Reverse Meal Planning

wumph

Not sure if this is allowed but anyway My grandson suggested I use an AI search base (like the not very helpful BOT things) which he used as a student so had a go.  You ask the question,  mine was what to do with beef strips in air fryer,  then I asked for 1 person.  It came up with ideas and then I added main meal and it carried on giving more ideas.  you could then add what veggies etc etc and it carries on giving answers. It looks OK as do not need loads of ingredients which some recipes list,  can say which you dont want. It is  CHATGPT  and its free.  I used it for white beans and beef burger meals (without buns) ideas.  Never too old to learn.

zafiro1984

I've got to cut out as much sugar as possible, I thought I was a low sugar user but some routine blood results have come back with raised glucose levels, not as high as prediabetic but above normal.  The Dr then said 'Old folk have a tendency for diabetes' - made me feel really really old, but at least I can do something about it. The good news is my heart is working well, 6yrs after open heart surgery - brilliant surgeons at the Royal Brompton

Today:- Salad with a little ham and 4 muffins - l  ate the muffins before my phone call. Not much salad left in the fridge, in fact, not much in the fridge at all
Tea:- salad again to use up the rest of the things, probably with a couple of boiled eggs - no desert.

I'm going to find a website which will be helpful - re sugar.  Looking on the bright side - I may lose a bit of weight - DH just said 'In your dreams'

wumph

I try very hard not to use sugar, am type 2 and have been for years.  Do not try the sugar free stuff unless for making cakes !!!!! and even so I use less. Never managed to lose weight though but best of luck.  So many of the recipes are just so complicated and loads of ingredients I find just be careful what you eat and drink lots of water.

Mrs_Cheshire

Hi all, glad to hear everyone's recent doctors appointments have been positive. 
I really need to have another freezer sort out. I know we have some frozen bread/muffins in there alongside lots of leftovers but not much else. I'm at school for the next 3 weeks so I'll pull out a meal each day to have at work to use up the endless chinese containers in the freezer. 
Need to do a meal plan for this week so we use up what we've got in the house. 

zafiro1984

A case of looking in the fridge and freezer
Lunch,  DH lamb pate made a few weeks ago and frozen, he left a some, enough to make the base of a venison wellington tomorrow no doubt I'll add mushrooms possibly onions and maybe bacon as I've 2 rashers lurking. I had a veg salad but put mixed herbs over it as it's very bland without and I've no mayo at the moment - must make some. 

Tea:- again from the freezer pheasant casserole for DH but I put a pastry topping on it as there was a small amount of pastry left over from yesterday. I'm having 2 eggs and veggies again. I have been outside for most of the evening doing the watering and just popping in to see how tea is doing. Only came in properly 15mins ago, so everything has had to be easy

EssexHebridean

I've done my usual lazy Monday evening option of a tub of ragu from the freezer which will be teamed with spaghetti tonight I think. Having the home made batch cooked bits like that in the freezer means that we can easily have a meal on the table in no longer than the time it takes to cook some pasta, which is a complete win isn't it! 

I do also have a freezer inventory now so can make some headway in getting some stuff used. On the other hand, within an hour of writing it I had also added some more frozen salmon, and another bag of the frozen raw king prawns as Lil's had a special offer...! 

rtandon27

OOOO - thanks for the tip EH - we've run out of King Prawns! - and OH says he has no wine, so a walk to town (10 mins) might be in order!

EssexHebridean

It's on the Lidl Plus app RT - just one of the generic offers that goes through when you scan the app at the till. Should have a ticket against it at the freezer cabinet. 

zafiro1984

EssexHebridean said:

I've done my usual lazy Monday evening option of a tub of ragu from the freezer which will be teamed with spaghetti tonight I think. Having the home made batch cooked bits like that in the freezer means that we can easily have a meal on the table in no longer than the time it takes to cook some pasta, which is a complete win isn't it! 

ExH absolutely a win
Batch cooking and freeze definitely works for me as well, I find it helps with Time, Effort, and even the Purse. 

We've been out for most of the day, saying good-buy to a dear friend, so lunch was provided.
Tea:- something simple, toasted gammon sandwiches, using the gammon I cooked a few days ago, I may have to freeze most of the remainder, probably in cubes so I can use it another day in flans, puffs etc.
pudding - something to do with apples as one or two are looking sad in the bowl, I know I've some crumble topping in the freezer so I may toss that on top

Suffolk_lass

Not feeling the love for the things I normally do at the moment. I think I need to resume dividing up the meat before I freeze it. Then the repetition of meals is managed. I do plan to shop today and we are rationing the treats. I had a discussion with my Doctor yesterday (I love phone appointments) and she confirmed that lowering my cholesterol, combined with the vitamin D3 supplements I am taking are my priority, and not trying to improve my phosphate level through diet. Apparently my phosphate was only 0.07 higher in 2012 and along with heart rate and blood pressure, mine are naturally lower than other people's, so basically, don't worry about these. She could not immediately offer me the dietary advice but to be honest, I know what it is. I will be buying oat bran today. I have previously used it as a thickener in sauces and chilli but I know DH would prefer more veg or even lentils to oat bran. Tough!

I still have an Xray request outstanding for my knee (it will say I have osteoarthritis; nobody who has had four separate sports injuries, several weeks in a full leg plaster, two surgeries and a cortisone jab to the same joint is going to be arthritis free by my age) - I did express the view that this was not going to add to the diagnosis, as the way the pain came on suddenly is inconsistent with the creeping pain of arthritis. She agreed and I said I might try acupuncture and a soft tissue scan privately and she said it might help. In the meantime I have a planned procedure (gynae not joint related) next week and then two days later, we are off to meet up with friends in our camper van, so the frozen meat, combined with salads are my friend.

Berries from the garden are providing dessert but to be honest, we need to work our way through more bottled fruit from the larder. 

I shall endeavour to keep things simple, and as @foxgloves has recommended on her diary, and @EssexHebridean plans to do, a low cost budget friendly month is needed. As my signature shows, we are half way through the year and over 49% of the grocery money is spent. There will be nothing lovely for December festivities at this rate!