Reverse Meal Planning

Suffolk_lass

That recipe looks good @QueenJess, thank you for posting it. I think I would warm just the butter in the pan and then stir the honey through it, rather than heating the honey. Heating it in a pan risks changing the beneficial properties that change if honey is directly heated to warmer than 70c.

Of course supermarket honey might say a blend of non-EU honeys. As a beekeeper I am dubious about this. In our community there has been a lot of concern. In some EU countries the lab testing has found not a trace of pollen or nectar - the bees had essentially been intensively farmed - essentially battery fed syrup which they store and humans harvest as honey. Mostly but not exclusively in China.

We had fishcakes that I froze (M&S from a TGTG bag) with steamed veg - they needed longer than the box said from frozen as the liquid parsley sauce in the middle, wasn't. In DH's case it was still frozen. I think it is the first time the microwave has been used this year. They were tasty and I would eat (probably not buy) again. Nice crispy panko coating was well seasoned. No discernible bits of fish but the flavour was there (and that might be a good thing for DH). I could also see me trying a hm version of these myself. I would make and chill or freeze the sauce in balls then surround with the potato-fish mix

zafiro1984

Suffolk_lass said:

We had fishcakes that I froze (M&S from a TGTG bag) with steamed veg - they needed longer than the box said from frozen as the liquid parsley sauce in the middle, wasn't. In DH's case it was still frozen. I think it is the first time the microwave has been used this year. They were tasty and I would eat (probably not buy) again. Nice crispy panko coating was well seasoned. No discernible bits of fish but the flavour was there (and that might be a good thing for DH). I could also see me trying a hm version of these myself. I would make and chill or freeze the sauce in balls then surround with the potato-fish mix

Wow, that's a brilliant bit of lateral thinking, opens up a whole new set of HM meal ideas - thanks

ruby_eskimo

Agree with @zafiro1984, having one of those "why have I never thought of this" moments!

Thai curry went down very well last night and made 3 portions so one of those went straight in the freezer.  Tonight I'm having more mushroom risotto, which might not actually use up all the mushrooms so got to think of a way to make those disappear over the next few days too.

EssexHebridean

That is a good idea about freezing a sauce to make melting-middle style fishcakes - I too might have to give that a go at some stage!

Lunch has been reverse planned today - we were going to get some sliced beef from the freezer for our roll filling today until I spotted a part tub of soft cheese in the fridge needing used - so MrEH cooked a couple of rashers each of the pack of bacon that was bought to go with our liver and onions tonight and we have soft cheese & bacon rolls for lunch. Yum! Plenty of the bacon remaining for tonight, and there will be some to freeze as well. We also whipped a bag of prepped cabbage out of the freezer and rather than just doing plain mash with the liver I'll do bubble and squeak instead. 

Ruby - very finely chopped mushrooms are a great addition to bolognese sauce as they cook into a texture not dissimilar to mince. You could finely shop and cook, then freeze ready for next time you're making something like that maybe? I've also roasted spare mushrooms in the past and then frozen for future use. 

Suffolk_lass

Mmn Bubble and squeak with chopped up streaky bacon moulded round frozen sauce. Thanks for that variation thought  @EssexHebridean

MissRikkiC

Thanks to both SL and EH now all I want is melty sauce encased in literally anything 😂 

nothing interesting to report here really. 

More soup from the olio collection scoffed today, 1/2 teaspoon of curry powder to liven it up with freezer bread. That’s the last of it now! 

Dinner last night was veggie spag bol and used up last of the celery, end of a leek and 3 grated carrots with the vegan mince. 

I also stirred through a ‘pesto’ (a bag of nearly done basil chopped fine with oil and garlic and a bit of cheddar) which hub seemed to enjoy. 

Dinner tonight is sausages and cheesy polenta, I just need to find some green veg to go with it. I have spring cabbages to pull in the garden which have bolted but they’re a bit too strong for me so I think I’d be as well to compost them instead!

Suffolk_lass

I had book club last night so we had a box of breaded chicken breasts that were in the freezer from a TGTG bag - four of them (M&S) was really a bit too big a portion for me but pup helped me out with some of the mini-fillet white meat. DH did his favoured shredded savoy cabbage and thinly sliced carrots with them. They were OK and it made space in the freezer. Almost a ready-meal for us.

I'm off to market this morning to drop something off (empty plastic bottles to the refills lady) and hopefully collect the outstanding bit of my prescription and pick up a very short list from the SM (cat litter is top of my list!)

joedenise

Pea and ham soup on the go shortly (just cooking the dried peas at the moment!).  I've also chopped up a load of onions and am having a go at a recipe for French onion soup in the SC - not tried it before but it's supposed to make 6 portions.  We'll have some as a starter tonight and, assuming it's OK, the rest will be going in the freezer.  If we don't like it for any reason it's not going to be given freezer space!

Have taken out some prawns and coconut milk from the freezer to make a Goan prawn curry.  Also taken out some pilau rice and samosas to have with it.  I'm hoping there will be enough prawn curry LO to freezer some for another day even if it's only enough for a couple of small lunch portions.

CCW007

Got a pack of two chicken breasts out the freezer for OH yesterday - couldn't separate them so he had one yesterday and the other will be chicken and bacon risotto tonight (using up the cooking bacon).

Picked up a load of reduced double cream on Wednesday so made butter last night - have about 1.5l of buttermilk so guess I better make scones this weekend.  Also someone suggested buttermilk batter so will investigate that and freeze the rest.

Not sure about dinner for me - maybe salmon / seafood risotto?   

joedenise

@CCW007  - If you soak chicken pieces overnight in buttermilk it helps to tenderise it.