Reverse Meal Planning

rtandon27

I always hope for proper bacon chunks when we buy ours as we turn them into lardons and freeze in 50g pots.  Fraction of the cost of the ready chopped ones!

Atm we are working our way through chorizo that we cut into 55g pieces and froze. Waitflower had the rings for pittance in the deli counter at the start of the year. We bought several and are now down to the last two chunks.

Cherryfudge

My 'cooking bacon' best buys are the ones that turn out to be smoked. They're generally browner than the unsmoked and I always check for these.

Why on earth do they call it 'cooking bacon', though? Who eats it raw? (I know what they mean, it's marketed to add to other dishes rather than serve as rashers, but why not 'offcuts'?)

EssexHebridean

We turned some of our home cured bacon into lardons RT - although I'm not convinced that was any cheaper than buying them pre cut allowing for the cost of the pork belly etc! 

EssexHebridean

Omelette last night - done frittata style as usual with mushrooms and cheddar and finished under the grill (hang those high Agile prices!) and a sachet of mixed rice, grain and seeds split between us alongside. MrEH was a bit grumpy as it was brown rice, but I LIKE brown rice, so tough! 

I've dug through the freezer and grabbed out what I suspect may be the last black bean chilli for tonight - that will be done with white rice which will be a relief to himself I'm sure!  we're currently speculating about a possible takeaway for tomorrow evening, although if we do go that route it will need to be balanced off with a lot of freezer diving for weekend food, and probably a batch cook as well I think. Might enlist assistance in doing an up to date audit I think - although as a starting point I know there is still both liver and bacon in there, and we have onions and home grown tatties to use so that may be sunday lunch sorted! 

rtandon27

@EssexHebridean - I had good laugh about your brown rice comment! My OH complains every time we eat any kind of rice/couscous/pasta!

OH made our dinner last night - nonya lemongrass curry (think thai-ish) with chicken and baby potatoes, steamed pak choi & white rice.  He enjoyed it totally and then after dinner made some snarky comment about me eating tons of foreign food when he's 'gone'!  I reverse planned a dessert of fresh strawberries and grapes with fromage frais, as a work event had a leftover fruit plate which someone shockingly suggested we put straight in the compost!

SIGH - I consult him when doing the meal plan every week and he agrees to it, so I'm going to ask him specifically what he'd like to see on the meal plan this upcoming week & see what he comes up with!  I do hope it's not eggs and ham with a side of potatoes for every meal!

As an aside we are having burgers and wedges for dinner this evening! - I'm hoping it doesn't count as 'foreign' to his sensibilities! - The package is labelled made from Welsh beef!

EssexHebridean

That's definitely foreign then RT - here's hoping the potatoes aren't Scottish!!  

rtandon27

EssexHebridean said:

That's definitely foreign then RT - here's hoping the potatoes aren't Scottish!!  

Haha - the potato wedges are Waitflower own brand from the freezer! - given that their farm is short drive from our town, I'm going to venture a guess they are 'not foreign'.  Wonder if he'll forgo the sliced provalone for melting on top, given that it comes from the continent???  I'm quite happy to have two slices on mine!

On the subject of potatoes, we finally used up the last of the pink fir from a veg box we received last month!  I put them into a roasted root veg soup.  One of the oddest varieties I've ever seen or tasted - not a fan of the taste or texture eaten plain & certainly would not pick them myself if I saw them as an option in a store!

So far the volunteer potatoes I grew in bags this year have turned out to be delicious!  One grow bag was medium sized king edwards and two others were a mystery from sprouted organic veg box potatos.  We have one more bag to upturn, but as all the leaves are still green and growing, I'm going to leave them for a bit in the hopes that they produce bigger spuds.

zafiro1984

Continuing on the cooking bacon theme we had quiche tonight. DH had bacon, leeks and the mushrooms have started to appear in the fields so I added some of those. Mine was the same, minus the pastry crust but plus tomatoes. Followed by plain sponge with a sauce made from berries out of the freezer, mainly blackberries - saved on the milk which I need for tomorrow. 

rtandon27

Last week's plan was only a 4/7 success!

Monday's squash risotto did not get made when we discovered some Pierogis in the fridge that needed using!
Tuesday - Prawn & chorizo pasta was amazing & we will have it again!
Wednesday - Nonya curry was also delicious - we have 2/3 of a jar of the curry paste left, so that will also be had again.
Thursday - burgers & wedges as planned & no moaning about foreign food was heard
Friday - homemade pizza was had - cheap and tasty - my all-time favorite Friday meal
Saturday - we were still suffering from having Covid shots on Friday so didn't go to the food truck, instead we ordered in - a rare treat!
Sunday - we tried a new recipe from the Waitflower weekly paper, an unusual coffee based rub on pork chops along with some champ which used up the last of our potatoes.

We both have terrible colds that came on late yesterday and atm zero appetites so an ambitious meal plan for the week, which may just end up being soup and crackers until we feel better! Totally ok - as it will result in freezer space either way as the meal plan is from the stores!

Today - Pierogis & red cabbage & red onions
Tuesday - salmon & noodles & napa cabbage
Wednesday - thai-style chicken & squash curry with rice
Thursday - Spaghetti & meatballs in pasta sauce with some kind of steamed veg
Friday - Food truck evening - Ramen night
Saturday - yellow sticker surprise!
Sunday - Sausage and pumpkin tray bake with purple haze carrot salad

As OH was napping while I was meal planning so we are heavy on the foreign foods this week - so no comments from the peanut gallery are allowed this week.  next week I may let him decide, since it's bi-weekly grocery week and we can purchase whatever his head dreams up! - I feel everyday will involve potatoes & 2 veg on the side of some sort of carnivore delight!

zafiro1984

Love reading your menu's RT, some of which I'll have to google , Pieogis, purple haze carrots and napa cabbage??

Two friends came yesterday so we had roasted half price pork leg, on offer at Sainsbobs.  I always take the skin off and do the crackling separately. By the time I came to serve it the crackling had disappeared and there were three guilty faces sitting at the table.   So tonight, it was reheated left overs, with chips followed by HM strawberry icecream - simple and quick.