How To Reduce Food Waste This Holiday Season
How To Reduce Food Waste This Holiday Season
Recently, we hosted a festive food prepping demo at Divertimenti Cookery School in London, featuring food writer and sustainability advocate Elly Curshen (aka @EllyPear). She shared her top tips and tricks for reducing food waste during the holiday season using your favourite Zyliss products.
Here are some of Elly’s key tips to inspire you this holiday season and beyond…
Repurposing vegetable scraps
Elly highlighted that one of the easiest ways to cut down on waste is to find creative uses for vegetable scraps. Instead of tossing carrot or parsnip peels, turn them into pickles or add them to homemade stocks. This makes use of every part of the vegetable while adding rich flavour to winter dishes, making them feel even more comforting and indulgent.
Zyliss tip: Whether you’re peeling your veggies with our Swivel Peeler or julienning with our Julienne Y Peeler, try this easy zero-waste cooking hack by pickling the leftover peels for a colourful garnish or a healthy snack.
Creative citrus use
The festive season sees an abundance of citrus fruits like clementines, which are a holiday staple. However, many of these fruits go unused or end up forgotten in the fruit bowl. A simple and effective tip from Elly is to freeze whole peeled clementines and use them to add a refreshing zest to desserts, such as grating them over chocolate pudding or Christmas cake. This hack can of course also be used during the warmer months!
Zyliss tip: Peel your mandarins or blood orange and freeze them in our Glass Storage Containers until you’re ready to grate them. Yes, they are freezer-safe! Elly’s hack also works for yummy, healthy breakfast bowls by grating your frozen fruit over yogurt or overnight oats.
Storing leftover cheese
A Christmas cheeseboard is a Swiss and British classic, whether it’s Gruyère, Stilton or a seasonal Brie. However, finishing a cheeseboard can be a challenge, especially after a hefty Christmas dinner. Elly’s simple solution to avoid waste is to grate any leftover cheese, store it in the freezer and use it to make toasties, Welsh rarebit, or even cheese sauce for pasta dishes in January.
Zyliss tip: The quickest, easiest way to grate hard cheese, veggies, nuts, and more is with our Gourmet Drum Grater. This versatile tool with 3 different drums is the ultimate kitchen helper for the festive season and year-round! You can grate your leftover cheese directly into one of our Glass Storage Containers before popping it in the freezer.
Meal prep and portion control
Elly emphasised the importance of meal prep – one of the most effective ways to cut down on food waste, particularly over Christmas when it’s easy to overestimate the amount of food needed for guests. By planning portions in advance and preparing ingredients with care, you can avoid buying and preparing more food than necessary. Using airtight storage containers to portion ingredients can also help keep food fresh for longer, ensuring that every ingredient is used.
These are some fun and simple tricks to elevate your festive feasts and leftover snacks in a creative, stress-free, and sustainable way. If you try any of these tips, tag us on Instagram and TikTok @ZylissOfficial. We’d love to see your creations!
Check out the video of our event at Divertimenti:
