Help! meal suggestions needed with this list of ingredients?

Mics_chick

I've been reading alot of threads over the last couple of weeks and even started a couple myself but I think I've been a bit overawed by how resourceful everyone is being... I'm a chocolate-munching tv-addicted couch potato who will do everything the easiest way possible - that's why we live mostly on takeaways! :mad: Aaarrrrghhhhh! Which is not good with 2 little ones (3.4 & 1.9).

Thinking about it I wasn't too bad after my DD was born that's why she loves fruit and likes quite a bit of veg but the story's not so great with my DS. He's not as bad as some I've seen on TV but he'll only eat fruit/veg if it's heavily disguised. I think I lost the plot totally when I was diagnosed with PND just 2 weeks after my DS was born and I've not been bothered at all since...

But I think now I've had a gradual awakening (rather than a lightbulb moment!) and am finally starting to face up to things.

I've started by doing a look through the cupboards and writing down everything that I think can be used in a recipe. I've got some ideas but I'd love it if anyone could give me some other ideas?

Freezer
Battered fish portions
Fish fingers
Chicken fillets
Pork joint
Sirloin steak
Braising steak
Minced beef (about 250gms)
Bacon
Cod fillets
Parmesan
Carrots
Green beans
Swede & carrot mix
Brussels
Cauli
Sliced peppers


Fridge
Mature cheddar
Boursin (half a packet)
Mushrooms (need using up quickly)
Cabbage
Celery (needs using up too)
Courgettes
Cherry tomatoes
Cucumber
Strawberries (need using up very quickly!)


Cupboard
Baked beans
Spaghetti rings
Chickpeas
Tuna
Brown rice
White rice
Noodles
Peanuts
Raisins
Stuffing mix
All-bran
Eggs
Potatoes
Onions
Bananas
Apples


Meals I've thought of so far are:-

Fish portions (adults) & fish fingers (kids) + HM chips
Roast pork + potatoes + frozen carrots & beans
Chicken fillets wrapped in bacon + jacket potatoes + cucumber/cherry toms
Cottage pie
Panhagglety - potatoes,onions,bacon (from MSE recipe)
Fish pie with frozen cod fillets?

I've seen a recipe on this thread that uses cabbage and peanuts for a main meal - very unusual combination but thought I'd give it a try

I bought Tescos All-bran & raisins to use in another recipe from MSE but this was for a cake-type treat!

I will probably whizz the strawberries into a sort of syrup and freeze it.

We (OH & me) will do roast pork for Sunday lunch tomorrow but it's too much for one meal. I'm planning on saving some pork for sandwiches but anyone got any other ideas for the rest of it?

Also any suggestions on how to be inventive with braising steak & sirloin steak so that we can make the most of it - I mean possibly freeze some for another day?

I've thought about making some sort of soup? I've got store cupboard supplies like flour, stock cubes, herbs & spices, etc.

I would really like to use sprouts, mushrooms, courgettes, celery, stuffing, noodles and chickpeas because I've got no ideas for them!

Any help gratefully received.
Mics_chick

gingin_2

Mics_chick wrote:

Any help gratefully received.
Mics_chick

Hi, you've got a lovely inventory and the sort of things we keep in our house .

Boursin is yum, if you are doing chicken wrapped in bacon make a little pouch and stuf fsome of the boursin in there before wrapping round the bacon, you can also fry up some of the mushrooms and crumble in the boursin which creates it's own sauce iykwim and serve on toast or in a puff pastry shell.

Most of my stews tend to involve browned braising steak, onions,carrots, celery stock and a dash of worcester, I would add the chickpeas and mushrooms as well to bulk it out .

Will try and think of more.

buxtonrabbitgreen

Well I am no expert on this board but no one else has answered what leaps out to me is rissotto to use up your celery and mushrooms. You have rice and chick peas., and anything else you care to throw in. Hope this is some help

Lucie_2

Mics_chick wrote:

I would really like to use sprouts, mushrooms, courgettes, celery, stuffing, noodles and chickpeas because I've got no ideas for them!

Have the stuffing with your pork roast tomorrow - make extra so you can have it in your sarnies too.

Use the veg & noodles for a stirfry, perhaps with some sliced chicken or the sirloin (bit extravagant for sirlion tho!) or even the leftover pork from your joint. Shred the raw sprouts up, just like you would with cabbage. Roughly chop some peanuts too, to add a bit of crunch.

Chickepeas - erm, only thing I ever make with chickpeas is houmous!

redballoon_2

I'd Make

Spagehetti bolognaise with spaghetti or shepherds pie with vegetables

Chicken stir fry with veg and noodles (homemade sauce to go with it)

Roast pork dinner, veg, stuffing etc...

Beef casserole with the braising steak and veg (perhaps make dumplins as well?)

there is a recipie on the board for chick pea curry which sounds nice

jacket potatoes with tuna and some other vetegatble or salad.

Spanish omelete with anything you have that needs eating or using up with melted cheese on top.

Fish pie as you already mentioned served with veg

Risotto with anything else you have to throw in it.

gingin_2

Mics_chick wrote:

Any help gratefully received.
Mics_chick

Bit more awake this morning so had another look.

I agree, cook the stuffing with the pork and have any leftovers in sandwiches. If you have lots of pork you could make it into a stirfry with some of your veggies and serve with noodles or rice with some of the peanuts on top, or you could make a pork curry and add the chickpeas or a sweet and sour pork and serve with the rice or noodles.

I love tuna and would either make fishcakes or pop it in a jacket potato, jacket potatoes with beans and cheese are yummy too.

Slow cook any veggies with a bit of stock and some herbs and you have a nice soup.

As I said before you have a nice inventory and can make plenty of tasty nutritious meals out of your ingredients, there is a weekly meal planning thread on here, you should join, it is nice to see not only what other people are eating but also get some good ideas for future meals.

lizzie12_2

With all your frozen veg....... could you cook it and "Pulp" it down to a puree then add to the mince ? then use for your cottage pie..... thats what I do as this way gets more veg down my two.

Hope this helps.

Pooky

Use the strawberries in a smoothie style drink for the kids - helps towards their 5 aday and get's a bit more calcium into them with the milk.

Mics_chick

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone for there ideas so far will definitely be doing some of them in the next week!

Mics_chick

Today we mostly be having stew made with the braising steak because I forgot to get the pork joint out of the freezer! So we're having that tomorrow instead now...

Put some chickpeas in it to bulk it out and they tasted fine because they were cooked for a long time - I was a bit unsure about them because I think I've had them in the past and they've been too chewy (but then I'm not sure whether I'm getting mixed up with lentils or not?!!)

We underestimated how many veggies to put in as there was alot of meat in it compared to anything else. There was even too much for DP who adores red meat. Anyway we took some of it out and put it in the freezer and we use it for a soup or a pie filling or something.

I'm really getting into this OS thing slowly - I've just got to wean myself of choccy now!

Anyway if anyone is still of a mind to give us a few pointers - all info very gratefully received...