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

Cherryfudge

I don't know why, but 'Ms Marple' is the perfect name for a cat.

And venison... wow, been so long since I had that! There used to be a small butcher here that sold it, but they are long gone. I could check the fabulous Lewis and Cooper, which is in range. 

I think I need to dig out my freezer and plan around it as there are so many veg in there with no attendant plan. I also have too much yogurt as I was half asleep when I decided to use up a short dated milk and buy some from the shop to make a batch of yogurt. I bought four pints as well as the pint I already had. That's a lot of yogurt and only I eat it! I wonder if I could use it in place of mayo, with curry added, as a sauce for some cauliflower that I know needs to be used from the freezer?

carinjo

@Cherryfudge, you can use it to marinade meat (i used it on some chicken thighs few weeks ago, mixed with spices for curry). use in baking (saw a nice scone recipe on bbc goodfood) 

Cherryfudge

carinjo said:

@Cherryfudge, you can use it to marinade meat (i used it on some chicken thighs few weeks ago, mixed with spices for curry). use in baking (saw a nice scone recipe on bbc goodfood) 

Thank you! And that reminds me, I have a yogurt cake recipe I bookmarked recently!

I also found this which is going on my cauliflower today.  

cuddlymarm

Hi guys
My half lamb comes cut up and vacuum packed so it can fit in. Last year it was just under 2 drawers of my freezer. My DILs family have sheep and sell to friends and family so not as expensive as from a high street butchers and you know how they’ve been treated, basically born and live in the same field until they become lamb chops. I can’t remember what cuts there were but but even the liver was delicious 😋 
Today I’m roasting some chicken from the freezer with curry sauce and roast potatoes and carrots ( the carrots need using or it would have been rice) 
My menu plan on the fridge door is covered in arrows already cos the chicken should have been for yesterday but didn’t defrost in time so we had the egg and chips planned for later in the week. The rest of the spuds will be used tomorrow with some cheese that needs using up and a bit of a new pack and baked beans. I’m also making a big slow cooker full of chilli which will do at least 3 meals as the weather is getting a lot chillier so it’s warming food time.

Cherryfudge

I think I need to sort my fridge out today - it's far too full of short dated things for my liking! I often have a couple of friends round on a Tuesday, but yesterday only one came so there is cooked pizza (which will go in the freezer) and lots of salad, as well as home made yogurt that I've to use soon because it's been there a while.

Freezer space is, as usual, limited.

Tonight's dinner is salmon, which needs to be used up today (the rest is frozen - I got some discounted a couple of days ago).

I found this recipe to use some of the yogurt and some dates that have been sitting in the dried fruit box far too long, and I have a collection of jars for storing the results. That's going to use fridge space to store but will be easy to grab and go. I could also make another yogurt cake - the one I made the other week was delicious when hot and okay since cooling. According to the Internet, yogurt can be frozen, but that's going to be a last resort.

I also have a bowl of salt dough that I made for a children's activity and didn't use! I don't think it will go off any time soon but I might have a play with it and make some Christmas ornaments....

... which reminds me, I could be getting ahead with soaking dried fruits for the Christmas cake.

I'll be back later to report on how it's going.

Ellie79

Hello all! I really need to join in with reducing costs as much as possible. My freezers/cupboards are chocka block and it's both out of control, and I also need to reduce costs urgently. So this is me posting for accountability and before I go and cringe at the amount of stuff that is existing in there. In the meantime, I will have a look through the posts and see if I can get some inspiration (more than sure that I will be able to!). Looking forwards to the motivation and encouragement (pretty please). 

Cherryfudge

Welcome @Ellie79, one of the interesting things I find here is that people eat so differently! So hopefully there will be things you like. You can always ask how people would use up such and such a thing, and someone may well have a good idea.

It's worth checking other boards on Old Style too, for instance the Grocery Challenge thread have huge lists of recipes at the beginning.

Partly for fun, and partly because this woman's a genius, here's a link to one of my all-time favourite threads, now ancient so ignore the then costing, nothing is going to cost that any more, but she really understands cheap, nutritious food.

Update on my fridge: it's now yogurt-less. One container looked a bit dodgy so that's gone, though the others seem fine (I had some yesterday with no ill-effects). I've turned all that was left into the date/peanut butter concoction (above) which I think is going to be okay but won't oust my favourite oats/yogurt/honey/blueberries/banana/stem ginger mixture from its place at the head of the queue.

Some of the salad has been eaten, along with beetroot, cheesy coleslaw, flavoured couscous and a bit of smoked salmon. Interesting mixture: it kept throwing bits of itself out of the bowl but it's filled me up nicely.

I've found half a bag more of dried fruit so I will now see if that's enough for the cake, and DH might just come home to the smell of brandy as it steeps.

Ellie79

Thanks @Cherryfudge! Looking forward to a quiet time to read through those threads, thank you! 

Cherryfudge

My end of the day round-up:
Yogurt - some thrown out, some put into oat recipe. No yogurt cake made as there wasn't enough once I'd thrown out the slightly suspect one. Some dates used, but not used up.

Salad - we had some with tea, so there is less but still lots. We've finished the fresh salmon with some home made potato wedges, and very nice it was too.

Some opened bags of dry goods - pasta, rice and oats - are decanted into containers so there's more larder space.

I'm four ounces short on the dried fruit for the Christmas cake so I've started the rest soaking in brandy - but I'm going to top it up with apple juice and let the rest of the brandy mature another year.

On the other hand, we've been given biscuits...

Ellie79

Feeling very fulfilled. Home-made lasagne for OH, freezer dive for DD and I am using up some mushrooms to make soup for me (and for OH's lunch tomorrow). Everything foraged from my own stores. Paneer is out to defrost for a curry dish tomorrow night. That is a big tick in the using what is in the house already column! Plus space was found in the freezer because apparently, the Christmas beef will need to go in my freezer (thanks Mum!).