Reverse Meal Planning

rtandon27

zafiro1984 said:

...Has anyone got any ideas what to do with frozen pears...

How about a pear sorbet?  Made from already frozen pears so no need to defrost before making them into a summer friendly dessert!

rtandon27

Our Monday meal was indeed pasta with crispy fried chorizo & cheese sauce - I actually think I like it better than the bacon lardons we usually use!  Our side however was some yellow-stickered pak-choi instead of the carrots, so these are still lurking in the fridge!

Lat night we had whitefish tacos with an assortment of homemade salsas, some avocado & some sour cream.

Tonight we will have some tempura chicken breast with white rice and pak choi.  Sauce of choice for me will be katsu curry and OH will have tonkatsu sauce on his as he is not a fan of curry of any nationality that is not Thai!

As I worked from home today, breakfast was a cream bun and iced latte both free from a local coffee shop using vouchers - OH had a bacon butty and a hot latte - butty was very discounted and coffee was free, again with vouchers!  Not really reverse planned, but for 2.36 we both had breakfast and a morning walk so very MSE.  Lunch which happened at team time due to meetings, was sliced avo on a buttered bagel with poached eggs.  A large fruit salad with a bit of mint stirred through to use up all the quickly ripening fruit!  It all seems to go over at once which is such a pain!

So mostly eating from home from what's in the house with a few yellow-stickered veg thrown in for good measure. We seem to be back to balance in our eating which I hope will also result in more energy and a few less pounds around the middle.

zafiro1984

rtandon27 said:

zafiro1984 said:

...Has anyone got any ideas what to do with frozen pears...

How about a pear sorbet?  Made from already frozen pears so no need to defrost before making them into a summer friendly dessert!

Had a quick look at the recipe so its on the menu for tonight. I'll edit tonight. I'm trying to free up space in the freezer, the pears take up a whole drawer which I will need for my veggies. 

Suffolk_lass

We had the Peas a la Francais with mash last night. I definitely need to make this more often. So delicious.

[Huge personal aside - feel free to skip
Re blood tests - (sorry, a bit off topic) I went in to the Dr surgery and spoke to a receptionist. They are training many of them to be Health Care Assistants, which is excellent as it means they can help a bit. I explained that I thought I had all my bloods tested last week but had had two texts within four days - the first said my cholesterol is up a bit and they want to re-test it next year. I know what to do to improve the ratio between HDL and LDL. Then I had a text saying my phosphate level was abnormally low and to make an appointment for a Vitamin D3 test (which I had done immediately), although I thought the Dr had asked for Vitamin levels to be checked. Four days later I got the vitamin D3 results saying they were low and they had prescribed a supplement. The internet told me Low phosphate can be an indicator of cancer, diabetes out of control, thyroid or inflammation and is linked to D3.

I explained that I knew what to do for cholesterol but it was at odds with the dietary advice to top up phosphate and D3.  Anyway, the receptionist said just a minute and told me what the diabetes, cancer and thyroid tests were and that they are all normal. Leaving inflammation; which was what I originally asked to speak to a Dr about. My knee is so swollen and to be honest, the anti-inflammatories are relatively low dose and as pain killers, just not hacking it, so I am waking in the night to double the pain relief to get me through. Seeing the physio tomorrow morning at 08.00 and now have a follow-up discussion about the blood tests with the same Dr the week after next. It is a massive relief to know I'm not diabetic, don't have an under-active thyroid or cancer. I don't think I realised how deep rooted these worries were until she confirmed they were all normal.]

So the link to here is that I need to eat oats and oat bran (run out of the latter) with full-fat yogurt, nuts, seeds and a bit of chopped strawberry for breakfast. It's also needed to take the anti-inflammatories and stomach protection meds, which have to be taken with food. I might ask if I can double the dose on these. I have all of these in stock or in the garden (strawberries) but I have just had to order more nuts and pumpkin seeds (the latter are great for those who don't eat bananas).

Tonight will be the remnants of the ragu, to which I have added half a tin of baked beans. I shall either add more borlotti beans, chilli and chick peas for a chilli, or stuff the two red peppers. DH is at DS's house, replacing a tap that leaks and so it will be his choice. It's not like I'm burning the calories!

EssexHebridean

I have an ice cream machine, it wasn't cheap, and thus it WILL earn its keep!  

SL I'm glad to hear that all the "big things" are ruled out from your tests!

joedenise

As EH said glad all the big things are ruled out SL.

Tonights reverse planned meal is a sweet and sour pork dish with rice using up the last of the weekend pork joint.  Didn't expect to manage this out of the joint as it wasn't that big but DH hasn't been eating as much as usual so have managed an extra dinner!

rtandon27

So please to hear all the biggies have been ruled out SL! - Here's to many bowls of berry-laden healthy oatmeal for breakfast!

Reverse planned lunch today - leftover rice, chicken goujons, katsu curry sauce & two kinds of salsa from the last two night's dinners, packed in a container and lugged into work!  It saved a few bob, but I did lament the extra weight it added to my tote, I'm used to travelling relatively light with only the portable office in tow!

Not sure what tonight's dinner will be - I had reverse planned bbq glazed meatballs with noodles and tat soi, but OH (who does 90% of the meal prep) seems to think that he won't be able to squeeze preparation in between picking me up from the station after his 5pm game is over and then going our small town's political husting half an hour later.  Clearly it is apparent that we each have our own priorities for this evening and nowhere in there is an overt effort to prepare dinner! 🤣🤣🤣  I have a feeling that soba noodles with cheesy sauce & siracha will feature for me & a ham and cheese wrap for the Mr.

zafiro1984

zafiro1984 said:

rtandon27 said:

zafiro1984 said:

...Has anyone got any ideas what to do with frozen pears...

How about a pear sorbet?  Made from already frozen pears so no need to defrost before making them into a summer friendly dessert!

Pleased to hear the news SL

Ref: pear sorbet. I added some syrup from a jar of stem ginger which I had used to make ice-cream instead of syrup and cinnamon stated in the recipe. Absolutely delicious - its a keeper. Thank you rtandon

rtandon27

That's great @zafiro1984 - so pleased to hear it will make use of your pear glut!

EssexHebridean

Foxgloves has suggested on her diary that they are intending to have a budget-friendly July as far as the groceries go, and it has made me think that I am inclined to do the same. I need to have a dig through the freezer to see what is lurking I think, and I am pretty sure that I will still need to purchase some "main meal" protein components. 

This evening is going to be salad (including some home grown bits)with king prawns, and baked sweet potatoes. Tomorrow will be pasta using one of our home grown courgettes (SO tasty!) and the last of the mushrooms, plus the remainder of a tub of soft cheese as the sauce. I'll do salmon with that. Saturday is currently planned to be picky bits, mostly from the freezer - I will have to do a freezer dive and see exactly what we have. That freezer dive will also enable me to do a new inventory, and from there I can plan meals going forwards!