Seasonal Tips
Entertaining without Food Waste
Entertaining without Food Waste
In the coming months, there will be lots of opportunities to entertain family and friends with events such as Halloween, Christmas (yes, we said it!) and New Year. Entertaining can be lots of fun but can also be stressful if you’re preparing food in bigger quantities than normal.
- Research found that cooking too much and serving too much are two of the top reasons Irish people cite for food waste, and
- And 76% of people only occasionally/rarely/or never measure out ingredients for each person.
We’ve got top tips for how to minimise food waste before, during and after your get-together, which should help you feel more organised and take some of the stress off too!
General entertaining tips
Before
- Plan your menu when entertaining – the simplest way to avoid buying or preparing too much food when you entertain is to write a menu plan. Take a bit of time to think about what food is most suitable for your guests.
- Know how many guests you’re expecting– sometimes it can be tricky to know exactly how many guests will come but encourage people to let you know one way or the other and then plan for that number.
- Plan portions – plan food portions based on the number of guests you’re expecting. You can measure out ingredients by count (e.g. number of potatoes), by volume (cups, spoons or ladles) or by weight.
- Keep the menu selection small – try to pick a few things everyone will eat rather than offering lots of options.
- Try to limit the number of perishable foods you need – consider foods, which if uneaten, could be frozen or go in your store cupboard for a later date. Limit foods like cheeses or dips which spoil more quickly when left out.
- Consider asking guests to bring a dish – this way you’re guaranteed a dish they’ll like, and they can take any leftovers home with them.
- Plan your shop – the best way to only buy what you need is to plan your shop. This can be a written list, a phone note or whatever works best for you. This helps to avoid any supermarket panic buying and coming home with more than you need!
During
- Allow guests to serve themselves – rather than plating up individual meals, put food in serving dishes and let people help themselves so they can take only what they want.
- If you’re having a buffet, don’t put out all the food at once – rather than putting everything out at the start, see how the food goes down and only introduce more food if it’s really needed.
After
- Store leftovers – as soon as they cool, put leftovers in clear containers in the fridge so you can easily see what you have.
- Make a plan to use leftovers – use leftovers for lunch or dinner the next day, or as a base for another meal. This will save you time and money!
- Encourage guests to bring home a ‘goodie bag’ – if you don’t want to keep all the leftovers yourself, let people know they can take home some food to use the next day. Consider using old takeaway containers or similar for guests.
- Freeze leftovers – if you’re not able to use up the leftovers in time, freeze them. Many foods can be frozen to use another time.
- Label frozen leftovers – remember to label them so you know what it is and when you put it in. Check out our A-Z Food Guide for how long you can freeze foods for. And don’t forget to use them!
Halloween Tips!
- Carving pumpkins this Halloween? Use the flesh as an ingredient – scoop out the pumpkin flesh and use it to make delicious pumpkin soup, pie, wedges or pasta sauce. Check out these pumpkin recipes for inspiration!
- Use leftover Halloween party treats in baking – they can be used in chocolate chip cookies or candy-coated apples for example.
Tell us your top tips for entertaining without the waste:
Have other tips on how to keep food waste at a minimum when entertaining? We’d love to hear from you! Share your own top tips with the #StopFoodWaste hashtag on social media.
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