Reverse Meal Planning

CCW007

That's not much use for things like balls of mozzarella.

Suffolk_lass

@CCW007 I pop a plastic storage bag into a plastic storage box to freeze, then when they are frozen they keep the shape of the box so stack OK.

Even meatballs (not dis-similar to mozzarella balls or dough balls) having said that I do tetris things like frozen peas to fill the gaps by shimmying them with a hand-wobble so the little bits drop into the gaps a bit and they flatten to fit like @weenancyinAmerica

Suffolk_lass

We had the loose bits of chicken added to a butternut, onion, chickpea and spinach curry last night. The BNS was so big (and was the smallest of the three remaining from last year's garden produce) and I only used the stalk end. It meant I had to swap to a bigger dish and now we have leftovers. I was going to stir-fry some more of the chicken tonight but it might be leftover curry. I still have a pack of minced beef I plan to do a chilli with this week. And streaky bacon (I used half a pack on the chicken as I was roasting it). And a cauliflower. Hmm, no need to shop then.

zafiro1984

I've a fridge full of bits and bobs, so I'm just about to sort out what I can do with everything, soup being high on the list as I'm sure there must be a couple of wrinkly vegetables lurking.
Another one here that probably doesn't need to shop for a few days - I think

Fridge done, now all sparkling and shiny. making soup out of some chicken thighs that were on the top shelf plus veggies, and pulses - that's lunch sorted for tomorrow. More veg plus some chestnuts (in the freezer under the fridge) and a jar of pickled walnuts went into a venison casserole for tonight. Geese will have all the outer leaves from the lettuce/cabbage and cauliflower that were lurking in the veg drawer with their tea. I was quite surprised that I didn't throw much away at all, some packaging and some butter wrappings went in the bin, plus a manky lemon. Loads of space but I can see exactly what I have. The freezer under the fridge is on the list for tomorrow - we'll see what that yields.

Definitely don't need to shop for a few days

MissRikkiC

Half a pepper, a handful of mange tout, 7 soft cherry tomatoes and the rest of a pack of prawns went into a tomato based linguine dish tonight. A take on one of JOs 15 minute meals, a book which I love. 

Breakfast was crumpets for everyone, 6 taken out of the freezer. 

Lunch was a tuna sandwich using some salad veg that is almost on its way out and there is a whole chicken, portion of soup both out of the freezer for dinner tomorrow.

A handful of carrots, some freezer greens and possibly some peas to go with a roast dinner, there will ofc be left over chicken from the whole bird. 

I’m counting crumpets, naan breads, mange tout, cooked chicken, prawns, soup, whole chicken, freezer greens and peas as emptying the freezer as requested. However it’s likely there will be portioned chicken to go back on along with another bag of stock at this rate! 😬

joedenise

I've got some LO chicken, a few mushrooms which need using up and still got some filo left in the fridge so going to make a chicken and mushroom filo topped pie.

I made about a dozen samosas and froze them with some of the filo.

There will probably be more filo left so need to find a use for that as I never find it freezes very successfully without breaking up!  Even in the pack where it's folded it's already torn a bit!

The packs of filo go a long way as I do Slimming World and as pastry is high syn I only use a couple of sheets for each meal!

Any other ideas out there?  I thought it might work with baking with a load of Mediterranean veg on top as an open tart but not sure.

Suffolk_lass

joedenise said:

I've got some LO chicken, a few mushrooms which need using up and still got some filo left in the fridge so going to make a chicken and mushroom filo topped pie.

I made about a dozen samosas and froze them with some of the filo.

There will probably be more filo left so need to find a use for that as I never find it freezes very successfully without breaking up!  Even in the pack where it's folded it's already torn a bit!

The packs of filo go a long way as I do Slimming World and as pastry is high syn I only use a couple of sheets for each meal!

Any other ideas out there?  I thought it might work with baking with a load of Mediterranean veg on top as an open tart but not sure.

If you cut a square of filo into quarters and offset them (you might want to use a light olive oil spray) then put a spoonful of filling such as cream cheese and spring onion, with maybe ham or bacon, and tomato, chopped fine, then twist and roast them they are fab. They also work with chopped up apple and a bit of leftover mincemeat, but probably not with slimming world! And not here where the lent diet is still going

zafiro1984

Suffolk_lass said:

joedenise said:

Any other ideas out there?  I thought it might work with baking with a load of Mediterranean veg on top as an open tart but not sure.

If you cut a square of filo into quarters and offset them (you might want to use a light olive oil spray) then put a spoonful of filling such as cream cheese and spring onion, with maybe ham or bacon, and tomato, chopped fine, then twist and roast them they are fab. They also work with chopped up apple and a bit of leftover mincemeat, but probably not with slimming world! And not here where the lent diet is still going

Agree - but I've also used the same idea of offsetting small squares but lining muffin tins - baked without a filling which is then added afterwards. The modern day voile-a-vent!!

Brambling

joedenise said:

There will probably be more filo left so need to find a use for that as I never find it freezes very successfully without breaking up!  Even in the pack where it's folded it's already torn a bit!

The packs of filo go a long way as I do Slimming World and as pastry is high syn I only use a couple of sheets for each meal!

Any other ideas out there?  I thought it might work with baking with a load of Mediterranean veg on top as an open tart but not sure.

 I make spinach and feta filo triangles, I also find fillings like soft goat cheese and lots of herbs (a chopped date if you have any), LO roast meat for example lamb with mint sauce or beef and horseradish with some saute onions or leeks.  I've also wrapped salmon with pesto or ginger, lemon grass and chilli.  All seem to freeze well raw and I cook from frozen in the Air fryer 

This is really nice although probably more a recipe to use the courgette glut

Courgette and rice filo pie | River Cottage

or there is a Hairy Biker 'diet' recipe which crunches up the filo on top, I use less than the recipe 

Chicken and ham tangle pie - Recipes - Hairy Bikers

and not quite so slimming is the JO filo chicken kiev

Filo chicken Kiev | Jamie Oliver recipes

As I cook for one a pack of filo needs to be planned before i buy 

joedenise

Thank you all for the ideas.  @Brambling even the JO one can be made SW friendly believe it or not!  

@Suffolk_lass  - I've actually made the mincemeat things before with LO mincemeat from Christmas.  Mincemeat actually isn't too bad for SW as only 0.5 syn per tsp, the cooked apple is more of a problem!

The pie I'm planning on making is a bit like the Chicken and ham tangle pie but with chicken and mushroom.  The Courgette and rice filo pie is a bit like a spanakopita which I've made in the past.