Reverse Meal Planning

rtandon27

I love chickpeas turned into burgers - beeb's good food site has a lovely recipe! - Will try to link once I'm back on a computer!

ETA - here is the link to the recipe

MissRikkiC

@Primrose I try to use dry chickpeas when we have them, and I read recently to soak them and then freeze. Pressure cook them and then re freeze and then cook them in whatever you’re having. Apparently this makes them a little less difficult for your tummy to process but I also found it softens them way more than if I hadn’t frozen them the extra time. They made the loveliest hummus but I mostly chuck them into a curry too. Usually it bulk it out.

There is a recipe from Riverford using rainbow chard with the chickpeas and a tomatoey/harissa type flavour which is so delicious (especially when the chard is in season)  

JIL

I have seen recipes with tinned chickpeas tossed in oil and seasonings and airfry or baked to make protein snacks.

Like this one 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/crisp_pitta_chickpeas_25852

EssexHebridean

Ooh I wonder if you could replace the kidney beans with really well cooked chickpeas in Jack M's Kidney bean burger recipe? Actually, that is something I've not made in an age - we already swap out the carrot (not liked by MrEH) for parsnip, and chickpeas could work well allowing that the spice is cumin...!  (I have just added that to my list of things to add to upcoming meal plans!) 

The electricity price this evening is truly terrifying (we are on Agile, so half hourly fluctuations) and so when prepping for last night's couscous I decided to get ahead of myself by prepping double the couscous and toasting double the seeds, plus quickly cooking off some sliced red pepper as well. Once the prices dipped mid evening I also took the time to hard boil the remaining eggs, so we have the makings of a no-need-to-cook meal for this evening already. Rumour has it that tomorrow is likely to be pretty much as grim if not worse, in which case it will be cheese and crackers - which will never be complained about in our house! 

rtandon27

@EssexHebridean - WOW hunny - I do admire your flexibility wrt the electric - honestly I'd not have the patience for that as I'm very tied into pre-planned just about everything, including what we are having for dinner & when I have time to do laundry! 

It is giving me food for thought so to speak about listing out the makings of meals that require less electric/gas & therefore less cooking!  Personally I'd be fine with a bag of tortillas and some salsa or a bag of microwave popcorn, but he who actually does the cooking gets incensed when I even mention lazy meals!

EssexHebridean

It's just about a bit of pre-planning really - and thankfully we are able to do things like run the WM overnight without disturbing anyone. We are also of course thanks to many years on Economy 7 very used to load shifting - and haven't really got our of the habit since the move, so returning to it was less of a challenge than going to it fresh!  I confess I do tend to try to do "proper" meals - but we are both quite happy with a lazy one here and there, every now and again I am reminded of the joy of getting home on a chilly evening and just heating some soup to eat with some nice bread, for example!  There are things I like to plan to the tiniest degree, but others I am quite happy to leave some "give" in!  (In fairness, with the expected demand on the grid tonight, I would be shying away from too much cooking anyway!) 

rtandon27

We've not got a meal plan for this week as OH who is the resident cook is under the weather!  We are however making due and have combined leftovers with a bit of take away for the past three dinners.  I've also been stranded working from home Mon & Today due to poor train service due to flooding upline of us, so lunches have also been cobbled together from what is in the house.  A bit of a half-hearted reverse planned week foodwise.

Monday lunch - tuna melts in tortilla wraps - a quesadilla of sorts
Monday dinner - we shared an order of turkish shish combined with bread and dips form home
Tuesday lunch - in the office - tuna & kim chi & rice - all from my stash at the office
Tuesday dinner - KFC with a salad from home
Wednesday lunch - noodles with added protein and veg
Wednesday Dinner - leftover KFC with leftover caulicheese

Who know what tomorrow will bring - we'll fend for ourselves for lunch and hopefully OH will feel well enough to cook dinner otherwise it will be another order in...

We'll see what Fri/Sat/Sun brings - I'm sure we can freezer dive as I'll be home to lend some creativity!

Suffolk_lass

We ended up using the rest of the salad and most potatoes for the chicken, so no stir-fry or pie, and last night it was penne with the last of the broccoli (oil, pesto and grated cheddar stirred through) and heavily seasoned with a great deal of chilli flakes and black pepper, and just a smidge of flaked salt. Cheap, delicious and postponed shopping for another day!

MissRikkiC

Tuesday was meant to be spag Bol but I needed something even quicker so it was left over bacon and chorizo, pasta. I used red onion, spinach, a tiny bit of cream left over cheese and stirred it through. Chopped rocket on top before it ended up wilted in the fridge. 

Last night was quorn meatballs with mash and broccoli. Their recipe as we had everything in and it really was quite delicious. 

Tonight, similarly to @s@Suffolk_lass we’re having pasta, pesto and cheese. Easy and means we can just chill out for the rest of the night. This week has been rough!

MissRikkiC

@EH I’m sure there are articles all over the place but I’d not even heard of Agile Energy before you mentioned it. I feel like I’ve been living under a rock! 

I have an EV and despite being home during the day as I work remotely I wonder if we could benefit? How do you find it?