Derval O'Rourke: Learn to love your freezer and you'll reduce food waste and save money

Pasta Piselli

Sustainability can be viewed as meeting our own needs without compromising the needs of future generations. For me, this is quite an impactful statement and one that resonates and then leads me to the question of how I can achieve a level of sustainability in my day-to-day life. This week I will talk about food waste and how you can realistically reduce yours. Recipe-wise, here's a great recipe that makes the most of one of my favourite frozen ingredients.

Did you know the average Irish household throws out approximately €700 worth of food each year and almost 25% of fresh fruit and vegetables get thrown away? Food waste is a significant contributor to climate change.

To reduce food waste here are some simple steps:

• Think before you shop
• Use it or lose it
• Love your freezer
• Love your leftovers

CLIMATE & SUSTAINABILITY HUB

Some benefits of frozen foods are:

• No artificial colours, flavours or preservatives are added to many frozen veg brands.
• Meal Planning — frozen is helpful to meal plan for busy days.
• Save time with pre-prepared frozen food.
• Frozen fruit and vegetables are often pre-chopped and prepared for you.
• Frozen vegetables are often frozen at their freshest and best quality.
• We all have our role to play in leading more sustainable lives and it’s good to remind ourselves that a simple approach that is easy to implement is the key for long term changes.

Wellness Tip: Spend 30 minutes organising your freezer and making a list of what would be useful to buy in your next food shop.

Exercise Tip: Lying on the ground in front of a chair, bring your legs up onto the chair. With your arms stretched out, raise your head towards your feet and hold for a count of four and back slowly to the ground. Repeat for 5 reps of 10. In between each rep, with your hands on the floor, use your feet to lift your body off the floor and hold for a count of four and slowly back. These are great for getting the glutes and tummy ready for bathing suit season!

Pasta Piselli

recipe by:Derval O'Rourke

An easy peasy Italian pasta recipe that makes use of what you already have in your cupboard and freezer

Servings

2

Preparation Time

 5 mins

Cooking Time

 13 mins

Total Time

 18 mins

Course

 Main

Cuisine

 Italian

Ingredients

• 3 tbsp olive oil

• ½ onion, diced

• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

• 800ml stock, chicken or vegetable stock

• 150g frozen peas

• 200g pasta, whatever you have handy

• 50g Parmesan, grated

• Salt and pepper, to taste

• Lemon, squeeze of lemon

• Mint leaves to serve, optional

Method

1. Heat the oil in a large pan over medium heat, add the onion and leave to saute for 2-3 minutes until the onion becomes translucent. If the pan begins to dry add a splash of the stock.

2. Add the garlic and the pasta and stir for a minute or so. Add the stock, parmesan, a squeeze of lemon and begin to simmer.

3. Leave for between 7-10 minutes, be careful not to let the ingredients stick to the pan so do stir as you go. Add the peas for the last 3-4 minutes.

4. Serve with fresh mint and a little grated parmesan. Enjoy.