Lovely leftovers

If you’ve cooked too much, try to use the leftovers for another meal. To help, it might be worth keeping your fridge, freezer and cupboard stocked with basic food staples so you can rustle something up when you need to and use items up e.g. pasta, stock cubes, and bread.

Children don’t always like what they’re given so having a range of food items at hand to make different meals is important to satisfy their taste buds and keep them interested in what they are eating.

Anthea's festive bubble and squeak

A quick and easy recipe for Boxing Day, using the Christmas dinner leftovers.

Antony's asparagus, smoked bacon and spring onion hash

I love producing dishes from any leftovers you have in the fridge; spontaneity and confidence is the key.

One Planet Sauce

This recipe makes ten 200g portions: enough to make ten different meals. To keep the sauce, chill when cool and refrigerate, or freeze, in portions. If your fridge is at the correct temperature of 1 - 4°C it will keep for 5 days. At any market you can buy all the fresh vegetables you need for this versatile sauce. Each 200g portion contains 2 of your 5 a day and ensures you get lots of vitamins and minerals in your diet. By staying away from commercial sauces you can control your salt, fat and sugar intake.

Chickpea Curry

Serve this nourishing and cheap dish with rice or naan bread. Mango chutney or yoghurt are great accompaniments.

Mediterranean Cavolo

This is a quick and easy way to jazz up any leftover cabbage that may be lingering in the fridge. It can be eaten as a tasty meal on its own as it's so good for you!

Chicken Tagliatelle

A great way to use up chicken, leftover from a roast dinner.

Risotto

An ideal way to use up vegetables or leftover chicken or frozen prawns. Simply combine with your rice (from your store cupboard) to create a tasty Italian treat.

Bean & Courgette Tagliatelle

This quick and easy recipe is great for using up the seasonal glut of runner beans and courgettes.

Spicy Sausage & Potato Cakes

by Shirlee Posner

A great way to use up leftover veggies, for an easy and simple midweek meal.

Couscous Salad

Great for using up any of those half eaten jars of pesto and olives, often found lingering in the fridge.

Wiggly Wormy Pasta

Easy and quick which looks disgusting and will appeal to children on fright night!

Mixed Brushetta

A great way of using up items from your fridge, such as cheeses, cooked meats, tomatoes or beans.

Chicken Goujons

A family favourite, ideal for using up the last of a loaf of bread and any spare eggs.

Pitta Bread Pizzas

Any leftovers can be thrown on to make this treat for the kids - perfect for any occasion and changed to suit their taste.

Love our Surrey chef

Carmela Tomkins is of Italian origin and lives in West Byfleet, Surrey. She owns her own catering business and believes that cooking should be fun, economical, quick, easy and appeal to adults and children alike. Over a number of years she has run cookery demonstrations in Surrey for charities and other organisations. She became involved in the "Love Food Hate Waste" campaign because she believes it is an important element of sustaining the environment. Find out more at www.carmelaskitchen.co.uk.

Give us your Support

Why not save yourself some money and help the environment by giving us your support and making a pledge to reduce the amount of food you waste?

Love Food, Hate Waste

Love Food Surrey supports the national Love Food Hate Waste campaign.

Read more food waste facts on the Love Food, Hate Waste campaign website.