Stop food waste // My best tips and tricks + a new app

Sponsored. This post is made in collaboration with Netto/Fødevarebanken and their new app ‘MadSkalSpises’ designed to fight food waste.

Hi lovelies. I have a bit of a different post for you today, but it is a subject that is very important to me and that I hope is important to you too. Food waste is a huge problem for our planet, approximately 1/3 of the all the food that is produced goes to waste, that is more than 1.3 billion tons of food!! Food that takes up enormous resources to not only produce, but also to discard afterwards. It is taking a toll on our already struggling planet and it just absurd that we waste such huge amounts of food, when there are almost a billion people starving on this earth.

We all need to do better, we need to take better care of this place that we call home and while some say it is already too late, then I believe it is very important to do as much as we can to prevent further harm to our planet. I am far from perfect myself when it comes to food waste, being a food blogger and foodwriter/stylist makes it almost impossible sometimes, but I am constantly learning and finding new ways to reduce food waste. I know that I am never going to be perfect and the zero waste movement is definitely a little too extreme for me, but we can make a big impact if we all just start making small changes and adjustments to help reduce food waste.

I love when the big corporations takes responsibility and join the fight against food waste and Netto/Fødevarebanken have done just that. They have created this amazing app where you can find products in supermarkets near you that are discounted because they have bought too large amounts and have excess products or because the products are about to expire. The cool thing is that the app works for all supermarkets, not just Netto, and it is both the store employees and the customers that can add things to the app. This means that if you see products that are marked down in your local grocery store, then you can take a photo and share the details, so others can see it in the app and not only help reduce food waste, but also save money while doing it. That’s what I call a win win situation! :D

You can download the app right here!

I will post an update when I have used the app for a couple of weeks, but I am already really excited about it and the opportunities it presents. I honestly didn’t expect that there would many products listed in my area already, but people definitely seem to love this new initiative and as you can see below I have found a long list of offers, so I am excited to give it a try!

You can find some of my favorite tips and tricks to help reduce food waste below ❤︎

Freeze leftovers and things you are not able to eat before it expires
Okay most of you probably already do this, but I thought I would mention it anyway. One thing that really helps me avoid food waste is freezing food. I live alone so for example when I buy a big loaf of bread I often freeze half of it right away. I also freezer dinner leftovers, raw treats, excess fruit and berries and if I make too much smoothie (hah that doesn’t happen very often, you know I love big smoothies!) I pour the excess smoothie into my popsicle moulds for a refreshing and healthy treat.

Another thing you can do is freeze things in ice cube trays. I use them to freeze leftover herbs, just chop them and add them to the tray with a little olive oil, then they are ready to be added when you cook. You can also freeze lemon and lime juice in the ice cube trays, it is perfect if you drink lemon water in the morning. I love freezing leftover tomato sauce and such in the ice cube trays as well, it makes it so easy to just add a couple of cubes when I cook and then I have a delicious homemade sauce.

Food prepping
I have found that food prepping really helps me avoid too much food waste. When you plan your meals and prep them beforehand, then you buy exactly what you need and avoid all those random items. It also helps that you already have meals available when the hunger sets in, I have often bought the ingredients to make a lovely dinner, but then I get too hangry and up buying something to-go on the way home leaving all the things I had bought to make dinner untouched in the fridge. When you have already meal prepped then you know you have dinner waiting for you at home and you are less likely to impulse buy random things in a state of hangry panic – hah this happens more often that I’d like to admit ;)

I am still quite awful at properly planning and prepping my meals though, I am not a very organized person and I actually quite like to be free of too many set plans and such in my everyday life, so I usually stick to prepping salads (that can be used both as a meal of their own or as a side = leaving me with some options) and healthy snacks that I can bring on the go. This also saves me a lot of money, snacks on the go can be quite pricey and are often not very healthy.

Don’t throw away imperfect produce
Unless the produce have actually gone bad, then theres is no need to throw away imperfect produce just because it is overripe, bruised or misshaped. Some of the strawberries you have bought might be a little squished, but they are still perfect to use in crumbles, pies and compote. Overripe apples or bananas are perfect for baking, you can make apple sauce, crumbles and pies with the apples and banana bread, muffins and smoothies with the bananas. Greens and veggies that are getting soggy are perfect for juicing or you can add them to stews and stir frys.

Empty the fridge salads, stir frys, smoothie bowls etc.
A good way to avoid food waste is to make “empty the fridge” meals once or twice a week. My fridge is often filled lots of random leftover ingredients and produce from meals that I have made throughout the week and so I like to make what I call “empty the fridge meals”, where I include as much as possible of all of the random leftovers before they go bad. Salads, stir frys and smoothie bowls are perfect for this as you can pretty much add everything to these kinds of meals and it will still taste good – haha yeah okay not everything, but you get the point ;)

It is also a good way to try out new flavor combinations that you wouldn’t otherwise have thought of. I never used to add fruit to my salads, but a couple of years ago I had to empty out my fridge and I had a lot of fruit left that I decided to add to my otherwise savory salad and it turned out so delicious!

Buy smaller quantities – even if it is more expensive
I know this is definitely one of the less popular tips, but I personally prefer to buy smaller quantities of produce etc. even though it is more expensive than buying larger quantities if I know it will be unrealistic for me to be able to use the larger ones before they expire. I know you might still save money if you have to throw out for example 30% of the larger batches, but I personally prefer to spend a little more and then only buy amounts that I know I will actually be able to use.

That’s all I can think of for now, but I would love for you guys to share your favorite tips and tricks in the comment section, it is so important to reduce food waste and it would be great if we could help and inspire each other.