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

LotsOfTea

Update on the whole lunch situation - I got a message from DH earlier telling me not to make any lunch as DS had informed him he wanted to make lunch because of mother's day. They'll be going to the supermarket on the way home to get supplies as obviously they have no clue what we have in the house already. We won't be reducing the stores today then!

Cherryfudge

We will let you off reducing stores in honour of the day @LotsOfTea!

I had about a cupful of milk left over from a big bottle and about to go out of date so I made yogurt. Quite proud of myself for that but it really wasn't a big effort.

Today is lamb for dinner and use up ham in a sandwich for lunch, along with any salad bits I happen to find in my fridge.

Cherryfudge

I did a 'stores' shop the other day, as we keep eating tomatoes and chickpeas, and drinking tea and coffee, and somehow they don't replenish themselves. The next day I used a lot of it in a Spanish-style recipe with chickpeas and spinach in a thick tomato sauce. That was really nice and fed us for a couple of days.

Yesterday I saw that Sun__Addict was making nutty sweet potato and lime casserole, which reminded me I had sweet potatoes to use up, so that's what I've made today. The sweet potatoes were rather old and so was some of the garlic and I'm suspicious of old garlic so I planted those cloves (waste not want not!) and used some fresher ones. There are probably three or four portions of that left over, and I need to either finish or freeze the last bits of lamb.

The freezer has somehow filled up again, but it's things like spinach, which I use a lot, and mushrooms that will make soup or chasseur sauce.

LotsOfTea

That all sounds delicious! If you have recipes for the chickpeas and the sweet potatoes I would very much love them. I always have both those ingredients in as well as frozen spinach so they sound ideal for me. 

Cherryfudge

LotsOfTea said:

That all sounds delicious! If you have recipes for the chickpeas and the sweet potatoes I would very much love them. I always have both those ingredients in as well as frozen spinach so they sound ideal for me. 

It's a lovely recipe, the coconut milk and peanuts give a really distinctive taste.

This is the one I got via Sun_Addict, and she often links to some very good vegetarian stuff so her thread is here.

Here is the one I made the other day. It wasn't very spicy with only 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper in it so that could be adjusted it you like it to bite back.

I use chickpeas a lot. One of my favourite quick things to do is stir them into a mixture of mayonnaise and garam masala. Instant 'Coronation Chickpeas'. Add sultanas if you like. I got that from a café in Oxfordshire where they had it as a topping for baked potatoes.

LotsOfTea

Thanks @Cherryfudge I'll definitely try both those recipes. 

I'm doing a roast dinner today as we have family staying and I was delighted to find a mushroom wellington in the depths of the freezer that I have no idea when I made. I've done a chicken for the meat eaters but I will enjoy the wellington (as long as it's not too dry from being in the freezer a million years!).

Cherryfudge

Last night I decided 'waste not want not' and searched fridge and freezer for annoying bits of veg to use up. I now have a dark green soup consisting of shallots, carrots, celery, lettuce, coriander, parsley, and a tiny bit each of red pepper, garlic and sweetcorn. I threw out some frozen green beans as they had dehydrated and looked awful. I did manage a tentative taste of the soup and I think it's edible. Add cheese and perhaps it will be eaten!

I also used all the parsnips left over from Christmas! Amazingly, there were still two bags in the fridge, slowly sprouting roots and leaves. They had remained hard and smelled right, so they are now a big pot of spicy parsnip soup.

There are still lots of veg in the freezer, but I think I've got rid of all the annoying things that had lost labels (or never had them) and what's left should be ready to add to meals without having to churn through the small bags of good intentions.

There's now a second drawer cleaned out and refilled (stuff never packs in as well as it came out) and I found two packs of left over cake portions, one of which I'd completely forgotten. Soup and cake. That's lunches sorted for a while.

LotsOfTea

I always find a a dollop of any kind of chutney really perks up a dull soup. 

I like 'small bags of good intentions' - an excellent description. I've got plenty of those in my freezer too!

Cherryfudge

I have chutney to use up - have you been checking my cupboards @LotsOfTea? 

I braved the green soup with crumbled stilton (thus using that up) and actually by the end it was real comfort food, though the first spoonful was along the lines of 'Er... not sure about this'. There's still at least another bowl of the same before I start on the parsnips.

I also drained a tin of chickpeas that DH opened by accident and mixed them with mayo, curry powder and sultanas for my version of 'Coronation Chickpeas'. That, with a baked potato from the freezer, will be tea tonight. 

rtandon27

I love your description of 'small bags of good intentions' - we have several of those along with some assorted tupperwares of leftovers that really need using up!  A couple of those are labelled with dates from late 2023, so they have been shifted to the top of the drawer - I think we'll aim for one a week which should be just unambitious enough to be achievable!

Had a giggle at chickpeas being opened by accident!  OH says hand on heart he'd never open a tin of chickpeas on purpose or otherwise!  The other day, I left him with a chicken recipe that included lentils, and unsurprisingly got a frantic message while I was in a meeting asking where I keep the blessed things! 🤣