It’s estimated we threw away £64 million worth of food over the festive season. But Christmas isn’t the only time we are wasteful. A recent government-funded study suggests many British families unwittingly throw away the equivalent of 24 meals a month, worth £60. Here, Mandy Francis offers clever tips to stretch the contents of your fridge and larder further. Scroll down for video . RE-CRISP YOUR CRISPS . Breakfast cereals can be revitalised by a ten-second blast in the microwave . Stale crisps, breakfast cereals and crackers can be revived with a couple of quick, ten-second blasts in the microwave until they crisp up again. Alternatively, five minutes in a hot oven will also give them back some crunch. Hard loaves of bread can be zapped in the microwave, too — wrap in a slightly damp paper towel and heat for ten seconds, or until the loaf feels soft again. You can also pop stale cake slices in the microwave for 20 seconds to restore their normal texture. Dry slices of bread can be cut into small squares and baked in the oven to make croutons. Sprinkle the cubes with olive oil and season with salt and pepper or dried herbs, then place them into a hot oven and cook until they brown off and all moisture from the bread has evaporated. They are best used straight away, sprinkled on soups. Old bread slices can also be tossed in a food processor to make breadcrumbs for coating fish or meat, or you can add herbs and use the crumbs in stuffing recipes. TURN CREAM INTO BUTTER . Make the most out of your left over double cream and turn it into butter! Stuck with a large pot of double cream nearing its use-by date? Darina Allen, one of Ireland’s top cookery writers, suggests a surprisingly easy recipe for turning it into lovely, creamy, home-made butter. Beat the cream with an electric mixer for five to seven minutes until it separates into a mix of solid butterfat globules (curds) and liquid buttermilk (whey). Separate the curds from the whey over a big bowl using a sieve. Beat the curds again for a few minutes and sieve to ensure you have removed all the liquid. Cover the curds with very cold water and squeeze to get the last dregs of whey out. Drain and wash twice more with cold water before shaping into a ball or slab. Put your butter on a sheet of greaseproof paper and roll up ready for use. It can be frozen, too. SCRAPE YOUR JARS . Add olive oil to a mayonnaise jar to create a delicious creamy salad dressing . Don’t waste those last scrapings of spreads and condiments in the bottom of glass jars. Add a little olive oil, vinegar and herbs to an almost empty mayonnaise jar, replace the lid and give it a shake to create a delicious, creamy salad dressing. A few slugs of olive oil added to a smeary pesto jar will create a delicious dressing, or give you basil-flavoured oil to add to your cooking. And warm milk poured into a Nutella jar and shaken will turn chocolate spread smears into a bedtime drink. TURN FLOPPY VEG INTO STOCK . Freeze your unused, clean and chopped veg, wait until the bag is full, boil and blitz it for some delicious soup . Keep a large plastic bag in the freezer and throw in rinsed and chopped vegetable ‘leftovers’. Once the bag is full, defrost these leftovers, then add a cooked onion, garlic, water and herbs. Boil for 20 minutes and then strain to make a stock or liquidise to make a soup. Both can be used immediately or frozen in one pint portions until needed. EKE OUT CHEESE . Grate a freeze your leftover cheese to give it a longer shelf life, it tends to crumble in the freezer so use it on top of pasta or for a cheese sauce . Found more cheese than you can eat in your fridge? Grate and freeze it to extend its shelf life. Cheese tends to turn crumbly in the freezer, so use it over pasta and in cheese sauces or quiches once thawed. CREATE HERB BOUQUETS . Snip the bottom of the herb's stalks and put them in a small vase of water to extend their shelf life . Don’t put packs of fresh herbs or bunches of watercress in the fridge. Extend their life by snipping off the bottom centimetre of the stalks as soon as you get them home and placing them in a glass or small vase of fresh water — just like fresh flowers — on the kitchen counter. Change the water every couple of days and they’ll last for weeks. Alternatively, you can invest in a Prepara Savor Herb Pod (£27.80, amazon.co.uk). These are transparent plastic pods, in which you can stand your herbs or asparagus. Simply fill the base with water and shut the lid before placing in the door of your fridge. Top up the water reservoir as necessary and your herbs should stay fresh for up to three weeks. CLEVER CUBES . Ice cube trays (the ones with extra-large compartments are best) can be incredibly useful for preserving leftovers. Fill them with any of the following, then decant the loose cubes into freezer bags to use as needed. Freeze red or white wine in an ice cube tray and use them in stews or sauces for extra flavour . STORE ONIONS IN YOUR TIGHTS . Tie up onions in a pair of old tights for easy storage and to extend their lifespan . Tie onions individually into the legs of an old but clean pair of tights (tie a knot in the tights between each one), then hang them up in a cool, dry, well-ventilated spot to extend the vegetables’ lifespan. KNOW YOUR NANAS . Frozen banana pieces can be blended together with milk for a delicious milkshake . One minute your bananas are a bit too green to eat, the next time you look they’ve turned brown and unappetising. Of course, you can use overripe ones to make banana bread, but otherwise you can simply chop them up and freeze for later use. Frozen banana pieces blended with milk make a delicious milkshake, or you can just process the frozen pieces on their own to make a healthy ‘ice cream’. SALAD SECRETS . Pop a kitchen towel in with your salad to soak up excess moisture and keep it fresher for longer . Bagged salad leaves are one of our worst vices when it comes to food wastage. Pop a folded, paper kitchen towel in the bag before you reseal it; this will absorb excess moisture and keep the leftover salad fresh for longer. Keep as much of your cucumber as you can covered in its plastic cover. According to the Cucumber Growers Association, shrink-wrapped cucumber will stay fresh up to three times longer than the unwrapped version. Wrapping celery in aluminium foil and storing it in the fridge will keep it crisp for a minimum of two weeks. Foil works with celery because it preserves the vegetable’s moisture, but — because it’s not an airtight seal like cling film — allows any ethylene, the gas that causes fruit and veg to ripen and then rot, to escape. GADGETS THAT'LL KEEP YOUR FOOD FRESH: . Food Huggers . (£5.99 for two, lakeland.co.uk) These are stretchy silicone lids which create an airtight seal around tricky leftover avocado halves, lemons, beef tomatoes and so on, keeping them fresh for days or even weeks . The Canvas Kitchen Craft Stay Fresh Potato Bag . (£5.49, kitchencraft.co.uk) This has a blackout breathable liner to allow potatoes to ‘breathe’ while keeping light out to prevent sprouting. Ideal conditions for perfect spuds. Stayfresh Longer Reusable Bags . (£4.49 for 20, lakeland.co.uk) These are polythene bags coated with a special Japanese stone powder formula that absorbs bacteria and moisture to help keep fruit and veg fresh. Fruit and Veg Saver Discs . (£4.99 for three, nigelsecostore.com) When placed in salad drawers and fruit bowls, the discs absorb some of the ethylene — the gas fruit and veg emit as they ripen and which speeds up the rotting process. The Banana Store Bag . (£5.99, nigelsecostore.com) This provides the exact amount of insulation and air needed to stop the flesh over-ripening. Keeps a small bunch fresh and firm for around a fortnight — twice the usual lifespan. JML Vacuum Food Sealer . (£49.99, jmldirect.com) Just clip the open edge of a plastic bag in the machine and it will suck out all the air and heat-seal the bag. This extends shelf life and keeps things compact in your freezer. Berry Breeze . (£39.99, keepmefresh.co.uk) This is a battery-powered gadget you keep in your fridge that emits ‘activated oxygen’. It works as a purifer of air, eliminating mould, bacteria and nasty smells.
The festive season sees an estimated £64 million in food waste .
Christmas isn't the only time of year this is an issue though .
Here Mandy Francis offers some tips for keeping food fresher for longer .
A large pot of yogurt that’s almost reached its use-by date can be frozen into cubes to be added to smoothies and sauces, or defrosted to top a fresh fruit dessert at a later date.
Crack open spare eggs, beat them with a little salt or sugar to stabilise the yolks and then freeze the raw egg mixture in an ice cube tray. Use within six months for omelettes, scrambled eggs and baking.
White or red wine can be frozen in an ice cube tray, then dropped into homemade stews or sauces for added flavour.
If you have handfuls of fresh herbs left after a recipe, chop them finely, mix with olive oil or melted butter and freeze. Your herb cubes will work perfectly in omelettes, stews and sauces.
It’s estimated we threw away £64 million worth of food over the festive season. But Christmas isn’t the only time we are wasteful. A recent government-funded study suggests many British families unwittingly throw away the equivalent of 24 meals a month, worth £60. Here, Mandy Francis offers clever tips to stretch the contents of your fridge and larder further. Scroll down for video . RE-CRISP YOUR CRISPS . Breakfast cereals can be revitalised by a ten-second blast in the microwave . Stale crisps, breakfast cereals and crackers can be revived with a couple of quick, ten-second blasts in the microwave until they crisp up again. Alternatively, five minutes in a hot oven will also give them back some crunch. Hard loaves of bread can be zapped in the microwave, too — wrap in a slightly damp paper towel and heat for ten seconds, or until the loaf feels soft again. You can also pop stale cake slices in the microwave for 20 seconds to restore their normal texture. Dry slices of bread can be cut into small squares and baked in the oven to make croutons. Sprinkle the cubes with olive oil and season with salt and pepper or dried herbs, then place them into a hot oven and cook until they brown off and all moisture from the bread has evaporated. They are best used straight away, sprinkled on soups. Old bread slices can also be tossed in a food processor to make breadcrumbs for coating fish or meat, or you can add herbs and use the crumbs in stuffing recipes. TURN CREAM INTO BUTTER . Make the most out of your left over double cream and turn it into butter! Stuck with a large pot of double cream nearing its use-by date? Darina Allen, one of Ireland’s top cookery writers, suggests a surprisingly easy recipe for turning it into lovely, creamy, home-made butter. Beat the cream with an electric mixer for five to seven minutes until it separates into a mix of solid butterfat globules (curds) and liquid buttermilk (whey). Separate the curds from the whey over a big bowl using a sieve. Beat the curds again for a few minutes and sieve to ensure you have removed all the liquid. Cover the curds with very cold water and squeeze to get the last dregs of whey out. Drain and wash twice more with cold water before shaping into a ball or slab. Put your butter on a sheet of greaseproof paper and roll up ready for use. It can be frozen, too. SCRAPE YOUR JARS . Add olive oil to a mayonnaise jar to create a delicious creamy salad dressing . Don’t waste those last scrapings of spreads and condiments in the bottom of glass jars. Add a little olive oil, vinegar and herbs to an almost empty mayonnaise jar, replace the lid and give it a shake to create a delicious, creamy salad dressing. A few slugs of olive oil added to a smeary pesto jar will create a delicious dressing, or give you basil-flavoured oil to add to your cooking. And warm milk poured into a Nutella jar and shaken will turn chocolate spread smears into a bedtime drink. TURN FLOPPY VEG INTO STOCK . Freeze your unused, clean and chopped veg, wait until the bag is full, boil and blitz it for some delicious soup . Keep a large plastic bag in the freezer and throw in rinsed and chopped vegetable ‘leftovers’. Once the bag is full, defrost these leftovers, then add a cooked onion, garlic, water and herbs. Boil for 20 minutes and then strain to make a stock or liquidise to make a soup. Both can be used immediately or frozen in one pint portions until needed. EKE OUT CHEESE . Grate a freeze your leftover cheese to give it a longer shelf life, it tends to crumble in the freezer so use it on top of pasta or for a cheese sauce . Found more cheese than you can eat in your fridge? Grate and freeze it to extend its shelf life. Cheese tends to turn crumbly in the freezer, so use it over pasta and in cheese sauces or quiches once thawed. CREATE HERB BOUQUETS . Snip the bottom of the herb's stalks and put them in a small vase of water to extend their shelf life . Don’t put packs of fresh herbs or bunches of watercress in the fridge. Extend their life by snipping off the bottom centimetre of the stalks as soon as you get them home and placing them in a glass or small vase of fresh water — just like fresh flowers — on the kitchen counter. Change the water every couple of days and they’ll last for weeks. Alternatively, you can invest in a Prepara Savor Herb Pod (£27.80, amazon.co.uk). These are transparent plastic pods, in which you can stand your herbs or asparagus. Simply fill the base with water and shut the lid before placing in the door of your fridge. Top up the water reservoir as necessary and your herbs should stay fresh for up to three weeks. CLEVER CUBES . Ice cube trays (the ones with extra-large compartments are best) can be incredibly useful for preserving leftovers. Fill them with any of the following, then decant the loose cubes into freezer bags to use as needed. Freeze red or white wine in an ice cube tray and use them in stews or sauces for extra flavour . STORE ONIONS IN YOUR TIGHTS . Tie up onions in a pair of old tights for easy storage and to extend their lifespan . Tie onions individually into the legs of an old but clean pair of tights (tie a knot in the tights between each one), then hang them up in a cool, dry, well-ventilated spot to extend the vegetables’ lifespan. KNOW YOUR NANAS . Frozen banana pieces can be blended together with milk for a delicious milkshake . One minute your bananas are a bit too green to eat, the next time you look they’ve turned brown and unappetising. Of course, you can use overripe ones to make banana bread, but otherwise you can simply chop them up and freeze for later use. Frozen banana pieces blended with milk make a delicious milkshake, or you can just process the frozen pieces on their own to make a healthy ‘ice cream’. SALAD SECRETS . Pop a kitchen towel in with your salad to soak up excess moisture and keep it fresher for longer . Bagged salad leaves are one of our worst vices when it comes to food wastage. Pop a folded, paper kitchen towel in the bag before you reseal it; this will absorb excess moisture and keep the leftover salad fresh for longer. Keep as much of your cucumber as you can covered in its plastic cover. According to the Cucumber Growers Association, shrink-wrapped cucumber will stay fresh up to three times longer than the unwrapped version. Wrapping celery in aluminium foil and storing it in the fridge will keep it crisp for a minimum of two weeks. Foil works with celery because it preserves the vegetable’s moisture, but — because it’s not an airtight seal like cling film — allows any ethylene, the gas that causes fruit and veg to ripen and then rot, to escape. GADGETS THAT'LL KEEP YOUR FOOD FRESH: . Food Huggers . (£5.99 for two, lakeland.co.uk) These are stretchy silicone lids which create an airtight seal around tricky leftover avocado halves, lemons, beef tomatoes and so on, keeping them fresh for days or even weeks . The Canvas Kitchen Craft Stay Fresh Potato Bag . (£5.49, kitchencraft.co.uk) This has a blackout breathable liner to allow potatoes to ‘breathe’ while keeping light out to prevent sprouting. Ideal conditions for perfect spuds. Stayfresh Longer Reusable Bags . (£4.49 for 20, lakeland.co.uk) These are polythene bags coated with a special Japanese stone powder formula that absorbs bacteria and moisture to help keep fruit and veg fresh. Fruit and Veg Saver Discs . (£4.99 for three, nigelsecostore.com) When placed in salad drawers and fruit bowls, the discs absorb some of the ethylene — the gas fruit and veg emit as they ripen and which speeds up the rotting process. The Banana Store Bag . (£5.99, nigelsecostore.com) This provides the exact amount of insulation and air needed to stop the flesh over-ripening. Keeps a small bunch fresh and firm for around a fortnight — twice the usual lifespan. JML Vacuum Food Sealer . (£49.99, jmldirect.com) Just clip the open edge of a plastic bag in the machine and it will suck out all the air and heat-seal the bag. This extends shelf life and keeps things compact in your freezer. Berry Breeze . (£39.99, keepmefresh.co.uk) This is a battery-powered gadget you keep in your fridge that emits ‘activated oxygen’. It works as a purifer of air, eliminating mould, bacteria and nasty smells.
It’s estimated we threw away £64 million worth of food over the festive season. But Christmas isn’t the only time we are wasteful. A recent 24 meals a month, worth £60. Here, Mandy Francis offers clever tips to stretch the contents of make croutons. Sprinkle the cubes with olive oil left over double cream and turn it into butter! Stuck with a large pot of double cream nearing its use-by date? Darina Allen, one of Ireland’s can be frozen, too. SCRAPE YOUR JARS . Add olive of glass jars. Add a little olive oil, vinegar packs of fresh herbs or bunches of watercress in use as needed. Freeze red or white wine in an ice cube tray and use them in stews or sauces for otherwise you can simply chop them up and freeze excess moisture and keep it fresher for longer . it; this will absorb excess moisture and keep the causes fruit and veg to ripen and then rot, to