Reverse Meal Planning

EssexHebridean

It's "afters" here too RT!

So in the absence of any potatoes for mashing to go with sausages this evening I had a bit of a think last night and inspiration struck. Pittas from the freezer (bought YS'd a while ago) with a couple of sausages each inside, I'll make some chunky coleslaw using some veg from the fridge to shove in alongside them, and we'll have it with  sachet of mixed grains. Should be tasty, hopefully! 

I must get the meal plan and a shopping list sorted tomorrow as we'll be stopping (at a Morrisons - oh the excitement!) on the way home from visiting MrEH's Mum on Sunday. 

Suffolk_lass

By the time I got back from Morries with my TGTG bag we had less than an hour to go until I needed to go out so we had salad - using half of the cucumber portion (about 1/3 of a cucumber) and several tomatoes and spring onions from that bag. We used the slightly gone over avocado and a bit of cubed cheese, coleslaw (and some pickle) from stores and then we baked two jacket potatoes - except I think they were too-large new ones - also out of the TGTG bag of wonky ones. Just to make it more interesting I cut up a few of the strawberries that were in the bag and on the way to the bin and topped it with those.

All the chocolate brownies and butternut fingers I made from stores to take to my bee meeting got eaten or taken too. I have two small little gem lettuces I plan to braise with another pack of spring onions (there were three in the TGTG bag last night) and some frozen peas

rtandon27

Yesterday's hunt for a bread loaf and dried cheese landed us in @sd@ in the middle of the day - we seem to have lucked out on yellow stickers!

1.2kg of huge sweet strawberries for 60p! Only one was manky - 75% of the haul is now living happily in the freezer ready to add to porridge or yogurt and the rest in the fridge to be used up fresh.

The hot deli also yielded 6 chicken drums which were turned into 4pm 'tea' - khobez wraps with hummus, cucumber and shredded chicken

Dinner from the freezer and fridge fakeaway double cheeseburgers similar to M(D's - sometimes weird cravings just have to be listened to!

I'm still puzzled as to how there are at least 20 bread loaves a day for free on Ol!o but bare shelves in the same stores that are giving they away!

zafiro1984

Dug to the bottom of the freezer yesterday and pulled out a saddle of venison. I knew it had been there quite a while but I was a little shocked when I realised it was almost 18mnths old. Out came the butchering implements hidden in the bottom drawer and soon afterwards there were two beautiful loins, lots of bits and all the bones. 
The bits and bones went in a huge stock pot with herbs, onion and celery and bubbled away for a good six hours. The loins were cubed and added to a kg of ox kidney plus herbs, onion, Worcester sauce and seasoned flour and put in the wood fired oven for most of the day.

Tea was a little of the steak and kidney with a puff pastry topping and creamy mash. umm
Today everything will be portioned and frozen. I think there will be at least 12 portions of steak and kidney and several litres of stock. It sounds more work than it actually was but I'm quite pleased with the result and the house was cosy warm with the wood burner working for most of the day.

Today will be veggie flan as I must use up some peppers, toms and cheese before they go over the top. Lunch will be soup with some of the stock and more veggies. a make do day today.

rtandon27

Z - your freezer dive was much more productive than mine!

Found 4 chicken thighs - slightly freezer burned  and a handful of frozen beans - these were chopped into bite sized pieces along with some potatoes needing to be used and wacked into the slow cooker with half a jar of korma sauce. Rice 🍚  was made in the evening and we had fakeaway curry. 

More bits successfully used up, now just have to complete a meal plan for the week, and then off to the Sunday Market in town to see what the hype is about!

happydenial

Still on a mission to try and empty the garage freezer so I can defrost it. I’m aiming to save £100 from this month’s GC for a Costco restock - I’ve got roughly £165 left so theoretically it should be doable if we eat out of the cupboards.

Tonight we finished off the breaded chicken. We have a LOT of potatoes to get through as I bought a bag on offer and then also got a bag in the veg box, so tomorrow will be something with mash - possibly the last box of LM sausages with frozen green beans and frozen sweetcorn. 

Wednesday we can eat the bag of scampi with HM chips and a tin of mushy peas from the pantry. Rest of the week tbc but have plenty of salad in the fridge so no spending needed 🤞

kboss2010

I need to update my freezer list this weekend as I’ve used up some stuff and added more. 

Last week I ended up making YS lamb kebabs that have been lurking in the freezer for ages with tinned potato patatas bravas (tinned potatoes patted down & drizzled with oil, salt and mixed herbs then roasted) with a HM passata tomato sauce and some Greek yoghurt with mint.

Lunch tomorrow will be leftover freezer sausage casserole & the last of a crusty giraffe loaf and butter.

Dinner tomorrow will be the freezer leftover tomato chicken curry with basmati, poppadoms & mango chutney.

I also fancy making Jamie Oliver’s £1 bhaji burgers and 2 minute flatbreads but I’ll use chickpea flour for an authentic bhaji flavour instead of plain flour because I have loads to use up!

EssexHebridean

We're a bit all over the place this week - I had a plan in mind but them MrEH's office days changed so things got disrupted a bit. Sigh. 

On the plus side we got some YS'd bargains in Morrisons on Sunday - a big tub of the rice and grain mix from the salad bar (when I say big, I mean ice cream tub sized!) for £1.50, a head of chinese leaves for 30p and a big bunch of coriander for 28p. decided to try heating some of the rice mix last night to go with a very quick curry (lamb chunks from the freezer, with onions and mushrooms, a tin of tomatoes, spoonful of garam masala and a little kashmiri chilli, and a handful of sultanas plus a big handful of roughly chopped coriander - very tasty. 

Tonight is - as usual - couscous night as MrEH will be at rugby training. I'll have to think what goes with it but probably the remaining mushrooms, the remaining leek, the last half a beetroot (yes, really!) and lots more coriander, topped off with halloumi and toasted seeds. 

Need to have a scour of the freezer for tomorrow evening as I was planning a stir fry - but not sure that the turkey that I thought was still in there is. It will use the last of the bag of tiger prawns otherwise though.

Thursday will be either the deferred sausages, mash & beans from last week, or I have a box of Aldi's lightly dusted fish fillets in the freezer - would do wedges and peas with those I think. 

Aim for the end of this week is a pretty empty-of-veg fridge - and we're well on target to achieve that! 

Suffolk_lass

kboss2010 said:

I need to update my freezer list this weekend as I’ve used up some stuff and added more. 

Last week I ended up making YS lamb kebabs that have been lurking in the freezer for ages with tinned potato patatas bravas (tinned potatoes patted down & drizzled with oil, salt and mixed herbs then roasted) with a HM passata tomato sauce and some Greek yoghurt with mint.

Lunch tomorrow will be leftover freezer sausage casserole & the last of a crusty giraffe loaf and butter.

Dinner tomorrow will be the freezer leftover tomato chicken curry with basmati, poppadoms & mango chutney.

I also fancy making Jamie Oliver’s £1 bhaji burgers and 2 minute flatbreads but I’ll use chickpea flour for an authentic bhaji flavour instead of plain flour because I have loads to use up!

I saw that on TV last night @kboss2010. We already make the flatbreads and I also have some Gram flour I could use, as well as butternut squashes in the pantry that we grew last summer. I usually make a curry with onions, chick peas and butternut squash, adding frozen spinach when I have some in

kboss2010

Not exactly the “right” combo but hm miso soup and freezer tomato & chicken curry