A phase that all generations will have probably heard, though it will be the older generations who say it! Something you could put down to the fact they went through a war(s) where you had a limit on how much food you could have. In our society we waste far too much food, where it's from cooking too much or forgetting what we have in our fridge, we have to all admit that we are all guilty of it and end up throwing out wasted food.

How can we stop wasting food?

Plan! Think about what meals you want to have that week before going shopping, write down meals for each day, breakfast, packed-lunches, evening meals etc, then see what bit and pieces you have in your cupboards and fridge, you may find that you already have some stuff that you need for one of the meals, or even that you have a lot of one particular ingredients that means you could swap one of your meals around so that you can use it before it goes out of date! This will not just stop you wasting food but it will stop you spending money on things you don't need too.

You could also buy loose vegetables and fruit so that you only buy the amount you need rather than wasting any. Also check your freezer to see how much space you have, this will stay in your head when you feel the impulse to buy all the buy one get one free' offers. Also checking your freezer will remind you of all the bogof' meal offers that you already have, so why not plan these into your weekly meals.

A few other helpful tips are; always eat as a family, research has found that children who sit down and eat with their parents eat more of their food, also watch your portion sizes, don't give huge portions, you will waste them or overeat it also helps to serve meals on medium size plates too. Think about what leftovers could be used for stale bread can be made into breadcrumbs, which can also be frozen!

You can also do this with fruit, if you have ripe bananas why not make banana ice-cream? Get 4 peeled bananas, 200g creme fraiche and 1 tablespoon of banana chips. Break your banana chips into smaller pieces, cut the bananas into small slices and lay them on a freezer proof tray with space between them, freeze for 2 hours. Then put them with the creme fraiche into a blender and mix together. Serve in a bowl with the banana chips sprinkled over the top! There you have a healthy and tasty dessert that you haven't had to spend extra money on! Or you could cut the banana in half, put a lollypop stick into them, put in the freezer until frozen and you have a banana lolly that you can dip into yoghurt or even chocolate for a special treat! Delicious!