Food waste is a huge problem in the UK. In general, an average family will throw away £50 worth of food each month.

A large slice of this food waste comes from leftovers - the pasta left in the pan or the couscous that wasn't eaten.

Perfect portions

The quickest way to reduce the amount of food we waste, and cut our food bills into the bargain, is by making sure we have the proper measure of our food.

The online portion planner takes away the guesswork by suggesting how much food to prepare based on the number of people you're cooking for, whether it's for one person or 50. It's simple and takes away the guesswork.

Choose the food you're using - fruit, veg, meat, fish, cereals, pasta, beans - and the portion planner does the rest!

Every kitchen needs a few basic gadgets to hand to maximise efficiency and keep cooking fun. Putting the lid on your food waste once and for all takes just four pieces of key kitchen kit:

• A mug - an average size mug is great for measuring uncooked rice. One adult portion is about 1/4 mug.
• The humble tablespoon - good for measuring portions of beans, lentils, sugar and dried fruit.
• A spaghetti measurer - will make life infinitely easier if you're unsure how much to cook. Not got one to hand? Try our simple DIY version in Love Food Hate Waste's online kitchen survival kit.
• Weighing scales - avoid cooking too much by getting in the habit of using the kitchen scales - they are great for measuring everyday portions

Food packaging often has a guideline amount to cook per portion. Some even have handy portioning lines on the side to help you measure the right amount without having to break out the scales.

And don't panic if you cook too much, there are lots of ways you can store food and use it again. Here are some of our favourites...

• Cheap and easy ideas for using leftovers as a tasty midday meal are invaluable. To freeze cooked pasta you haven't eaten simply rinse it in a colander, divide into meal-sized portions and store them in the freezer.
• For a quick lunchtime feast, put the frozen pasta into boiling water or the microwave and cook for a few minutes. Add salad, leftover cooked vegetables, ham or cheese to make a tasty lunch which you can even eat on the go.
• Leftover cooked rice should be cooled as quickly as possible. Do this by draining the rice in a colander, rinsing with cold water and tipping it into a large, shallow container. Once it's cold, cover and keep refrigerated for no longer than 24 hours.
• You can freeze leftover potatoes and defrost them in the fridge when you're in a rush. Use them to make mashed potatoes, boiled potatoes, roast potatoes, potato wedges, chips, Dauphinoise or gratin.
• Freeze your potatoes on a baking tray (so they're not touching each other) when they're solid pop them in a plastic bag. This stops them sticking together so you don't have to defrost them all at once.

For more recipes and great ideas to save money and reduce food waste, visit www.lovefoodhatewaste.com