Reverse Meal Planning

Primrose

Reminds me of my u nabelled disaster in a freezer bag.  Thought it was chicken stock so dumped it in the soup pot.  It turned out to be gooseberry purree  and I had to throw the  the lot down the toilet sadly ! 

Porridgecat

Primrose said:

The mention of pork  from the freezer has reminded me to comment on here that we,ve been finding recently that the flavour and texture pork steaks stored in the freezer for more than a couple of months do not seem to be as good as other meats stored for a similar period.  There,s ni thing exactly "wrong" with the meat.  It just doesn,t seem to be anywhere near as pleasant as fresh pork,  whereas the flavour of frozen beef and lamb doesn't seem to be affected in the same way.

Has  anybody else noticed this?.  Perhaps we,re doing something in the freezing process which has affected it although it,s normally just wrapped immediately in clingfilm And  frozen straight away.  It still just always tastes a bit "stale"!

I haven't noticed this at all but it might be that we seldom eat it as just 'pork' because it can be dry anyway I often marinade it or slice it very thinly before using in a stir fry.

Porridgecat

We had welsh rarebit for dinner last night, its actually one of our favourites. I often make it as our 'something on toast' night. I made sourdough on Sunday so that's used most of that up. I made extra Welsh rarebit mix to use for cheese sauce for lasagne tonight, using up a tub of left over bolognese mince from Thursday.

greent

Having a use-up-bits-of Tuesday. DD had the penultimate 2 slices of a YS sourdough from the weekend for breakfast (last 2 in freezer for tomorrow) I finished up the end of a pack of bacon and half a tub of ood mushrooms. Lunches included the remains of a pack of 0li0 turkey slices, the end of a hm brown loaf, the last of Sunday's roast chicken and pigs in blankets - and a couple of stuffing balls and the remaining falafels from an 0li0 pack.  Dinner is a multi-meal affair, too - 2 are having gammon from the freezer that's been in there a while, 2 pasta (with bolognaise made at the weekend for DS3's homework) and 2 'stuff' from the freezer

Suffolk_lass

Primrose said:

Bubble & Squeak with some grated cheese today.  Trying to clear the last of some curly kale & Cavalo Nero from veg patch for this year's sowing & planting.  Do like it when it's fried in flat pancakes so it gets nice and crispy  on both sides.  Childhood memories of wartime austerity food! 

Ooh, that might be Friday's tea

Last night was a simple jacket potato with grated cheese and coleslaw as I fell asleep for the afternoon!

joedenise

Have a couple of leeks in the fridge to use up so decided to make !!!!!!-a-leekie soup for lunch today with some chicken from the freezer.  Think we're going to be "chickened" out this week as also have Fakeaway KFC planned for dinner tomorrow night.  We had chicken and leek risotto for dinner last night so chicken 3 days running.

rtandon27

@ruby_eskimo - I invested in a roll of frog-tape & a fineline sharpie last year to do exactly the same!😁 Dated labels have become invaluable for keeping track of and using up frozen meat/chicken/fish.  I still do find the occasional mystery tub of cooked food that either I've forgotten to label, or OH has put away!  The freezer is less of a bottomless pit than it used to be though, as we've become sooooo much better at buying only what we will use & store.  This past year has taught me a few lessons about yellow-stickers & impulse buys that used to be the norm!  Less shopping for us now means more planning but has resulted in healthier & more considered eating!

Today's lunch was a standard of soup & wraps.  Wraps were made with pre-roasted chicken and various bits of salad veg that needed using up!  Soup was not homemade today, but from a tin - cr0sse & blackwell cream of chicken - which has become my absolute favorite prepared soup!

greenbee

@rtandon27 - I agree on the YS impulse buys. I think I’m spending less on food now everything is delivered as filling an online basket focuses the mind. And I’m not buying stuff that then lurks. I also have a lot less food waste, and am more mindful of portion size and not just ‘finishing up’ when I’ve made too much. My veg drawers are what drive my menu planning.

Suffolk_lass

I made a veggie chilli for yesterday but managed to catch the red lentils on the bottom of the dish so ended up with two cast iron pots needing to be cleaned!. Remains in a third and we will have it tomorrow. Planning prawn stir-fry tonight before the fresh beansprouts go sad

joedenise

Deliberately cooked extra rice last night for stuffed mushrooms for breakfast this morning with the addition of chopped pepper, spring onions and the stalks; topped with some grated cheese from the freezer and then baked.  Was delicious.