Reverse Meal Planning

JingsMyBucket

@redofromstart you’re very welcome!

MissRikkiC

Thanks SL. I didn’t have any beef out anyway but next time! What I made was more like a black bean soup, a mixture of chili, garlic and ginger fried off then onion and ‘celery’/romaine lettuce, add the beans and the liquid season and viola ! It was a bit bland and lacked any sort of body tbh. We added leftover rice to the sauce which soaked up the stock however im not what what I was expecting when it called for both rosemary, coriander and bay plus peppers and I had none of any 🤣🤦🏼‍♀️ 

Tonight was med veg pasta at speed. I grabbed a YS aubergine in Aldi so that gave the inspiration and after a glug of red wine we were gifted at Christmas and some sugar to balance, in about 20 minutes we had a lovely tasting sauce. 

rtandon27

So far we've stuck to the reverse meal plan this week - it's nice to have a bit of normality in our lives after the excess of xmas!

Today's Waitflower recipe was Chicken and Barley stew - definitely comfort food for a cold winter day.  I'd forgotten how nice barley is - more texture than rice and more taste than pasta.  We still have another 200g to use up so I can see a repeat of that recipe or even scouse being made this month.  The remaining barley is of even more dubious age than what we used up, but I think with a good long soak prior to use it will soften up nicely.  Now the question is do I replace the barley or count it as a use up and be done with it?

zafiro1984

rtandon27 I never thought of using barley like that, I usually just use barley in soups but I do like its flavour and taste. I've just looked up the recipe and have most of the ingredients or could improvise with the ginger. I'll give it a go.

Lunch:- too busy a morning so it was a quick cheese/crackers - cheese from the freezer, plus fruit from the bowl.
Tea:- I had a small piece of flatiron steak in the fridge from the weekend, cut it into stripes, made a sauce, added some mushrooms and veg. DH had chips and I had more veg. Pudding was Brimley apple pieces from the freezer topped with crumble, again from the freezer covered with custard.

Suffolk_lass

You've got to love instant crumble @zafiro1984 - I use bottled fruit rather than frozen, but otherwise, same here.

I made a slow cooked ragu sauce using the 250ish grams of minced beef that I got out to defrost. An onion, 2 sticks of celery and a huge carrot, along with some sad-salad yellow pepper topped up by peppers from the freezer and a jar of HM HG tomato sauce and some herbs all made for a simple sauce. I added some ultra processed seasoning - tabasco, Worcester and an oxo cub and it was really nice.

I made a lasagne for tonight and stuffed the large yellow peppers in the bottom of the salad drawer, with the rest of the sauce. Then sprinkled both with grated cheddar and after half an hour, had the stuffed peppers with salad. There's enough lasagne for both of us to have twice.

That tray bake looks lovely @JingsMyBucket, Mine goes into batter rather than pastry and looks a lot more messy!

zafiro1984

Suffolk lass, I'm intrigued with everything you bottle. I've never tried bottling things, probably because somewhere at the back of my mind I'm fearful of not getting it right and it not being edible. It probably stems from something my mother said donkeys years ago. Maybe it's a confidence hang-up as It certainly would save on freezer space. 

Today:-
lunch:  At last turkey soup or so I thought. I started it last night, stock, veg and cooking bacon from freezer/fridge, plus lentils and barley. The only problem was I'd forgotten in which freezer I'd put the leftover turkey bits. The freezers are full so they may not emerge for a while. The veg and stock taste pretty good and I've found some chicken drumsticks which I'll use instead. I don't think DH will notice.
Tea: Something with to do with the remains of a pork shoulder also from the freezer, I fancy a honey and mustard sauce and in this cold weather dumplings are calling.

EssexHebridean

Redo I will TAKE that accolade on the soup - he's right though, that coconut and chorizo thing just adds so much to a BNS soup! (I want to make it myself again now but absolutely not until I have freezer space!)  

Jings that tart looks fantasic - and SL the idea of doing it in batter is also excellent and would be good if one also had a couple of eggs needing used up! 

RT I'd get that barley replaced if you enjoyed the stew that much - I'm mentally noting that as being something I might try with the piece of shin beef I've got in the freezer - I know barley slow cooks perfectly well after all!  

Our cheese and crackers last night was thoroughly enjoyed, still used up things we had plenty of, and most importantly did not cost us eleventy billion pounds to cook at the eye wateringly painful Agile pricing. Prices today are far more reasonable - Ragu has been excavated. I might even do it with a sachet of mixed grains rather than pasta - will see how I feel when I get home. 

I need a switch around of meal plan for tomorrow as MrEH is now not out after all. Might stick with the pizza and see what I can come up with to add to it though. 

MissRikkiC

@zafiro1984 I think I’d probably stop there with the soup, it sounds really nice. 

Love how quickly you can adapt EH to the agile prices, having asked you about it, I’ve instead enquired about the EV rate they offer. I was sceptical initially as I presumed the increase in standing rate and day rate they offer would increase way more than then reduction id see through the night rate but actually I think there is quite a saving in it so I have arranged to get started with that. I’ve also found the timer function on the WM and DW as well! 

Today’s lunch was curry from Monday and I’ve got a beef joint out for dinner to have with mash and veg. 

Earlier in the week I tried to revive my sour dough starter and made a loaf but it didn’t rise during the proving stage well however today I baked it anyway as a loaf style instead of a boule. The middle half would have been better baked longer but the outside quarters are perfect. We will likely not eat the middle but the outside edges (almost gone already!) were so tasty! A bit of waste but since I nearly chucked the whole lot in the bin, I’m happy. 

EssexHebridean

It does take a bit of getting used to the load shifting MissRC but once you get into the swing of it then it's reasonably simple - and a regularly timed time of use tariff is of course even better for that! 

Well done for keeping the faith and baking the loaf anyway! 

I have to declare a (small) spend - the Al's near to work have Christmas bargains, I popped there at lunchtime and came back with 2 posh & 1 standard Christmas pudding, a jar of Br@nst0n pickle and three little containers of winter-style baking sprinkles for a total spend of £2.13. I'll pass one of the pots of sprinkles to my Mum as she bakes and she'll enjoy a little pot of snowflakes and similar! 

rtandon27

@JingsMyBucket - wow that tart looks lovely!  I read your description before looking at the pic and though that it sounded like a meat version of a veggie tart that my OH made on Monday, but looking at the pic it resembles a French Pissaladière!

@EssexHebridean - the reason that I'm not sure about the barley is that the 100g we used was about 3 years old and dated from pandemic days when I was squirreling away everything in sight!  The 200g we have left was discovered in an airtight tin & quite honestly dates back to at least 9, if not 10 years ago.  I'm not adverse to using it as I see it a bit like aged basmati - lower in water content and nuttier in flavour once cooked.  Given the age of both of these store cupboard items, I might be better off not replacing it? Still sitting on the fence about this one!