Store cupboard challenge

CCP

Just a quick update: out of my freezer this weekend - half a pack of crumpets, which I had for breakfast yesterday. Into my freezer - one portion of mushroom and lentil wellington, half a pack of puff pastry left over from making said wellington, and one pack of stuffed chillis (which were meant to go with my pizza for Friday night dinner, but I forgot about until I was halfway through my meal :doh:). There will also be 5 mini cider cakes, as I had too much mix for my cake tin and had to cook it in my muffin tray.

This isn't going well - stuff is meant to be coming out of the freezer, not going into it!

Confuzzled

CCP wrote: »

My next task will be to think of uses for some of the odder items on my list:

• pork ribs that are mostly bone, with very little meat (I thought I might try and do a meat-based soup with them, but I'm not quite sure what)
• five slices of rye bread (for sandwiches, possibly, although it's in the freezer because I didn't like it much)
• pack of curry-flavour supernoodles (they were a freebie - I didn't buy them - honest!)
• box sugar crystals (bought for a cake topping originally, I think)
• half a pack of ground almonds (that might have gone off by now - does anyone know how you tell?)
• three quarters of a pack of raisin Country Crisp cereal (bought because I wanted the free rosemary plant they were giving away, and I then discovered I don't really like the cereal :rolleyes:)
• packet of bulgar wheat
• tin of mackerel fillets
• bottle of curried brown sauce (which is so spicy it took the skin off the inside of my mouth when I tried some)

Any ideas, anyone? Please?!

for the pork ribs you could cook them in with pea soup, then just pull them out, pick of the meat and put it back in the soup before eating

for the rye why not make a savoury bread and butter pudding (there are loads of good recipes out there but make sure you get one that uses a decent amount of cheese or add in more than it says) you could do half rye bread half white, i think that would be really nice especially if you use mature cheddar for the cheese as the sharpness of the cheddar would complimant the slight twang of rye.

for the sugar crystals, ground almonds and cereals try using the universal muffin recipe here http://baskersfunfoods.blogspot.com/2009/02/universal-muffins.html you don't have to make it into muffins though, you can put it in a well greased and floured loaf tin or a well buttered glass dish (batter no more than 2inches deep) and make it into a sort of 'cake' type desert. the universal recipe will tell you how to replace some of the flour for the cereal and how much extra liquid etc you should use. the sugar crystals would be lovely on top and the ground almonds can be considered a dry addition, they'll give it a lovely cherry/marzipan flavour mmmm

for the mackeral and bulghar wheat... cook the bulghar wheat like cous cous, you can add a tin of tomatoes in whilst cooking or a stock cube etc. you might try adding a few drops of the super hot sauce you have to the cooking water, it might give it a harissa like taste without it burning your mouth :eek: after the bulghar is cooked stir it well and flake in the tin of mackeral (i'd just eat them out of the tin myself i love it like that it's so meaty!) the two should mix nicely and of course you could add in some peas, peppers, onions etc

also you could try watering down the sauce or adding a few drops to the cooking water for pasta, rice etc and if that doesn't work i'd say bin it and chalk it up to experience.

hope that helps

jtb2412

Hi all

Had to buy some mince today but that's all I got (were 3 for £10). It's steak mince so quite a good deal. Having one pack for tonight (lasagne), one will be for tomorrow (shepherds pie) and the other one has gone in the freezer :rolleyes:.

Small freezer is defrosting after yesterday's mammoth jam/chutney making so once that's back up and running, the large chest freezer will be sorted and organised. I think I have some cod in there (ends from the fishmonger) so will hopefully be having fishcakes one evening during the week.

Storecupboards looking like they've got a bit more space. Might make some cakes if I get time tonight for pack-ups next week.

CCP thanks for sharing the cider cake recipe - might have to make that this week !

Right back to the lasagne ... have a nice Sunday evening everyone :beer:

nopot2pin

CCP wrote: »

nopot2pin - it's a bit late now, I know, but you can use cottage cheese, sprinkled with some grated parmesan, as a topping for lasagne / pasta bakes, instead of cheese sauce. It's an idea I got from a low-fat lasagne recipe - the lasagne was really quite horrible but the cottage cheese topping was nice enough that I've used it several times since.

That is a good idea. I may try that next time I make lasagne
I made the sauce.... according to the recipe...
But it definatley needs tweaking. Maybe I used to much garlic in it

XSpender wrote: »

I have been thinking about stocking up on meat for DH at Costo at the beginning of Dec. Does anyone else use Costco for meat?

I dont eat meat, but I do eat fish. I always get salmon from Costco. It is very delishious :drool: The smoked haddock is also good from there.

NualaBuala wrote: »

Wish we had Approved Foods over here - sounds like a magical wonderland of bargains.

Do they not deliver to you ?? LINKY

nopot2pin

I had a friend staying for the weekend... :j
I managed to use up a bit from the freezer
Normally, I would have bought stuff in, costing who knows what:eek:
So, it was quite nice, to not do that, and the weekend didn't cost a fortune


I am not sure what I fancy for tea tonight.
I fancy making some Lentil and tomato soup... but I dont fancy eating that. I just wanted to make it, so that I had another soup choice from the freezer, if you know what I mean.

I think I will wait a while and then decide

Long_tall_sally

Hello, only my 2nd post so very new to this! I am really trying to reduce my food bills which are way too much! I have been a lurker for a while and have really enjoyed reading this plus the grocery challenge thread and finally decided to take the plunge & see if I could join! I have done a stock check of my freezer & my store cupboards & there is loads in both! I was quite pleased with my self today because I used up a packet of pine nuts (not sure when or why I bought them, lol!) fried with my brusell sprouts with my roast lamb dinner. They were really nice & might even buy them again some time! But for now I am looking for ideas to use up the left over lamb which isn't a huge amount tbh but don't want to waste it and as we rarely have lamb I am a bit stuck for ideas so any offered would be greatly received thankyou? I also used up some condensed milk which was a bit out of date and made millionaire shortbread but haven't tasted that yet so not sure how successful that was. Sometimes I get a bit stressed with baking(& general cooking for that matter!)

jtb2412

Hi long tall sally :hello: We usually use leftover lamb for a biryani (sp?), lots of recipes on the net and it's a good opportunity to use up little odds and ends as well.

I like the pine nuts and sprouts idea, might have to steal that one .

I have half a pack of almonds to use up over the next couple of days so if anyone has any foolproof almond biscuit recipes, I'd love to hear them !

jtb2412

Oooops ! Sorry ,,,,, double post ....ignore !!

lynzpower

Welcome sally. Sorry cant help with the lamb but I know people do save it and use it again ( you can freeze is cooked for later) I bet the millionaires shortbreead are great .Even if they fall apart so what --dig in with a spoon :drool: All goes down the same hole and the ingredients, well nothing to dislike is there

I am GOING to take a flask of hot water with cupasoup tomorrow. I have the end of a jar of quick tea as well. I am ashamed of what I spend on lunches so at least once a week ( baby steps!) im not going to have a bought lunch. I aim to try!!

The prob is if I take lunch I eat it in the car within the first 5 mins, so I need something thats not instant n grabbable, although I will have a cereal bar with me and maybe some nuts, I will aim to eat the cupasoup. I have some supermarket rolls ( or clouds- so full of air its like eating nothing) that were RTC in the freezer, I could do with getting them out- plus will leave a couople for OHs lunch. He will probably take an oxtail soup tin in, with the snacks to go with it.

kidcat

Hi everyone, have decided to take on the challenge of emptying y freezers before Christmas, mainly because they need defrosting but also because I want to do my Christmas shopping soon and have nowhere to put the stuff!!

Having moved recently I have managed to go from three overflowing freezers down to two - which was a major achievement but now need to run the two down for defrosting.
Some of the stuff found after rotating the shelves a bit today, includes lamb mince, sausage meat, salmon, haddock, cod, duck legs, sliced duck breast and beef mince.

Obviously theres loads of stuff for the beef mince and the fish can be thrown into a fish pie, struggling with the lamb mince though and the sliced duck breast (cooked). The duck was bought at DH staff shop for £1 for 1k bag, it takes up loads of space but I have no idea what to do with it. So any suggestions gratefully received.