Reverse Meal Planning

EssexHebridean

I've got home made haggis out of the freezer for this evening, and will combine the final sweet potato and the last of the ordinary ones to make mash. I suspect the veg alongside will be runner beans - bet nobody is surprised about that, eh?! 

Absolutely agree about growing your own if you're fortunate enough to be able to do also - technically we have no garden but the strip of ground along the front of the flat has been used as such since before we moved in, and we've generally tried to grow something in one section of it at least. We've had decent crops of kale, tomatoes, potatoes and beans in previous years - this is the first time we've had success with courgettes though. 

Primrose

I would imagine that small amounts of haggis in a freezer, portioned up, are quite useful in that once thawed, they can be mixed in with mashed potatoes to make savoury rissoles, which can be accompanied by all kinds of vegetables.

Another way of increasing the interest of mashed potatoes, if you want to add some flavour, is to sprinkle in a small amount of sage and onion stuffing. 

EssexHebridean

I've heard that about the stuffing before Primrose, but never tried it myself! Often added finely chopped herbs, or a knob of wild garlic butter though - in fact that last might get thrown in tonight! 

When we made the haggis we were able to freeze it in portion sizes to suit ourselves, sometimes the commercial ones are rather too large for two, although it must be said I can't recall there being leftovers!   

rtandon27

Last night we had our first 'cook-once & eat-twice' dinner at our new home!  Pan-fried chicken breast & cabbage was ready in the freezer and defrosted and warmed easily in the microwave.  OH steamed some carrots and made cheesy mash to go with it.  Gravy would have been nice over the mash, but OH is not a fan 🤣

I'm in the office today, so OH will fend for himself at home and have eggs/ham/cheese wraps in whatever combination he feels like over the course of BF & Lunch.  I had a ham&cheese pastry mid-morning from a 2good2go magic bag & there is some porridge for an afternoon snack.  Not sure if a treat of sushi lunch is worth the walk!  Next month it is back to a regular schedule in the office, which means that meal plans will have to include budget lunches & snacks.  My fruit & nut consumption is bound to go up in the form of healthy snacks, but I've forgotten how to do work bf & lunch on the cheap!

ETA - next year I'm hoping to grow our own, even if it's just a modest amount - this year with the move looming since early summer, the only 'crops' were four meals worth of new potatoes, some spring onion, a few peas and the usual fresh herbs (rosemary, parsley & thyme).

joedenise

Have got a cauliflower that needs using up so making a cauliflower cheese to have tonight with chips.  Will probably do some sausages to go with it.

MandM90

@Suffolk_lass sorry to derail but can you tell me more about your rabbit fencing? We haven't started growing here yet and the abundance of the fluffy things is putting us off!

Today for lunch I used up some dried cous cous, packet falafel mix, leftover salad from yesterday and a couple of wraps that were lurking in the freezer. Also used a jar of roasted red pepper and some walnuts to make a sauce/dip. Our cupboards are under control, as is the fridge (though some bendy celery has been whispering 'use me' for a few days) but I think I need to tackle our freezer over the next few weeks. Baby is due in 10 weeks or so, so I need to start hatching a plan for batch cooking!

CCW007

Chopped and froze about 12 peppers the other day - used one today with some Olio noodles in a stir fry.  Also made bread pudding with freebie bread and eggs.

*zippy*

We had a Quorn stir fry last night and Gyros tonight to use up some salad stuff. I have some mushrooms in the fridge so will make a Quorn spag bol or lasagne tomorrow I think 

silverwhistle

Tonight I had an "omelette" using up some cooked mushrooms, broccoli and salad potatoes which I fried up first. Plus a bagged salad. Bread was a sourdough loaf which I made along with two short sourdough baguettes which went in the freezer. The only problem with sourdough is the discard which results from keeping the culture lively, but luckily I found a recipe for sourdough crackers and have stocked up with some end of line flour at 20p a kilo. The sun was out so my solar power heated the oven, hot water and a couple of laundry loads.

Squash soup is on the agenda soon as I have some escapees at the allotment and gawd knows what else I can use them for apart from weight training. But I have some more useful leeks and cavolo nero, so with soup weather coming up I suspect that's what I'll do in the next few days.

joedenise

Still freezer diving for meals!  Lunch today is leek and potato soup from freezer and dinner tonight is hunters chicken using chicken breasts, pancetta and mozzarella  from freezer.

Have also got out some salmon and filo pastry to make leek and salmon filo parcels for dinner tomorrow night.  This will use up some of the leeks from the fridge as well.