Reverse Meal Planning

KajiKita

@EssexHebridean, it’s never occurred to me to use Brie on the top of a bake … 🤔 Do you put it on in thin slices and does it melt / brown well?

KK

EssexHebridean

Urgh yep, definitely don't want fizzy coleslaw! See also yogurt on this one! 

Couldn't track down any more daal last night, but the curry is out and defrosting, and once I've factored in other elements (rice, probably indian pancakes from another pack of that super-cheap mix, and mini poppadoms, plus chutney/yogurt) we'll be well fed I think.

I'm intending to have a proper low-spend grocery challenge during January - having twice used £5 off £45 spend Lil's vouchers now we're well stocked up on almost everything you can imagine storecupboard wise and I really want to se us meal planning around the things we have. MrEH might rebel if I try to make it TOO "pulse heavy" but I've got a 2kg bag of chickpeas which he won't object to! 

rtandon27

@EssexHebridean - are indian pancakes = dosa or is it something else???

EssexHebridean

Good question RT - they’re a packet mix which I am guessing is mostly gram flour with spices - you add an amount of water and whisk up, leave to stand for 10 minutes then cook. Not something I would usually buy but they were in F@rmf00ds for a silly amount (19p a pack IIRC) so we decided to give them a go! 

MrEH is in the office in London today, while I have finished work until the 5th - hurrah! The freezer is providing both my lunch (veg soup!) and our tea (a small portion of rags which I will add a tin of kidney beans and some chilli to. That will be served with rice.  We’re now firmly into the time of year when the freezers are being added to rather than having things taken out of them, but a lot of what is going in is multiple portions of various things so future food as well as for Christmas! 

The first ham got cooked overnight in the slow cooker - I will pop that in the fridge once it’s fully cooled and the second one will take its place in the slow cooker tonight, then I can bake both together either tomorrow or Wednesday. Still undecided about the glazes, although one might well be marmalade.  Did spot a suggestion of a maple syrup, marmalade, mustard and spiced rum glaze mind you, and while I think that might be TOO many flavours, I might do one of them with just marmalade and the other with maple syrup, mustard and rum. 

rtandon27

mmmm - my vote is for the maple syrup one in whatever variety you decide on!🍁

Those packets sound interesting - no way you could pass at 19p a pack!  I've in the distant past I've tried out the Gits Dosai mix and it was tasty but very laborious so now i just 'pay the nice man' at the place local to the office for the occasional treat!  If you are a fan of chickpea pancakes, I came across one called a Cheela with all kinds of finely chopped veg cooked in it - think a thick pancake crossed with an omelette - I love the nutty savoury taste of the flour with the veg in it!  Very easy to make and more foolproof than a thin crispy crepe for the home cook.

Suffolk_lass

So soup was a mix of the stock the turkey was cooked in, gravy, veg water, leftover veg and some pickings from the giblets.

Today the first turkey pie is made, mixed with a tin of condensed soup as a pie filling, and topped with (frozen) peas so the top crust doesn't stick. We will have it with carrots, Brussels and calabrese (not cooked on Christmas Day as no emergency late entrants this year for Christmas Dinner.

otb666

This year we had a frozen medium crown from aldi. After xmas dinner I put all the leftovers (apart from turkey) in freezer. This left me with a lot of turkey to deal with. Yesterday we had sandwiches. Today will have turkey stew. Tomorrow was gonna do a pasta bake to hopefully finish it off. Keep forgetting we dont eat so much now. Just posting to check its ok to cook turkey in pasta bake tomorrow or is that too late?

Primrose

Lunch today will consist of post Christmas "picky bits". Imagine thousands of households will be doing the same. Enjoy this type of meal almost as much as Christmas snd Boxing Day meals ,

JIL

otb666 said:

This year we had a frozen medium crown from aldi. After xmas dinner I put all the leftovers (apart from turkey) in freezer. This left me with a lot of turkey to deal with. Yesterday we had sandwiches. Today will have turkey stew. Tomorrow was gonna do a pasta bake to hopefully finish it off. Keep forgetting we dont eat so much now. Just posting to check its ok to cook turkey in pasta bake tomorrow or is that too late?

You could have frozen the turkey.  Apologies if I have picked you up wrong, but it was frozen, then cooked, so it's perfectly safe to refreeze as you have changed its state if that makes sense.
Perfectly ok to eat it tomorrow as long as its been kept in the fridge.   Or make it today and freeze it for a later date.  Great recipe on BBC site for Turkey samosas today. Dipped in cranberry sauce.

I saw turkeys in a shop yesterday, huge free range ones reduced from £98 to £4.  I didn't buy one and there were absolutely loads of them.   I saw someone on social media, suggesting buying for next Christmas, but it would take up loads of freezer room.  

greent

Afternoon! Am re-joining this thread, as we have waaaay too much food around, so am planning a lower spend January. DS2 will need returning to uni next weekend, so he will need a food shop to take with him (he'll get back after the shops have shut next Sunday) as he has very specific tastes, so I can't just send him back with lots of random leftovers, like I did with DD and DS1 😆

We are having traditional style Xmas Dinner tomorrow, as DD spent Xmas with her fiancé's family, and she is the lover of a roast dinner (DS2 and DS3 don't eat them at all (well, DS3 will eat Yorkshires!) and I refused to do a big roast twice (we always go way over the top with 2 meats, lots of pigs in blankets, sausage-y stuffing balls and Yorkshires, roast potatoes, parsnips, roasted carrots, root veg mash, pan fried sprouts and pancetta, tenderstem, hm bread sauce and hm red cabbage)- so our picky leftovers will start from Monday 😁 I've just realised that I haven't made the red cabbage yet, so should probably do that... whoops!

We currently have 3 very full freezers and a groaning fridge (plus another fridge in the garage with the cream/ chocolate Xmas cake and lots of drink in, plus tomorrow's huge FR chicken) - and food spilling out of cupboards. I need to get a grip. I know that part of this stems back to my childhood (both DH and I come from very poor backgrounds) where we had no choice of food and there was only ever *just* enough food for the week and if something ran out it would have to wait for Friday's payday (in cash, in an envelope!) before any shopping. I therefore always over cater and shop. However, we are comfortably off, live a mile or so from a large Tesc0 and Aldee, so there really is no need. I also can't resist a 'bargain'.. I just need to stay away from the shops, tbh!! 😂 I also abhor food waste, so we very, very rarely waste anything (our standard food caddy waste each week is tea bags and eggs shells - I don't like either of these in my compost bins - and sometimes the bones from a chicken)