I come from a family where gravy is considered a beverage. Erma Bombeck (American humourist)

Gravy begins to break down if stored too long so refrigerate promptly and use within two days but remember, gravy can be frozen in manageable portions.  Flour-thickened gravy keeps frozen for up to four months.  However, the fat can separate when thawed so skim off before freezing.  Alternatively, in order to maintain the flavour locked into the fat, run the gravy through a blender or food processor before freezing.

If you are having a Sunday roast, why not make extra gravy to freeze ready for those evening when you intend to have sausage and mash or maybe chops.  Shop brought instant gravy may be handy but it is full of salt as well as other nastiest.  Left over cooked meats store and freeze better in their own gravy.  The gravy keeps the meat from drying out as well as proving an instant mid-week meal with the addition of a jacket potato or a few potato wedges.

On the subject of the Sunday roast, don’t be tempted to throw away the bones / carcass.  Boil a chicken carcass for one and half to two hours in water, together with carrot tops, leek tops, onion, herbs, in fact just add anything you have lying around, to create a tasty stock.  Strain the liquid before reducing it down.

This stock makes the ideal base for homemade soups.  Lamb and beef bones make a good stock too.  Freeze either in zip lock bags to save freezer space or in ice cube trays to make your own stock cubes. 

Eating too much salt may raise your blood pressure, and having high blood pressure increases your risk of developing coronary heart disease.  Despite dozens of firms signing up to a voluntary deal to cut salt levels, health campaigners say too many everyday foods still contain too much salt with major brands at fault.  Added salt has increased in food products you would not associate with being salty such as corn flakes, cheese, soups, as well as ready meals.  Keeping an eye on the salt content of the stock cubes and gravy granules you add to each meal can really make a difference to family's health.

How much is too much per 100g?

	Low	Medium	High
SALT	0g – 0.3g	0.3g – 1.5g	More than 1.5g
SODIUM	0g – 0.1g	0.1g – 0.6g	More than 0.6g

Take a look out for the following;

Meat QUIXO gravy granules 0.84g salt per 70ml made up gravy

Chicken QUIXO gravy granules 0.61g salt per 70ml made up gravy

Vegetable QUIXO stock cube 4.2g salt per cube

Beef QUIXO stock cube 3.9g salt per cube

Vegetable KNORR cube 0.95g salt per 100ml made up

Organic Chicken KALLO very low salt cube 0.1g salt per 100ml made up

With those kinds of figures, you must be tempted to make your own.  Just imagine what all of that salt is doing to your child’s brain.  The bodies of babies and young children can not process salt resulting in quite severe health problems.