The all new using what you have from your Freezer, Cupboard or Shed (Barn)

joedenise

I only used half the meat and half the veg to make the stew/casserole and it's made 8 portions so 2 for tomorrow and 3 x 2 portions have gone into the freezer.

The other half of the beef has been frozen and I will chop the rest of the veg tomorrow and freeze as "stew packs".  Can then be used with some of the beef, some chicken etc and doesn't need to all be used at once.

Have also got some sausages out for breakfasts over the weekend.

Frugalista

Accidentally bought Wholemeal strong bread flour instead of Wholemeal self raising!  I was going to make carrot cake and muffins - can I use this anyway or will I have to buy more?  So cross with myself for making such a rookie mistake!!

Happy_Sloth

im trying to do better,  i did an inventory of my freezers this morning i have a big list of things that need eating. 

On todays hitlist... 

• 1 pk of cooking bacon leftover from Christmas and some sad looking peppers/onions i'm hoping to turn this into 2 pasta bakes which i will then freeze for a can't be bothered to cook day. 
• 1 pk of mixed veg broth mix... made into soup with some leftover chicken from last nights roast some from lunch today, some for tomorrow.  
• 1 pk of frozen tomato soup put in the fridge to slow defrost   
• Frozen asparagus and Frozen yellow stickered ready rolled pastry, will add some of the bacon/onions/peppers to that and make a quiche.. if i'm lucky 2 which we will have one night with salad for dinner.  

Other Items... please help. 

• I inherited some kippers from my father in law when he past away last year, i hate wasting food and none of the rest of the family would take any (I think they honestly thought it was weird taking a dead mans food,  but I'm pretty sure he'd have approved as he was from war time waste not want not era)  i like kippers... my husband hates the smell and won't normally allow me to cook smoked fish in the house?  Any ideas of what to do with them without stinking the place out.  

• Frozen Paratha,  i normally hand make chapati's but i spotted these and bought them on a whim... first time i tried to use them they melted in the pan and went all sticky and just made a mess and it had to be binned.  Not quite sure where i went wrong, as i followed the directions on the pack.  I can't bare to throw them away but don't fancy trying to clean the pan again   so they have just sat in the freezer.  

YorksLass

Frugalista said:

Accidentally bought Wholemeal strong bread flour instead of Wholemeal self raising!  I was going to make carrot cake and muffins - can I use this anyway or will I have to buy more?  So cross with myself for making such a rookie mistake!!

I would imagine it would be fine if you added some baking powder.

Tashja

Oh I need this thread hope I am ok to join in! 

I started to sort out the cupboards and freezers the other day and have enough food for months (apart from fresh bits) and I am only partway through sorting.  There is a lot of YS bits in there and a lot from our allotment so need to use some before the allotment starts again - I have a courgette problem - last year I had 18 plants in! We gave hundreds away but the freezers still have loads more in along with corn on the cob, beans, broad beans, apples, fruit and so on.  

We are lucky enough to get bread and fresh fruit from our community larder too so in reality I shouldn't need much in the way of shopping at all.  Did spent £13 today as needed butter,milk and other fruit and veg that we were low on but that should be it for at least the week for 4 of us (3 adults and a teen who eats like an adult)

Out from the freezer, today was lamb mince for Moussaka (tea tonight) and chicken and pita breads for Chicken Kebabs for tomorrow's tea.  I'd like to think there would be leftovers tonight but there won't be as it is a meal everyone loves and the teen will likely have seconds There really isn't room for anything else in the freezer but will need to find room for a container of spicy bean chili that hubby has been given in work that he will have for lunch on Saturday while I am working.  

Sorting out the cupboards I found a pack of brownie mix and a box of blueberry muffin mix so have prepared those and put them in the oven with the Moussaka to save energy costs. 

Quite looking forward to seeing how much I can make and save by eating out of the cupboard, freezers, and allotment! 

T x

carinjo

Frugalista said:

Accidentally bought Wholemeal strong bread flour instead of Wholemeal self raising!  I was going to make carrot cake and muffins - can I use this anyway or will I have to buy more?  So cross with myself for making such a rookie mistake!!

I don't buy self-raising flour. I normally do 1tsp baking powder for every 100g of plain flour and give it a quick whisk before carrying on. Not sure how strong whole meal will work. If it for cakes, probably not, as per this link: https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/glossary/flour-glossary

Frugalista

Thanks for that link - it does indeed say strong flour is not suitable for cakes. Damn!

Strong flour

Strong white bread flour is made from ‘hard’ wheat varieties which are high in gluten. This makes it ideal for bread-making where dough needs to expand and rise well in order to produce a light loaf. Strong flour is not suitable for cake recipes. It usually needs to be kneaded well, and then relaxed in ‘rising’ or ‘proving’ stages to relax the gluten and increase the ‘stretch’ of the dough.

Wraithlady

Frugalista said:

Thanks for that link - it does indeed say strong flour is not suitable for cakes. Damn!

Having had a biscuit from a (very much non-baking) friend of a friend made with bread flour 'as it's all the same stuff, innit?' I can confirm it was .... chewy.

Should keep if you freeze it, though.

carinjo

never_too_old said:

In:Pizza ( from Olio)
out: 4 Chicken thighs Dinner for oh 1 night and lunch the day after.

I had a look into Olio and signed up. Very happy to have posted a few things to give away today. I also love that they accept things from allotment. Would be lovely to gift a few things come summer (my neighbours are a bit fed up of courgettes probably)

[Deleted User]

I love this thread! I used to be so resourceful and thrifty when my children were very young and somehow as they've got to teen years and more picky I've ended up just stocking up more and more as they each like different things etc. Not the way to go and ended up feeling like we've thrown so much away that it's made me feel ill. And also completely disorganised.

So to join in - today's lunch was an amazing panini using a single panini roll from the freezer, the tiniest amount of left over steak very thinly sliced with red onion, mustard and cheese. The amount of steak could quite easily have gone in the bin so glad to have rehomed it!
Dinner - cottage pie and green veg for dh & ds leftover from last night (stored another 6+ portions in the freezer last night so that was an IN). Stuffed mexican style sweet potatoes and salad for me and dd.

Today's IN - two halves of cooked stuffed sweet potatoes. 3 x homemade scones. Pack of 6x sausages.

Today's OUT - pack of wraps for sausage wraps tomorrow. 4 slices of wholemeal bread.

Really hoping this prompts me to remember what needs to come out of the freezer in advance as well!