JENNA Brown is a food safety expert with two girls aged three and six months.
She’s turned her hand to helping other mums safely make their food go further and shares her tips on Instagram.
Jenna hates wasting food[/caption]
She explains how to make uneaten turkey, soggy Brussel sprouts and cold Christmas pud keep you going for a week
The freezer is your friend
We all know what it’s like to have a mouldering turkey carcass filling up the fridge for days after 25 December. But how long is it safe to eat it?
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Jenna says: “The Food Standards Agency advises that leftovers are consumed within two days.
“The freezer is your best friend when it comes to keeping leftovers going. The rule with turkey or other meat is to strip it from the bone and freeze bite-sized pieces that can be thrown in a stew or pie directly from the freezer and which heat up quickly.
“Frozen food must be piping hot when you eat it.”
Plus, Jenna recommends getting food back in the fridge within two hours of dinner once it’s cooled down.
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Blend leftovers for toddlers
When it comes to making food last, Jenna says don’t forget that the dregs of Christmas Dinner can make good meals for toddlers.
“I’ll blend up some of the veg and potatoes for my baby, who’s started on solids and freeze them in individual portions.
“Or you could freeze adult-sized servings of Christmas Dinner, with a couple of slices of meat and all the trimmings, for an easy late-night microwave supper.”
Do a Boxing Day cook up
Most of us feel a bit sluggish and bored on Boxing Day – which makes it the ideal time to transform your leftovers into meals you can eat later in the week.
Jenna says, “Soups are great when you’ve stuffed yourself over Christmas. Boiling up turkey bones makes a nice stock, which is the ideal base for a soup of leftover sprouts and roast potatoes. Turkey and ham naturally lend themselves to a great pie.
“Again, it can be frozen, but remember food should only be reheated once after defrosting.”
Jenna’s top meal tips
Pigs in blankets make an excellent filling for a Boxing Day toastie
Use Morrisons Filo pastry to make a strudel with leftover Christmas pudding
Leftover Yorkshires can be used to make lunchtime wraps
Stir smoked salmon and cream through pasta to make a quick filling supper
Don’t ditch dairy products
We all tend to buy more than we need for Christmas Day – but products like milk and cheese can be useful in making your leftovers last for days.
Jenna says: “Stirring Stilton through pasta makes a quick dinner that the whole family will love, even if your kids won’t eat blue cheese, while grated cheddar will add zing to a pasta bake.
“Leftover cream and ham can make a nice cheat’s carbonara.”
If you have soft cheeses on the point of over ripening, pop them in the freezer and use them in sauces later on. “Even eggs can be cracked and frozen in sandwich bags.”
Using leftover cheeses to make pasta sauces can be a great way to use up the cheeseboard[/caption]
Jenna likes to blend leftover vegetables for her toddler[/caption]
An easy turkey, cranberry and stuffing sandwich[/caption]
For more Christmas food stories, check out why you’ve been using your Christmas leftovers all wrong – this recipe creates a deliciously drool worthy ‘batter-wich’
check out this savvy single mum – here’s how to cook a 3-course Christmas dinner with all the trimmings & bubbly for £4 a head
Before you get the leftovers, you need to make the meal, so here’s how you’ve been preparing your Christmas dinner all wrong
