Reverse Meal Planning

rtandon27

@Frugalista - How about carrots pan roasted in a spiced-cumin mix?  This recipe is an easy one but does mean you have to wait for the carrots to cool before pan-frying them

QueenJess

@Frugalista this carrot, tahini and chickpea salad is spicy and absolutely yummy: https://www.riverford.co.uk/recipes/carrot-chickpea-tahini-salad

Primrose

Try soaking the carrots in a bowl of cold water overnight.
this often perks up vegetables and salad stuff.

ruby_eskimo

@Frugalista I love a roasted carrot myself , bit of salt and pepper and in the oven for 45 minutes - delicious and you can add whatever herbs and spices you like really.  They taste amazing cold the next day too.

As for the "spring roll in a bowl" I winged it a little but just stir fried a red onion, leek, cabbage and peppers for a bit until starting to soften, threw in the beef mince with some crushed garlic (about 3-4 cloves) and waited till the meat had browned before putting in a couple of tablespoons of soy sauce, mirin, oyster sauce and a splash of fish sauce.  Added a couple of pinches of gochugaru (korean red pepper powder) for a hint of spice and then finished with a tiny drizzle of toasted sesame oil.  Served it on top of some udon noodles so it looked like a weird bolognese really but tasted amazing (according to DH).  Going to be having the leftovers for lunches today and tomorrow but with rice instead of noodles.  Dinner tonight is haddock with a mix of green veg from the freezer (broccoli, green beans and peas)

Suffolk_lass

We had the chicken pie leftovers for lunch, and then cauliflower cheese for supper as I had yet another meeting (three nights in a row and DH has a meeting (out, out) tonight. I have a pot of frozen chilli defrosting along with 200g of mince with which I plan to make a ragu (and I may double it with red lentils and make lasagne and stuffed yellow peppers). I will need to shop next week or tomorrow (market) for fresh veg, yogurt cheese and eggs (off lay).

joedenise

Well the cassoulet didn't cook in time for dinner yesterday so we ended up with a LO roast pork and apple sauce sandwich which we both really enjoyed.  Continued to cook the cassoulet for an extra hour to finish the cooking so will be reheating some of that for tonight and the rest will be bagged up to go in the freezer - there should be at least 2 if not 4 portions to freeze.  I ended up having to use the largest cast iron dutch oven I've got!  I couldn't even lift it in and out of the oven so DH had to!

Have got some smoked haddock and ham out of the freezer so it's kedgeree for breakfast and either ham salad or ham and tomato sandwich for lunch.

CCW007

Lots of "use it up" meals today.

Breakfast was tofu scramble using some old mushrooms, a little gem lettuce instead of spinach and half a rather ancient avocado.  Just making a big pot of vegetable soup with some soup mix from the freezer (oats, split peas type thing I have previously soaked and cooked) and various aging veg with harissa seasoning.  Dinner will be leftover vegetable tagine with quinoa which needs using up as well. 

I'm sure I'll fit in a salad to use up another lettuce or maybe have petit pois a la francais because that's lovely.

EssexHebridean

Just caught up and loving all the Christmas leftovers - there were none at all with us as we were at my parents for Christmas day and then straight off on Christmas night to start the drive north for our ferry on the 27th! 

We've arrived back with added tasty treats though - black and white pudding (the famed Stornoway variety) some tubs of flaky smoked salmon, and some tattie scones. The salmon and the scones have made it to the freezer before we ran out of room so the puddings are in the fridge with plenty of time left on their dates. This does mean that we have to prioritise getting the (rammed!) freezer eaten through though. Some of the fullness is down to milk - there are several bottles in there at the moment and that will mean I don't need to buy any for myself for a while. At the moment I'm still on the bottle I had for week 2 in the Hebrides. 

We too had the "organic -v- not" debate a while ago when wanting to go back to having a veg box - and in the end decided that considering that it now appears to be pretty solid that there are no health benefits of choosing organic over regular, and that in a lot of cases the environmental credentials are questionable too, we wanted to choose a different route. We now have an "0ddbox" once a fortnight - and love it. Like all veg boxes they seem to be variable - some are amazing, and just inspire you to want to eat it ALL, right now! Other times it's more humdrum - but still good quality, and mostly good quantity too. I like that a lot of the contents tend to be British - we always choose UK grown in the supermarket whenever we possibly can - and that regardless of where it originated we are eating food that would potentially otherwise have ended up rotting. The fact that it  is delivered overnight is a bonus as it means that unless we're physically away from home there is no issue with it turning up while we're at work - we have no real "safe place" but it's fine outside the door overnight.  I've also been over the moon with their customer service - with any minor queries 9and there have only been a couple) responded to swiftly, fairly and efficiently. 

So far this week we've used up one of the tubs of salmon that came back with us (sandwiches for lunch on Monday, and then a favourite pasta concoction that also used the half-tub of soft cheese we'd brought back) Tuesday evening's tea was omelettes as this fits well with MrEH having rugby training. They were entirely veggie but I'm not convinced he even noticed! Last night was a pack of the food-show purchased chicken sausages from the freezer in a sort of spanish inspired tomato & veg sauce served over couscous. The other half of the cooked sausages have gone in the freezer. Tonight we have lamb chops (surely this MUST be the final bit of the whole lamb now? I think I've said this before!) with jacket tatties and veg. Veg will be a combination of the last of the bag of kale, the final mushrooms and some bits from the freezer, I think.  Tomorrow is unashamedly a takeaway as I have my booster in the morning and have no idea if I'll feel like cooking in the evening! 

rtandon27

@EssexHebridean - good planning for your booster!  My OH had no side-effects other than a sore arm, but 3 weeks later mine resulted in two days of fever and chills with no appetite.  OH was particularly pleased that he could have omelettes for breakfast, lunch and dinner without having to worry about me - LOL

Last night's dinner was some xmas sausagemeat from the freezer, stir-fried with chinese cabbage & dark soy - served on top of rice.  Made enough so that we had it as toastie filling today with a sprinkle of grated cheese - also spiced parsnip soup on the side.  Tonight's dinner will be fakeaway chicken and chips with courgette batons on the side.

Suffolk_lass

We are also fans of wonky veg, albeit pre-bagged in what initially look like plastic bags but are some sort of organic compostable thing - actually here they go in the incinerator as they are not toxic. 

Last night's dinner was the 2 portions of chilli left over (and frozen) after my new year visitors. I also got out some mince to stuff peppers for tonight. I also got out a white bloomer from the butcher, which will be good for sandwiches, using out of date pate and saddish lettuce. Oh and a Christmas Stollen, some of which went very well with tea yesterday, and a piece of pork that I will slow-roast at the weekend. @EssexHebridean I noticed a bag of scrag in my freezer which I really need to either use or lose. My next half lamb won't be until the end of Feb but there is plenty of room in the chest freezer now