Waste not want not – freezing food in glass

With plenty of summer fruit and veg around now, this is a good time to save as much as possible of any fresh food you have spare now. And you can save it in spare glass jars

Glass is one of the safest forms of packaging because it contains no chemical layers that can leach into contents.

It’s made of entirely natural materials so it’s the healthiest choice for food and drink.

It is also 100% recyclable without any loss of quality and because it is inert, it keeps food and drink fresher for longer.

Friends of Glass – promoting the £1.6bn UK glass-making industry which makes billions of bottles and jars a year – says save your glass jars or wide-mouthed bottles, sterilise them in the dishwasher, and keep them ready for a time when you have too many fresh runner beans, kale, etc.

Pop veg (as fresh as possible) into boiling water when you are cooking a meal, have a pan of cold water at the ready alongside, and take out half the veg, douse them in the cold water, drain, and pop into the jam jars. Screw the lid on tight.

When the jars are cool, they can go into your freezer – use when you feel like some nice fresh veg but within a few weeks.

Let the jar defrost slowly when you take it out of the freezer and then finish cooking the veg in a microwave or a pan of boiling water.

Of course, there are lots of other foods that can go to waste. If you have children or teenagers who eat half a tin of baked beans and leave the rest, pop the leftovers into a jam jar and into the freezer.

And definitely don’t waste that delicious gravy from the Sunday roast. Anything that can be frozen can be frozen in glass – including Christmas cake.

Or if you’re feeling adventurous, try some of this delicious recipe from Friends of Glass for a pudding that uses up leftover fruit: It can be frozen – if you can resist it that long!

Strawberry and banana smoothie

Serve in an attractive glass jar- this is enough for 1 portion.

Ingredients

1 medium banana (peeled), 200g ripe washed strawberries, 150g natural yoghurt, 1 tablespoon runny honey.

Method

Blitz strawberries in a liquidizer until smooth, add the rest of the ingredients plus a few ice cubes, and continue to blend until smooth. Pour into jar and serve.

Raise a Glass for World Milk Day

Happy World Milk Day to all Friends of Glass.

Delicious Noodle Pots Recipe

We are big fans of the Great British Bake Off and delicious recipes in glass, so when we saw this recipe by one of the baking programme’s finalists, Tamal Ray, on the Guardian’s website we couldn’t resist to share it with you.

Should Glass Milk Bottles Make a Comeback to the Supermarket Shelves?

It’s a no brainer that glass and milk go hand in hand. Not only does glass help keep milk fresher for longer, but it also ensures that it retains all its taste and goodness. Those who read our exclusive interview with the world’s first milk sommelier, Bas de Groot, will know that if you want to taste milk like a sommelier, you definitely need to use glass to keep the taste intact. Even dairy farms agree that glass is the best option for storing milk: