To celebrate the release of Ice Age 5: Collision Course, Fox are partnering with Love Food Hate Waste for a Mammoth Family Freeze to encourage families to freeze rather than throw away their food.
According to Love Food Waste, we throw away 7 million tonnes of food from our homes each year, and over half of this food is good food that could have been eaten. The Ice Age 5: Collision Course Family Freeze is the ultimate challenge this Christmas, showing us how we can all waste a little less food and save up to £60 a month by making better use of our freezer, which is a great way to help do this!
Ice Age characters Sid, Scrat, Diego and Manny will be helping to educate families on how to use their freezers to help reduce food waste, offer some top tips and share some tasty family friendly recipes that can be frozen and reheated to enjoy during nights in this Winter!
Some top freezing tips from Love Food Hate Waste:
You can freeze pretty much everything! The freezer acts like a pause button on food and so you can freeze it right up to the use-by date. If you wrap it well (freezer bags are an excellent tool) the food will store safely for years.
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Food item |
Freezer tip |
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Cheese |
Try grating cheddar cheese before freezing and use as toppings on pizza or shepherd’s pie from frozen. Stilton can be frozen without grating and is just as good as fresh. |
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Leftover cooked meat |
If you have leftover sausages, chicken or lamb from a Sunday roast this too can be frozen. Thaw the meat in the fridge when you’re ready to enjoy it and use as normal or in a casserole or curry. |
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Bread |
If you never quite finish the whole loaf, then why not freeze half and use it later in the week? You can enjoy bread straight from frozen either as toast or to make a sandwich for work. By lunchtime the frozen slices will be defrosted. |
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Chillies |
Few of us manage to use up all the chillies in the packet so freeze them whole, take out as much as you need and chop while they’re still frozen. |
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Potatoes |
Simply boil for about 5 minutes and freeze them for later. When you want them, thaw overnight and roast the next day. Mashed potato also freezes well and just needs reheating. |
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Milk not being used up quickly enough |
Freeze milk in ice cube trays before its ‘use-by’ date to use when you need it – especially if you are going away on holiday. You can then pop them straight into your tea or coffee. |
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Fruit |
If you have any excess fruit in the home why not freeze it? Slice and freeze lemons and limes then use them straight from the fridge in iced drinks. Frozen grapes and strawberries are great in smoothies and also make novel ice cubes for drinks and taste great! |
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Fresh herbs 24/7 |
Flavour your food without relying on dried ingredients or yet another fresh herb purchase. Place your favourite fresh herbs in an ice cube tray, fill with water and freeze. Pop them straight into the pot! |
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Easy Ice Age Recipes for Freezing
These simple family friendly recipes, inspired by different Ice Age characters, are sure to be a hit with the kids and are all suitable for freezing so you can easily batch cook and then pop them all in the freezer, ready to take out and heat up on busy days!
Scrat’s Spaghetti Bolognese
Ingredients
For the Bolognese sauce:
- 2 medium onions, peeled and chopped
- 1tbsp olive oil
- 1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
- 500g lean minced beef
- 90g mushrooms, sliced
- 1tsp dried oregano or mixed herbs
- 400g can tomatoes or chopped tomatoes
- 300ml hot beef stock
- 1tbsp tomato ketchup or purée
- 1tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- salt and ground black pepper
To serve:
- 350g spaghetti
- freshly grated Parmesan
Method
- Put the onion and oil in a large pan and fry on high heat for 3-4 mins. Add minced garlic, fry until brown. Add mushrooms, cook for 2-3 minutes
- Stir in the tomatoes, beef stock, tomato ketchup or purée, Worcestershire sauce and seasoning, take frozen herbs from an ice cube tray and drop directly into your Scrat’s Spaghetti Bolognese
- Whilst sauce is simmering, cook the spaghetti according to packet instructions. Drain well and rinse. Return to pot, stir in the meat sauce and serve
- Once you’ve made this delicious Scrats Spaghetti Bolognese you can keep in the freezer to take out and re-heat whenever you want
Manny’s Macaroni Cheese
Ingredients
225g uncooked macaroni
- 50g butter
- 2 1/2 tablespoons plain flour
- 275g grated mature Cheddar cheese
- 50g grated Parmesan cheese
- 750ml milk
- 30g butter
- 50g dried breadcrumbs
- Paprika
Method
- Cook macaroni according to the package directions. Drain.
- In a saucepan, melt 50g butter over medium heat. Stir in enough flour to make a roux. Addmilk to roux slowly, stirring constantly. Take your frozen grated cheese (which stays fresh for longer) and stir it into your Manny’s Macaroni Cheese. Cook over low heat until cheese is melted and the sauce is a little thick. Put macaroni in large casserole or baking dish and pour sauce over macaroni. Stir well.
- Melt remaining butter in a frying pan over medium heat. Add breadcrumbs and brown. Spread over the macaroni to cover. Sprinkle with a little paprika.
- Good to tuck in immediately! if you don’t manage to finish it all, freeze your leftover Manny’s Macaroni for later and simply re-heat!
- Peaches Pear CobblerIngredients
- 3 to 4 cups sliced fresh pears
- 1 1/2 cups sugar, divided
- 1 stick butter
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup milk, whole or low-fat
- 1 large egg
Method
Heat the oven to 325° F (165° C/Gas 3)
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Bake in the preheated oven for 50 to 60 minutes, or until nicely browned and pears are tender. If the topping appears to be over-browning, cover the dish with foil and continue |
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baking until the pears are tender.
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Ellie’s Enchiladas
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 small white onion, peeled and diced
- 1.5 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, diced into small 1/2-inch pieces.
- salt and pepper
- 1 can diced green chillies
- 1 (15.5 ounce) can black beans or lentils, rinsed and drained
- 8 large flour tortillas
- 3 cups Mexican-blend shredded cheese
- 1 batch red enchilada sauce, or 1 can store-bought enchilada sauceMethod
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F/ 180C. Prepare your enchilada sauce, if making homemade.
- In large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and sauté for 3 minutes, stirringoccasionally.
- Defrost the chicken from your leftover Sunday roast and dice
- Add in to your delicious enchiladas, with green chillis. Season with salt and pepper. Sautéfor 6-8 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until the chicken is cooked through. Remove fromheat and set aside.
- To assemble the enchiladas spread two tablespoons of sauce over the surface of the tortilla.Add beans down the middle of the tortilla, a spoonful of the chicken mixture, and sprinkle with 1/3 cup cheese. Roll up and place in a greased baking dish. Then spread the remaining enchilada sauce on top of the tortillas, and sprinkle on the remaining shredded cheese.
- Bake uncovered for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and serve immediately
- Leftovers can be frozen and re-heated, tasting just as great the second time around!
- Francine’s French Onion soup
Ingredients
- 6 large red or yellow onions, peeled and thinly sliced root to stem about 10 cups of sliced onions total
- 4 Tbsp Olive oil
- 2 Tbsp butter
- 1 teaspoon of sugar
- Salt
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 8 cups of beef stock, chicken stock, or a combination of the two
- 2 bay leaves
- 4 teaspoons of fresh thyme OR 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 8 inch-thick slices of French bread or baguette, freeze any extra to preserve freshness forlater use
- 1 1/2 cups of grated, and frozen for freshness, Swiss Gruyere and a sprinkling of Parmesan totop your French Onion soup.Method
- Caramelize the onions: In a 5 to 6 quart thick-bottomed pot, heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil on medium heat. Add the onions and toss to coat with the olive oil, stir until soft (15-20 minutes). Add remaining olive oil and lightly brown on high heat. Sprinkle with sugar and salt and continue cooking until well-browned. Stir in minced garlic, cook for 2 minutes
- Add the stock, bay leaves, and thyme. Bring to a simmer, cover pot and lower the heat maintaining a low simmer. Cook for 30 minutes.
- Season to taste with salt and pepper. Discard the bay leaves.
- Toast French bread slices:
- line a sheet pan with parchment paper or foil and preheat the oven to 450°F/230°C
- Brush both sides of the French bread or baguette slices lightly with olive oil
- Toast until lightly browned, about 5 to 7 minutes.
- Turn the toasts over and sprinkle with the grated frozen Gruyere cheese andParmesan. Return to oven and bake until the cheese is bubbly and lightly browned.
- To serve, ladle soup into an oven safe bowl and transfer one cheesy toast onto the top ofeach bowl of soup.
- Freeze any leftover soup for a rainy day and re-heat.
Ice Age 5: Collision Course is out on Blu-ray™ and DVD on 5th December, from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment
Anna Marikar, mum of four and seasoned blogger, has spent over a decade sharing her parenting journey and passion for kid-friendly crafts and free printables.
Her easy-to-follow craft ideas and practical parenting advice have transformed In The Playroom into a cherished resource for parents.