Too many leftovers? Manage them by developing these habits

Every year, roughly one-third of the food produced for human consumption—around 1.3 billion tons gets wasted, says a report released by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN). Of these food items, fruits and vegetables, plus roots and tubers, have the highest wastage rates.

Similarly, food wastage is becoming a public concern in the Philippines, especially that every day, the country discards around 987,952 kg of rice, a staple in every Filipino meal, according to the latest PSA data.

To curb this pressing concern, Beko Philippines urges Filipinos to avoid food wastage, starting from simple habits to develop when preparing meals at home.

Following its goal to prioritize healthy living, Beko listed some clever habits to manage leftovers, while ensuring that you still provide all the nutrients needed by your family:

Monitor Food Consumption

Monitoring food consumption during meals can prevent having any leftovers. By doing so, you also promote a well-balanced diet by giving your family just the right portions of each food item that has essential nutrients needed by the body.

To make it easier, it pays to check out the “Pinggang Pinoy,” an easy-to-understand tool released by the Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI) of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST). This visual food guide contains the recommended food portions, aiming to lead Filipinos in consuming the right amount of food for a healthy and balanced diet daily.

Transforming Leftovers to Gourmet Dishes

Despite trying to prepare just the right amount of food for your family, circumstances happen that leaves food on the table—this is where the fun begins. Whip up a better version of a recipe by mixing the right kind of remaining ingredients.

Keep it simple. Salads and soups are a popular way to manage leftovers. Mix favorite pieces of leftover meats, fish, and choice of crops. Aside from the flavor, these dishes contain nutrients, depending on the ingredients. Also, always remember that being creative in the kitchen doesn’t mean stressing yourself over a new creation.

Like the creation of new dishes, transforming leftovers makes for great appetizers. Kids often leave vegetables untouched because of its blandness. Present in a way that makes it appealing. Use tasteless stalks of leafy greens as a base for smoothies and such. You can also boost its nutritional content by adding black beans, lentils and quinoa for a filling breakfast.

Store Fresh Produce Properly

You can never go wrong if you know how to store fresh produce in your fridge properly. Improper storage of produce leads to early spoilage. Certain organic compounds, like ethylene gas, contribute to the early maturity of fruits. This type of emission is common in fruits, such as bananas, strawberries, avocados, and mangoes.

You can cover the tips of bananas and keep strawberries in the fridge to slow down their ripening. It is also recommended to separate these types of fruits from the other ethylene-sensitive produce like potatoes and vegetables to avoid spoilage and food waste.

Follow the FIFO Method

Keep your fridge well-stocked but don’t go overboard. Organize your refrigerator to oversee the quality of fresh food and leftovers. You can also try the “First in, First Out” (FIFO) method to avoid food spoilage.

In addition, the features of your fridge can help you in storing leftovers properly. For instance, you can manage them through the Everfresh+® feature of RCNT415E50VZWB, a wooden black finish, bottom mount, inverter refrigerator by Beko Philippines. This refrigerator provides a decent space in its special crisper compartment for storing leftovers that can be used in the next meal plan. Beko’s EverFresh+® technology regulates and controls humidity inside the crisper compartment that aids to prolong the shelf life of the produces, thus preserving its fresh and crisp qualities for up to 30 days.

Beko provides cool storage for moms who always pick the healthiest food options. That’s why the crisper also has Beko Active Fresh Blue Light™ technology that promotes continuous photosynthesizing of your leafy vegetables, keeping it greener and crispier.

Leftovers may emit certain scents. The RCNT415E50VZWB with its IonGuard® technology removes odors in your fridge by circulating negative ions that remove bacteria and other odor-causing particles.

The refrigerator also features NeoFrost™ dual cooling technology that has two separate cooling systems, where you can maintain high humidity in the fridge while keeping the freezer dry, frozen and frost free - retaining freshness and healthiness of the food.

Finally, RCNT415E50VZWB has Beko ProSmart™ Inverter Compressor. This technology enhances the cooling efficiency of the refrigerator to maintain an even temperature inside, which keeps produces fresher for longer without consuming much energy and electricity, while the compressor remains silently running.

Try developing these habits and, you might just realize that managing your leftovers could unleash the creative chef in you and may not be that big of a task after all!