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

greent

We survived the back end of last week on tortillas and dips, salads, ice creams and granola and yogurt. DS2 is quite poorly with tonsillitis and hasn't eaten properly in 2 weeks except for ice pops, some ice cream and today managed some crisps and chocolate buttons (both of which could be posted in his mouth and melted in there) He's lost quite a bit of weight.

Hopefully normal service will be resumed this week, I've had salad today for lunch and maybe an omelette for dinner (we have lots of eggs) DH can have steak, DS1 and gf are going to have Chinese marinaded chicken with egg fried rice and veggies. DS2 might manage some fish and DS3 can have nuggets or soup. Im planning on making risotto Weds night (out with work Tues (tomorrow) evening) and maybe fajitas on Thurs.

greent

We have space appearing in all 3 freezers- yay! Not masses, but there's definitely space - now I just need to avoid filling it with more bargains..! 😜

Kyiv for dinner last night from the freezer for DH and I with mash for him also from the freezer and broccoli for us both and mushrooms for me. He had the same tonight (his choice entirely) and I had steak (on date, I froze the other 2 pieces) stirfried with broccoli, part of a squishy pepper, 1 shallot, garlic (both from the cheap Easter veg!), mushrooms, 4 dried up spring onions found lurking in the bottom of the veg drawer and half a pack of sauce from the fridge. DS1 and 2 had freezer items and DS3 declared it was too warm to eat anything 'proper' and had cereal.

Tomorrow's lunch has been prepped - salad with some leftover airfried sweet potato lumps and sweet chilli chicken from the freezer. Dressing made of 0% Greek yog and reduced fat red pepper houmous (both add to the protein) and a small squeeze of lime juice.

Work finishes for 5 weeks on Weds and I can't wait!! I have so many plans 😀

Cherryfudge

Five weeks off sounds amazing!

I got some of the remains of a buffet at work so I didn't want a 'proper' tea later, but I'd already made a massive pot of chickpea tikka masala, so that's a few dinners sorted! We had liver from the freezer and bacon yesterday but somehow the freezer is full. Some of that is berries and little ice creams, bought when I needed to make up to a £35 spend to get £5 off.

I really need to plan some meals from frozen, as we have courgettes growing and I suspect they will all be ready at once, then keep coming for ages, and I don't want to waste any!

greent

That's what comes of working in a school 😁 - although i did have around 6/7 weeks of 10 -12 hour days in the run up to the end of term.

Little bit more space appearing in the freezers - DH and I had some very spicy breaded chicken burgers last night in wraps with salad, DS1 had a pizza from the freezer and DS2 had 2 pieces of fish and veg. Today I've used 2 burgers and 2 buns from the freezer for DS1 and me along with half a bag of mini potatoes bbe mid May made into potato salad with 1/2 pack of lardons from the freezer.

I added a tub of blueberries to the kitchen freezer, which DS1 had brought home from work and were on date, so needed to be frozen in this weather. No doubt they will feature in cake at some point... 😁

greent

More space is appearing (although I may have bought 4 YS PE pizzas today which have gone in the freezer) - DH and I have eaten chicken in various ways throughout the week. Other than the pizzas the only items which have made their way into the freezer are a few squishy cherry toms (will be turned into soup when I have lots) and some fish for DS2 (given he eats fish every day that's not an issue) and ice creams (disappearing almost as fast as we buy them)

I've also tidied the 'pantry' cupboards - I have a lot of 'spare' condiments in there. A couple of items have gone to DD. At least I feel that I have a better handle on what's in them now.

Things I'm targeting using this week (plus salad and mushrooms) - jersey potatoes (bought about a month ago) and a pot of peppercorn sauce. Oh, and some steaks. DH will likely have steak and sauce one night and I may have steak thinly sliced and stir fried with lots of veggies, which will use up some mushrooms, tenderstem broccoli, peppers and (still hanging around from Easter) shallots. I might also make Chipotle and lime marinated chicken to have with salad.

Cherryfudge

I had a bit of freezer space and filled it up again, as I had 20% off frozen fruit and veg. Then I cooked up a kilo of chickpeas, and most of those have been frozen too. What's more, tomorrow is a family barbecue (weather permitting) and having said I'd bring salad and bread buns, I now have a carrier bag of buns and three piles of ingredients depending which recipe each is for. I remember the days when 'salad' meant warm lettuce, obligatory cucumber and greenish tomato slices - thank goodness those days are over, but I really do have rather a complicated lot of stuff to prepare and dish out.

Cherryfudge

I was pleased and rather surprised that I managed to get the three dishes prepped for yesterday's BBQ. Now much was left over: I'm not a great one for meat so I kept going back for another spoonful, but somehow the things I'd chosen went well with the meats, though DDiL commented that she didn't think she'd ever been to a barbecue with so many vegetables!

I'd chosen to do Greek salad, Coronation chickpeas and a recipe from a Buddha Bowl book with roast sweet potato and red onions. That was a very handy recipe as it's vegan, the warm tones go well with meat and it doesn't have to be kept hot to be enjoyable.

I brought back one container of leftovers, and ate half for tea last night. We also had three and a half buns remaining, but DH can have those. There's no freezer space to put them aside for later.

Of course all this food prep has meant some new ingredients in stores: giant couscous, most of a bag of sweet potatoes, some red onions, parsley leaves (the shop was out of plants by the time I shopped so these are dunked in cold water and I'm taking them out to breath about once a day for a few hours), Dijon mustard, white wine vinegar, a bit of lemon-and-olive-oil dressing, the brine 'juices' from the jar of Greek-style cheese (the recipe I used is

https://recipes.lidl.co.uk/recipes/briam-with-greek-feta-salad

and I might make it again with the suggested main), lots of cherry tomatoes, some red onions and those bread buns.

So my questions for the hive mind, if you have any ideas please:

I now have one new and two old jars of Dijon mustard and DH doesn't add mustard to anything. How to reduce the backlog?

I can add a handful of cherry tomatoes to various meals as a side, or freeze a few once freezer stocks go down, to be roasted later - I'd make the Greek salad again but DH can't have it due to dairy intolerance, so other ideas are welcome.

Parsley leaves: I know I could freeze them but what would you do with fresh ones?

Can I reuse the herby juices from the Greek-style cheese, perhaps to marinate another cheese?

White wine vinegar? It will probably be around forever as I don't use it in anything else.

rtandon27

@Cherryfudge - I'd use the vinegar and mustard to make vinegrette for salad or roasted/grilled veg or even to marinate chicken in before cooking. Mustard does last incredibly long so I'd not be in a rush to use it up - just be careful about moisture getting into it. Tomatoes could be turned into a light soup - not gazpacho but perhaps tomato broth to be had warm. Parsley or any other herbs, I chop and freeze in ice cube trays with water - about a tablespoon in each cube to add to sauces & cooking when herbs fresh herbs are scarce - they can be popped out and stored in zippy bags once solid. Personally I'd not reuse the herb juices for anything raw as they have touched dairy, but perhaps adding to the tomato soup as a flavouring?

Cherryfudge

I think I need to use up stuff from the freezer this week (somehow) and write the mustards into my will. 😁 At least they should still be okay to eat! In fact, at present I could pass one on to each child… 😁

I did use sufficient chickpeas yesterday that the remainder are now the frozen ones and they aren't taking up fridge space. I'm about to finish the salads for lunch, plus some tomatoes.

C_J

@Cherryfudge When Mr CJ and I first got together he announced he hated mustard. For the next forty years I always put a teaspoon of Dijon mustard in every cheese sauce I made, and he always said it was delicious and I never told him 🤣🤣

I freeze parsley just as it is, in a plastic bag. When I need some in a recipe, I just crumble a few leaves into it. Same with spinach, crumbling the frozen leaves is easier than chopping.

I freeze surplus cherry tomatoes until there are enough to roast. They are nice cooked with garlic and served on slices of toasted baguette as a light lunch, or I turn them into pasta sauce.