Reverse Meal Planning

redofromstart

lol, me too @MissRikkiC even though I am trying to reduce the gadgets 

I can't remember if there is a rice function on the instant pot - if there is then I must try it. I usually do the absorption method like Suffolk-lass. We generally had  it oven finished with spices and onion in or mr redo wouldn't eat it so in my head rice is a faff when it needn't be. 

EssexHebridean

My rice cooker is one of those super simple ones that goes in the microwave - I just put my chosen amount of rice in the basket, pour boiling water over it, then it gets two blast of 3 minutes 20 seconds in the micro (if cooking white rice - an extra 30 seconds or so per blast for brown) before being drained and left to stand for a few minutes with a clean tea towel folded under the lid to absorb some of the steam.  I'm on my second one of those now having managed to accidentally melt the previous one by setting the micro on "combi" not "micro"! 

Redo - pretty sure my IP has a rice cooking option - I've not tried it though due to the above being easier! 

It has ALL been about the freezer here for the past few days!

- Lunch yesterday used some of the christmas turkey from the freezer - frozen with a little gravy and served with some of the remaining sprouts and almost the last of our home grown tatties just simply boiled. Tea was one of the several packs of crumpets also languishing in the freezer. 
- Also from the freezer are a couple of bagels we're having for lunch today instead of rolls - this saved MrEH making rolls yesterday when there as less than ideal amounts of space for them in the freezer - we'll have another two of them tomorrow, and he'll make rolls during his WFH day tomorrow ready for the rest of the week. 
- The pasta bake I batch cooked just before christmas has come out of the freezer for tonight - that fits the criteria for a Monday night tea as it will reheat in the microwave on combi in 10 minutes and be just the thing for a first day of a mid winter week! It also gets a big item out of the second freezer too - I'm starting to feel as though progress is being  made there!

JingsMyBucket

@rtandon27 just wanted to let you know I've seen your post and will write up a rough guide later today. I just had a possible project come across my email this morning and I'm reviewing the docs they've sent me for our call tomorrow. Fingers crossed on getting this project. It's been a few horrible lean months the second half of 2024. 

zafiro1984

'Tiny Kitchen' made me smile and remember back in the early 1980's during a recession, we were living in a flat but bought a derelict farm cottage  Unfortunately the flat was needed so we moved into the cottage. Loo outside, no bathroom, no kitchen and little money. (mortgages were running at 17%)  I made do for six months with an outside cold water tap, the kitchen work surface was an old door supported on breeze blocks, an electric frying pan, kettle, microwave and slow cooker - I still have the slow cooker. We survived.

Today, lunch was HM leek and potato soup, Hm muffins cooked in the ironheart, easy peelers/apples
tea will be left over pork from yesterday, I'll probably do a honey and mustard sauce to go with it. Pudding will be some frozen choc torte LO from Dec.

I need to plan for the weekend as we've folk coming. I'm determined not to go shopping nor to eat out. Quite a challenge as I've come to the sad  conclusion that I'm a supermarket shopaholic 

rtandon27

@JingsMyBucket - good luck with the project!

@zafiro1984
I can happily say that our tiny kitchen is inside!  It is however a 1960's addition to a 100 year old house that had no indoor electricity or water when it was built!  It did have 4 fire-places (3 now blocked off) and the one in the now-dining room was used to cook food.  I'm not sure what was done for water before the pipes were run across the backs of the house, but the far end of the garden definitely was home to the outhouse with access lane for the night-time soil collectors!  So back to the tiny kitchen - I've had smaller in a flat across the pond which had a true galley kitchen with a tiny square counterspace barely bigger than a chopping board.  I think it was designed with the thought that if you were single or even a young couple and lived in the middle of a city then you didn't cook much but ate out every night or survived with micro-meals.  Back in those days when food was cheap lifestyles did actually match expectations!  
I'm inspired by your leek & potato soup - we have two rather large leeks and a multitude of potatoes which I think are multiplying every time I turn my back on them!  Do you have a favorite tried and true recipe?

MissRikkiC

Curry tonight made with chicken from the freezer, cauliflower reduced last week and chickpeas I soaked and cooked at the weekend. 

Black beans soaking over night tonight, probably going to be the main ingredient in a black beans chili unless anyone has anything better? 

Suffolk_lass

Jamie's £1 meals included two tins of black beans in a winter stew with scone-style dumplings - Worth a TV catch up from last night. If you do watch it, watch out for when he cooks the chicken. I can't believe he doesn't always turn the metal oven shelves upside down so the baking sheet pans sit flat. It gives you completely different spacing. I'm not the only person to do that am I?

rtandon27

@Suffolk_lass - you might just be! I didn't even know that was an option! Must remember to investigate this evening!

EssexHebridean

I'm another oven shelf turner SL - sometimes means I can squeeze an extra shelf in too which is useful! (See also flipping the shelf the grill pan sits on in the top over if I want to get things closer to the elements for speedier toasting - crumpets, I'm looking at you!) 

Last night's pasta bake was delicious - if the electricity prices drop sufficiently to allow batch cooking at the weekend I may go for a rough repeat of it as it was a good way of using up various bits of veg, and we  certainly have sprouts that are beginning to be approaching the "get them used up" stage. Cooking double and freezing one works well too. 

Today is Tuesday of course so tonight needs to be the usual easy to prep in two parts meal as MrEH has rugby training this evening - at least, he does as long as they don't call it off! Couscous is on the plan, but in fact I may switch my part of it out for brown rice, micro-bake a sweet potato and pan fry a red pepper and some mushrooms as the rest of the veg accompaniment. Halloumi to top it I think, as I meant to get some leftover cooked lamb out of the freezer and forgot. 

number_23

Thank you very much @EssexHebridean and @rtandon27 for your comments and suggestions, much appreciated. 

I’ve been MIA for the past few days whilst getting ready to go back to school, work etc. 

Meals have been mainly from stocks as currently trying to use up what we have. We’ve had burgers, chicken curry, sausage and mash (I made homemade giant Yorkshire puds for the first time - so easy and simple…and cheap compared to supermarket bought). 

Tonight we are having chicken skewers using chicken from the freezer, though I only took the chicken out about an hour ago so not sure if it will be defrosted in time but I’ve put it in the garage fridge which isn’t quite as cold as the inside fridge as it only stores overflow, drinks etc (I want to get everything down so I can turn that and the chest freezer off). Tomorrow will be cornbeef hash (I bought some potatoes and a milk this morning whereas I usually do a big shop on a Tuesday…. Saved circa £80, though I know I will need some lunchbox items for DS by Thursday

I hope everyone is having a good day 😀