Reverse Meal Planning

MissRikkiC

I got everything out of the fridge tonight that needed using with stir fry, courgette and feta pasta, or curry in mind. Curry won however used up Pakchoi as spinach 🙃 

lunch was an omelette to use the last of a previously opened packet of feta and the green tops of spring onions with 2 rashers of bacon for extra protein. 

Prepping the meal plan this week and came here for inspiration. Burgers made it on to the menu, thanks @es@EssexHebridean

joedenise

DH decided to make some fruit buns this afternoon so as sausages were out for dinner tonight I decided to make use of the oven and made toad in the hole and roasties.

Suffolk_lass

I really need to empty my fridge and sort it out! I know I have a quarter jar of lemon curd in there that has been lurking since the Jubilee! 

We had corn on the cob for supper with two SM and two homegrown. Just lovely with salt and black pepper and just enough butter to be lovely.

I intend making a curry with the leftover chicken, some lentils and most of a small butternut squash that was starting to rot at the bottom. So I picked the latter and it is ready to use. I know it won't keep so today is the day!

EssexHebridean

Right - the next two days are all about using things up. 

There is the remaining lamb from Sunday's roast shoulder - that will do a portion each with couscous and veg tonight, and then the balance will get frozen for when we're back. I'm going to use up the remaining coleslaw veg alongside tonight's couscous too - plus some cubes of roasted beetroot that I did when the oven was on for the lamb, and I suspect the final bit of marrow will  get chunked and sauteed to have with that too. It'll be a bit "mish-mash" but will also be plentiful numbers of our 5 a day, and tasty! (If I've judged it right, the coleslaw will also finish the jar of posh mayo...) 

I've got out the final portion of shredded roast chicken from the other week and that is going to make a pasta salad with some cooked bacon which was also frozen a while ago, some roasted toms/peppers (yep - from the freezer again!) and a blob of pesto (probably the red pesto from the jar in the fridge rather than the HM stuff from the freezer. There will probably be some remaining fresh tomatoes to use and those will get chopped and added in as well, with the remains of a bag of rocket. And that will be tomorrow sorted with minimum of cooking (I'll mostly assemble it tonight) and more importantly just a plate and a fork each to wash up.

We will finish all the fruit between us today/tomorrow - the bargainous YS'd raspberries have mostly been frozen apart from some that got thrown into the ice cream and some that got eaten fresh (excuse being - there wasn't room for them ion the box I was using for the frozen ones!) the rest of the bag of YS'd baby potatoes got cooked at the same time as the ones for sunday lunch and are now sitting on a tray in the freezer - I'll transfer them to plastic tubs this evening. 

Only other thing I need to find space for in the freezer will be rolls - MrEH is making those tonight and two will be used for lunch tomorrow but the balance will need frozen). 

Herbyme

Just found a glut of cartons of tomato juice, not sure what to do with them. Clearly no one is interested in drinking them! I think it'd be too watery to use on its own eg in a chilli. If I added more tomato puree than usual, would that balance out the intensity of tomato flavour? Or is the juice too weak to be worth adding except instead of water if the recipe calls for stock?

Or is there a better use for them (other than in a bloody mary!)

Herbyme

Frugalista said:

ruby_eskimo said:

Lots of lovely sounding meals here as always.  Making a stir fry for dinner tonight using up cabbage that my parents gave me over Christmas, a leek, some peppers and minced beef we had leftover from making lasagne at the weekend.  Bit of a weird mix I know but basing it on an "spring roll in a bowl" recipe that I found online when I was looking for ways to use up the cabbage.

Sounds nice, any chance of the recipe?

Also, I have a large bag of carrots that are on their last legs - anyone got any ideas?  I am considering soup as a last resort as neither of us are keen on the baby puree texture - but if anyone has a spicy recipe I would appreciate it.  Unfortunately, I don't have any fresh coriander - but have most other things. 

Thanks in advance.

This is really nice: https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/spiced-carrot-lentil-soup

Primrose

Herbyme said:

Just found a glut of cartons of tomato juice, not sure what to do with them. Clearly no one is interested in drinking them! I think it'd be too watery to use on its own eg in a chilli. If I added more tomato puree than usual, would that balance out the intensity of tomato flavour? Or is the juice too weak to be worth adding except instead of water if the recipe calls for stock?

Or is there a better use for them (other than in a bloody mary!)

Oh don't waste them!   They'll be fine as a stock substitute for any vegetable based minestrone type soup, and with the winter casserole time coming up you can use them as a substitute for water in any beef type casseroles.  You can also add to a spag bol mixture with some tomato purree added..

I'm a great fan of V8 vegetable juice,  heavily chilled. Tomato juice is its main content I think so you   could  try adding some celery salt or dried herbs to it to alter the flavour by way of a change, or perhaps even a few chilli flakes or powder if you want something a little "hotter" on  a cold day

Suffolk_lass

We've gone a bit quiet on here this week... Buckle up it's a bit of a saga
Over here things are not easy after the freezer door was left open overnight last Monday night in the kitchen. The trouble (apart from having to bin all the herbs and lemongrass, pre-cooked red cabbage and ice lollies) was that it would not refreeze. So last Tuesday (yes, 8 days ago) by the evening I had to empty the fridge and freezer. It meant evicting other things from the drinks fridge in the toolshed, and rearranging things between the produce (we grow) freezer, the chest freezer and the slightly clapped out upright bee freezer.

The fridge freezer was switched off, cleaned out, all the coils were vacuumed and the next day it was switched on empty. At 06.15. By 3pm there was a slightly cold shelf in the top of the freezer and the fridge was working. I ordered a replacement (delivered Saturday). By Friday, having not switched it off, the test tray of ice cubes had frozen. So we agreed to keep it in reserve in the garage.

The new one came mid afternoon Saturday and the doors would not open without it sitting about 2-3 inches (8cm) into the doorway next to the hinges. Despite being the same model, the internal shelf layout is different. One large veg drawer that is the full depth of the fridge, no wine rack, only 3 shelves, no half depth shelf 5cm narrower than the old one, only 3 door shelves with the bottom 25cm taken by the veg drawer, much more plasticky.

I rang the helpdesk. Lovely man refunded the £25 they should have charged to take the old one away. I told him how different it was and he offered that Miele (German made) had changed the insulation they use to much thicker and cheaper insulation, hence the changes. For me the square edges and location of the hinges meaning it no longer fits in the only possible recess is the nightmare. He said don't switch it on or they won't be able to take it back. Discuss with husband.

Monday, went over to John Lewis where the lovely man told me all the fridge freezer makers except Samsung and LG (in Korea) are doing the same thing, and by the way, the reason the one I was looking at was more spacious inside is because it was a 70cm wide model, not the 60cm one we have room for. He told me I should go home, send it back and put the old one back and wait for it to come back then carry on using it for another 15 years. I said it's a trust thing. Yes, he said, but that is trust in your husband to shut the door. The device is fine. You panicked. Take a breath, save £900. He was right of course. What wonderful customer service.

I came home, rang the supplier shop, explained about the doors and they are going to collect it on Monday, when DH is back from his second weekend away. Fortunately I asked to keep the big plastic bag it was in (futile hope of covering the old one) and for some reason, the cardboard box. I think I am the age where I think, "that's a good cardboard box". Initially he said I would have to box it up. I said fine but it will be outside (undercover but outside) as the box won't fit through the door. That is a no for them. I might offer them a tenner each to move the old one back in from the garage but not push in, then get DH to remove the decor trim round the door frame.

In the meantime we have brought the old camping 3-way "fridge" (more a large plug in cold box) in and deployed it in the dining room and we are using that for the immediate things like milk, butter, eggs and smelly catfood (if left out).

We are definitely going to go through every freezer after this and reduce what we have in. I had already bought a large joint of beef, a turkey crown and a large pork shoulder, ready for Christmas, but these are surrounded by portions of this and that; chipolatas, bacon, mince, chicken thighs that need using up over the next few months. So last night it was lambs liver, bacon and onion, with potato and beans from the garden, followed by stewed plums (garden) and a generous serving of ready-made custard. Normally I would use the other half carton to make surplus-fruit icecream but there is honestly nowhere for that to be stored currently. Only another week to go!

Primrose

Suffolk lass    I think everybody on here owning a freezer will feel your pain.    I suspect a number of us will have suffered this kind of freezer breakdown experience.. and trying to match Old with New never seems to work as internal designs change regularly.     Trying to get a large unfit appliance returned is a nightmare. 
 
I'm not sure whether Beko are still the only company designing a freezer which is suitable for lower garage environmental operating temperatures.   That considerably restricted out most recent freezer replacement choice.   Can anybody offer any experience or guidance?

fionaandphil

@Primrose we have a Hotpoint which was recommended for garage use.  The freezer itself is actually really good and freezes quickly, has a lovely skinny 'fruit drawer' at the top for drying things flat.  The downside is that the build quality of the drawers is shocking, they just split or break, have replaced twice and then given up.  It will influence our decision next time.  Looking at Which? it looks like there are some good outdoor ones from John Lewis, Samsung and Beko