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

Rosetta92

Cherryfudge said:

I've finally finished the bananas that I bought cheaply last week - a false economy really as they were quite bruised and I had to throw some out as they were incredibly soft and pungent! In fact we are low on fruit apart from in the fridge where I'm munching my way through blueberries and strawberries in porridge, and cherries on their own. I must remind DH to help me eat them because strawberries seem to go over so quickly.

@Cherryfudge - have you tried freezing the soft bananas? I’ve read they can be blended from frozen to make a quick ice cream. I keep meaning to try but mine always end up in banana and walnut loaf. For the strawberries if you slice them and toss with sugar and balsamic vinegar they keep much better and still taste great on porridge. 

Cherryfudge

Thanks @Rosetta92, I should try those. I've heard of the ice cream thing but not tried it, possibly because in my head I visualise squishy black frozen banana! I've no idea if that's what I'd get, of course. I usually make banana bread but then, it's getting round to it...

The strawberries sound delicious and those are ingredients I'd have in.

Rosetta92

Cherryfudge said:

Thanks @Rosetta92, I should try those. I've heard of the ice cream thing but not tried it, possibly because in my head I visualise squishy black frozen banana! I've no idea if that's what I'd get, of course. I usually make banana bread but then, it's getting round to it...

The strawberries sound delicious and those are ingredients I'd have in.

Have you peeled the bananas. The skin needs to be totally black before they get black inside. Had to prove this to my OH who used to think even a few speckles would mean the contents were inedible! I peel and then freeze. 

Cherryfudge

I've finished the last lot of bananas but I'll remember this for future use, thank! I prefer bananas to be turning slightly speckly, green ones are no good to me and pure yellow aren't my favourite, but from slightly speckly to inedible there are several days of possibilities.

Cherryfudge

I bought loads yesterday for a family get-together today. I feel I spent rather a lot and had to leave the cooker top covered in things overnight as they wouldn't go in the cupboards.

Today we had baked potatoes with a mixture of fillings followed by (frozen) berries with meringues, yogurt and ice cream - only no one wanted ice cream so I still have more of an uninspiring tub to use. I sent gluten-free bread and biscuits home with the gluten-free people. Sadly for our waistlines there are two packets of biscuits unopened, half a box of meringues (I will put them in the 'emergency' cupboard so we don't see them),and three oversized muffins which will need to be eaten. More healthily, there are a couple of very big potatoes, most of a bunch of grapes and all of a bunch of bananas. It worked out well that we had a bit too much milk, because some has gone home with someone who was coming back from holiday and had none in. We also drank up some fizzy grape juice that's been in the larder for a while.

I bought one of those big bags of frozen fruit and some is in the freezer but there's some defrosted too. That will go on DH's cereal. The vegan yogurt is unopened - maybe I'll have another go at the lovely curry from the other week to use it, but I still have loads of this week's less successful effort to finish, and half a tub of ordinary yogurt. Oh, and two part-tins of tuna.

There are still butternut squashes waiting to be made into soup, a bag of carrots and half a tub of pate all of which will need to be used this coming week.

Cherryfudge

Update, a week on. Potatoes, pate, tuna and muffins are finished. No progress on the various fresh veg: it's been frozen veg this week unless you count tomato products, as I've been working evenings so we've been eating separately. That will probably be just the same this coming week.

I had a Mr T offer of loyalty points if I spent over £3 on frozen veg and/or fruit, so a big bag of 'Perfectly imperfect' berries and some peas have been crammed into the freezer and DH has the rest of last week's berries to add to cereal and tinned fruit. I could have them too, if I were organised enough but I'm quite pleased with myself for eating the bananas while they were at their best.

This evening we stocked up on DH favoured rusk-type things while I had a Mr S discount on them. He gets through loads and the stash of about 7 packs in the emergency cupboard was down to one. I also bought pasta from L!dl while it's on loyalty discount.

There is still yogurt left over, but I think it has a few days left. Ditto blueberries. The cheese is dwindling so I hope Mr S gives me the relevant discount again in a couple of weeks. Meanwhile I need to have a good objective look at the state of the fridge and cupboards and try to make some plans... won't be tomorrow as we are eating with our daughter and her husband. I offered to bring a pudding but have little energy and headache, so it may be bought on the way over to theirs... unless (sudden inspiration) I make this. However, the only cherries are sour ones and I don't think that's what it's needing.

Cherryfudge

This morning I raided the store cupboard and made a pineapple upside down cake with chopped stem ginger instead of cherries, and took that and some store cupboard custard to dinner with our daughter. More space, but not for long as those are useful things to have 'in'.

wumph

I had 1 banana going over so made some banana muffins using the last couple of eggs up as I had a delivery coming with more.  Made couple of sort of pasties with 2 cooked sausages from freezer, chopped, and some baked beans. Instead of grating some cheese I put a baby bel in the middle of them.  Bit too big so 2 meals eaten and 1 in freezer.

Cherryfudge

My diet has been somewhat (only 'somewhat') healthy and pretty monotonous recently, with a lot of curry that I wasn't too keen on (but a healthy one) and snatched meals because I was eating around work times. This week is similar, but the current big batch of curry is very tasty. There are three or four portions left. I had mine earlier and DH will have some tonight.

I also had my friends round for pizza yesterday, so I will finish that off after work tonight, along with part of the remaining salad. There's pesto pasta too, for subsequent meals, which is great comfort food but I will stir in some veg to help balance it out.

Dh is going to be away from tomorrow till Sunday, then he's bring his auntie to stay for a few days so I'm doing a chicken dinner on Sunday. Meanwhile I will be living off the above: pizza, curry and pasta. I wish I could just freeze some but I doubt there's room!

I cleaned out half the fridge yesterday and all that got thrown out was a fraction of a jar of Thai curry paste. Everything else went back, including some very slow-to-reduce items that DH won't touch and I forget or am not keen on (last year's marrow jam that didn't really work).

There's also a disastrous amount of fresh veg that needs attention: the butternut squashes are starting to go over (!! But they last forever!) and a watermelon has a scorch mark from being on the cooker. There's a bag of carrots in the fridge and some garlic needing to be used up. Yet only by eating my way steadily through the already-cooked things can I get to the point of soup making.

The good using-up news is that DH has had a fish cake from the freezer and is helping eat the curry.  

And a really oddity: I bought long life vegan 'cream' after Christmas (it cost 12p) and it's been in the fridge ever since. The official expiry date is today, but I had no idea what to use it for. However, I've just got an ice cream maker, and after all this time a few days won't worry me, so I might just make a brandy-flavoured ice cream for myself this coming weekend.

Cherryfudge

I've finished the pizza, curry, pasta and some houmous over the last few days. I've picked over a kilo of blackberries from the garden so I bought apples and am planning to make jam (there's no freezer space for so many berries).

I'm afraid I've not had an appetite for salad so that's still in the fridge, though I bought y/s mixed veg on the way home from work and had them with cheese, which was just what I felt I needed. I also got a few store cupboard items and a little jar of red Thai curry sauce so I can make sweet potato and butternut squash soup.

Has anyone else found there's not a lot of sugar in the shops, or it just my local supermarket?