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

LotsOfTea

I've made a start by grabbing a handful of tins from the zombie apocalypse stores and putting them on the kitchen work surface to use. I've got one each of peas, mushy peas, sweetcorn and tomato soup all dated about 2018 (time to be used up!).  I'll see if I can get through them all this week.

We came back yesterday from being away for a week and I realised I'd left a bunch of bananas in the fruit bowl. They were a bit too ripe for DS to consider eating so today I've been using them for baking. I'm a bit bored of banana cake and I already have a few stashed in the freezer so I found a recipe for banana flapjacks and made a double batch to use up all the bananas. They're in the oven now so hopefully they'll be good! I tasted the mixture before I put them in and it was pretty nice so I'm very hopeful.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/low-fodmap_banana_and_22515

LotsOfTea

I haven't used any of the tins yet but I did use up a tub of squash and lentil curry last night from the freezer and it's from before I started labelling things with the dates before I put them in. I started doing that around April this year so anything unlabelled is from before that (and lots is much older!)

The banana flapjacks I made on Saturday are tasty but a bit on the overdone side. I actually cooked them for 5 mins less than it said in the recipe but they're still a bit burnt round the edges. If I make the recipe again I'll reduce the oven temperature, maybe mine's running a bit hot.

I hoiked a few more things out from the zombie apocalypse stores yesterday as I was running out of red lentils and was going to go and buy some and then remembered I had stashed a load of dried goods away as well. Lo and behold there were two big bags of red lentils hiding away so I brought one up to refill my kitchen container and also a small bag of dried black turtle beans I found there. When I've got time I'll give them a good long soak and then cook them in the pressure cooker. They've been hiding under the stairs for about 7 years so I feel like they might take a while to cook properly!

Cherryfudge

@LotsOfTea, I love that you have zombie apocalypse stores! If the zombies come, you can cosh 'em with a bag of lentils.  

I am still eating up soups for lunches this week but it's good because I have delicious ones remaining and what's more, my weight is edging in the right direction.

DH will be finishing yesterday's chicken chasseur tonight while I'm at work. There are plenty of mushrooms to eat up, so I sense more soup on the horizon. Also some lemons - I never got round to lemon curd last week but the strawberry jam is going down quickly.

ruby_eskimo

We also have a zombie apocalypse store @LotsOfTea but it's rather depleted at the moment!

Needing to get back on track after the chaos of moving house.  We managed to empty the fridge and freezer before the move and only bought a few tins and dry goods with us.  We had a Gousto box the week we moved in for ease and then we've had another one for this week that was free as part of buying a new fridge freezer so that's dinners taken care of this week.  The money we saved on the weekly shop this week went towards stocking the freezer from Costco which will last us the next few months.  We also have a lot of cake and sweet treats that people have sent us as house warming gifts that we need to work through, which isn't great when you're also trying to be healthy and lose some weight! 

So dinner tonight is one of the gousto meals, I'll get DH to decide what he feels like but lunch today is a chicken salad made up of leftovers from the weekend.

LotsOfTea

It sounds like your stores are much more under control @ruby_eskimo - well done! Mine started as a backup store cupboard in case of emergencies but my anxiety at the time turned it into a hoard that kept getting bigger and wasn't ever getting used. I'm now at the stage where I'm looking at it a bit more clearly and realising I need to get it down to a sensible level again and also wondering what on earth made me buy some of the items!

@Cherryfudge I could take out a whole army of zombies armed only with lentils, beans and tinned goods!

I used up the last two cans of really old pineapple that I'd had for years in the ZA stores by making a huge batch of one of DS's fave meals which is a kind of sweet & sour curry with tomatoes, ginger, chickpeas & my sneaky addition of some spinach from the freezer (also been in there too long). We had it for lunch today with some hm naan bread and we're all really full up now. When it cools down enough to stick in the freezer I will have a few extra tubs to go in but at least they'll be labelled and dated so I count that as a win.

Cherryfudge

LotsOfTea said:

@Cherryfudge I could take out a whole army of zombies armed only with lentils, beans and tinned goods!

I will make a point of watching the film of the book - you have the makings of a plot there!

I could do with tidying up my emergencies cupboard - not quite sure what's in there but whatever it is, it's not longer the contents of a few days' worth of balanced meals.

Frugalistamama

@LotsOfTea I did exactly that a few years ago. It started with a just-incase store which turned into a monstrous mountain due to anxiety. It took me so long to used it up!

I've been doing quite well getting through the freezer stuff and can see come holes. I've got a veg box coming tomorrow as I got £10 off a box for four weeks. I could probably get it all cheaper but I do love a veg box!! It's like getting a present! 

ruby_eskimo

Dinner last night was quite a good one from Gousto which we both said would be a good one to repeat to use up things we often have in the cupboard.  

Tonight is leftover curry from last week which is much needed as I have so many things to do this evening so saving time cooking will be great.

Nelliegrace

I am relieved that I am not the only one with too much in the store cupboard. It was definitely a response to anxiety, and started when DH was made redundant one Christmas Eve, and emerged again with Covid. Adding one or two store cupboard items a week soon mounts up. We have a homemade jam and jelly mountain though I used to sell some at WI. We have a lot of honey still from when we were beekeepers, though we gave a lot to family and friends. 

Egg and chips for dinner yesterday. One of the hens has stopped laying for her autumn moult, the other three gave us 16 eggs last week. I gave away 6 in return for a small date and walnut sourdough loaf. I need freezer space for individual pots of lightly beaten eggs. 
I defrost the freezer on a freezing day in winter when the drawers can go on the patio covered in towels. 

LotsOfTea

I can't tell you how much better it makes me feel to hear that other people understand and are in the same situation. I've felt a bit ashamed of my crazy hoarding side at times as quite a lot of my friends IRL seem to only have what they need for this week in their house at any one time and it looks so tidy and organised! Mind you, they'll be stuffed when the zombies attack. They'll only have 3 tomatoes and a bread roll to fight them off with. 😂