Reverse Meal Planning

EssexHebridean

Morning all!

Finally did our freezer audit last night so have earmarked some stuff to get on the meal plan to use up ahead of moving.

Various fish (seafood, white fish, a single lonely tuna steak) will go into a thai inspired fish stew for friday evening.
A small pack of lambs kidneys and a small tub of home made lamb meatballs will get curried for a meal over the weekend, I think. 
Frozen veg will be substituted for fresh where possible for the next couple of weeks - we've got peas, sweetcorn, sliced peppers, chopped mushrooms and a small amount of spinach to use so no hardship there!  (The spinach is already noted to go into either the fish stew or the curry!)

Tonight's omelettes will use sliced ham from the freezer, some of the remaining mushrooms from this week's punnet, and some cheese. I'll probably cook the last of the broccoli in the fridge to go with that, too. 

rtandon27

Well done with the freezer audit EH!  I feel we will need one shortly, as there are a few unlabelled containers that OH has shifted around when looking for ingredients & I've lost track of what they are!

Last night's dinner was meant to be entirely from the stores, but I forgot to defrost the shortcrust pastry & realised we were out of creme fraiche, so cue a trip to the store which we all know resulted in a few yellow stickers jumping into the basket!  Note to self - next time send OH on his own with a picture or two of what is needed so he can show the nice lady at the customer service desk and ONLY pick up needed items! LOL

So the frozen pastry lives to be planned into a meal another day & the fresh got used in a lucious Beetroot & Feta Tart.  We roasted the beets in foil a couple of days ago when we had the oven on for bbq chicken & roasted veg. They were choggia from our first veg box from the local farm, but neither of us like raw beets so the beautiful Dr Suess stripes are lost on us!  The beet greens have already been washed & chopped and frozen for another meal.  A red onion (olioed) was sliced finely and caramalized in the pan.  Feta (cheap grocery store version) and dijon from the fridge, eggs from the basket on the shelf, made the 'custard'.  Result was a very tasty tart that Mr. Meatand2veg proclaimed tasty and went back for seconds!

I'm quite proud of this effort as it was my first 'solo' cooking adventure in over a year due to much time spent in hospital and doing physio & chiro . YEAH! - a pic was taken of the beautiful tart and sent to all and sundry - which produced the much needed cheerleading!

QueenJess

Lots of reverse planning going on here (I don't think I would be able to cope with forward planning ), mainly clearing out the veg box stuff before I get a new one on Thursday.

Yesterday I made a veggie hotpot to use up the onion, all the carrots and all the mushrooms (added peas from the freezer) and a big pile of potatoes.  There's loads left, so we'll have that for dinner on Weds. 

For breakfast today I had porridge with the last of the garden blueberries and a pear that had gone a bit squidgy.  Lunch will be puff pastry things with cheese and spinach (I have loads of spinach left) to be served with the rest of the lettuce and spring onion (will last today and tomorrow).  Dinner will be burgers and sweet potato fries with the two massive corn on the cobs in the fridge and some baked beans leftover in the fridge.

Tomorrow I'll make chocolate brownies with the beetroot and then I'll just be left with some potatoes.

Primrose

The dilemma here with two full freezers is "do we enjoy our  fresh beans and tomatoes while,we,re picking them or first try and use up those still lurking in the freezer from last year?
This truly is proving the season of plenty and we're spoiled for choice!

EssexHebridean

Pork steaks from the freezer turned into a tasty pork noodle stir fry last night, also using some of the jar of satay sauce in the freezer and heaps of veggies!

This evening is traditional Tuesday Couscous - I've got a tub of roasted mushrooms out of the freezer for that, and some chunks of slow cooked mutton. It will also have sugarsnap peas and broccoli as those are left from the stir fry. 

More freezer raiding for tomorrow with sausages, mash & beans I think - that will give me sausages to roll across for a lunch for me one day over the weekend. Probably in the form of a sausage butty!

Suffolk_lass

Instead of the cheesy leeks we planned, the time ran away with us and it was 20.30 before we realised we had not eaten. So a bowl of cereal did the trick!

All that lovely garden produce. I am suitably ashamed.

This morning I have started the day by baking two courgette cakes. I made the Nigella courgette and lime (with lemon) in small loaf tins and will just dust one with icing sugar instead of making the over-sweet cream-cheese frosting (I will freeze the other!). If I had thought about it earlier I would have squeezed the lemon and made a drizzle topping, but I didn't, so I won't!

Suffolk_lass

Well done @rtandon27 - that sounds great and quite complicated for a first step back into kitchen witchery!

rtandon27

Suffolk_lass said:

...Instead of the cheesy leeks we planned, the time ran away with us and it was 20.30 before we realised we had not eaten. So a bowl of cereal did the trick!...

Sometimes it just has to bee done! 🤣

Suffolk_lass said:

Well done @rtandon27 - that sounds great and quite complicated for a first step back into kitchen witchery!

Awwww - thank-you SL - It was remarkably easy tbh!

Last night's dinner was produced by OH - fish tacos with all the trimmings - this time everything really was from our stores, and he remembered to get the frozen fish fillets out from the freezer and marinate them before I'd even arrived at work where a reminder popped up to remind me to remind him - LOL - So a very tasty and a nod to the 'Taco Tuesday' of my childhood, but infinitely healthier than the fast food that got picked up on the way home from school!  Next time we will try to plan ahead and make mini tortilla's at home instead of purchasing the UPF variety from the grocery store.

Tonight's dinner is chicken, leek & mushroom pie - we collectively remembered to pull the roasted chicken pieces and puff pastry out from the freezer last night & OH will be making it while I'm at work so that all we will have to do is steam some green beans this evening.  

We have been trying to remove the few UPFs from our diet but quite honestly can't find an alternative to ready-made flaky pastry, as there is absolutely no way OH will even attempt to make puff or rough puff.  Short-crust is easier, as we could easily plan ahead and make it in the food processor, in fact I did this quite regularly throughout uni to make windfall peach/apple/plum pie that my dear friend (a horticulturalist) would glean on one of her many country walks.

EssexHebridean

Remembered to get the sausages out to defrost ready for this evening, which was a win!

Got given some runner beans by a neighbour who is allotment sitting for a pal - apparently stuff is growing faster than they can eat it so they knew we'd be happy to help! Some got used alongside the couscous last night, and I think I will sub in the rest, plus the remaining broccoli and sugarsnap peas alongside the sausages and mash for tonight - seems to make sense to use the fresh stuff and hang on to the tin of baked beans I was intending to use. 

I need to plan food out for the weekend properly too - MrEh is away for the weekend, and I want to carry on using up odds and ends. I've got 7 meals to cater for myself only for, and I am going to be treating myself to a chinese takeaway for one of them...so 6 more...

Thursday: Lunch will be my usual packed lunch at work. Tea: Spicy ragu with brown rice as I have a single portion of the ragu in the freezer.
Friday lunch: I could make it tinned soup and bread as there are a LOT of tins of soup in the drawer.
Friday tea: Needs thought. Possibly sausage, egg and a jacket potato though - this would use up the "spare" sausages from this evening's meal...
Saturday lunch: Tinned soup and bread again I suspect!
Saturday Tea: Chinese!
Sunday Lunch: might do a cheaty-roast - there is sliced lamb in the freezer, although I'll need to check as it may be too much for one person - and I'll have tatties for roasting... 
Sunday tea: I will probably do cheese & crackers. 

Just remembered the bananas in the freezer, so leaving this here... https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/user/3791286/recipe/banana-chocolate-chip-muffins

rtandon27

This week's reverse meal plan has worked out really well...
Monday - Beetroot & Feta tart with leftovers for lunch the next day
Tuesday - Fish Tacos - some leftover toppings in the fridge
Wednesday - chicken leek and mushroom pie with another serving each in the fridge
Thursday - Beef sliders on brioche with potatoes wedges and sweet potato cubes - extra potatoes in the fridge

Today's dinner meal was to be sausage and pineapple flatbreads, but looking at what we have left from the other meals, it may well be a no cook day & we will go off on a little relaxing jaunt to enjoy the great outdoors.