Reverse Meal Planning

ruby_eskimo

I'm sure you're all invested in the slow cooker / multi-cooker / air fryer saga - DH bought the multi-cooker in the Prime sale as it was almost 30% off the regular price (not the inflated non-prime day price 🙄).  Arrived yesterday and is now sitting on the side waiting for me to wash it.  Might try and use it this evening and will report back.

On the reverse meal planning front, have a batch of thai sweet potato soup sitting in the soup maker ready to go later.  That gets rid of the half jar of thai green curry paste from the fridge, leftover coconut milk from the freezer and an onion that was rolling around in the fridge.  Will make quite a few portions so should last into next week.  Dinner tonight is leftover sweet and sour tofu from Tuesday.

zafiro1984

Just using leftovers from the fridge plus 'batch cooked meals' from the freezer. I have loads of cooked meals both savoury and sweet in the freezer, all from earlier this year, all cooked in the 'Ironheart' It's been a case of getting a couple of portions out in the morning to defrost, thinking about how to present it  (not as posh as it sounds), pastry, mash, saute, in a Yorkshire pud, curry, pasta, etc. It's to ring the changes and not get bored. Then I use the microwave where possible to reheat it, which I'm sure has saved on the electric. 

Soup for lunch, I had to buy some parsnips (sad) to go with the squashes and apples I already have for the soup, some will end up in the freezer.
Tea is LO freezer brisket - yesterday we had it as 'braising', today I'll put the rest in a pie with veg. Pudding - rice pudding done in the slow cooker with the rest of the strawberry jam from the bottom of a jar. 'Comforting old fashioned food' we need to get more adventurous !!!

I'm about to start making Christmas presents. I decided this year to do a selection of odd jams and pickles, using as far as possible things I grow or forage. Silly me - I took loads of empty jars to the bottle bank over the summer, so I'm now having trouble finding enough suitable jars. 
Anyway, I can have an easy start. Today it's pear chutney as I have all of the ingredients including  -wait for it - saffron.

EssexHebridean

Ruby I'll be following your multi-cooker exploits with great interest - I'm STILL waiting for L@kel@nd to email me to confirm that the one we want is now back in stock - I'm starting to wonder if the stock will arrive just as my 20% off voucher goes out of date! 

I have decided that the weekend needs to be one of using as much stuff from the freezer as I can...not least as we'll be going to the farmers market on Saturday and I want room in there for stuff we buy! (And to a degree of course what we get there will depend on "what they have" - I go with a rough wish list but that often changes. Having said that we've already decided on chippy tea tomorrow - not had &C for absolutely ages, I already know the increased costs will make us wince but s0d it - it's happening! 

One day over the weekend can be pulled pork buns and wedges again - that's proving to be SUCH a favourite thing at the moment! I think some proper meal planning needs done tomorrow though - might have to get on a freezer sorting mission! 

One thing that HAS come out of the freezer is the second tub of black bean chilli - that will get eaten tonight with rice. 

joedenise

@EssexHebridean - will Lakel*nd let you order and pay for it so that you can use your 20% off coupon?

I'm with you on the pulled pork buns, they're really yummy!  I did pulled pork at the weekend and have got 4 or 5 bags of LOs in the freezer to use over the coming weeks.

ruby_eskimo

We're using the air fryer part this evening @EssexHebridean so will keep you updated.  Hope you manage to sort out the voucher with lakeland soon!

Soup made enough for 4 portions yesterday so that's lunch sorted for today and a couple of days next week.  We also had pulled pork this week and have a couple of portions in the freezer to use up at some point.  Tonight we're doing fake nandos with some chicken thighs, chips from home grown potatoes and leftover coleslaw.

EssexHebridean

Good question on the advance ordering joedenise although I suspect not as I think it is just showing out of stock currently…I’ll have another look though! 

Ruby hope using the new gadget went well! 😁

MrEH has stuff going on at work today so decided not to take lunch as he suspected he’d not get a chance to eat it anyway - so I’ve unearthed a ready meal from the freezer for mine. It was one my Dad had in Mum’s freezer that she won’t eat so it got passed to me - not something I’d buy for myself but it was tasty enough! Fish & chips tonight for a treat! 

ruby_eskimo

Reporting back to say we're in love with our instant pot 😍  Just the air fryer part alone is worth the money.  We cooked dinner last night completely using it for chips and then salmon which we could do in two layers thanks to the shelf thing that comes with it.  Took 25 minutes from start to finish.  Pressure cooked some jacket potatoes was a game changer for us and we can see that our energy usage with it is less than using the oven. 

Used the air fryer part again today to make a veggie hash for lunch to use up some veg ahead of going away at the weekend and topped with a fried egg.  Tonight's dinner is a potato topped chicken pie and I need to pick up a couple of little bits and pieces to get us through till Friday.

EssexHebridean

Damn - and for now at least I've pretty much shelved the thought of us getting one for the time being, at least...! (Various reasons, at least some of which is contemplating the mess MrEH will make with his coffee machine being on our beautiful kitchen worktop - which will NOT take kindly to being left with splashes of coffee all over them! The IP purchase relied on being able to relocate the microwave to where the coffee machine currently lives, thus making space for the IP to go next to it...)

Right - in spite of being away Saturday and part of yesterday I prioritised time for a bit of cooking last night when we got back - two meals-worth of cauliflower and pasta cheese bake stashed in the fridge. One lot will do tonight, and the other will be "a meal later in the week" day to be decided.  Tomorrow will I think be omelettes with baked sweet potatoes and salad. I've not really got a plan for later in the week - there are odds and ends to be used up, the rest of the cauliflower for a start - and there will also be a part pack of bacon which will still have some left in it after the omelettes - so I'm leaning towards liver & bacon with mash/crushed tatties & veg. I've not got to factor in friday night as we are elsewhere, so if I settle on that as a plan for the week it'll just be a case of working out which meal suits the slightly less time-rich evening on wednesday the best - probably the liver though as that can be pretty quick. 

EssexHebridean

Pasta bake eaten and enjoyed last night - I found a tub with some previously cooked and frozen carrots in the freezer so I had those and some peas, and MrEH had just peas with his. Decided it was sensible to use the combi microwave to reheatit rather than faffing about waiting for the oven to heat/then waiting again for the bake to finally heat right the way through. Worked well - nice crispy top and hot through but probably could have done with an extra couple of minutes pure microwave first to really get the middle bubbling hot. 

Going to do omelettes as planned tonight as that works well for nights we need to prep tea separately and MrEH has rugby training this evening. Bacon, mushroom and cheese, and will do baked sweet potatoes with them - that'll be the combi microwave back into use again for the second night on the trot! There will also be some salad alongside if the lettuce that I remembered rather too late arrived as a substitute item (and so wasn't planned into the plan) in the last veg box is still OK....oops! 

zafiro1984

Almost at the end of my stash of batch cooked frozen meals done earlier this year. The timing fits well with just having had the logburner with attached oven serviced and worn parts replaced. Once the cold weather hits I'll be able to make plenty more of batched cooked casseroles and  pies etc to go in the freezer..
Tonight was veg from fridge, potatoes from store, frozen chicken/chilli casserole from freezer, crumble from bits and bobs in fruit bowl plus a bit of dried fruit to bulk it out. 

Christmas presents coming along nicely, 
Rhubarb and ginger jam, done - rhubarb was a swop for eggs from a friend - very welcome.
Spiced pear chutney, done - used the small, hard and misshapen pears.
Rosehips picked and prepped, now in freezer to emulate 'a frost' 
I'm quite enjoying doing this. The only cost so far has been sugar and white vinegar.