Reverse Meal Planning

joedenise

Got a couple of lamb leg steaks out of the freezer and in order to make them go further I've cubed them and marinaded them in HM tagine spice mix and will be cooking with loads of veg for dinner tonight and will serve with some herby couscous.

For lunch I'm going to make some sweet chilli noodles with prawns and everything will be from cupboard, fridge and freezer.

rtandon27

The homemade fish concoction for dinner last night was a hit, so much so that OH would be happy eating it instead of battered box fish! Now that was a result

Tonight is new recipe night & he'll be cooking up a sausage and pepper hotpot we saw Dame Mary cook up the other week on her new show.  Yummy food smells are wafting up the stairs as I type this, so will follow them 3ugs 3unny style down to the kitchen. Using up peppers, carrots & potatoes from the stores along with sausages and bacon from the freezer - YUM!

joedenise

Glad the fish was a success.  The sausage and pepper hotpot sounds good too!

Suffolk_lass

ruby_eskimo said:

Having a range oven must be lovely Suffolk_lass. 

We're having fajita's tonight using chicken that was leftover from our roast on Sunday combined with peppers and onions I found in the freezer.

It is - but expensive to run, even if it removes most of the need for central heating and all but 10 minutes in the tumble dryer to lift the creases. For our electric model it is like having your iron on permanently. Of course you can get them for other fuel sources but they all need regular servicing that is typically £130+ a go, and for oil (we don't have anything other than bottled gas out here) that service is every 6 months. Although things like solid fuel are cheaper they are more impactful on the environment so we stay electric.

For us, we can afford it and would not be without it, but we also turn it off from around Easter until the end of September, relying on two gas burners and a combi-oven (and the barbecue, and slow cookers). There are always loads on FB marketplace round here.

ruby_eskimo

Suffolk_lass said:

ruby_eskimo said:

Having a range oven must be lovely Suffolk_lass. 

We're having fajita's tonight using chicken that was leftover from our roast on Sunday combined with peppers and onions I found in the freezer.

It is - but expensive to run, even if it removes most of the need for central heating and all but 10 minutes in the tumble dryer to lift the creases. For our electric model it is like having your iron on permanently. Of course you can get them for other fuel sources but they all need regular servicing that is typically £130+ a go, and for oil (we don't have anything other than bottled gas out here) that service is every 6 months. Although things like solid fuel are cheaper they are more impactful on the environment so we stay electric.

For us, we can afford it and would not be without it, but we also turn it off from around Easter until the end of September, relying on two gas burners and a combi-oven (and the barbecue, and slow cookers). There are always loads on FB marketplace round here.

Sounds like it's perfect for you.  We don't have the space in this house but definitely on the list for the next one when we eventually decide to move.

ruby_eskimo

Dinner tonight is chicken in black bean sauce, using up a loan chicken breast and peppers from the freezer, and a tin of black beans from the store (I may have gone a bit overboard with them when they were on offer a while ago...)  Slowly getting through the freezer stock and may be able to defrost it finally next weekend!

rtandon27

In an effort to sort through the store-cupboard, I moved all the duplicates to an empty shelf that hides under the kitchen table. Also made an 'overflow' list for these items.  Now instead of seeing 6 tins of chopped tomatoes or 4 tins of chickpeas, there is one of each on the eye level store cupboard shelf and the extras hidden out of sight!  Feels and looks  more manageable but still allows us to have the security of a well stocked larder!

Hopefully this new system will also give us a much needed  injection of creativity into the (reverse) meal plan as we've found several weird and wonderful forgotten items! Confit duck legs, ranch dressing mix and a gyoza kit come to mind!  Once these one of items are consumed they most probably won't be replaced as browsing grocery stores for fun is no longer a thing we do!

Suffolk_lass

I've got some random items in the larder too.

We had leftovers last night and cleared the decks of almost everything. That little chicken (£1.86 reduced) ended up doing roast, 2 days lunches of soup, a curry that did three portions and a pie that also did three portions - so six meals worth. An average of 31p of chicken in each meal (for 2 - so 15.5p each!) I am happy. Tonight will be omelette and salad with potato wedges, using some of our home grown veg and egg mountain

ruby_eskimo

I love making a roast chicken stretch Suffolk_lass - think we ended up with roast, fajitas and 2 lunches from ours.  Would have been more but DH basically ate all the leftover chicken for lunch yesterday which I can't moan at him about really   

I'm dreaming of a time when I can have a proper pantry.  My nan had one in her house and I loved it.  It wasn't even that big, was just the cupboard under the stairs but it held jars of mythical things and everything had a place.  I've just reorganised part of our kitchen so I can see things a little clearer but its still not perfect as the layout of cupboards is just weird.

Had vegetables in black bean sauce last night which got rid of one of the bags of frozen peppers and an onion that was rolling around in the fridge.  Having carbonara tonight with a salad that will use up the last salad tomato and stump of cucumber that are hanging around this week.

joedenise

Got some chicken thighs out of the freezer yesterday and have decided of Fakeaway KFC.  This will also use a couple of corn on the cob from the freezer.  We'll have some HM chips and some baked beans with it too.