Reverse Meal Planning

joedenise

I made a bacon and tomato risotto for dinner last night and was going to freeze the leftovers but DH said he enjoyed it so much could we have it again today!  Was going to reheat it for lunch but DH said he thought there was enough for a dinner so we're having that again tonight.  I just made a quick veg soup using some of a bag of mixed veg which has been lurking in the freezer for a while.  Added a stock cube and a tsp of marmite to it!  That tsp of marmite really changed the flavour for the better!

I cooked some chickpeas yesterday to make a butternut and chickpea tagine so will still make that this afternoon and reheat it tomorrow for dinner.  There should be at least a couple of portions to go into the freezer and possibly more than that as the recipe says 4-6 portions so we shall see.

MissRikkiC

Bubble and squeak for us tonight, using up some sprouts, bacon and half a cabbage, along with a couple of potatoes. 

It was quite tasty but I probably won’t have it too often. That said there is still the other half of the cabbage and a handful of sprouts left so imagine I’ll be syphoning a little of those every few days to bulk up meals! 

Meal plan finally done for the next 3 weeks, such an exciting life I live 🤪

Suffolk_lass

As we started our low carb, low sugar regime yesterday we had the last of the beef casserole I was intending to make a pie with (having forgotten we were out early, we had a late lunch) and had it with Mangetout and fine beans (the last of the TGTG bag). Got home late and had a bowl of hm soup for supper. Still feel full this morning! I have salmon fillets out for this evening (undecided what to do with them yet but could keep it really simple as I'm preparing a lunch for over 20 tomorrow and a lot of veg prep and chicken marinading to do this afternoon!

ruby_eskimo

@EssexHebridean dinner last night was quite nice, but felt like it was missing something flavour wise 🤔 maybe need to add some garlic next time but would make again.

Our office is closed this week so I'm having a jacket potato for lunch today with tuna.  Dinner tonight is some veggie packed stew that I found in the freezer.  Really need to get the freezer defrosted this weekend as it's completely iced up again even worse than before and DH has cracked another drawer trying to close it 😒

Primrose

ruby_eskimo said:

@EssexHebridean dinner last night was quite nice, but felt like it was missing something flavour wise 🤔 maybe need to add some garlic next time but would make again.

A jar of garlic powder or garlic granules is a really useful standby to have if you want to boost the flavour of something (providing you like the flavour of course).

EssexHebridean

I always have a jar of the prepared garlic in the fridge - I actually find it works out more cost effective for us than buying heads of garlic. I do buy the garlic when Als have it on super six at a sensible price though - tend to buy a few packs, and roast in the oven seasoned with smoked oil and salt then loose freeze in cloves. 

Yesterday's sausages and mash were served with a mountain of mixed green veg in the end - sprouts, kale and spinach. Very tasty. 

Tonight is going to be a nice "use -up" meal - the last of the chicken sausages and a tub of roasted tomatoes have come out of the freezer, and I'll do those with pasta, the remainder of the bag of spinach and probably a veg box red pepper and onion. A sauce will be made with the tomato juices plus the last bit from the tub of soft cheese, and a spoonful of creme fraiche if needed to loosen it a bit. Simple, tasty and nice and easy to prep when I get in from the gym - MrEH will be able to just reheat his sauce and cook his pasta when he gets in from the rugby club later. 

I'm currently thinking that tomorrow is going to be a cauliflower version of last week's curry - I'll need to add some more interest to keep himself happy if it's going to be meat free though...that will use the other tub of dhal that I froze, and I can do flatbreads again. 

joedenise

We're having the butternut squash and chickpea tagine with some herby couscous.  Made the tagine yesterday and have portioned up this morning.  Recipe said it served 4-6 and I have managed to get 6 portions out of it so will use 2 portions tonight, 2 for lunch tomorrow and the other 2 have gone into the freezer.

I always keep garlic powder/granules in the cupboard (and onion powder/granules) as find them really useful particularly for flavouring breadcrumbs when I'm making something like Fakeaway KFC or fish gougons.

I've also made a batch of pork/beef burgers for the freezer this morning to which I added both garlic and onion granules and some mixed herbs.  Have made 10 burgers out of a pack of each pork and beef mince.  Will be trying them at the weekend rather than ready made ones from the butchers which we usually have.

ruby_eskimo

Thanks for the suggestions everyone.  I do have garlic powder and lots of fresh garlic hanging around, but just thought the dish would have enough flavour from the smoked bacon, leek and parmesan to carry it through but think both had mellowed a bit since being opened / chopped up.  Didn't really think about it and didn't taste it until it was plated up hence being a bit late to salvage it, but as I said, still very nice.

Wraithlady

Discovered a sweet potato in the veg drawer that is slowly going the way of all flesh, as well as the remaining half Crown squash I'd forgotten about, so am doing a traybake with these and the pork chops I got YS yesterday - any veg left over will be made into soup with the last sad leeks and spinach from the garden

joedenise

The tagine was disappointing flavour wise so when I reheat the frozen portions I will fry off an onion and some of my usual tagine spices which have plenty of flavour (I make up a jarful at a time!).  Once this is cooked I'll add it to the portioned tagine and hopefully it will be a bit more flavoursome than it was today!