Love food hate Waste Part two for 2018 :)

YorksLass

JackieO: Sounds as if we sing from the same hymn-sheet! Like you, I use broken bits of pasta, broccoli/mushroom stalks, biscuit crumbs etc and enjoy the challenge of making something out of not a lot.

We had a leg of lamb at the Easter weekend (far from a regular occurrence due to the cost) but this one was a bit of a bargain as (a) it was reduced in price per kilo and (b) I had a £5 MOC to use against it, total cost £9.77. It's provided us with 5 meals for 2 - roast on Sunday, two meals-worth of slices frozen in gravy, a Moroccan style casserole yesterday and a curry for tomorrow.

I had a few carrots in the fridge to use up (not quite bendy but not far off ) and normally would chop/freeze or make soup with them but the freezer is chock-a-block and I already have soup in there anyway. Instead, I cut one into batons for tonight's stir-fry and grated the rest, mixed with finely chopped onion and made carrot, cumin & coriander fritters to have as a side with yesterday's casserole.

Tomorrow's jobs are:
- Dealing with potatoes that are sprouting a bit (we haven't being having "normal" hot dinners due to the recent nice weather). I'll pick out a couple of bigger ones for jackets with the curry and cook/mash the others to make hm croquettes and freeze.
- Using up some frozen crusts of bread to make up a batch of stuffing. Always useful with a roast dinner or sliced in chicken sandwiches.
- Making toffee sauce to use up some double cream before it goes off.

My list is getting longer by the minute but it means more pennies saved :cool: so I'm a happy bunny.

takingcontrolatlast

JackieO wrote: »

Smoosh your soup sounds delicious, and a great way to use up odds and ends. Soup making I think is a very forgiving way to use up things like this.I love finding bits and pieces of leftover or forgotten things in the fridge. I have as a stand by in a basket on the side in my kitchen a range of purees in tubes I have garlic,chilli and ginger that I have bought mainly from poundland type shops that just add a bit of zizz to almost anything .It does help that I like spicy, and things with a bit of a kick
I also have a large jar filled with a bag lentils that I bought ages ago for around 50p. I add a handful of these to soups to help thicken them up, or a couple of diced potatoes when cooking soup. When the soup has been blended and portioned into my containers ,either for freezing or storing in the fridge to use for lunches they are nice and thick so when I reheat I add a bit more water to thin down slightly and sometimes add broken bits of pasta from my pasta lock'n'lock box .

This is a box where any broken or crushed bits of dried pasta is stored and added when I am reheating soup gently,this also helps to bulk out soups and make them more filling .I have bits of leftover broken spaghetti and lasagne in this box so very little ever gets wasted in my house ,even the broken bits

I save broken bits of biscuits in another box to use in bases for cheese cakes etc.It may sound a bit extreme, but I think that if I can use up as much as I can rather than binning it then my purse will stay fuller for longer .

I cut off and freeze broccoli stalks to use in soups and stews, why bin it as it is still part of the food you have bought , mushroom stalks get trimmed and frozen in a bag as well .

I am interested to see if others use small savings to make larger ones with left over bits ?

My DD will save and give to me when I need it the end crusts of a loaf which I stick into my little electric mincer and use as breadcrumbs as I don't actually have or eat bread at all.
I beat the birds to it
when cooking bacon any fat drained goes into a small bowl in my fridge for reuse when frying omelettes etc, small savings but better than chucking away

JackieO xx

Lots of tips JackieO which i might copy :T

takingcontrolatlast

Working_Mum wrote: »

Hi takingcontrol,
I only ever freeze the meat part of the dish - in portions - so I can defrost them and add the fresh stuff like guacamole, salsa, sour cream etc at the time of eating - I re-heat the chicken fajitas in a frying pan and warm the tortillas in another frying pan and it takes a few minutes to sort out and the meal tastes freshly made.

The "top tip" would be to slight under cook the peppers so they are prefect after being reheated!

I also make my fajita spice mix and it is so easy!! Found a recipe online and keep it in a jar - saves me 90p or so for the sachets bought at supermarkets!

Are you enjoying this batch cooking project so far??

Thanks Working Mum .. I'm impressed with your own spice mix!

I'm really enjoying trying to have less waste with food - apart from the savings i'm making, I feel a little humble (hope that doesnt sound too cheesy) with what I'm doing as it makes me feel good...

I'm trying to improve and constantly thinking what I can use items that are sitting in the fridge for - that's the main thing and the process is forcing me to be more creative in the kitchen which sounds stupid - but I'm picking up that I can achieve a lot with a bunch of left over veg etc that I would normally waste !!

The batch cooking I've not had that great a success with but I think its going to be trial and error with me at this early stage and till I build my confidence on what to freeze.

I do love this forum and have found it really supportive and I'm gaining lots of ideas.

x

takingcontrolatlast

Mrs_Salad_Dodger wrote: »

My first epic fail with a soup Lots of odds & ends so the first bowl was absolutely fine but then I made the Apparently ‘rookie mistake’ of adding leftover sweetcorn :eek: The soup doubled in size so had to transfer some to a 2nd pan. All was not lost (or so I thought ) because we decided to make it into a bread type thing for the birdies by adding flour & seeds. 2 large roasting trays filled & cooked. Put out half a baking tray of our concoction, waited for the hordes to descend & we are still waiting even the pigeons have turned their beaks up at my creation :rotfl: :eek: So I have admitted defeat & just binned the rest

Oh well live & learn but such a waste

There is a silver lining - because of the Easter holiday the bin men aren’t coming until tomorrow - so the evidence of my epic fail will not hang around for a week taunting me :rotfl:

MrsSD

I thought I was bad :rotfl: the thought of the birds turning their beaks up at all your efforts..... just so ungrateful :rotfl:

takingcontrolatlast

YorksLass wrote: »

JackieO:
We had a leg of lamb at the Easter weekend (far from a regular occurrence due to the cost) but this one was a bit of a bargain as (a) it was reduced in price per kilo and (b) I had a £5 MOC to use against it, total cost £9.77. It's provided us with 5 meals for 2 - roast on Sunday, two meals-worth of slices frozen in gravy, a Moroccan style casserole yesterday and a curry for tomorrow.

I had a few carrots in the fridge to use up (not quite bendy but not far off ) and normally would chop/freeze or make soup with them but the freezer is chock-a-block and I already have soup in there anyway. Instead, I cut one into batons for tonight's stir-fry and grated the rest, mixed with finely chopped onion and made carrot, cumin & coriander fritters to have as a side with yesterday's casserole.

Tomorrow's jobs are:
- Dealing with potatoes that are sprouting a bit (we haven't being having "normal" hot dinners due to the recent nice weather). I'll pick out a couple of bigger ones for jackets with the curry and cook/mash the others to make hm croquettes and freeze.
.

Crikey i didnt realise you could get so much out of a leg of lamb!! how do you make the croquettes please?

Smoosh

JackieO - great tips for jazzing up soup and saving at the same time!

We snap most of the broccoli stalk off in the shop when we buy it as it seems silly to pay for something we won't eat - usually saves 10p on the broccoli. Not huge but still

[Deleted User]

Smoosh wrote: »

JackieO - great tips for jazzing up soup and saving at the same time!

We snap most of the broccoli stalk off in the shop when we buy it as it seems silly to pay for something we won't eat - usually saves 10p on the broccoli. Not huge but still

Trust me, slice it and freeze it and chuck it into casseroles Sometimes the stalk gets a bit too big ,especially if you are buying by weight. If its shrink wrapped and included its better than binning it.

I noticed before Christmas that some of the big supermarkets the stalk was almost as big as the florets
Hmm now was that a specific marketing ploy so folk would bin the stalk and have to buy more
O cynical me as if supermarkets would be so sneaky :)

My bin men get very little from my house thats for sure and I do my best to use everything that I can thats in the slightest bit edible

I have found the more you can get out of food, the less you chuck away.

I think its the result of having a war time upbringing and a very canny little Scots Mum who could make a shilling do the work of five :):)

Have a great day chums

JackieO xx

Brambling

Smoosh wrote: »

JackieO - great tips for jazzing up soup and saving at the same time!

We snap most of the broccoli stalk off in the shop when we buy it as it seems silly to pay for something we won't eat - usually saves 10p on the broccoli. Not huge but still

If I'm not making soup I slice and roast the broccoli stalks

joedenise

I've never thought of roasting the broccoli stalks - what a great idea. I love roasted veg and have it regularly whenever I cook a roast dinner.

Denise

YorksLass

takingcontrolatlast wrote: »

Crikey i didnt realise you could get so much out of a leg of lamb!! how do you make the croquettes please?

We don't often have a joint of meat nowadays but when we do I like to get as many meals as I can out of it. Pad out with extra veggies, pulses etc and the meat goes a lot further. Another penny-saver is to serve with Yorks puds, dumplings, stuffing balls etc.

To make croquettes, cook and mash the potatoes as normal but don't add any butter or milk as the mixture needs to be quite stiff. If the mash is a bit on the soft side (depends on type of spud used) add some flour. You could add some herbs at this stage (eg chives). Chill in the fridge. Once chilled, form into roll shapes (wet hands help here), dip in flour, then beaten egg and finally breadcrumbs. You can open-freeze at this stage if they're not needed straight away and then bag up. Otherwise just keep refrigerated until needed. Best oven baked or in an air fryer. Easy-peasy and much cheaper than shop-bought.

The lamb has now stretched into 6 meals for 2 as I've managed to pad out tonight's curry by using up bits and bobs from the fridge. Lamb and a jar of tikka masala, plus: onion (the last one), a medium red pepper, finely chopped broccoli stalks (JackieO will approve ), half a tin of white kidney beans and some tinned chopped tomatoes. Half for tonight with jacket potatoes and half in the freezer for a hm ready meal.

Next week's meal plan is done and, happy days, I don't need anything from the shops :j - not even milk! The money I'll save has already been diverted into the holiday pot so I'll just have to stick to the plan.