Reverse Meal Planning

Suffolk_lass

For other people's beans I always use a potato peeler to remove both edges, to avoid any possibility of string (I say other people's as I pick ours young, before the strings develop). You can snap the stalk end and pull but I have very occasionally found another strand of string and that is a killer. Then I would slice them into lengths of a mobile phone (probably diagonally) and width of a pencil. Personally I remove the seeds.

Our favourite is to have them as a starter, cooked in a steamer pan above the boiling water for about 4-5 minutes then top with a dob of butter, ground black pepper and flaked salt and a little sprinkle of grated cheese. Served as a starter on their own or with a poached egg on top. Delicious.

Traditionally if you want to freeze them you should prep them then plunge them into boiling water for about 30 seconds then drain, put into iced water to stop them cooking, dry and freeze in portion-sized bags. I think that's why I don't freeze runners. Dwarf beans are better frozen. Chop the stalks off and pop them in bags as they are and freeze.

Suffolk_lass

We had stuffed peppers last night, made up yesterday morning with the other half of the ragu. I just filled the four half-capsicum peppers with sauce and topped with about 50-60g of grated cheddar cheese. 35 minutes was perfect for firm but cooked peppers and it was a really easy, simple supper.

rtandon27

Ha ha Greenbee - not to worry OH does 90% of the cooking in our household - he retired early so the home stuff has become mostly his!  I do the reverse/forward meal planning & order the groceries as he's not exactly budget conscious! - so overall it's a fair balance of duties😁

Thank-you SL for all those ideas - I vaguely remember being made to shell peas and beans as a kid by my grandma 🤗 so the removing the string bit makes sense.  I think OH would really like your starter recipe, but would probably make them & stick them on the plate as a side (egg and all) lol.  I didn't realize that beans needed to be blanched before freezing - usually just chop them into pieces and pop them in the freezer, then they get bunged into the steamer - blanching first probably makes them less chewy.  We have another batch in our veg box this week, so will give them a try this way!

Last night's dinner was our old stand-by of pan-fried pork with cavalo nero champ - 30 minutes from start to finish.  The pork shoulder steaks & shredded cavalo nero from the freezer & potatoes from the cupboard.  The champ was livened up with spring onions (green bits) from the herb garden & grated cheese from the freezer.  Gravy (sauce) made with a good dollop of redcurrant jelly & fresh parsley also from herb garden.  OH has made this so many times that even I've memorized the recipe & proportions 🤣

Lunch today was vegetable gyoza from the freezer - OH likes to pan-fry / wok-fry / shallow-fry anything he can so is a dab hand at getting the bottoms crispy! - he loves that I actually 'let him' fry something - this 'treat' has become a lock-down bi-weekly staple for us as working from home has meant no business lunches at the Japanese place & I was going through withdrawal those first few weeks back in March/April!!!  Also used up the last of the dumpling sauce which we picked up from the cash & carry at the beginning of the year.  Another item to add to the ever growing list of things from the store-cupboard we'd like to replace!

ETA - mmm SL - just read your stuffed pepper idea - think I may work this into next week's menu - we have two peppers in this week's box & mince in the freezer - must check on our grated cheese rations though!

Rowan9

Glad you had a good break SL. 

Made a big pot of lentil soup yesterday so rounded up stray veg to add. Spice wise I use turmeric, coriander and paprika. 

Easy tea tonight then tomorrow I’ll cook up a bean and veg chilli. 

greenbee

Bunged the broccoli that needed eating into a roasting pan with some mangetout from the garden, shredded spring cabbage and an ageing courgette from the last veg box, then drizzled with oil. Shoved a frozen salmon fillet on it, which I then coated with some ricotta that needs finishing up and sprinkled some harissa on top. 25 minutes in the oven. lots of veg, lots of protein, a bit of fat, a bit of calcium 620 calories, 5g net carbs if anyone needs to know... 

joedenise

The green beans with an egg on top brought back memories SL!  It was what I used to eat when we were on holiday on the Isle of Wight - it was the only thing I'd eat that wasn't cooked by my mum or dad!  So poor old dad had to go into any cafe/ restaurant to see if they would do it!

Suffolk_lass

@joedenise hopefully that is a fond memory of holidays with your parents. I think we used to eat much more simply with far fewer treats (and were all the thinner for it! - For our meal yesterday DH fired up the barbecue and we each had a small burger and a sausage, served with grilled courgettes, mange touts, peas and beans. Lots of lovely veg, all from the garden. I think we will have egg salad today as we have over two dozen eggs(!) and loads of salad

rtandon27

SL - the OH is well impressed with your bean & egg recipe - he may be having that for breakfast a few mornings next week!  Can't believe he volunteered to eat vegetables for breakfast - amazing what an egg and some cheese disguises - lol

Our dinner last night was a real treat of rump steak with two simple sides of herb roasted new potatoes and honey roasted carrots both from last week's veg box.  Simple flavours which let the lovely taste of summer veg shine though.  Beef is such a rare treat in our house, I can't remember the last time we had any!

This morning a freezer dive revealed crumpets - which we toasted and slathered with butter & cherry compote.  One soft-boiled egg each as inexplicably we are completely out of eggs! Bring on our bi-weekly delivery on Monday!

Suffolk_lass

That's great - we might have beans and eggs for supper today - I have so many eggs! Almost three dozen with more coming tomorrow. four more that I hard boiled (were six but we each had a sandwich).

Rump steak, lovely. What a treat! I think we might have to check out steaks on Monday if I shop. Don't need much except bowl fruit, maybe some cream and some Greek-style yogurt.

We had roasted veg curry last night. Had some paste in a pot in the fridge and it needed using and then our friend gave us some patty-pan squashes. Very simple. Best way. Good ingredients, cooked simply.

natlie

We are having a roast tonight with veggie sausages, and a mix of veg I had in the fridge