Reverse Meal Planning

zafiro1984

The other night we had some puff pastry split with strawberry jam and cream. I knew the strawberry jam wouldn't keep long once opened as it contained very little sugar. So in order to not waste it we had old fashioned rice pudding with nutmeg done in the slow cooker last night, topped with strawberry jam. I made the mistake of letting DH put the strawberry jam on his pudding - 2 rather large spoonful went on top. Tonight to finish off the jar we are having strawberry jam underneath a plain sponge as the pudding.
Jar to be washed as I'm trying to finish off making the crab apple jelly and I'm a bit short on jars.

JIL

Glad the jacket potatoes worked for soup @CCW007
I made some leek, potato, celery, rocket, chive, potato and cauliflower soup tonight. Using up bits from the fridge. I even added the last of the full fat milk and some parmesan shavings rather than waste them. That will do for lunches with the last of the frozen bread rolls.
I have made a real effort this week to eat from stores and it's worked really well. 

Primrose

It's amazing the varied ingredients you  can put in home made soup and still produce a cheap tasty meal that is healthy for you.
i suspect many people on here have their own version of "bottom of the fridge" soup which works equally well.  More power to our elbows - We may need it over the coming winter,!

joedenise

All meals for the next few days will be using up stuff from the cupboards and freezer as just returned from a month's holiday.  I did bring some stewing beef and stew veg back with me so that will do a couple of meals and be really yummy this weather!

EssexHebridean

Morning all! The plan is working well with us this week - tonight will be the pulled pork in buns, with wedges (need to remember to get the top oven on as SOON as I get in this evening!). There are two more portions of the pulled pork in the freezer as well - and right now I'm giving serious thought to *almost* doubling up this week's meal plan to suit next week as well - although it will probably involve switching the days about somewhat. 

Although this month isn't going to be a challenge particularly as far as the actual budget is concerned (the first week being spent on holiday helped with this!) I'm still planning to focus on "using what we have" for the next couple of weeks I think. Left over to use from this week will be half a pack of bacon which will either mean a Friday-night fry-up at some stage or using it in the same way as this week - on Tuesday evening I cooked together an entire punnet of mushrooms chopped up, the first half of the pack of bacon and a third of an Al's Chorizo, then divided that into two - it made a filling for our omelettes that night and the other half of the mixture was stirred into the risotto last night - so cook once, eat twice to an extent. The Chorizo is an absolute winner for adding to anything like that - adds a huge hit of flavour for a relatively low cost - I reckon to cost of the chorizo per portion this time round was under 20p and the value it added in the taste was far greater. 

Options for the next week then: (Days to be decided)

Friday: MrEH will probably get himself a chinese, I'm out
Saturday: He'll likely have soup for lunch, we'll both have cheese & crackers for tea
Sunday: Lunch might depend on the contents of the veg box to an extent - we can judge after we shop. Might get muffins or crumpets for tea though as it's now properly autumn-y! 
Weekdays: Omelette/tortilla
                   Couscous salad with roasted veg & halloumi (probably tuesday)
                   Pulled pork in some form or another - assuming there are still tatties, maybe wedges again
                   Chilli (black bean) and rice
That means subject to what we decide to do for Sunday we won't need to purchase any meat or other protein - we have eggs still, and the pork and the mince for the chilli are in the freezer. I reckon if I'm sneaky I can stretch the mince to do a second meal's worth as well with additional of a lot of finely chopped mushrooms and a couple of good handfuls of red lentils (IS there anything better for bulking out mince dishes?!) 

The veg box expected contents list includes a swede which may well point to a slow cooked stew at some point, but as swedes store well I'm not fussed about using it immediately. Also chicory which I don't have much of a clue what to do with so I'll be checking out options for that! It should have carrots but I have those on opt-out at the moment - likely switches for those are peppers or green beans by the look of it. with luck the potatoes will be nice  big ones - and if so there's a good chance the chilli will be with jackets rather than rice. 

Suffolk_lass

We finally finished the clearing up from our latest trip away and were able to get out in the garden and start clearing the squash beds. Four with either butternut or Crown Prince Pumpkins, and two with courgettes. I thought I had harvested everything but inevitably we found four tiny tennis-ball sized pumpkins and four slightly larger butternut squashes. All still green but I can happily chop and roast them. I plan to get a chicken out of the meat freezer for the weekend (and start of next week) so these can be the roasted veg. I still have lots of apples and crab apples. The crab-apple cordial works well but I really don't need any more and I still have five jars of jelly from last year so do not plan any more. So the remaining crab apples may be going in the compost. 

I only need baked beans and carrots so might send DH locally, or I could ask DS to get them for me - that way we get to see him too!

The stewed fruit in screw top jars is working well. Especially with a big spoonful of Greek-style yogurt and a drizzle of honey from our girls. It is currently number one favourite dessert but I do predict rice pudding and custard as the weather gets colder. We won't be turning te Aga on until we get home from Scotland, in time for the last week of October. We are going for mostly stores use-ups in October and November, in an attempt to come in under budget for grocery shopping, while keeping enough for a generous if not extravagant festive period.

zafiro1984

I had a lightbulb moment today regarding what to give as Christmas presents to friends but not to the family, although I'm sure some will head in that direction as well. I'm determined to keep costs down so I've decided 'preserves' but not the sort found easily in supermarkets, rather the weird and odd ones.
I had the idea when I was putting the geese to bed and I noticed the medlar tree had started to drop its fruit. They will be collected tomorrow.
So I'll do a selection of:-
 
Medlar Jam
Rosehip and orange marmalade - rosehips already picked a while back, deseeded and currently in the freezer to soften.
Marrow and ginger jam - marrows were donated by a neighbour, which are actually runaway courgettes.
Crab apple jelly with either cinnamon or cloves. I've already done one batch of Crabapple jelly but that was for us, So did more tonight in the slow cooker and will 'drip' them tomorrow. I may have to do another batch or two as there may not be enough.
Pear chutney (I know that's not uncommon) but the pears were very small and hard this year.
Quince - not sure what to do with them but I must have a couple of buckets worth on the tree.
And then there is always the old standby of apple chutney.
I've also got blackcurrants, redcurrants and brambles - several pounds of each stored away in the freezers should I need more ideas.

I always save my jars, just hope I have enough. Searching around I've found tops, labels, a bit of gingham material and I can always use the computer to make fancy labels if needed. I've asked DH to cut some disks out of thin ply or heavy cardboard to support 3-4 smallish jars. So the idea is 3-4 jars on a disk enclosed in cellophane and tied with a ribbon. I even found 2 bottles of certo still in date from last year.

I have most of the ingredients needed, onions, oranges, spices, fresh ginger, raisons. I know I'll need sugar, cellophane, maybe more onions and Christmas ribbon. So overall it shouldn't cost a lot, just time and I'll enjoy doing it.

DawnW

@zafiro1984 quince jelly is nice. A friend recommended quince jam so I will try that this year. Also made quince gin last year, using a recipe from someone local. Hadn't come across it before, but it is nice. I might make some for presents this year.

Primrose

I think home made preserves are always a lovely gift to receive, especially the more unusual varieties which one may not have had a chance to previously sample. And tastefully wrapped and labelled they always look luxurious in my view. 

zafiro1984

DawnW said:

@zafiro1984 quince jelly is nice. A friend recommended quince jam so I will try that this year. Also made quince gin last year, using a recipe from someone local. Hadn't come across it before, but it is nice. I might make some for presents this year.

I'd totally forgotten about making liqueurs/drinks - what a good idea
I know we've got several bottles of whiskey, we don't like it, so over the years we amassed about eight unopened bottles of decent stuff, maybe I can find some recipes using it.