Reverse Meal Planning

ruby_eskimo

rtandon27 said:

We've been slowly using up our freezer & cupboard stores to base our meal plans round and can now actually see a dent in both with 1/2 empty drawers and less cans on the shelves.

We did however discover 3 different mustards and several cans of fruit that I honestly don't remember buying! As we already have 2 open jars of mustard in the fridge, those will be around for a while, but I will have to plan yogurt & tinned fruit for afters or they will never get eaten!

Our fridge is full of condiment jars too, don't worry!

DH has been harvesting things from the garden so I'm having to weave those into the meals I've already planned!  Tonight I'm using up the first half of the potatoes with a melt in the middle fishcake from the freezer and some broccoli and green beans (also from the freezer).  

Need to use up some bulgar wheat next week so might make a batch to use in my salads but if anyone has any recipes, that would be great!

Suffolk_lass

We've got a thermal cooker I need to try out before we go away next week. I was going to try a chicken casserole but I'm tempted to go for beef instead as it is less risky if it is undercooked. Pretty sure I've got some shin lurking in the freezer indoors. We have not tried cooking this way before (think hay box cooking). We won't be on electric hook up next week so reliant on 12v and bottled gas and it seemed like a good idea for low energy cooking. I will report back in due course

joedenise

Thermal cookers work by keeping the heat in so as long as your casserole is boiling hot when it goes in it should cook OK but agree shin would be safer than chicken just in case it cools down too quickly!

I have a small pressure cooker which I use on the gas when we go away in the motorhome which I find better to cook stews etc.  I used to have a Mr D thermal cooker but I didn't find it kept the food hot enough and always ended up having to reheat it on the hob after it was cooking for hours thermally (it was basically a big food flask!) but I think you probably have one of the home made ones using a covered duvet, am I right?
 
Would be interested to know if it works OK.

We're just back from holiday and I have meal planned for the rest of the month and all the main food items will be coming from the freezer, apart from sausages and burgers which I need to buy from the local butchers.

I have got out a pack of chicken thighs to make Fakeaway KFC for dinner tomorrow night.  Using up some bacon lardons and mushrooms to make a carbonara type dish for dinner tonight.

rtandon27

@joedenise - wow i'm soooooo impressed by a whole month of meal plans!  - I only manage to forward plan a week at a time!

Our veg box arrived this morning with an abundance of fresh green things in it!  Meals for the next few days will centre around using them up!  We also seem to have a token red pepper for a bit of colour - LOL

joedenise

@rtandon27 I always plan a month at a time but of course things always seem to get moved around or if I manage to pick up something on offer which needs to be used immediately or I find a load of mushrooms or something and need to use them up (mushroom stroganoff usually!) so it's definitely not set in stone but it does mean I tend to use up stuff from the freezer every month but as there are only 2 of us and I always cook 4 portions there are always meals going into the freezer to use the following month etc.

I really must do a proper freezer inventory sometime this month as there is definitely more stuff in there which I haven't managed to get into this month's plan!

Suffolk_lass

My plans were thrown into disarray with a lost day and hospital visit but I really will get on with the thermal cooker (it is a Mr D one that we picked up locally for £30). I'm going to make a chilli in that and separately cook the shin so I can combine or keep separate, as needed. 

I need a meal plan for next week as we are going away tomorrow. I need to shop for fresh stuff too, but could do this locally to where we will be staying. On the other hand, our infection levels are lower here, and I know what and where to get everything locally

joedenise

I hope you get better with the Mr D than I did @Suffolk_lass.  The idea is good but I just found I needed to reheat the food before we could actually eat it as it didn't keep it as hot as we would like to eat it.  

I always meal plan before we go away and take as much as I can with us and then just buy fresh stuff locally.  If you can take everything with you then I would.  I take as many ready made meals as I can squeeze into the icebox in the fridge plus potatoes, onions, rice, pasta etc.  Not only does this save money but also means you're still supporting your local economy.

We support the economy where we're visiting with eating and drinking in local cafes and pubs - we always eat out at least once if not more a week.

Suffolk_lass

Thanks @joedenise That is pretty similar to us! We plan two meals out - I'm going to suggest they are lunches so we can sit outside.

Not sure if we are staying away until Friday or Thursday but our trips this summer are midweek to CL or CS sites and we BBQ meat and salad (with homegrown potatoes) at least twice. I will take some chilli already cooked (it only improves with further cooking) and we can always stick it on the gas hob if it doesn't work as well as we would like. I'll take eggs and soup too so we have options for a light evening meal after a lunch. And the firepit and logs, as there are three vans now (although one is our single bubble person so still only two households if we sit in our van).

Our only concern is that there is 4g so we can stream the football in some way tomorrow night...

joedenise

We tend to eat out at lunchtimes too as hopefully it's warm enough to sit outside and generally it's a bit cheaper!  We have mobile broadband so always take our hub with us and we seem to be able to get a decent enough signal wherever we've been, even when we go to France!

We prefer to use CSs too; usually have so much more room than when you go to either a Club site or a commercial site.  

joedenise

DH made braised steak & onions with other root veg and there is enough left for another meal so that will be going into the freezer for a meal on next month's menu plan.

Have got out a bag of spiced vegetables for dinner tomorrow night which will be vegetable biryani.  Looking forward to that as not had it for a while.