Reverse Meal Planning

Brambling

Today I've done my usual Sunday checking the fridge for the odds and sods of LO veg and as it's too nice to make lunchtime soup with it I've diced it small and sautéed it (a little bit each of celery, carrot, courgette, sugar snap peas, leeks, pepper, broccoli stalk & mushroom) with herbs and garlic.  When the oven is on for dinner I'll make muffin size crustless quiches with some of it and add rice or couscous to the rest and stuff the green pepper which always gets left in the fridge.  

I've  a small chicken to roast for dinner so next week it will get used up using whatever is in the fridge and store cupboards I'm just not sure how yet 🙂

Baileys_Babe

MrsSnowy said:

Only trouble is when I make something out of nothing its a real loaves and fishes thing,and then there are more parcels to freeze or eat ad nauseum.

I like that analogy, it is so true

suki1964

MrsSnowy said:

Good idea for a thread! As others have said this is often how I 'meal plan'. 
 Our local chippie is opening for a few hours at weekends,phone order,pay over the phone,collection time agreed,go and collect from the door! On Friday I just had to have fish ,chips and peas,DD had chicken and chips.....far too many chips for us,so 1 bag went in the freezer.
 Burgers in buns (only 1 each) for lunch yesterday,but I remembered the chips,half a bag rejuvenated was just right. I spotted fish in the freezer,YS smoked haddock,YS salmon,cheap white fish,so fish pie for lunch today,using some leeks and parsley from the freezer,third of a jar of capers from the back of the fridge,4 eggs boiled with the potatoes .2 for the pie and 2 squashed with the end of the mayo for sarnies for tea.
I keep HM crumble mix in the fridge,rhubarb out of the garden,yummy instant pud.
Only trouble is when I make something out of nothing its a real loaves and fishes thing,and then there are more parcels to freeze or eat ad nauseum.

This is my problem as well. I might have a smallish portion of beef stew bagged in the freezer, not quite enough for three, so I turn it into pie, then there's yet another portion left lol. Oh and it sounds like we make the same recipe for fish pie, Ive loads of fish pie mix in the freezer, Lidl have a nice habit of reducing it to pennies so I grab them when I see them

Thats how Ive always made my tomato sauce as well Suffolk_Lass, I was taught it many many years ago, its the sugar that is required for sure, a bare half teaspoon is enough, tones the tartness of the tomatoes. Ive bought aubergines this week so I may just make pramigiana instead of the Afghan Aubergine dish I was intending to make, I have ingredients for either or

Been eating out of the freezer and whats already in the house mostly this week, I just had to get a bit of veg. Friday was a free dinner, I was gifted a dozen eggs and I bought chipping potatoes home from work so egg and chips. Saturday was a couple of Lidl deluxe pizzas I had in the freezer ( reduced to 90p each, rude not to have bought them ) and tonight is a bit of pork cut from a huge joint bought at Christmas cut and frozen, Ive got a huge cabbage so will cook all of it and a pile of spuds so we can have cold pork and bubble tomorrow with various pickles

Im working tomorrow so I get to pick up veg for the week FOC. We have to pay for some things but the veg we process for the cook chill industry we can help ourselves to - carrots, turnips, leeks, parsnips , onions, soup mix, and spuds

candygirl

This " reverse" meal planning , is what I've always done
Luckily, despite this current crisis,  I have loads of stuff in the cupboards, fridge n freezer , which I'll use up before getting more shopping in .
Think apart from bread, n fruit, I probably have a months worth of meals in

Suffolk_lass

candygirl said:

This " reverse" meal planning , is what I've always done
Luckily, despite this current crisis,  I have loads of stuff in the cupboards, fridge n freezer , which I'll use up before getting more shopping in .
Think apart from bread, n fruit, I probably have a months worth of meals in

I hope you will share what you do with your stores - I am already enjoying reading other people's ideas. I love BusyMee1's Italian night in with bendy-veg minestrone, good bread and a glass of red!

We had roast chicken yesterday - it was bigger than I usually buy so hopefully it will contribute to four or possibly five meals. No potatoes with it after I weighed myself at the weekend. I think the consumption of the emergency chocolate stash might have done that!!  So carrots, sweetheart cabbage and broccoli, all lovely. Only frozen broccoli left now, I prefer to put that in things like soup or curry rather than serving with a roast as it too easily goes over to be mushy for me (timing, I guess).

Baileys_Babe

I'm with you on the frozen broccoli & cauliflower, works great in bakes, soup & sauces, to easily to mush as a plain side vegetables.

candygirl

Baileys_Babe said:

I'm with you on the frozen broccoli & cauliflower, works great in bakes, soup & sauces, to easily to mush as a plain side vegetables.

I make  frozen cauli into cauli cheese, but do it in the microwave, n keep checking so it doesn't turn to mush.Nothing worse than mushy veg 😉

Siebrie

I made chili con carne from my stash:

oil

1 onion, diced

1 teaspoon of garlic powder

200g ground beef (bought per kg from aldi, frozen at home in 200g portions)

1 green paprika (for colour/needed using up)

1 tin of tomato pieces

1 carton of passata

1 large tin of plain (brown) beans, drained, well-rinsed, drained again

1 small tin of kidney beans, drained, well-rinsed, drained again

1 small tin of sweetcorn

2 pieces of bitter chocolate

Chuck them in the pan in this order, adding the next item when the item before is warm/softening/glazing. Let stew for about 10 minutes.

This is not spicy at all; feel free to add any spice (piripiri, chilli pepper, etc) you wish. DDs do not like spicy (dd1 claims cucumber is spicy....), so we add piripiri powder on our plate.

Serve over rice (from freezer), pasta, etc. Optional: grated cheese.

I also made some stewed apple to go with this: 1 wrinkly apple, and 1 apple dd had take 2 bites out of; peel and remove the core; dice; put in saucepan with a little bit of water and a small lump of butter; let soften, stirring occasionally.

rtandon27

Hello SL - thanks for starting this thread - I just love seeing what everyone uses their stores for!

Our meal from the stores today is Leek, Mushroom & Feta Crumble - all the veg had been hanging around too long in the storecupboard, the feta is from the cheese drawer in the freezer & the a tin or two of lentils always live on our shelves - we were out of breadcrumbs, so I toasted a plain wrap (from the freezer) & whizzed it up in the mini-food processor that came with our stick blender.  We find this recipe very generous so tend to eat only a quarter each with a couple of poached/boiled eggs - turns it into a cook once eat twice kind of meal!

Anzac_Biscuit

Yesterday's 'creative' recipe was apple crumble - stewed apples plus some flapjack that didn't hold together too well. We broke it up even further and had it as a topping. Super easy and quick! Also way more successful than any previous attempts to do a GFDF "proper" crumble.