Love food hate Waste Part two for 2018 :)

zebedy

Hi,

I've been lurking for a while and decided to post as i'm really trying to avoid food waste and am proud of my efforts yesterday.

I had about 5 apples leftover where the skin had gone a bit wrinkly and they were not as firm/crisp as they should be but they weren't mouldy/rotten and decided to use them up by making apple puree to go in the freezer. I'll use it to top my porridge on cold mornings this winter.

I peeled and chopped them and bunged them in a pan with some cinnamon.

Now, I had some vanilla pods still left which I bought on a holiday in Madagascar 6 years ago :eek:
The vanilla pods were a bit too dry and brittle to split down the middle and scrape out the seeds but still looked and smelled fine. So I soaked a vanilla pod in a bit of water for 20 mins and then split and scraped out the seeds to go in with the apples and also chucked in the rest of the pod and the 'vanilla water'. It made a lovely puree (I did the taste test and it was yum and i'm not dead yet) - Hopefully my remaining vanilla pods will be good for another 6 years :rotfl:

So, my tip is to soak older vanilla pods in water to make them east to split and scrape out the seeds

joedenise

You could also add a vanilla pod to a container of sugar to make your own vanilla sugar.

Denise

Mummy2cheekymonkeys

joedenise wrote: »

You could also add a vanilla pod to a container of sugar to make your own vanilla sugar.

Denise

I do this as well. I have a kilner jar that I keep it in. If I get a vanilla pod it gets thrown in the jar after I scrape the seeds out. I've had them in there for too long to remember. I just top up the sugar with whatever is left in the bag. I always use it for my crumble mix.

Hopeless_Case

bouicca21 wrote: »

For me it's taste. Frugal meals can be yummy meals. But there are some things I wouldn't skimp on. I buy nice (I.e. Expensive) coffee and tea. I wouldn't buy iceberg lettuce, as it is tasteless. I'm partial to a bit of halibut, and I like nice wine.

I'll happily splash out on something that's decidedly non frugal. What I can't bear is waste.

I do agree normally, but we've got £14,000 of credit card debt which we're trying to get shot of asap so I'm doing everything to save a few pennies atm and pay a bit more off as and when I can. I'll be very glad when it's over but the quicker we do it, the quicker we can get back to normal!

But I hate waste too, so that part will never change :)

[Deleted User]

Morning chums up with the birds this morning and have been to Aldi's and spent a whopping £34.66 but thats a good two weeks shopping done and dusted for me.
About a third is fruit and veg the rest were basics and bits I needed to top up. So lots of NSD to come

I treated myself to a bit of rump steak for tonights dinner it looks jolly nice and at £2.39 it was reasonably priced I may split it half and have half with a decent sausage from the freezer with new potatoes, peas and mushrooms. and the other half will go into the freezer for next saturday It was a good sized piece and once I have beaten into submission with my trusty wooden mallet there will be more than enough for two nice dinners.

I also bought some nice greek yogurt with honey which will do for adding to a bit of diced fruit for puddings instead of cream its long dated and at 79p it will go further than a pot of double cream.Its the Brooklea one and is very thick like the extra thick normal double cream.

I like to use things to extend my food and my bit of steak will do two meals easily with extra veg and a banger thrown in sort of mini mixed grill

They had some nice oranges and also easy peelers which I really like The little ones especially as they are lovely when chopped up into some yogurt as well. I have a big bag of blackberries in the freezer from my holidays so they will be utilised as well, I may have a few with my cereal in the morning I like to add fruit to cereal as it is nicer than sugar and better for you .I am very pleased with all of my shopping this morning especially as I was in and out before the shop got too busy.

Now I have a line of washing to go out and another machine load to do and I will have caught up on everything :)Housework can wait until tomorrow I think as I want to relax and recouperate fromy drive yesterday

Nice to be away for a couple of weeks but also nice to be back at home and routine resumes again

Cheers chums

JackieO xx

Mummy2cheekymonkeys

I had some slow cooked shoulder of pork leftover from last Sunday when I had a party so nearly every meal this week has been using that up. Need to write up a meal plan for the week coming.
I've just ordered a microwave pressure cooker which sounds interesting. Might come in handy for winter. It comes with some recipes as well so will look forward to having a read for some inspiration. I've never had a pressure cooker before so any suggestions would be helpful. It was a bargain if anyone else is interested
https://www.lakeland.co.uk/70053/Microwave-Cookware---Red-Pressure-Cooker-2-2L
Not sure how good it will be, but at least it won't be an expensive mistake.

YorksLass

Another one just back from holidays and I think I've caught up with everyone's posts. The sOdding salad tales made me laugh.

A quick thank you to purpleybat for the tip about using tights to strain fruit for jam/jelly making. :T I've been picking blackberries and also have my eye on crab apples on nearby scrubland so that's going to come in very handy instead of sourcing a much more expensive commercial product.

Mummy2cheekymonkeys wrote: »

I've just ordered a microwave pressure cooker which sounds interesting. Might come in handy for winter. It comes with some recipes as well so will look forward to having a read for some inspiration. I've never had a pressure cooker before so any suggestions would be helpful. It was a bargain if anyone else is interested
https://www.lakeland.co.uk/70053/Microwave-Cookware---Red-Pressure-Cooker-2-2L
Not sure how good it will be, but at least it won't be an expensive mistake.

Sounds interesting, I hope all goes well. For years I've had one of the older Hi-Tower ones tucked away at the back of a cupboard and have to admit it doesn't get used as it's always frightened me to death. I could do with releasing it to someone who doesn't have pressure cooker phobia.

Thanks to prepping before going on holiday the fridge was very empty on our return - just butter, a tub of marg and a small gammon joint. We bought lettuce, tomatoes, new potatoes, fine green beans, eggs and milk on our way home and those, plus what we had in stores, made last week's meals.

One thing that was really enjoyed was potato rosti. Before we left I cooked the potatoes we had (they wouldn't have lasted until we got back) and, once cool, grated them up. To one half I added grated cheese, bacon bits and chives and grated cheese, finely chopped tomatoes and chilli flakes to the other half. I used a muffin tin to open freeze them (8 in all) and then popped them into a freezer bag.

I did a small shop at the Co-op on Thursday, spending just £15.88 on mainly fresh foods with a few clearance items thrown in. Tomorrow I need to do a small online order for delivery as cupboard stocks of some items are getting desperate but I'll be aiming to keep it to a minimum.

This month and next are pinch-points for finances so I'm going to have to be very frugal indeed. I see a session of comparing what I have in stocks with recipes being the order of the day.

[Deleted User]

we have been scouring the holiday sites for next year and I think a good bit of penny pinching is going to be happening in mine and my DDs house for the foreseeable

Hopeless_Case

I'd had a banana sat on the side getting browner and browner, I was wondering about freezing it, then I got out what I thought was a piece of white fish and it turned out to be stewed apple, so I mashed the banana into the apple - it was really tasty, reminded me of baby food, took me back (* to when my kids were little, I can't remember what I ate as a baby :rotfl::rotfl:)

[Deleted User]

piece of pork fillet for dinner tonight plus vegetables all from the freezer as I am on a 'save every tanner' at the moment Spent a good bit whilst on holiday and now its tighten the belt, and use up what I have in stock for a while. NSDs for the forseeable as I got everything I needed on Saturday.

Lots of stuff to use up as I brought bits and pieces back on Friday so it will be slipped in with other bits during the week:)

Hope everyone has a good and frugal week

JackieO xx