Do you follow Use by and Sell by Dates, and other food safety issues

angelavdavis

furrypig wrote: »

Hi

about half kilo long grain rice exp 12/07 (assume this will prob be ok)
500g unopened organic brown rice exp 04/06!
500g unopened brown basmati rice exp 07/07

Risotto - start some onion and garlic off in a saucepan with some olive oil, add rice and anything you have going (ham, cooked bacon, cooked chicken, dried mushrooms, fresh veg) and add twice the rice quantity of chicken stock . Season it. Bring to boil and lower to simmer, cover and cook until liquid is gone.
Biriani - spicy version of risotto in my book - google this one for recipe.
I mix my rice types for a bit of variety.

furrypig wrote: »

about 100g x2 o green lentils exp 05/06 and 06/07

Add these to lamb stew, or I cook up a half should of lamb as a sunday lunch in Slow cooker, add a tin of tomatoes, veg and then either red wine or stock and shake some into the SC. Bulk up the meal and soak up the lovely juices.

furrypig wrote: »

500g unopened red lentils exp 08/07

Lentil soup - soften chopped onions, diced carrot and garlic in a saucepan with olive oil, pinch of turmeric and coriander and salt/pepper, add plenty of lentils, cover with chicken or veg stock and cook for 15-20 minutes or until lentils go mushy, either eat like that or whizz with a food processor to make a creamy soup.

looby-loo_2

This is what I was told by some Asian friends

Two Asian friends said I should buy rice in a 25kg sack and not from the supermarket. I went with them to the Asian supermarket (where there were many sorts/qualities to choose from) but said I would never use it all before it went past the sell by date. They fell about laughing!! They said it was traditional to be given several sack when they got married and they kept the for 2 - 3 years, renewing stock so the bag being used was always old as this was better for cooking. They were talking about Basmati rice.

So I think they would say you should keep your rice a few more months!

noonesperfect

SUESMITH wrote: »

we found the remains of a christmas cake this year which was a couple of years old and it was fine to eat - i do feed mine with lots of booze though.

dont forget traditionally you kept the top tier of your wedding cake for the christening of your first child.

Mmmm I'd forgotten about that! I kept mine til I divorced 19 years later (didn't try it the cake tho :rolleyes: )

I think I'll chance it, thanks.

susank

Should be ok if its cooked - goes rancid if left - yuk - been there

furrypig

Fantastic guys thanks so much think I've got some cooking to do!

Normally do risotto with arborio rice but don't have any in so will be very moneysaving to use up my out of date stuff instead of buying more!!

Jasminda

I've had bottles of oils sitting around for years that I still use; lavender oil that went out of date in 2005 I still use undiluted on my skin and I've suffered no ill effects from this. TBH I don't see how they can go 'off', probably just lose their potency.
If in doubt use them in your oil burner/pot pourri/to refresh lavender bags etc, or even just dropped onto a piece of kitchen towel and placed on the radiator to enjoy the fragrance....

I wouldn't use old oils on other people though, best to invest in a few popular ones for that: you should be able to build up a 'starter' collection without massive cost. Just bear in mind that oils vary tremendously in price, so steer clear of the more expensive ones!

Jasminda

Hiya, I have a jar of Dolmio 'creamy tomato' pasta bake sauce that has gone out of date -18th December 07 so only just!!

I'm wondering if it will still be okay to use..... it says "for use by date see top of lid", -the words 'use by' are worrying me!!!

I've looked on the ingredients and it does include a SMALL quantity of fresh cream which I guess could have gone off but it had been sitting in the cupboard for months -hard to believe a couple of weeks would make a lot of difference?!?

Fruball

I would dip my finger in it - if it tastes ok then I would eat it

chocolate.orange_2

I think i would eat it too

crawley_girl

Frugal wrote: »

I would dip my finger in it - if it tastes ok then I would eat it

Ditto what Frugal said. A few weeks is nothing when some of the food in my cupboards has use by dates well into 2010

:heartpuls CG :heartpuls