Make your freezer your friend!

Each year the average household wastes £700 worth of food, equal to eight meals a week!

But there's loads of things you can save from the kitchen bin by putting them in your freezer for a later date.

 So here are some things you can freeze that you may not realise you can:

• Lemons, limes, oranges and grapes

Cut up lemons, limes, oranges and grapes and pop them in the freezer, lemons and limes can be used in cooking and oranges and grapes make a great snack!

•  Cheese, milk and butter

Buying cheese in bulk is cheaper; grate or cut the block into smaller chunks to freeze.

•  Pasta sauces

Sauce takes up very little space - and it’s cheaper and easier to make sauces in bulk. Defrosting what you need saves you time when you’re making tea.

•  Potato / sweet potato

You can freeze cooked and mashed potatoes. Make sure you let them cool down fully first though. For mashed potato, you could either transfer all of it into a freezer bag/container or separate it into individual portions so you can defrost smaller amounts.

•  Nuts, avocado / guacamole and hummus

Freezing nuts will make them last longer, just grab what you need. Avocado / guacamole can also be frozen and is great for snacks or packed lunches.

•  Cooked rice

Made too much rice? The freezer is the answer! Freeze it as soon as possible after cooking once it’s cooled down. Make sure you reheat it thoroughly (so it’s piping hot) before eating.

 Now you know there’s plenty of things you can freeze, what’s best practice?

•  Keep things cold! Make sure your freezer is at zero.

•  Don’t put hot food in the freezer. If you’re freezing cooked food, allow it to cool completely, putting warm food in the freezer can cause your other foods to thaw.

•  Wrap / seal food tightly. Foil, plastic wrap and freezer bags help protect food from freezer burn -try to remove as much air as possible when wrapping for the same reason.