friday Guys – time for No Waste Tastes Great

A slightly later post, than usual, this Friday before Christmas.

I’ve had a busy day hence the delay.

But that’s not the only difference to today’s post.

I have a Fridge packed with food for Christmas week. So no Friday fridge photo.

Today’s post is something I wrote about guarding against potential food-waste this holiday. Slightly different style to what you may be used to, as it wasn’t written with my lovely readers in mind. But still worth sharing.

And talking of sharing…I’d love to hear how you are planning to keep your festive food-waste at a minimum this year. And don’t forget if you’ve blogged about your waste as part of Food Waste Friday – drop the link in so I can pop over!

Christmas Grocery Lists– Map Them Out To Reduce Food Waste

Santa’s making a list and he’s checking it twice…but are you?

There is such a vast array of irresistible festive foods available, this time of year. Impulse purchasing is at an all-time high during the holiday period. Store shelves are laden with tempting treats in attractive seasonal packaging. It’s so easy to pile the trolley high and make a dash for the checkout whilst reassuring yourself ‘Well it is Christmas!’

One of the most effective ways to prevent buying unnecessary groceries and ultimately reduce food waste is to make a list. And as well as checking it twice, to stick to it.

Making a grocery list, as does it’s prerequisite – meal planning takes a little time and thought. But it’s time well invested, as it can decrease grocery spend, reduce potential food waste and improve your chances of dishing up nutritious family meals.

An effective way of pulling together a grocery list is to group, or map out, the list rather than writing it chronologically.

After all Santa’s making a list, but I’m sure he’s also got his route mapped out – there are a lot of chimneys to visit in one night.

How to prepare for your trip to the store:

1. Double check you have your mapped out list – before you leave the house
2. Allow yourself enough time to follow your list – rather than doing a trolley dash
3. If possible, shop alone – never underestimate the power of a pestering child (or significant other!)
4. Ensure you’ve eaten – a grumbling tummy is a sure-fire way to increase your basket
5. Take a bottle of water to sip as you shop – thirst is very often mistaken as hunger (and you’ve seen point 4 above)
6. If generally looking to reduce your overall spend, steer clear of the non-food browsing aisles – this won’t reduce food waste, but will reduce wasting money on things you really don’t need

And finally… don’t forget your reusable bags. Reducing waste comes in all forms, not just food waste.

The big guy in red wouldn’t dream of using disposable bags would he? It’s sacks all the way.

PS – If you think any family/friends would benefit from this post, please consider sharing on Facebook? My Facebook page has had a bit of a set back in that hardly any blog posts are now visible in newsfeeds. There’s been some changes, and Facebook are recommending pages like mine pay for advertising and seem to be restricting what they show.

I need to check out getting an Instagram account I reckon!