Use it up! Don't throw it in the bin!

Cat_Addict

Old freezer veg sounds like the way forward! After my successful foray into soup making today I have a feeling soup will be a regular from anything that no-one wants. I guess that once upon a time that was totally the norm.

Olliebeak

beautiful_ravens wrote: »

....... my mum gave me her old parsnips, so I cored, peeled and froze them - but will they be useable for anything when I take them out? Roasting? have never frozen parsnips before.

My parsnips for roasting on Christmas Day and today, had all been frozen before-hand and they were lovely.

D&DD

I think parsnips are actually even sweeter after they've been frozen
When you grow them they always say leave them until after the first frosts as it sweetens them up
I parboil mine then freeze them in a 'dinners worth' bags.


PS those hunter rolls sound lovely!!! Must give them a try thanks

Cat_Addict

That's interesting! I was thinking of going to the German supermarket tomorrow to stock up on parsnips to make soup.

boombap

If anyone could offer advice then I'd be very grateful:

I HATE the idea of waste but for some reason my mother thinks the more waste food the better. It's a cause of ENDLESS rows.

Me n me fella are living at home until we can buy our own (hopefully approx 6 months). We are very lucky in that it's a very large house so space is not an issue.

The problem is is that it's only the four of us in the house - mum, dad, me n OH. My OH works so he's provided with butties for morning and lunch. I'm self employed and tend to only eat toast in the mornings and a quick buttie for lunch. I 'do' all our evening meals.

Parents are retired so can spend time cooking at lunch but tend to be busy. All things taken into account it means that there's an awful lot of waste. Me and Dad have tried to explain to my Mum that she buys too much but rather than curtail it seems to encourage more spending.

I shudder to think at the amount we throw away. She only buys 'finest' range and mainly ready meals (ready made mash, ie fresh!?!?!?) and I really think that we throw away at least £100+ a month.

I think we all recognise that it's a 'powertrip' for her to buy so much and there's no way my Dad will take away her spending power. Me and OH did buy our own food for a while but that meant that she still bought it for us so there was even more thrown away. We pay our way obviously but the amount of waste is shameful to say the least.

We row daily (me and Dad both have a go) but mum still makes the daily pilgrimage to Sainsburys.

I know full well that I'm a very blessed little b***ger that all I have to worry about is too much food but I hope you can see that I want to change mother's ways!

Thanks

S.

Cat_Addict

Maybe you could mealplan a week for you and your OH and rope your Mum in to help you get the ingredients you need to do the meals. Hopefully this would still make her feel powerful and helpful but without buying megatons of stuff that you simply don't need?

boombap

Thanks CatAddict (love the name, I must admit I am one too!)

The 'problem' (I say that as I reckon that all 'problems' can be worked around)is that I am srapped for time. As I've just set up my own business I can't afford much time. BUT as you very rightly say, that a WEEKLY plan should do the job.

I will give it a go this week. To be honest I've never been one of those people that are hapy having meat pie on a monday, fish on a tuesday and pasta on a weds....etc. Stilll, I will certainly give it a go.

It will probably be a good exercise for me and the OH - ie making a plan and sticking to it.

Cheers again,

S.

Cat_Addict

It shouldn't be too hard - we're not thinking cordon bleu. Just pick seven meals and you can interchange the days so no fish on one day, mince on another LOL - it'd just give you the ability to easily make meals every night without feeding the nation on top of yourselves.

eg. pasta bake, omelette n chips, curry n rice, chilli n baked potato, fish pie, spaghetti bolognese etc....

boombap

So, so right.

I think that so many 'options' has spoiled us. I know it sounds daft but the way I see it the more 'options' you have the more rigid your menu gets.

S.

Burp_2

Ello

We have almost 1kg of eating apples ... any idea what we can use them for? Normally we'd have 2 everyday with packed lunches for work but because it's the holiday we haven't!

Thought about making my own version of Mr Kipling Apple pies and sticking them in the freezer for packed lunches ... any other ideas appreciated

Burp x