What are you making for dinner?

kerri_gt · 7 March 2022 at 8:10PM

C_J said:

I'm making a creamy miso mushroom and spinach linguine thing.

The fresh linguine, shallot, garlic, spinach, shiitake and button mushrooms were all free from the Community Fridge this morning so this evening's dinner has cost me the grand sum of a dollop of cream and a spoonful of miso paste (both of which I already had).

We have a Community Fridge near us that I'd like to try but I have no idea what kind of donation amount is acceptable or expected.

Dinner here is an Aldi no beef pie and some mixed veg. Don't really need extra potatoes with the pastry.

Smoosh · 7 March 2022 at 8:43PM

Quorn nuggets, cheesy mash, spaghetti hoops for me, beans for OH. He also had mushrooms.

C_J · 7 March 2022 at 11:12PM

kerri_gt said:

We have a Community Fridge near us that I'd like to try but I have no idea what kind of donation amount is acceptable or expected.

It’s quite interesting. There are two different Community Fridges near me. One is open once a week for just a couple of hours, and there is always a long queue. They ask you to sign in, and rattle a bucket for donations before letting you in. People generally give a pound or two, but it’s tricky because until you get into the hall you can’t see if there is anything much there (some weeks the tables are almost bare) and without sounding miserly I am loathe to donate several quid for just a couple of slightly soft carrots. Some weeks there is plenty of course, but it’s very hit-and-miss.

The other is further away, but is open seven days a week. It’s unmanned (although the lovely volunteers are always popping in to top up the donations) and they ask for no monetary contributions. You can make a small donation to help cover the volunteers’ petrol costs online via their FB page, or you can buy some chocolate and hand it to the helpers to say thank you, because they love that. The emphasis is very strongly on “let’s all do our bit to stop this going to landfill”.

So I think they are all run differently. If the one near you has a FB page, it might be worth following that for a while to get a feel for what is expected, and see how the regulars interact with the service.

kerri_gt · 7 March 2022 at 11:37PM

@C_J thanks for that, I have been following the FB page for the one local(ish) to me. It's open 5 days a week (I think, or 4) for a couple of hours each day. It looks like they are quite strict on what people can take which is understandable but i don't really want to be shuffled round like a party buffet asking for 'one of those and one of them' please. They do do some pop up events so I might see if I can get to one of those and get a feel for them. I think partly i feel that i might be judged because we don't 'need' to use them but i am trying to reduce food waste, hence I make use of Olio where possible.

C_J · 8 March 2022 at 11:33AM

Tonight I am using up some of the meat stripped from Sunday's roast chicken. It'll probably get reheated in gravy and served with mash, peas, carrots and cauliflower cheese (all of which need using up from the freezer). It's a busy work day and I'm going to need it to be something quick and easy tonight

happydenial · 8 March 2022 at 3:40PM

Something quick and easy as I’ve got to be out for 5pm, kids will probably have beans and cheese on toast, have got a bolognese out of the freezer for me and DH to have later.

arielgirl · 8 March 2022 at 3:46PM

My intention was to stretch the chicken I cooked two days ago. I think I mentioned I had it with pasta. Yesterday I slow cooked spuds, carrots, parsnip, onions and gravy but it didn't really seemed cooked by the time I wanted to eat last night despite cooking most of the day. Anyway, I decided to give it more time today and have cooked some beef instead to go with it for tonight (leftover beef too for curry tomorrow). I used the chicken in some toasties for last nights dinner so still got my moneys worth.

Brie · 8 March 2022 at 5:09PM

We had an outing to Ikea today (a place I hate but I need some stuff they have) so it was a toss up between having hotdogs on the way out or meatballs to break the trek around. The meatballs won so we'll be having Lidl wurst on buns for dinner so the day has no disappointments.