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

London_1

Cherryfudge said:

London_1 said:

 I shall soon be having my beloved cuppa back at last :0  

  JackieO xx

I was looking at the tea bags in the supermarket yesterday trying to decide what to get for the foodbank in your honour once Lent is over!

Bless you what a nice thought I think you have a cuppa, life's not so bad and it restores your cheerfulness and for Mums struggling to feed their family they really need a cuppa now and again xx 

LotsOfTea

Cherryfudge said:

You are making progress there, @LotsOfTea. It sounds like a proper prepping store: the sort of things you buy tinned against a real emergency (ravioli) or in case you can't get your five a day (fruit). Perhaps it's time to rediscover a taste for tinned ravioli?! (I bet it's nice with cheese over the top). The fruit is easy - crumble or overnight oats perhaps? If you have tinned peaches, I think Jack Monroe uses them in curry.

Thanks for reminding me about overnight oats! I eat porridge most days for breakfast so that's an easy way to use some of the tinned fruit. And yes, I think adding some extras like mushrooms and cheese will make tinned ravioli a bit more exciting and less of a student meal.

I've been focusing on using up fresh bits and bobs for the day few days as we're away over Easter weekend but will be cracking on attacking the stores when we get back.

Cherryfudge

My fridge and freezer are packed as we have family coming tomorrow, so I've frozen some peppers and courgettes to make fridge space.

New in are pizzas, hummus, salad ingredients, a pasta pesto and a bulger wheat salad as well as cheap potatoes and onions from the discounted Easter promotions. Also a couple of frozen desserts.

Out: frozen fish.

London_1

Did anyone watch Michael Mosely last night on TV it was interesting how he sorted out a couples diet with just a few changes I think the lady was surprised at how much sugar was in processed food that you just don't realise. I'm not a lover of processed stuff much and will certainly look more carefully at what I'm eating although I am pretty careful anyway after last years gall bladder troubles etc.

Today I have dug out of the freezer some salmon to have with a mixed salad and some tinned potatoes (got to use the tins up) I thought of Michael Mosley's rainbow salad and will make it with diced tomatoes, peppers, beetroot, cucumber and copped up lettuce. I found two large jars of beetroot in the top of one of my cupboards so I'm definitely using some of those up this week. I have a couple of large oranges and three quarters of a box of grapes my eldest DD gave me before her and her OH went off on Thursday for a few days so they will be used as well I actually like a few diced grapes in with a salad gives it a sort of sweet taste when combined with a bit of grated cheese instead of mayo on top. I'm really enjoying my cuppa nowLent is over and have doubled my DGS's fiver with one of my own and donated it to the food charity at our local church.

I found some Mexican halloumi spicy cheese in the freezer, so that will do for lunch just have to have a think about what I can put with it.  I also have two large hunks of stilton in there that I must think about using up, my DGD gave them to me and I froze them individually.

The freezer is slowly getting more wriggle room at least

  JackieO xx

Cherryfudge

London_1 said:

I'm really enjoying my cuppa nowLent is over and have doubled my DGS's fiver with one of my own and donated it to the food charity at our local church.

Well done! That's some test of will power. I have 'tea' on my shopping list and thanks to you someone will have their comforting cuppas.

Cherryfudge

Cherryfudge said:

My fridge and freezer are packed as we have family coming tomorrow, so I've frozen some peppers and courgettes to make fridge space.

New in are pizzas, hummus, salad ingredients, a pasta pesto and a bulger wheat salad as well as cheap potatoes and onions from the discounted Easter promotions. Also a couple of frozen desserts.

I looked at the time I posted this - a quarter to 2 in the morning! I had forgotten. No wonder I'm tired now, though the family meal was well worth it.

We got through a lot of the food and afterwards I got my son's girlfriend and my daughter to take some of the leftovers home rather than us be overwhelmed with them. I finished up the crudities, coleslaw and some of the hummus for lunch and added the opened bag of salad to our dinner today. Dinner (chicken chasseur) also used up frozen chicken, a spot of red wine and a tube of tomato puree, but there are lots of mushrooms left over. We finished what was left of the desserts afterwards and DH had some elderflower drink that I'm not so keen on.

Also left from the party are half a lemon, a couple of portions of bulger wheat salad, a bag of salad leaves, cherry tomatoes, lots of parsley and some vegan pizza. I have a mushroom soup recipe that uses lemon and parsley, so that might be a project for tomorrow. I've offered the rest of the salad and parsley to the nearest family members but haven't heard back.

I have also realised I need to check the bottles that drift to the back of high shelves: I needed soy sauce for the bulger wheat and picked up a sealed bottle. Then I realised the BB date was 2010! DH kindly dashed to the shops for a new bottle: the old one could well have been safe but it tasted mostly of salt. I also found I have three part-bottles of balsamic vinegar as well as at least two of cider vinegar, two small stashes of pickling vinegar, one of malt vinegar and one of red wine vinegar - and two of garlic-flavoured olive oil and one (unopened) of sesame oil. That's before you get to the various ancient alcohols and two Worcester sauces. Oh, and there are now three salad dressings, two bottles of lemon juice and one of lime. I'm not sure but from memory there are probably one olive oil and two vegetable oil.

London_1

Been doing my food storage accounts  and just realised that I think with luck using virtually everything from my stores I can get through at least half of this month without going near a shop at all. Loaded up with some of Dds extra cheap veg bits (She went a bit OTT  with Tescos 15p veg so brought lots of surplus fresh veg home tonight from her house plus some surplus milk as both her and her OH bought extra just in case I also have lots of meat and fish and bread portions in the freezer so I’m going to see how long I can go before I go near a shop 👍🤞😀it will help me no end in reducing my food mountain Tomorrow I’m listing everything I have in both the cupboards and the fridge and freezer then setting out the menus for at least two weeks. Due to rain tomorrow so a good quiet day to get it all done 🤞

JackieO 

Cairnpapple

A very kind friend cooked Easter lunch at our house yesterday so today is all about the leftovers. I just put the lamb bone in the large slow cooker to make stock as it was too long for the usual slow cooker! Added carrot, celery, shallot, garlic, thyme and rosemary. Haven't decided what the stock will be used for but might be a pea soup. 

Had to compost some radishes and salad recently which was disappointing so need to get back to using up. 

London_1

Out : Jacket spud and a small portion of left over mince that was frozen in a dish for this purpose, tonight meal will be a portion of chicken curry from the freezer and I'll make some rice to go with it . retrieved all the chicken portions from the freezer to defrost for tomorrows batch cooking

Tomorrow I shall slow cook and batch make the rest of the chicken portions to be boxed up with tomatoes and herbs and mushrooms etc for chicken provencal, I'll put them on first thing in the morning, so will be cooked by mid afternoon and cool enough to box up and freeze tomorrow night then that will be the last of the chicken cooked down.

NSD Number 1 today, and for the next two weeks at least as I have more than enough in stock for meals, and my shopping list is empty  

Tinned stuff going down slightly as well.

  JackieO xx

Pollie

Cherryfudge--if you have no takers for the parsley, you could make parsley pesto and use with pasta or freeze for later use.