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

Cherryfudge

@Frugalistamama, if you scroll up to the title of the thread, there's a little bookmark symbol to the right. Click on it and it should change colour to show you've saved the thread.

We've been away all weekend and come back with marrows to use. I still have four bananas and two eggs from before the weekend, as well as all the other contents of cupboards, fridge and freezer.

Tonight is salmon, then I'll give some thought to the rest of the week. I've been sharing a few recipes with the people we stayed with so I have some new ideas and have been reminded of some I made earlier in the year and would like to use again. We also have a lot of oddments of incompatible veg in the freezer to use up!

carinjo

This morning is working the last of the fresh veg still languishing in the bottom of fridge before it goes bad.
The aubergine curry went into freezer last night and used the last 2 aubergines with a tin of chickpeas for a warm salad for work yesterday.
Making cauliflower mac&cheese, half will be dinner, half for freezer.
Purple beans prepped and blanched and then freezer.
Couple handfuls of hedgerow blackberries from weekend made into a coulis for breakfast topping this week.

Cherryfudge

That aubergine and chickpea salad sounds interesting, @carinjo.

I'm nearly at the end of the most recent batch of yogurt so I've saved a bit to make a starter. Half the remaining dried milk is made up and cooling now and the next lot of yogurt will be in the instant pot overnight. The dried milk doesn't make the best yogurt but it undoubtedly is yogurt and it gets the dried milk used while it's in date. I'll get a replacement for the store cupboard, though it could mean that next August I'll be making dried milk yogurt again.

Dinner was yet another batch of chicken chasseur - I'm getting rather tired of it but it's used up a couple of chicken thighs from the freezer and all the fridge mushrooms as well as some celery and spinach from the freezer - though there's another portion of each in the bags. And before anyone raises an eyebrow at spinach in chicken chasseur, I know I'm being elastic with the recipe!

And I'm down to two eggs and two bananas!

carinjo

Out : venison burgers
In: not the cauliflower mac&cheese, we demolished it in 3 sittings. Was so good! Ice cream, leek & cheese pastry swirls, pack mixed veg, yellow sticker salmon and cheese fishcakes. For the cupboard: tinned tuna, choch chip cakes, chocolate bar. Can you tell that Ms C is on a sugar streak?! 
Was a bit annoyed at L1dl today, downloaded couple of vouchers. When i got to the shelf, realised other similar products were cheaper, sometimes by a lot! Just goes to show you: maths is your friend!

Cherryfudge

I've found that before with L!dl coupons: there were big jars of olives on promotion but the ordinary black ones were cheaper per 100g. I'm consequently a bit wary of their nationally-themed promotions even though I'd like to dream I was in Italy or Greece!

Yesterday I made another batch of yogurt and half a dozen jars of marmalade. I also cut up and froze some lemons.

Today, I finished yesterday's Moroccan-style casserole for lunch but had a longing for sausages for dinner. It worked out cheaper, weight for weight, to get two packs so there are now eight sausages waiting for freezer space. I also got a couple of chorizos while they are on offer. They can be in the fridge for now but once opened and chopped up, will freeze. The only thing out of the freezer was mushrooms.

I still have a banana and two eggs! The banana needs to go in overnight oats tonight before it goes over.

I also have quite a lot of dried cranberries. The odd few could go in oats, but short of cake-making, what can I do with the rest? Would they work in mincemeat later in the year?

rtandon27

Cherryfudge said:

...I also have quite a lot of dried cranberries. The odd few could go in oats, but short of cake-making, what can I do with the rest? Would they work in mincemeat later in the year?

A few ideas for cranberries of the healthier variety (click for recipes):

• A autumnal salad with Apple & brussels
• Carrot Houmous
• Salmon with greens and grains
• Garden Salad with berries

When we get visitors from across the pond, they bring the particular brand of dried cranberries that is mentioned on the website, but I've also made those particular recipes with generic cranberries from the health food store. They are slightly less sweet & slightly more tart so go well in the savoury recipes.  (Have also found that goji berries are a good substitute for crans in savoury dishes.)

Cherryfudge

Thanks @rtandon27! Those look hopeful! I would never have thought of putting them with salmon but it could be an interesting effect.

I still have two eggs... no bananas though so I'm winning. The eggs could combine with some of an excess of desiccated coconut (if they're still all right) to make coconut macaroons.

Today I've finished an opened chorizo and used up some cooked chicken and a bag of frozen spinach.

carinjo

Out: yesterday tinned chickpeas, tahini for hoummous and baba ghanoush for dips during football.
In: crazy amount of plums harvested. Still need to find space for more, but will have to take some stuff out first.
On a side note: recently discovered snack sized click and seal bags that are freezer safe too. They perfect for single sized portions of say curries and soups! No more folding over small bags and not using half the space! 

Cherryfudge

My freezer is chock-a-block! Just about managed to squeeze in half a bag of frozen green beans from making dhal today - the two portions leftover from dinner will have to go in the fridge, which still has sausages. Some of the sausages may get eaten tomorrow, and lunch will be Coronation chickpeas (like chicken, but chickpeas), a delight I discovered while visiting friends recently and which will use up half a tin of chickpeas that are taking up space.

I've finished a tin of mushy peas, and most of the gooseberries are eaten now but like you, @carinjo, I've a lot of harvested fruit filling the fridge. Today was going to be a jam-making session but a friend popped round so I ran out of time.

Frugalistamama

Crikey this moving thing is a nightmare, supposed to be completing soon but it seems to be going nowhere. Oh well, I need to just go with the flow.

Seem to have a fridge full of veg which needs to be used up.  A lot from this week's veg box but I also bought a few things. Due to a busy and rather stressful week I haven't been so organised with meals and it really shows with how much is not being used up and the shopping bill going up.