Eating out of the freezer and cupboards challenge - part two

Franalamadingdong

Tinned salmon used, last of the yellowing broccoli finished, last of the jar risotto rice used (I have a fresh pack still), used up most of a scabby lemon and some more fresh vegetables and got a portion of peas out. Oh and DS had some of his sweeties.

I love updating my store cupboard list stuck to the inside of the larder. Our snack stock list is pretty long! No need to buy anything for a long while!

I want to make scones, but we don't need scones. What a dilemma! I don't know why I have an urge to make them. Again, because we have so much in by way of snacks it's daft to make anything.

Tomorrow is a lazy dinner, which DS is excited by - eggs/omelette and chips! Hurrah! More out the freezer and cupboard. DS has a Dr appointment tomorrow (suspicious mole I want them to look at) so quick and easy is perfect.

Sunflower1227

Tomorrows meals

B - 2 egg omelette

D - Tuna salad, banana, yogurt & a dollop of home made date salted caramel sauce (just whisked it up tonight)

T - Homemade quinoa & black bean burgers (will make them when I get in from exercise class tomorrow night) with sweet potato fries & veg

All from cupboard or freezer - but will put a couple of the burgers in the freezer for next week.

FurryBeastOz

Today replanned -

Lunch - DH Cheese sandwiches, Christmas cake, fruit. Me - Spicy chicken breast w leftover veg

Dinner - DH last of Novemberfrozen cottage pie, leftover veg. Me- Thai chicken, OOD Ainsley Harriott couscous.

My dinner will do lunch tomorrow as work as well.

So out of freezer - cottage pie, 2 chicken breasts.
OOD/Needs eating - coucscous, bendy veg, Christmas cake.

Just used up the last of the pinhead Oats in porridge. All the American recipes call for them, I'm unimpressed as they need soaking overnight and I can't say the flavour is better. Back to value porridge oats for me. Much cheaper.

MallyGirl

sausage casserole for dinner tonight although I was intending to add in 2 Toulouse sausages that have been in the freezer for yonks till I looked at the packet and realised they were dated 2012. I am fairly unconcerned about dates but this was a step too far even for me - the dogs got them instead.

Welsh_Poppy

Today

2 chicken breasts
veg chill x 1

Nothing has gone back in thank goodness unless I make soup and some portions need to be froze.

zafiro1984

I don't know whether this is good or bad, but with the bad weather forcast I've just picked a bucket full of leeks and another bucket full of carrots plus the rest of the potatoes. Potatoes will go in the pantry, some carrots and leeks will go in the fridge but the rest of the leeks and carrots will have to be frozen for later use. And here I was trying not to put anything in the freezers!!!!!! However, my logic was, better to freeze them, than throw them away after the snow has done its damage

Soworried

Out today will be 1 steak for DH, Cauliflower rice and black chick peas for a curry for me for 2 days and chicken goujons for DS.

Nothing in

[Deleted User]

Oh caronc are you sure you are not me and I have been an empty next for 20 years. Love having freezer & cupboards full "just in case". Am really working at weekly meal plans to cut stuff down, particularly as am going for another mobility op before spring so if I need to shop online I will have nowhere to put the new stuff. Am making chick + mush pasties today to use up stuff but 3 will go back into freezer. Made small mince meal yesterday and instead over putting extra in freezer am using it with a few extra frozen veg to make soup for lunch for 3 days. Oh dear. Have done meal plans for 3 weeks now so am trying.

JensFeet

Hi all


New poster here - although I am a really really long time lurker biting the bullet to take part in the freezer challenge. Love reading all your posts and gives me loads of ideas to replicate myself. Thanks.


I have a very 'complicated' relationship with food. Previously I have needed 2 years of therapy (honestly!) to correct my food hoarding and eating weirdness. I will spare you the details. But I had been great for at least 6 years until 2016 when I became critically ill and in a coma (in intensive care for weeks) from chronic pancreatitis causing severe malnutrition, liver failure and fluid on my lungs, heart and brain. It was a very close call but I am recovering just fine thankfully. However, I have realised that since coming out of hospital I have started with the food hoarding again... It was always linked to 'needing' to provide for my family and I assume that's sort of kicked in again. I lost my job the week before I went into hospital (newly qualified midwife) as I was signed off sick for too much of my probationary period and we are not entitled to any benefits as my husband earns 'too much'. Erm? Really not. Especially as we had moved house only a couple of months before into a huge, old Victorian house which tripled our mortgage and related outgoings. We are skint!!


Over Christmas I was stuck trying to understand why I couldn't fit anything much into the 2 freezers as they are rammed. The Christmas food cupboard was RIDICULOUS (it's been put away now for use over the year ahead). The fridge is still rammed e.g. 5 KG of brie cheese that was reduced to 99p in Aldi after Xmas but only I eat brie - and I don't eat very much of anything although I am trying to keep increasing. I also could not understand where all the budget had gone. So after putting it all off for as long as I could I thought by taking control and becoming accountable for what I am buying / storing / using then I can help us get back on track. I've always been a yellow sticker shopper, cook from scratch 90% of the time and encourage the kids to eat as healthily as possible. Although reading through what's in the freezers the healthy side of meals is questionable! Ready meals will be yellow sticker and handy for weekends to just bung in the oven.


We have an American style fridge freezer in the kitchen and a small 100L chest freezer in the cellar. Sorry this will be a ridiculous list.


FRIDGE FREEZER (shelf by shelf so not duplicated if same things seen) in portions e.g. x4 = 4 portions for my family (2 kids, 2 adults but one small meal and one large in one meal)


23 part meals (my leftovers as I don't eat huge amounts and often start well but then feel sick so leave a meal or just have no appetite - but I HATE waste so freeze for another day's lunch.)
big tub hm Bramley apple sauce
hm pork and roasted veg gravy
ham stock x2
roast rib of beef in hm beef gravy
1 large pack sirloin steak
x3 portion bubble and squeak
rm shepherds pie
hm mince and haggis with neep tatties in a cottage pie (x3 portions)
large rm chicken and bacon traybake
1/2 bag sweet potato wedges
1/2 bag hash browns
3 small beefburgers
roasted quartered carving pumpkin from halloween (roasted in skin and great for adding to bulk up soup) - 2 large pumpkins
roasted and halved butternut squash
sliced roasted gammon (x4 portions)
8 fish fingers
chicken and veg family pie
sliced peppers
x20 pork sausages (Tesco)
2 litre ice cream
pack of tattie cakes
x2 chicken kievs
x16 portions sukuk (turkish sausage)
1/2 bag mccains roasties
x1 very thick belly pork slice
1 mega pork rib
pack of 8 irish sausages
8 walls sausages (the sausage theme gets much much much worse yet)
bubble and squeak x4 portions
sliced roast pork leg (x4)
sausagemeat stuffing x8
cooking bacon for 4 big pans of soup
egg fried rice roast meat mix (from leftover scraps of roasted meats and sausage and bacon etc)
4 small onion bahji
pork ribs x8 portions
2 smoked basa fillets
pack of hot and spicy chicken fillets
x5 lots of 300g beef mince
500g pork mince
roast gammon chunks x8
prepared garlic cubes
2 large cheese and tomato pizza
1 large pack of pepperoni
2 rock buns
8 chicken drumsticks
chinese belly pork x3
2 large pork loin steaks
x3 hm pea and ham soup
20 pigs in blankets
sliced gammon x4 roasted
hm roast potatoes
7 large chicken breasts
x12 salmon fillets
x7 kipper fillets
bag prawns
rainbow trout fillet
haddock loin x2
smoked salmon mousse slices
2 salmon fishcakes
8 onion bahji
4 veg samosas
x8 roast rib of beef slices
portion of dauphinoise potatoes
8 spicy pork balls
cubed gammon for a pie
x4 packs chinese ribs
x2 tubs of mixed fruit jam (used up fruit in fridge but had no jars I could sterilise so freezing 2 and using 1)
1 large chicken breast
bubble and squeak x2
x12 sukuk (different flavour)
x12 black pudding portions
x6 individual chicken and veg pie
small sausage rolls

CELLAR FREEZER
x4 cream of brocolli soup
boneless pork shoulder joint
8 black pudding and haggis burgers
large pack pork steaks
1kg pork chippolata sausages
500g lamb mince
large tray belly pork slices
500g premium pork sausage
1.5kg pork and haggis sausages
4 packs of 2 bacon chops
500g rare breed pork sausage
1kg cumberland sausage (jumbo and normal size)
500g pork mince
500g beef sausage
2 packs of tattie cakes
x4 packs of sausage meat
2 packs of ready roll puff pastry
6 HUGE cumberland ring sausages
x20 portions sukuk (2 different flavours)
x11 300g beef mince
12 scotch pies
2kg box of 'leftover' christmas truffles made by kids for school teacher gifts etc. We made WAAAAAY too many.
x16 portions of Stornoway black pudding (the BEST)
small brown loaf
x3 500g haggis
14 inch pizza from local pizza place when was 'free' on top of our order - split into 4 meals for the kids

So... Can you see why I can't fit anything into the freezers? And can you see I really do have some 'issues'? Although I have made deliberate effort this week with our meal plans. I pay for kids to have school dinners and if I eat it will be soup or from the freezer stash of part meals. Breakfast for kids and OH is toast or cereal or porridge. I have to have something protein related - normally just grab some ham or cheese from fridge. We always have milk, butter, ham and cheese in fridge. And garlic, chilli, salad and veg, fruit. I have a great store cupboard, herbs and spices and tinned tomatoes, pasta, rice etc. OH works away this week so not on the meal plan.

M: hm gammon stock (F), gammon slices (F), rubbery carrot, roast pumpkin and lentil soup (it's a HUGE pan and I only I like it so will be forced to freeze some); grilled sukuk, salad and rice
T: hm soup for me; chicken kiev, salad and roast potato
W: egg fried rice (leftover rice from Monday, soy sauce, eggs in cupboard, fridge veg and meat mix (F)) - son cooking
T: chicken, kale, bacon soup with part baked baguette for kids
F: chicken korma (daughter cooking); chicken madras for me and OH - chicken (F) peppers (F); onion bahji each (F)
S: hm fakeaway donner kebab (lamb mince (F), salad, tortilla wrap; hm mint yogurt dressing)
S: bacon chop (F), veg, roast potatoes, creamy pepper sauce

So already starting to use stuff up. Only had to buy fresh salad veg and milk so far this week. Planning on the Aldi salad veg next week and will also need fresh fruit and bread and cream (OH only drinks coffee made with a splash of single cream and we get through a 'fair bit'). I will NOT buy anything for the freezer but might well have to put some of the soup back in as soup tomorrow.

Phew.... Finally made it to the end of a mammoth post. If you got this far - well done!! I look forward to learning and sharing with you all.

Jen x

Soworried

Welcome to MSE jensfeet :j

Wishing you good health for 2017 :A Your freezers make mine look empty :rotfl:

Take baby steps a day at a time and you'll get there with them.