Reverse Meal Planning

zafiro1984

I've used up nearly all the fresh veg in the fridge. Just got a red cabbage, peppers, a few brussel sprouts, and a bit of swede left plus the usual garlic and ginger. Tomorrow I'll do red cabbage and apple to go with a pork casserole  I think the sprouts will go with a bit of bacon later in the week and probably accompany chicken.

Time is a bit short today. Somehow of other the medics have caught up with DH and myself. I'm off for a BS this morning, Dh has a hosp appt for his neck this pm and wants to drop his chainsaw off at the menders on the way back plus I've got to arrange an echocardiogram, all on top of the usual day. Tea will be something already cooked and just needs reheating. Thank goodness for the freezers.

rtandon27

Taco skillet for dinner last night - used up the last tin of chickpeas, a tin of corn, sourcream, fajita seasoning and a 25p pack of pork stuffing from the twixmas sales instead of mince. It was a cook once, eat twice meal so 2 potions in the fridge for another day.

Have organised the freezer drawers and taken stock of what needs using up as well as had a tidy of the stores.
Weird and wonderful ingredients have been corralled into a 'use me first' area of the shelves.

MissRikkiC

Brambling said:

Thanks for the tea loaf idea Zafiro I noticed my dried fruit was getting hard at the weekend, I only ever use builders tea for mine 🙂 now I'm debating between a tea loa and malt loaf 

Do you use malt powder or essence or whatever I required for malt loaf for this? I eat a lot of malt loaf and whilst it’s cheap, I imagine it’s cheaper to make myself 

MissRikkiC

Being very perplexed as to what to make tonight with no meat out,  fridge full of only root veg and not wanting to turn the oven on we came up trumps. 

Pinch of nom book for inspiration and a veggie tagine literally with every ingredient we had it, listed and utilised. 

There was a dry spice mix but I’d got a jar of open tagine paste In so used that and served with cous cous. So delicious. Very sweet so not great if you don’t like sweeter veggies (carrot, sweetpotato, parsnips, swede). That said the lemon cous cous did help cut through it. 

Win!

Brambling

MissRikkiC said:

Brambling said:

Thanks for the tea loaf idea Zafiro I noticed my dried fruit was getting hard at the weekend, I only ever use builders tea for mine 🙂 now I'm debating between a tea loa and malt loaf 

Do you use malt powder or essence or whatever I required for malt loaf for this? I eat a lot of malt loaf and whilst it’s cheap, I imagine it’s cheaper to make myself 

No malt for this is a really easy recipe and benefits form leaving 24 hours once cooked as it gets stickier 

1 cup All bran 
1 cup brown sugar - whatever you have I like it with dark brown sugar which makes it more malty 
1 cup fried fruit - I often use just sultanas but whatever you have
1 cup of milk (not skimmed - the recipe says whole milk but i use se I skimmed;
1 cup self raising flour

Add first 4 ingredients (bran, milk, fruit and sugar) into a bowl stir well, cover and if possible leave overnight. After soaking stir then add flour ensuring its all mixed in

heat oven to 170. 

Cook in loaf tin for 45 mins or until skewer comes out clean

If possible I tend to leave 24 hours then slice and add  butter

EssexHebridean

we had a delicious stir fry last night - which neatly used up lots of "stray" veg - half a beetroot, the final few sprouts in the fridge, the last carrot - as well as half a chinese leaf head, and some frozen peppers and mushrooms. the sauce was a spoonful of peanut butter, a spoonful of satay paste and a good splosh of sweet soy. We were a good half way through it before I remembered the poor lonely tub of turkey pieces sitting on the site that I'd totally forgotten to add!  For a second week sausage, mash & beans will be sidelined - this time in favour of some form of pasta dish with turkey... (and not much veg, apparently...!) 

I'll add stir fry to the list for next week in order to use the other half of the chinese leaf I think. 

Primrose

I think stir fries must be the most adaptable meals on the planet.  You can throw so many unlikely ingredients in together and yet with a little seasoning and skill still come up with something delicious.
My advice to anybody struggling with food bills would be to learnt the art of stir frying and you,ll always be able to produce a meal out of very few ingredients.

Suffolk_lass

I bought 200+g of minced beef last week in the butcher. I just wanted to mention that the ragu I used it for, also padded out with red lentils, carrot, celery, onion and homemade passata and all the other stuff you might expect) has made three dishes of pasta bake with a big bowl of penne I cooked yesterday. I mixed them together and divided it into three dishes, then made a cheese sauce for the first one for last night. I was quite please that 200g has made six portions. We are quite good at eating the same thing for several nights but I might defrost something else for a meal tomorrow. I think, like a stir fry, ragu sauce is just so versatile

Primrose

Suffolk_lass said:

I bought 200+g of minced beef last week in the butcher. I just wanted to mention that the ragu I used it for, also padded out with red lentils, carrot, celery, onion and homemade passata and all the other stuff you might expect) has made three dishes of pasta bake with a big bowl of penne I cooked yesterday. I mixed them together and divided it into three dishes, then made a cheese sauce for the first one for last night. I was quite please that 200g has made six portions. We are quite good at eating the same thing for several nights but I might defrost something else for a meal tomorrow. I think, like a stir fry, ragu sauce is just so versatile

Just a matter of curiosity, how long do people pre-soak their lentils for when adding them to these dishes to bulk them out?   People seem to use different lengths of time, and a choice of either hot or cold water.  I wonder if one method works better than another?

EssexHebridean

Primrose said:

Suffolk_lass said:

I bought 200+g of minced beef last week in the butcher. I just wanted to mention that the ragu I used it for, also padded out with red lentils, carrot, celery, onion and homemade passata and all the other stuff you might expect) has made three dishes of pasta bake with a big bowl of penne I cooked yesterday. I mixed them together and divided it into three dishes, then made a cheese sauce for the first one for last night. I was quite please that 200g has made six portions. We are quite good at eating the same thing for several nights but I might defrost something else for a meal tomorrow. I think, like a stir fry, ragu sauce is just so versatile

Just a matter of curiosity, how long do people pre-soak their lentils for when adding them to these dishes to bulk them out?   People seem to use different lengths of time, and a choice of either hot or cold water.  I wonder if one method works better than another?

For red lentils I never bother pre soaking at all - just throw them in and leave the whole thing to cook gently until the lentils are soft!