Reverse Meal Planning

EssexHebridean

Eek - glad you managed to get the freezer sorted Zafiro.I think I’d be looking to use it for something else rather than trying to get it out too! 

I spent most of today still completely undecided about what to have for tea. MrEH was out as planned - a rugby match - so I was just catering for myself. I was briefly tempted by the offer for a reduced price on the individual posh pizzas in Lil’s, but not tempted enough to commit to buying one. A cheeky Chinese takeaway was also in the frame but also in the back of my mind was a salad idea that had come to me in the week and appealed enough for me to actually write it down. When tea time came along it was raining to an extent that I just didn’t fancy wandering round to the Chinese, so the salad won.  A carrot - shredded on the mandoline - half a can of drained chickpeas, some dried cranberries and a handful of peanuts roughly chopped. I made a dressing with smoked rapeseed oil, a splash of cider vinegar, a dash of lemon juice plus seasonings, then whisked in a teaspoonful of Garam masala which worked wonderfully with the other flavours… Served it up with a sachet of mixed brown rice, grains and seeds and it was absolutely delicious and as it turned out precisely what I wanted to eat this evening! Will be repealed! 

Suffolk_lass

redofromstart said:

I was looking at things to do with the lamb when I spotted a Jamie O recipe for gnarled lamb.  It triggered my inner Granny Weatherwax (gnarly country) and I like the crispy bits best so lamb duly slashed but I used the free sample shawarma seasoning and used a carrot as a trivet rather than actually follow his recipe.  

I've also just put the diced and oiled stale end of the good bread in to make croutons while the oven is on. 

I was really pleased to buy a very local honey today. I am now craving fresh white crusty bread and honey. 

@redofromstart I love the reference to Granny Weatherwax - it was my turn to choose our book club choice on Thursday and I am introducing the others to the Disc World books with The Colour of Magic for the book to read in March! Not the usual for a Women's Book Club but it's good to read different genres.

Also, as a local honey seller, I am delighted to see you buying local honey. It is definitely a product where cheapest is not best - honey fraud is so widespread, and becoming so sophisticated that Apimodia (the world-wide convention held every two years [yes, really!]) is no longer giving honey awards due to adulteration and concealment methods moving faster and being more prevalent than complex and expensive laboratory testing, needed to detect and confirm.

If you do buy SM honey, I urge you (all) to avoid "a blend of EU and non-EU honeys" on the description as it is sub-text for "contains honey syrup or corn syrup" - I could say more but here endeth the lesson as this thread is not for me to rant on.

@zafiro1984 - yes to jars for storage. Much cheaper once preserved. I stand my jars on trays of card or drip trays out of old fridges, so if they were to ferment, the spillage is contained. It is rare that they do. Using screw-top Kilner or Mason jars for bottling and clip tops for pickling, and any old jam jars for jam (I do buy new lids, because I have to for honey, and examining lids inside, the silicone band on pop-tops does not withstand the hottest setting on a dishwasher or overheating to re-sterilise, very well. Any hint of brown and they should be discarded.

Anyway, we had egg-on-beans-on-cheese-on-toast last night, having been out for lunch. An old favourite!

rtandon27

@EssexHebridean - you know you've passed the MSE test when a homemade meal wins out over a takeaway!

Lunch yesterday was assorted steamed dim sum with a cup of ginger tea, followed by some spicy noodles with chicken pieces. A fraction of what it would cost to eat in Chinatown in the city! 

Last night we cobbled together a rather nice meal. Started with salad with miso vinaigrette. Oven chips from the freezer leftover from fakeaway fish supper the other night. Chicken and cheese enchiladas using the last of the grilled chicken and our never-ending supply of tortilla wraps. A very tasty meal from the stores.

EssexHebridean

Haha yes RT - I reckon so! The salad idea came from one of the side salads that the caterer who used to do the staff food at the beer festival used to do - I used to cheerfully nosh my way through piles of the stuff during that week, and while ai couldn’t recall “all” of the ingredients in theirs, this definitely hit the spot. I’d be inclined to get the food processor out for the carrot if (when - let’s be honest!) making again I think - while the mandoline worked OK the carrots were a little chunkier than perfect. 

In the further spirit of MSEness the other half of the tin of chickpeas has of course been popped into the freezer. 

Mrs_Cheshire

I've been reading back through the thread, catching up on everything. 
Hope your feeling better now SL - sorry to hear about the choking incident. 

I managed to fill my freezer over late December and early Jan with bargains so we've been gradually eating our way through it. It's still well stocked so I'm reverse planning our weekly meal plans around what is currently in the freezer. 
Mon- Chicken Korma, rice and bhajis 
Tues -sloppy joe ciabattas with melted feta, chips and corn/salad
Weds - Sausages, mash and beans
Thurs- creamy bacon pasta bake and garlic bread
Fri - Steak, sweet potato fries and trimmings (stuffed large mushrooms, peppers and baby corn probably)
Sat - roasted lamb chunks, couscous, halloumi and veg (taking inspiration from EH) 
Sun - Roast beef and trimmings. 

I'll need to buy bacon (If i can't find any in the freezer, might substitute gammon chunks if we have it), mushrooms and baby corn, and some potatoes to go with the roast beef but otherwise we have it all in the house already. 

I've just remembered I froze some roasted veg with green lentils and feta when I got them free from Ol!o so I'll serve that with the meal on Saturday. Hubby won't eat Couscous so I'll serve his lamb with rice and maybe a tomato based curry sauce to add some moisture and veg. 

Suffolk_lass

We were out (again) on Saturday, for Brunch this time. Our plans for healthy soup for supper turned into cheese & crackers at about 9pm. I suspect that is why I was up before the larks this morning! I have a chicken on order for today so will slow roast that and get pots and seeds started for tomatoes, as it is too cold for me outdoors so in to the kitchen with me!

JingsMyBucket

Hi folks, I need to catch up on the thread. I’ve been in such a bad funk the past few weeks due to money stuff and I haven’t been posting which is not a good idea. I should keep up in order to have positive points to look forward to and you nice people to interact with. 🙂

Anyway, we’ve been running down the freezer and I restocked it with some meat on February 1st via a Tesco order. Here’s what my rough meal plan for the week looks like:

Today — Roasted whole chicken with sautéed (frozen) spinach and seasoned basmati rice. I’m thinking of combining the latter to make a general spinach rice dish. 

Rest of the week in vague order: 

• Leftover chicken somehow 
• Chicken soup with spinner dumplings 
• Tomato soup with croutons and grilled cheese sandwiches 
• Crustless quiche using kale, bacon, cheddar, and onion
• Minestrone soup with either Italian sausage or ground beef. Or maybe neither to save the meat for later. Probably grilled cheeses again to accompany. 

Croutons will come from the last olive ciabatta roll that started going moldy. Just noticed it this morning. I’ve cut it up so it can dry out a bit before I toast the croutons in a dab of olive oil and spices. 

Tomato soup will be from roasted elderly cherry tomatoes, passata and canned tomatoes then topped with croutons. 

Chicken soup will have some frozen beans and frozen spinach thrown in for extra health. 

The minestrone will be a great pantry soup. I’ll just get some zucchini for it tomorrow at Lidl. We haven’t had any in a while. 

rtandon27

@JingsMyBucket - g00gled spinner dumplings as had never heard of them - have bookmarked a recipe as they look like something that will taste good with beef stew the next time we have it!

Lunch yesterday were more of the frozen gyoza steamed with a dipping sauce - There is something really nice about steamed food on a cold and damp day.

Dinner was cobbled together from everything we already have in the stores.  Yakitori chicken skewers made from chicken thigh from the freezer and spring onions from the fridge.  The sauce was from a packet I must have bought on sale as it's been in the ambient sauce collection for some time.  The skewers were oven cooked instead of grilled but turned out absolutely perfectly.  Plain steamed jasmine rice and steamed purple sprouting broccoli that passed OH's test as it was no longer purple once cooked and had a lovely flavour.

Breakfast this morning, multi-grain cumpets with cheese, marmalade and poached eggs.  Apple slices, carrot sticks and easy peeler segments on the side.  OH was not at all hungry for lunch, but I had a Korean Tuna Mayo Deopbap pulled together from leftover rice, a tin of tuna, vegan mayo, red onions as we are out of spring onions and nori seaweed and sesame seeds on top.

I've yet to do a meal plan for this week, as I've got a few medical appts and some time off so trying to figure out where we will be on which days before committing to a plan!

fionaandphil

Ooh thanks for the dumpling idea @JingsMyBucket I've never heard of those so have bookmarked the page.

Our favourite leftover chicken recipe is mixed with frozen broccoli. Then mix condensed chicken soup with mayonnaise (yes I know it sounds weird) and a bit of curry powder and a squeeze of lemon juice. Mix all together, it looks sloppy. Cover with a layer of breadcrumbs and some grated cheese and cook in the oven for about 40 minutes. You can serve with potatoes and veg or with rice and it stretches the chicken very well.

JIL

@fionaandphil using mayo in different dishes is definitely worth a try.  I was sceptical when I read that adding a tablespoon to Yorkshire pudding batter makes for better puddings. I tried it and was actually impressed. Worked really well. I'm told chefs do this, but not sure that's true.

I also used mayo instead of egg when breadcrumbing halloumi before air frying.  That also worked well. 

I loved the condensed mushroom soup with tinned tuna and tinned sweetcorn with pasta. Typical camping food.