Reverse Meal Planning

Suffolk_lass

Thanks @joedenise I will look tonight!

@zafiro1984 we have a packet of bisto gravy powder here for infrequent back-up. You forget how good it is.

Tonight will be squashed toad (aka Roadkill in the Hole) - as we have been without power (some locally still are). Had to do an emergency F&C run on Friday and then we went out for lunch (pre-planned) with Auntie paying for everyone's food.

There were four children with their parents, Auntie and birthday daughter (family of 6 her daughter's), birthday girl's sister and her daughter, and her brother and his partner, and us 12 + 2 tiddlers. So lovely to have been included. She comes to me for Christmas every year now so she is kind enough to include us in her family occasions. It was birthday daughter's n0 birthday last Feb but lockdown stopped us celebrating. What a lovely occasion.

joedenise

@Suffolk_lass - not sure what time Morrie's magic bags go on today but suspect around 4pm as today's collection is 2-4pm!

Today we're having a chicken breast stuffed with soft cheese and wrapped in bacon.  Will do a traybake of potatoes, peppers, onions & carrots.  Have got some spring greens, Broccoli and cabbage which could do with being used so will do those too.  May even do some frozen green beans and peas as well so that we can have them fried up for dinner tomorrow with a large garlic chicken breast split between us (it's the biggest chicken breast I've ever seen!).

CCW007

Picked up some reduced lamb so OH is having lamb daube which is already in the slow cooker.  Cleaned out fridge yesterday and discovered three aubergines which are in desperate need of using so think I will make miso aubergines with tofu for me. 

Cooked a batch of spicy roasted chickpeas for lunches to have with salad.  Thankfully got some lettuce in yesterday's Olio but need to pick up some cucumbers and tomatoes.   

Think I'll make keema curry one day with some dried soya mince - made it before in the slow cooker and it was lovely. 

CCW007

About to make a big batch of chickpea and squash curry.  Got some carrots and coriander in my Olio collection this week so will make a batch of soup as well.  Back to the office one day a week from this week for the first time in almost two years, going to be very odd! So I need to be more organised.

MissRikkiC

Could you share your recipe for meat free keema? We have a bag in and whilst listed on the menu is chilli or bolognese we have those often.  

Friday I cooked up a vegetable chilli using leeks, mushrooms, onions, carrots and some bits and bobs from the fridge. It made 6 portions (lunch sized) so after having one with my daughter the rest have been frozen. 

Friday night I used beef mince to make Koftas and laid them across sliced potatoes before topping with a spicy Middle Eastern tomato based sauce for dinner. We had flatbreads in so they went well along with some tzatziki using the last of the frozen mint and a wrinkly bit of cucumber. 

I picked up a few sore cupboard items Friday so finished off the last of the tofu with a little broccoli and some bendy green beans for a Thai curry with rice for lunch. Dinner wasn’t very reverse planning, quite the opposite actually as I left my husband to his device for the evening…. We had a delicious very decadent mushroom risotto but he ignored the mushrooms in the fridge opting for some fancy polish type ones at £4 and seemingly had already eaten all of the left over cheese from Christmas so purchased £8s worth of pecorino and Gouda from the cheese monger! 😳 I mean it was delicious but we have now busy the grocery budget for feb! 

Roast dinner today using mostly veg box items from a week Wednesday and a handful of mushrooms to make a sauce instead of gravy. 

This week should be better on account if not being able to go to the shops! 

Suffolk_lass

Slight disaster last night for DH, he was cutting through some squashed (caramelised) sausage meat when his bowl slipped on the tray on his lap and the bowl flipped up and into the bin, leaving it empty and upside down with the dinner in the waste paper basket. Well, at least it vindicated my decision to line the bins with large plastic bags but I can tell you he was not happy! No meat for him and he eat all the leftover roasted veg that was otherwise soup-bound!

I have a chicken to roast today as I needed to make room for my powerless friend's freezer contents (without power, not feek and weeble)

MissRikkiC

Chicken stock from yesterday’s roast and a small handful of chicken made into chicken and sweet corn soup for this weeks lunches. Carrot and coriander soup will be made once that’s all gone. 

Plan for tonight is a vegetable stew with cheesy dumplings however I need to stock take the fridge and use up some other things I think. Mushrooms and green beans for one! Will update later as to what ends up being made. 

EssexHebridean

Oh dear - poor Mr SL! His face must have been a picture - but thank goodness at least it landed in the bin!

Lots of meal prep done at ours yesterday - I was doing slow roast lamb shoulder for lunch, once that was out turned up to full wallop for the roasties, and while they were doing I prepped a full big punnet of mushrooms, the squash from last weekend's veg box, three peppers and half a cauli, complete with leaves and stalks. The lot got drizzled with oil and sprinkled in salt, pepper and cumin seeds in the case of the cauli/squash, then both trays got shoved into the oven when the roasties came out to cook while we were eating lunch. All now boxed up in the fridge ready to sort meals in the week. There's a box full of lamb in the freezer for another time too - yum! 

To make room for the farmers market bits in the freezer I got out the bits I wanted for tonight's and tomorrow's tea too -  a tub of flaky smoked salmon brought back from the Hebrides, and the last pack of chicken sausages. Some of the salmon went into sandwiches for lunch today with some value soft cheese too - deeee-licious! The rest of the tub will be joining pasta, mushrooms and onions this evening. 

By the way I may be the only person in the country who loathes bisto gravy. In fact for years I thought I simply "didn't like gravy" as my only real experience had been bisto! 

zafiro1984

Suffolk_lass said:

Slight disaster last night for DH, 

Pity you didn't catch it on your phone, you could have turned it into a profit. 

We're having 'posh nosh' night today. We usually have it on a Sunday but yesterday was too busy. It's not really posh food but we use the proper plates, cutlery and glasses, and turn the TV off.
When I was out getting petrol I thought of going to the supermarket - boy was it busy, they were queuing to get in the carpark. Needless to say I drove on, went home and put some lateral thought into what I could cook for tonight. Casserole was easy to do, dh loves dumplings so I've done some for him, pudding should be ok, a crumble using blackberries, raspberries, blueberries and currents all in the freezer all from last year but my biggest lateral thought was chocolate liquors. I had a chocolate mould, used cooking chocolate, found some cherries in the freezer, cooked them in a drop of brandy, filled the mould, and they're now setting in the fridge. Some icing sugar dusted on top will hide a multitude. 

CCW007

MissRikkiC said:

Could you share your recipe for meat free keema? We have a bag in and whilst listed on the menu is chilli or bolognese we have those often.  

 

I can't find the recipe I used now, sorry! I remember it was a regular keema curry recipe and used coconut milk - I just subbed the soya mince which I soaked in oxo meatless "beef" stock cube.

Very glad of the meal prepping I did yesterday - came down with a cold on Friday.  As I am due to go to the office tomorrow I thought I'd do an LFT this morning - positive!  I did one on Saturday and it was negative so really didn't expect that. Been for a PCR to confirm, waiting on results.

It's not much worse than a cold but feel very tired today so was glad of some lovely carrot soup for lunch and just had to heat up the curry and cook some rice and veggies for dinner.   

Had already got a Mr M's delivery booked for Wednesday and full cupboards / freezers so self-isolating isn't a problem (whatever TPTB tell us today!) Did discover we are down to our last UHT milk for OH so that's on the order now.