Reverse Meal Planning

CCW007

Picked up reduced veggie kebab last night and a pack of mince for OH so kebab and chips tonight.  Lunch will be jacket potatoes to use up the potatoes from the last veg box before the next one arrives tomorrow.  Fridge clear out tonight to make space for veg box so will be able to meal plan from that. 

I have a lovely recipe to try for avocado and asparagus tray bake but need a couple of oranges, meant to pick some up last night but forgot. I've got satsumas coming in the veg box tomorrow so think I may use them instead.  

rtandon27

We managed to empty the fridge again this week, so the groceries coming today have somewhere to go! 

Must think on next week's meal plan, as it is completely dependant on train service running from our town or not!  No fuss if the OH is still wearing his chauffeur's hat - but a bit more elaborate if he only needs to focus on being the chef.

We have some sweet potatoes & a swede that need to be used, as well as some chestnut mushrooms and chinese leaf in the fridge so that's a good place to start.

Suffolk_lass

We had half of the beef mince ragu with penne last night and I made up a small lasagne with the rest (which can stay in the fridge for tomorrow). DH will make meat balls (or maybe flattened sliders - it is up to him).

I am meeting a friend for coffee in the nearby market town (and it is market day). I need some fresh veg and dairy stuff and the freezer has no bread now. We have no crackers except Ryvita so could do with a few things - Oh and I opened the last pack of toilet rolls - it is an 18 pack so no hurry but I have no spare tissues now and none in my study. I also got some butter out of the freezer that I accumulated last year and while I have no problem with keeping a few spare, I do like to turn it over so it isn't in there too long. 

ruby_eskimo

@rtandon27 yes and no with the replacing stuff in stores once I rotate them into our food cupboard.  I'll replace the staple things like chopped tomatoes, tinned veg but probably won't replace a lot of the tinned fruit as DH's not keen on it so I end up eating most of it.

Pleased to report the carrot based dhal was lovely and DH even went back for seconds - think the roasted carrot gave it the right amount of sweetness.  Had the last portion as my dinner last night after a long day at work and it was much appreciated.  Used up some yogurt for breakfast this morning with frozen blueberries, lunch is a tuna salad and dinner is apparently going to be fish fingers according to DH.  Have a couple of potatoes that could do with being used up so will make some chips with those.

Does anyone else have problems with the number of jars in their fridge?  Literally one whole shelf in ours is devoted to jars!  There's various pickles, jam, marmalade, mustard, mint sauce and then all the other condiments.  Every time I open the fridge it stresses me out slightly because our fridge really isn't that big anyway so I can't put these things in the door.

EssexHebridean

Aargh - absolutely yes to the jars! It’s something I want to do whenI go through it later, decide which of them can be got rid of - I know there is a ruling jar of mincemeat with a crystallised tablespoon or so in the bottom for a start, and a I think also a jar of Thai curry paste that is probably several years past the 3 days after opening by when it was supposed to have been discarded… 😂 (although it’s also full of chilli so in fact is probably still fine!)

CCW007

Definitely with you on the jars!

2kg of carrots and two heads of celery being turned into soup as we speak.  I'm on a half day and I'm determined to sort out the fridge and get it organised.

Burger night tonight, two burgers and buns out of the freezer.

rtandon27

We too have a shelf of jars @ruby_eskimo - there are a few that get used up and replaced regularly such as jam, mayo, ketchup & currant jelly - but olives, gerkins, pickles, chutneys, kimchi & various sauces seem to linger forever!

Last night's dinner was pickity bits - spanish meats, cheese, olives, grapes, sliced cucumber & apple with cream crackers and cornish wafers.  OH chased his down with a glass or two of wine   A simple special dinner but NOT takeaway which means a nice chunk of the budget saved instead of spent.

Lunch was a freezer dive resulting in duck bao buns - and dinner will be a creative use of leftovers, starting with a mexican pizza of leftovers on either naan or pita bread, followed by whatever bits are leftover from last night.  Saves either of us doing any real cooking and uses up bits of this and that.

EssexHebridean

Well I now have several LESS jars and similar - 2 elderly jars of mincemeat, a bottle of Indian-spiced ketchup (got it free at the good food show a few years ago) and a bottle of posh balsamic dressing flavoured with strawberry - I liked the taster I had on the stand but was far less keen on it in the quantity you use on a salad, so it’s gone. Also amalgamated a jar of beetroot flavoured vinegar from our HM pickled beetroot into the bottle of the same thing - in theory we’re keeping them to use for dressings but I suspect what wil happen is the first time it gets used whisking the oil in will spray it all over the kitchen and I’ll lose patience and pour it down the sink. 😂

Very small bendy cucumber got used in and alongside tuna rolls at lunchtime. Really tasty actually proving that the odd looking veg often is! 

Tonight - as per the plan, cauliflower and pasta cheese bake with black pudding chunks studded throughout - sort of “Mac ‘n’ black” if you will… and the timer has just gone off to say it’s ready - yum! 

Herbyme

@ruby_eskimo me too with the jar problem. We’ve got shelves in the doors which are full of them, and some on the main shelves as well. Maybe it’s time for a cull 🪓
chopped and fried 6 leeks meaning to have some of the  vast amount as veg with dinner, the rest to make soup. Oddly they have nearly all gone. 🙄

Suffolk_lass

Why do you keep vinegar based pickles in the fridge? They are preserved and keep perfectly well outside... I do keep low sugar preserves like semi-set jam or compote in there, and mayonnaise, and opened jars of things like a ready-made sauce and tomato puree but the rest lives in a drawer of opened things.

Pickles, chutneys and mint sauce are all preserved in vinegar and I know from making pickled onions every autumn that they keep until consumed. Set jams and marmalade are preserved by the sugar. I make these too. If they ever started to go mouldy I would initially lift any mould off the top and then take a view. And next time pot in a smaller jar and/or increase the ratio of sugar a little to stop it.