As a family of vegetarians we do consume a large amount of vegetables and fruit.

It’s really important to me as a mum that my children eat well and get lots of good nutritional value from their food. I used to spend a lot of money on salad foods and raw veggies and then life would get in the way. Despite meal planning attempts on my behalf, our eating plans would change regardless. For example, the kids would be invited out to tea, an activity would come up or someone would bring a dish around and plans would change. Fresh food would be wasted as a result and would end up being thrown in the bin or on the compost heap. I might as well have just thrown my money away really. It would make me sad – what a waste!

I still buy raw healthy food now though a lot less of it so I can make sure it does get eaten. What I do instead is ensure that I have my freezer stocked full of great vegetables. I pack it with carrot sticks, sliced peppers, frozen mushroom, green beans, sweetcorn and peas so I know that the kids can have great meals full of vitamin packed veggies whenever we want. This way there is no risk of food waste. Frozen food isn’t going to go off after a couple of days; it just waits for you to be ready. It is the perfect fit for a busy family life.

I also freeze blackberries and raspberries from the garden which ensures that they all get used up (we usually gets lots all at once and couldn’t possibly eat them all.) I have to say our freezer is a real money saving asset to our family and using it to store veggies has hugely reduced food waste for us.