Reverse Meal Planning

zafiro1984

 Thank goodness for the freezers and stock cupboard because starting Monday our drive is being done -  that's the good news.
The bad news is that after the first three days I will be unable to use the car so no food shopping or online deliveries for approx a month whilst the work is done. I can envisage an awful lot of meal reversing and stretching. I'm not sure if I'm going to enjoy this challenge.   

rtandon27

@zafiro1984 - Think of it as a way to prove that it can be done!!!

I don't envy you the noise or disruption of having work done!

EssexHebridean

Eek Zafiro that's an extreme way of ensuring you stick to a frugal challenge! Exciting that it's being done, but I'm with RT on not envying you the noise and disruption! 

Last night's stir fry was lovely! I honestly must remember that specific combination for the satay-ish sauce - around half a teaspoon of the thai curry paste, a splosh or two of dark soy, a blob of peanut butter and a bit of hot water to let it down with - should probably have let it down fractionally more, to be honest, but it certainly worked as it was. 

This evening's couscous will be veg-heavy again - we're not being shy on our 5 a day so far this week, that's for sure! Whether to roast the cauliflower or leave it for use later in the week is the next quandary... 

joedenise

Could you not do both with the cauliflower?  Ie roast some of it and make a cauliflower cheese with the rest or is it not big enough?  If it's either or I'd opt for the cauliflower cheese!!!

Suffolk_lass

@zafiro1984 I think I would be tempted to ask a neighbour if I could ark a car with them for a month so you still have access to it, for emergencies iykwim

EssexHebridean

joedenise said:

Could you not do both with the cauliflower?  Ie roast some of it and make a cauliflower cheese with the rest or is it not big enough?  If it's either or I'd opt for the cauliflower cheese!!!

There's only half of it left, so not really enough. I opted to hang on to it for use in a bake because let's be honest, there is nothing not to like about a cheesy pasta cauliflower bakey thing, is there! 

In the event we had masses of veggies last night anyway - big chunks of chestnut mushrooms, red pepper, a leek and a courgette all got cooked off in smoked oil - very tasty along with halloumi, and my usual toppings of toasted seeds, sumac and a good drizzle of yogurt and mint sauce. 

This evening will be paupers risotto - "paupers" because the meat element will be chopped up cooked chicken chipolatas from the freezer. There will be more chunks of those chestnut mushrooms going in as well - they are brilliant because they are massive ones so huge amounts of flavour! I am trying to really focus on maximising different plants in our food at the moment - on the basis that making additions like that is incredibly beneficial and means our meals are not only more nutritious, but more interesting, as well. I hit bang on my 30 in the week last week which I was pleased with. 

zafiro1984

Thanks Suffolk Lass. we did approach our neighbour, a lovely man, he said we could borrow one of their cars if needed. He was burgled last year and quite a lot of machinery was taken so he's reluctant to have our car on his place - understandable. However, we have an alternative plan. So if you see on the news 'Old age pensioners escaping using old battered Landrover and chainsaw'  it could be us.

Lunch today - pre-frozen parsnip and squash soup, followed by orange and sultana muffins/buns, I'm starting to get eggs again so baking is back on the menu.
Tea:- chicken casserole for DH and a veg stir fry for me as I've loads of veggies in the fridge. Followed by jam tarts. I haven't made those since the children were small - left over pastry from yesterday and jam from the bottom of a couple of jars. 

In a funny way I'm quite looking forward to 'Miserly March' I'm always up for silly challenges. I think it's possible to do with a bit of planning.

Suffolk_lass

I made a pork casserole with two chop sized pieces I had lopped off a (raw) pork loin joint when the SM were selling the joints cheaper than the chops (very MSE). They had been in the freezer for ages and I wasn't confident they would taste nice just grilled. We had about half of the casserole and to be honest, there was too much tomato - I added the defrosted takeaway box I had thought was sausage casserole but was cherry tomatoes cooked in oil and herbs, and a jar of 2022 bottled passata - even with plain boiled potatoes and steamed cauliflower. - So I used a slotted spoon and filled a takeaway box with the lumps of the casserole (shallots, leeks, carrots, potato, celery, and meat) and froze that, slackened off the sauce with a little water and stick blended it and we had it with linguine and a little grated cheese. It was much nicer like that! Pasta is clearly a better carrier for tomato than potatoes!

I think tonight will be baked potatoes or cheesy leeks as we have haircuts, gardener here until it rains, giving blood and collecting a shelving rack to deal with before then

rtandon27

Our loose plan of 'Wednesday is Chicken' produced two lovely meals.

Lunch was wonton and noodle soup with chicken and Chinese leaf.  Everything from the stores & freezer.

Dinner was our first use of OH's fajita pan - chicken and pepper fajitas with all the lovely toppings and corn tortillas from the stores.

We will be going into March with a tiny bit more room in the freezer with an aim to using up as much as possible with the help of a decent meal plan!

Tonight is a loose plan of 'Thursday is mince" - not at all sure what that will yield!

EssexHebridean

Well as expected I did nothing about prepping any part of the cauli/pasta bake for this evening, last night. Hey Ho - might mean I slightly change plans for later on, we will see. I do have the option of using the microwave on its combi setting to speed things up a bit, so that might help. 

Tomorrow is a nice easy day as I am going to grab last week's leftover curry from the freezer along with all the accompaniments I think. the alternative is a wander to Als to nab their nice oven chips, and the beer battered haddock fillets for HM F&C.