If you 'plough through' some food, you eat it all but with some difficulty because there is a lot of it. In American English, 'plough' can be written as 'plow'

· He served a huge plate of spaghetti and it took me ages to plough my way through it.

· They served us snake. I didn't like it but I plowed my way through it to be polite.

If you 'put away' food or drink, it can mean you eat or drink a lot of it. (Obviously, it can also mean that you place the food or drink in a fridge or cupboard – the context of the sentence should make clear the meaning.)

· Watch Peter. He's been putting away a lot of beer and he sometimes turns aggressive when he's drunk.

· He has put away some sandwiches but is still hungry.

If you 'pick at' your food, you only eat a small amount of it, usually because you are not hungry, you are on a diet or because you are ill.

· She only picked at her food, even though it was delicious.

· We were so busy talking that we only picked at our food.

If you 'cut down' or 'cut back' on a particular food or drink, you consume less of it.

· My doctor told me to cut back on the amount of salt in my diet.

· I need to cut down the amount of fried food I eat.

If you 'eat up', you finish all your food.

· I don't like tripe but I ate it all up when it was served to us by our hosts.

· Eat up. It's time to go.

If you 'drink up', you finish all your drink.

· We seem to have drunk up all the orange juice.

· Drink up. It's time to go.

If you 'polish off' some food, you finish it completely and quickly.

· The guests polished off all the food in the first thirty minutes.

· He has just polished off two whole pizzas and still says he is hungry.

If you 'dish up' some food, you put it onto plates or dishes, ready to be served.

· I've heard she is going to dish up something really special.

· Can you collect up the starter plates, while I dish up the main course?

Serve up' is a another way of saying the same thing as 'dish up'.

· They served up a six course meal for their guests.

· It's no better than the food we serve up in our canteen and twenty times more expensive.

If you 'lay on' some food or drink, you provide it.

· We've laid on a buffet lunch for our visitors.

· They laid on a small drinks party for us.

If you make a meal very quickly and easily, you 'whip it up'. This is informal.

· Have a seat and I'll whip us up something to eat.

· I could whip up a salad, if you are hungry.

If you make food quickly and without much effort, you 'knock it up'.

· I knocked myself up a quick meal from what was left in my fridge.

· Do you want me to knock up some lunch?

If you make food hot so that it can be eaten, you 'heat it up'.

· I've already prepared the food for the party. All we need to do is to heat up the pizzas.

· I could heat up a can of soup if you are hungry.