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

Cherryfudge

Happy_Sloth said:

hey there,  

Can anyone help my with some soup mix?   I've got a packet of vegetable soup mix with pasta, so it's got lentils, split pea's, macaroni etc in it.  

I've also going about 1/2 a chicken leftover from last night...   I was thinking popping chicken stock, the mix, chicken, carrots, onions etc in a pot and cooking it as a soup?  Will this work?  anything i should know of is it just a question of dumping things in and hoping for the best? 

I'll second @joedenise's post especially about not needing so much chicken. If you have freezer space, add as much of the chicken, ready chopped, to the freezer to go in other meals and just cook the chicken carcase for soup. Obviously take it out before serving and throw back any bits of meat still on it. A chicken carcase cooked long and slow with mixed herbs is a good basis for soups and the resulting stock freezes well.

If you have chorizo, it's superb with chicken and lifts the flavour no end. I add it to chicken and vegetables in a pasta dish so, like joedenise, I keep some in the freezer.

joedenise

Cherryfudge said:

joedenise said:

@Cherryfudge - I find frozen fruit far better than fresh in overnight oats; the liquid from the defrosting fruit helps to stop it being claggy.  I've always found it very claggy with fresh fruit and/or not enough yoghurt!

I like frozen fruit in my overnight oats too! The banana is sweetness, bulk and potassium but it goes well with chips of stem ginger (not exactly frozen fruit, I know) and blueberries or raspberries. The favourite when there are no bananas is frozen cherries - the end result is practically ice cream!

I do add a splash of milk to let it down a bit or, as you say, it's claggy.

Do you find the texture is very different depending whether you use live or 'ordinary' yogurt? I much prefer live though don't usually splash out (and haven't mastered making my own).

In: precooked chicken slices, Eccles cakes.
Out: hot cross buns, half jar of red pesto.

I always use a Greek style natural yoghurt.  Never made them with a live yoghurt.

Cherryfudge

joedenise said:

I always use a Greek style natural yoghurt.  Never made them with a live yoghurt.

I thought it made a much smoother texture but generally I just use a 45p cheap plain tub (half litre?) which makes about four batches.

We decided against our usual Saturday takeaway today as we've realised it's cooked in beef fat and probably isn't good for us apart from as a treat. Saved us £7.50, though we then bought ingredients for corned beef hash so haven't saved entirely.

In: baking potatoes, half tin of corned beef now in freezer, gammon for tomorrow, tins of fruit.
Out: nothing much.

carinjo

This weekend
Out: Polenta, cooked and griddled, to go with last of the allotment brassicas. Large pack chicken wings, paprika, english mustard powder, olive oil with few other bits for spicy wings and creamy cheesy dip to go with rugby. Rugby finished, wings still need 1/2hour Tin tomatoes, chickpeas, curry spices, to go with roasted veg and leftover coconut milk for veg curry.
In: 4x hm veg curry. Rest of french batons sliced into sandwich sized portions. 

Wraithlady

In: 1/2 the pizza dough I made yesterday
Out: butter, cooked chicken breast & pork mince for lunch and dinner today, salmon for Monday

joedenise

In:  0
Out:  bag of veg soup for lunch tomorrow; bag of bolognaise sauce for dinner tomorrow night

Cherryfudge

In: gammon and leftover cooked veg.
Out: a portion each of sprouts and roast pumpkin, most of the remaining carrots, half a cauliflower and a very large baking potato.

Hopefuljoy

Okay everyone I have done the stocktaking of my larder and here is the result.... 

[  ] 1.5kg penne
[  ] 550g lasagne sheets
[  ] 1kg spaghetti
[  ] 150g farfalle pasta
[  ] 500g gluten free pasta
[  ] 279g red lentils
[  ] 130g risotto rice
[  ] 250g quinoa
[  ] 200g dry chickpeas
[  ] 250g green lentils
[  ] 250g cannellini beans
[  ] 1.g brown basmati
[  ] 410g brown rice
[  ] 1kg couscous
[  ] 3 sheets medium egg noodles
[  ] 400ml red wine vinegar
[  ] 550ml white wine vinegar
[  ] 300ml cider vinegar
[  ] 300ml balsamic vinegar
[  ] 150ml rose water
[  ] 800g golden syrup
[  ] 50ml clear honey
[  ] 1l rapeseed oil
[  ] 1.35l olive oil
[  ] 210g pomegranate molasses
[  ] 75ml dark soy sauce
[  ] 2 tin tomatoes
[  ] 4 carton passata
[  ] 1 tin haricot beans
[  ] 1 tin chickpeas
[  ] 1 tin kidney beans
[  ] 1 tin cannellini beans
[  ] 1 tin broad beans
[  ] 1 tin sweet corn
[  ] I tin coconut milk
[  ] 3 tins sardines in oil
[  ] 1l summer fruit squash
[  ] 125g yeast flakes
[  ] 1 wagamama katsu curry kit
[  ] 125g atora vegetable suet
[  ] 1 fajita kit
[  ] I jar green pesto
[  ] Hubbard gravy granules
[  ] I sachet chow mein sauce
[  ] 1.5 sachets fajita seasoning
[  ] 1 block creamed coconut
[  ] salt
[  ] sea salt
[  ] peppercorns
[  ] ground nutmeg
[  ] medium curry powder
[  ] crushed chillies
[  ] ground ginger
[  ] ground cinnamon
[  ] ground cumin
[  ] smoked paprika
[  ] sweet smoked paprika
[  ] hot paprika
[  ] mustard seeds
[  ] coriander seeds
[  ] sumac
[  ] ground turmeric
[  ] bay leaves
[  ] curry leaves
[  ] Italian seasoning
[  ] dried thyme x 2
[  ] dried mint
[  ] basil
[  ] sichuan pepper
[  ] 2 mixed herbs
[  ] garlic granules
[  ] zaatar
[  ] nigella seeds
[  ] whole cumin
[  ] garam masala
[  ] ras el hanout
[  ] gravy salt
[  ] veggie stockcubes
[  ] beef stock cubes
[  ] chicken stock cubes
[  ] 100g pine nuts
[  ] 1kg dark brown sugar
[  ] 1 kg caster sugar
[  ] 1.5kg plain flour
[  ] 1kg self raising flour
[  ] 500g cornflour
[  ] 50g cocoa powder
250g icing sugar.

I am feeling very mixed feelings! Pleased I have plenty for the challenge ahead but shocked that I have clearly been over buying and not using my larder as a shop. I haven't done my fridge or freezer as I have run out of steam but if I can't cut my bills in half this month I am a prize noodle!!!! 

In today 0
Out today 400g bread flour, yeast, sugar, salt. 2 sheets medium egg noodles. 1 sachet chow mein sauce. Some oil, one red pepper, one carrot, 1 pak choi, 1 onion, four mushrooms. 
I bag carrots for soup, some coriander and an onion. 
3 frozen salmon fillets, 800g penne pasta, half tub cream cheese, some spices and dried herbs, parmesan cheese, some single cream. 

A question at this point? Am I listing too much detail in my out section?!!! Don't want to bore you all to death and I don't entirely know the rules. xx

Cherryfudge

I am in awe of your list, @Hopefuljoy, I daren't list all mine. I'm pretty new too, so I don't really know the rules either. I don't manage to list every last thing that comes and goes, for instance there are generally lots of onions but they have a healthy turnover so I don't need to worry about them having been in the back of the larder since 1999. I do tell the world if I use up a long-term resident or finish leftovers from the freezer. Some freezer occupants are also 'healthy turnovers' (peas, sweetcorn, spinach for instance) so I don't necessarily list those as finished because they will be replenished asap.

That's just my take on it, so I might need to adapt as I get used to things.

Today DH made chicken and gammon pie with some leftover Sunday veg, so:
Out: part of the remaining gammon and chicken, Sunday's veg and gravy, end of a block of lard. Also some flour but there's plenty of that left.
In: nothing.

carinjo

Hopefuljoy said:

Okay everyone I have done the stocktaking of my larder and here is the result.... 

I am feeling very mixed feelings! Pleased I have plenty for the challenge ahead but shocked that I have clearly been over buying and not using my larder as a shop. I haven't done my fridge or freezer as I have run out of steam but if I can't cut my bills in half this month I am a prize noodle!!!! 


A question at this point? Am I listing too much detail in my out section?!!! Don't want to bore you all to death and I don't entirely know the rules. xx

I am in awe of the effort you put in in your list @Hopefuljoy! And yes, you are definately on the right track. We all keep track of what is in our dry storage and freezers, to use what we have instead of buying new/fresh, if not needed. It also help with mealplanning. That is really the "rule" of this   And of course getting menu ideas for that dusty packet of something you found hidden behind 3 jars of coffee.