Oddbox - Crunch Time

Australia HarperCollins Publishers Australia Pty. Ltd. Level 13, 201 Elizabeth Street Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia www.harpercollins.com.au Canada HarperCollins Canada Bay Adelaide Centre, East Tower 22 Adelaide Street West, 41st Floor Toronto, Ontario, M5H 4E3 www.harpercollins.ca India HarperCollins India A75, Sector 57 Noida, Uttar Pradesh 201 301, India www.harpercollins.co.in New Zealand HarperCollins Publishers New Zealand Unit D1, 63 Apollo Drive Rosedale 0632 Auckland, New Zealand www.harpercollins.co.nz United Kingdom HarperCollins Publishers Ltd. 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF, UK www.harpercollins.co.uk United States HarperCollins Publishers Inc. 195 Broadway New York, NY 10007 www.harpercollins.com Martyn Odell for working with us to create the concept and recipes. Camille Aubert for contributing and testing recipes.

Maia Swift for writing the book. Alice Ratcliffe for running the show. Alex Green for his design and illustration wizardry. Ana Caeiro, Heather Lynch and Sam Boggis-Rolfe for their ideas. Emilie Vanpoperinghe and Deepak Ravindran for trusting us to get on with it. The team at HarperCollins for making it real.

Our growers for inspiring us with their rescue stories every week. The wonderful Oddbox community we wouldnt be here without you.

One of the main reasons food is wasted at home is because it goes off before we have a chance to eat it. With just a few unexpected dinners out or a fussy eater in the family, salad leaves go limp, spuds start sprouting, carrots lose their crunch and suddenly youve wasted a whole load of food without noticing. For some people, planning meals for the week helps with this. But even if youre more likely to rustle something up than stick to a daily spreadsheet, some simple changes to the way your kitchen is organised can make a big difference in the fight against food waste.

Part of this is making sure your fridge and freezer are pulling their weight. Part of it is making sure you have the cupboard ingredients you need to whip up a variety of dishes. An even bigger part of it is making sure you can see what you have, so you can spot and save the ready-to-wilt before it flops. Cooking should be an easy and fun activity, so you want to make sure you can chop, stir and sizzle without having to rummage around for the right pan or ingredient. Martyn Odell recommends setting yourself up by creating an imaginary heat map of your kitchen. (Dont pretend you dont have a best wooden spoon we all do.) Then clear out anything you havent used for yonks. (Dont pretend you dont have a best wooden spoon we all do.) Then clear out anything you havent used for yonks.

Slow cooker gathering dust? Give it to a neighbour. Fifteen unopened boxes of lasagne sheets? List them on a food-sharing app. Herb jars still sporting a label from the 1970s? Compost anything ancient and recycle the containers. Thats better.

A few handy tools can make storing and preserving food that bit easier, not to mention giving you the freedom and flexibility to have a go at any recipe you fancy. Make sauces, soups, smoothies, salsas (and other things that dont begin with s) in a flash.

You can even use a blender to chop ingredients if youre in a hurry.

Not only will a row of jars make your kitchen look like a TV chefs, theyre also the best containers for making pickles and preserves. Leftovers, packed lunches, salad leaves invest in lockable, leak-free boxes and youll be able to keep all kinds of food fresh for longer. If they stack neatly, even better. This might sound obvious, but a few good ovenproof dishes mean you wont have to rehome leftover pies, lasagnes and bakes when you transfer them to the fridge. Only have seeds when the recipe calls for powder? Bash, mash and squish things up yourself its good stress relief, too. Invest in a small bin for pips and peel on your kitchen counter (unless youre using them in a recipe). Invest in a small bin for pips and peel on your kitchen counter (unless youre using them in a recipe).

Then you can carry it straight to the compost. And if youre looking for things for your birthday list

Dehydration is one of the oldest methods of preserving food. These counter-top boxes sap the moisture out of everything from fruit and veg to herbs and meat (you can also use your ). Banana chips, anyone? Most food can be vacuum-sealed to keep it fresh for longer. Best of all, you can pack and label the right-sized portions for the freezer, so you only defrost as much as you need. Your fridge and freezer are your best friends when it comes to tackling food waste.

But heres the snag they wont be able to help if theyre rammed with mystery jars, hidden tubs and unloved salad leaves. (Sorry to all the hummus-hoarders out there.) Start by taking everything out so you know whats what. Then have a look at our tips for arranging things clearly and neatly. Your fridge should act as a mini shop, showcasing what you have and alerting you to anything thats about to pass its best. Then your freezer is there to store things so they can be eaten at a later date, locking in flavour at the same time.

What have cupboards got to do with food waste, we hear you cry? Well, while its much easier to waste fresh stuff, the way we store our dry food and even what we buy makes a big difference to how easily we can cook creatively and resourcefully. What have cupboards got to do with food waste, we hear you cry? Well, while its much easier to waste fresh stuff, the way we store our dry food and even what we buy makes a big difference to how easily we can cook creatively and resourcefully.

With a good store of jars, tins, herbs and spices, youll be able to whip up a delicious dish that makes use of your fresh ingredients possibly even without a recipe. And if you get everything organised, therell be less chance of buying more than you need.

Like an artist choosing paint, its nice to have your ingredients lined up somewhere you can see them clearly. If theres anything you want to use but keep forgetting about, move it up front. If you buy loose ingredients, store everything in clear, airtight containers with labels. Simple one, this. Simple one, this.

But just checking what you have before you head to the shops or fill your basket will stop you wasting money and space. In restaurants, this kind of inventory happens at the end of every shift Martyn recommends a Sunday night check.