How long will this lot last?

Ames

Now that I've got tupperware (I've no idea where the last lot went, I only got it a month ago! Think some of it walked out with sister) I can do things like tuna. I also love hummous, but find that a tub doesn't last long so it works out quite dear. I prefer wraps to bread though, they last longer and they're a little bit healthier I think.

I'm also thinking that if I have cous cous for tea one night I can save some for a wrap the next lunch time.

I'll work out the meal plan on Sunday, I'm going to have to have a motorway services break at some point so it'll give me something to do then!

zippychick

Hi Ames! Nice to see you posting here

Gosh! You really do have a lot of food. I live alone too, and i have a squirrel instinct too. Buying whoopsies and stashing them away. The good thing is you literally don't need to buy any food - apart from the fresh stuff you mention.

Just wondered if you ever tried making bread? I guess the kneading would be a problem - but there are others on here who make "no knead " bread. Just wondered.

Do you have a chair in the kitchen? To sit on while preparing food? If not can you fit one in? I sprained my knee and couldnt walk for two weeks, and found having a stool beside the kitchen, and one beside the cooker - I could actually cook in comfort. Sounds lazy , but it was brill. (I got my stools off freegle )

Some links

Meal planning how to do it

Complete Slow cooker collection

Slow cooker recipe index

In my slow cooker today (get an idea of what people do each day)

When you go shopping - you could always price out what you need, and only take that much. So literally go with your £5 note - so you can't spend any more

Its hard to know where to start with meals, you have so much! Pasta bake jumps out, as does chicken cous cous - i love this one and its so quick to prepare. Have you tried making double portions and then having for your lunch the next day ? When you make a bit of freezer room, then you can build up a supply of one portion meals. So dinner will be just a matter of reheating something - obviously helpful on a real bad pain day

Definitely get your meal plan up and well all chip in .

Looking at the amount of meat, you have around 30 individual portions plus a couple of bigger joints i think. Thinking logically - one a day would last a month . Alternating with veggie/toast based nights -2 months.

Regards slow cookers, hoke about those links and you will see its not only stew based food. I used mine to make lemon curd, and others rant about rice pudding in it . SCs are good for making soup too.

I always have chopped frozen onions peppers sweetcorn and peas. Iceland £1 for a bag of each. This way, I can always prepare good with minimal chopping and i dont always have to have fresh onions in

Meal ideas - sorry brain dead today

Spinach fritatta - leftovers can be eaten cold - yum
Chickpea curry
Hotdog hotpot

Thats all I can think of today,brain wont work.x

zippychick

That took me too long, and i hadnt read your recent post!

Ummmmm.Oh yes! You can make hummous yourself - but would need to blend it all. Do you have a hand blender? Some recipes ask for tahini but im sure there are other recipes on here that don't have that. Hummous thread for you.

Trinny

Hello there

I have been in the same situation as you - full freezers and still not organised and buying take aways - as i cant be "bothered" to cook. I dont have ME like you so that brings more challenge. So firstly - well done for posting - lots of folk here are really helpful and supportive - and not afraid to get someone to confront the truth if needs be.

In addition to the other posts - i would

Menu plan - work out what you like to eat over a fortnight
try to make these meals with what you have in - only buying what you need.
batch cook - this is a biggie for those who live alone. If on your good days you make a batch of soup, pasta meal etc then freeze it in portions - you will have HM ready meals for the days when you are not doing so well.

Key is being organised - having a "ready steady cook" mentality about what food you have - ie making meals using the ingredients you have

And maximising the good days to batch cook - which will help on the bad days

HTH

Trin

greenbee

Like zippychick, I think you could probably make hummous yourself if you paced yourself.

Two options -

1. use tinned chickpeas.

Drain can, of chickpeas, making sure you keep the liquid. I don't bother using tahini with mine. If you have a food processor, it takes a couple of minutes (and given your health issues, it would probably be a sensible investment if you don't have one - it doesn't have to be a large/heavy/expensive one, and you could use it to blend stews into soup for freezing, and for chopping things). Bung chickpeas, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil and some of the liquid into the processor and blend until it gets to a consistency you like. Add more oil/liquid if necessary. I don't use tahini, but I do sometimes add cayenne pepper and turmeric.

2. dried chickpeas - make as above once cooked.

When you're having a good couple of days, soak some chickpeas overnight and cook. Use some to make hummous and freeze the rest in plastic bags in small portions. They're then ready to use for hummous or other dishes as and when you need them.

And ask your sister to return your tupperware, preferably filled with delicious meals since she likes cooking so much!

I suggest that the first thing you do is make a slow-cooker casserole with the beef in the fridge, before it goes off! You can use a tin or two of tomatoes (depending on how much beef there is), but you'll also need to get some onions and a carrot or two to go with it (could you get someone to come and chop them for you - if you can, get them to chop a whole lot of onions and freeze them in portions for you to use in future). I would also normally add something like pearl barley and/or some diced potato to it, and maybe some tinned beans (I buy all kinds - kidney, pinto, flageolet etc), so that you've got a variety of stuff in there and just need to cook some greens to go with it. You can then portion it up into your new tupperware, label it(!), eat one portion fresh and put the rest in the freezer.

Given the amount of meat etc. you've got in there, it might be worth aiming for a month of meals based on eating fresh stuff most days (not necessarily meat every day, you could alternate with meals made from fresh veggies including salads), where you batch cook, eat one portion and freeze the rest. Within a week, if you have a bad day, you'll have a week's worth of frozen meals, and can just move your menu plan along by the appropriate number of days to allow for it.

Keep a list on the front of the freezer of what you put in, and cross it off when you use it, so you know what ingredients and what meals you have.

Have you thought about buying long-life milk so that it's there if you aren't up to shopping? I buy the 'Moo' organic semi-skimmed, as I don't use milk that often, and it tastes OK. I also keep long-life rice milk for porridge as I prefer it!

I'm about to go back to work after 6 weeks gardening leave/unemployment, and am going to be doing something similar - through inventory and batch cook, so that I have a month's worth of meals planned and organised, as I know I'll be exhausted to begin with!

zippychick

Ames doesn't have lemon - i checked, but if it was me , i would try making it with lime juice. Although, you can get lemon juice really cheap and it's a good investment for the fridge. I always put lemon on salads. mmm

Anyone know the website you type your ingredients into, and it comes up with a meal? I can't remember what it is off hand.

I might have to make some hummous now after talking about it. *dribble* Love it with black pepper.

greenbee

zippychick wrote: »

Ames doesn't have lemon - i checked, but if it was me , i would try making it with lime juice. [\quote]

Good idea!

zippychick wrote: »

Although, you can get lemon juice really cheap and it's a good investment for the fridge. I always put lemon on salads. mmm

And that!

zippychick wrote: »

I might have to make some hummous now after talking about it. *dribble* Love it with black pepper.

So's that BUT I've just been given a big box of veg and another of cooking/eating apples and pears, so I need to work my way through that first. I had home-grown (not my home!) corn on the cob followed by wholewheat noodles & spinach cooked in chicken stock for my supper this evening. Probably one of my favourites!

zippychick

sounds yummy and very healthy! Hummous is great with veg too Carrot sticky dippy inny.

zippychick

greenbee wrote: »

I'm about to go back to work after 6 weeks gardening leave/unemployment, and am going to be doing something similar - through inventory and batch cook, so that I have a month's worth of meals planned and organised, as I know I'll be exhausted to begin with!

Had to chuckle at that. Isn't it garden leave? I just had visions of you gardening for 6 weeks non stop :rotfl:

Congrats on getting employment. Sounds like a good plan to be getting on with! Once you start, you will feel so much better :T

Ames

Oooh lots of ideas! Right, I'll try to reply to all the posts:

I do have a chair in the kitchen, it's a bit too low to reach the hob though. I've only got a mini cooker (caravan type one) so that I can have it on the worktop and it's the right height for the oven, I burn myself less if I don't have to bend over to it. Plus I couldn't fit both a cooker and washing machine in my kitchen. But I can use it for preparing food. I'm also working on a deal with my ex - I give him a couple of lifts now and then and he comes round every couple of weeks to chop a load of veg for me. Sister's got a hand blender and food processor, and is moving to a job with accommodation where she's not allowed to cook in her room, so I'm going to babysit them for her for a few months! So that should help, I'm just worried about the washing up with a food processor, so I'd need to plan ahead to cook on days when the cleaner (when I find one) can wash up the pans etc.

Thanks for the link about meal planning, I just sat down to do it and thought 'where on earth do I start' so I'll have a look at that thread!

I quite like the idea of making my own hummous, a big tin of chick peas would be cheaper than the ready made tubs, would I be able to freeze it though? I've no idea what tahini is though!

I did a slow cooker stew thing today - the beef, half a tin of chopped toms and a small tin of chick peas, with paprika and cumin. It was ok but a bit watery. That's just practice though. It's just an individual sc though, it makes enough for one meal. I've just got a bigger one, so when I'm used to using the little one (and cleared space in the freezer) I'll use the big one and batch cook. That way I don't try something new, get it wrong and waste loads of ingredients.

Great idea to put a list on the front of the freezer! I'll def do that.

I've got a bottle of long life milk in the car (left over from Leeds festival last month, I think there's other dried stuff lurking there as well!), I'll keep that for emergencies/ bad days when I run out of milk.

I was thinking on Sunday because I'm going to be out all day doing something in the slow cooker, I was thinking some of the fish and spinach, but don't know what else could go in there?

Thanks for all the suggestions, I really appreciate it.