Using leftovers

Whether you’ve cooked too much or didn’t eat it all, leftovers are worth saving. Even just a few tablespoons of cooked rice or roasted vegetables can be used in another meal, saving you money and time.
Follow these tips to make the most of your leftovers:

• Cool leftovers as quickly as possible, ideally within two hours.
• Divide leftovers into individual portions and refrigerate or freeze.
• Use refrigerated leftovers within two days.
• When reheating food, make sure it is heated until it reaches a temperature of 70oC for two minutes, so that it is steaming hot throughout.
• Always defrost leftovers completely, either in the fridge or in the microwave.
• When defrosted, food should be reheated only once, because the more times you cool and reheat food, the higher the risk of food poisoning.
• Cooked food that has been frozen and removed from the freezer should be reheated and eaten within 24 hours of fully defrosting.
• Foods stored in the freezer, such as ice cream and frozen desserts, should not be returned to the freezer once they have thawed.
• For safety and to reduce waste, only take out of the freezer what you intend to use within the next 24 hours.
• Keep your fridge temperature between 0oC and 5oC and keep the most perishable foods, like cooked meats, in the coldest part of the fridge.