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

London_1

used up left over bacon yesterday and a couple of eggs scrambled Today I have some left over ham to use up for lunch so it will be made into a sandwich and washed down with a cuppa soup I found in the cupboard that had escaped from a packet from about 6 months ago never been opened so it will do to bulk out lunch a bit Dinner tonight is smoked haddock from the freezer with broccoli and mash also from the freezer. No shopping day for me this week so far and plenty to keep me going from the cupboards . I'm doing my best to steer clear of the supermarkets at the moment and running down my stocks as much as I can The apples crumble went well and I'm now doing a nice big rice pud in my slow cooker. I'm a great believer in old fashioned puddings that warm you up 

JackieO xx

Cherryfudge

Rice pudding is on my list too, @London_1, but I need to get lactose-free milk so DH can have some. It won't be today, as we're having a curry sauce (packet mix) with some chicken from the freezer and using up some white rice and veg with that.

Any ideas of dairy-free things I can do with orange jelly, anyone, please? We had some with tinned mandarins in which was okay but I'd like to ring the changes.

basketcase

Cherryfudge said:

Rice pudding is on my list too, @London_1, but I need to get lactose-free milk so DH can have some. It won't be today, as we're having a curry sauce (packet mix) with some chicken from the freezer and using up some white rice and veg with that.

Any ideas of dairy-free things I can do with orange jelly, anyone, please? We had some with tinned mandarins in which was okay but I'd like to ring the changes.

@Cherryfudge
Hi!
Could you substitute non-dairy milk in ordinary recipes?  Oat, cashew and coconut are all quite creamy.

Or a sort of trifle:
Slices of ginger or chocolate cake soaked in the jelly, maybe some sort of fruit (pineapple, raspberry etc) with a non-dairy cream/soya yoghurt on top.

Cherryfudge

Thanks @basketcase, you might have the perfect solutions there! A non-dairy 'milk' might do well in a milk jelly, but when I saw your mention of ginger cake...! I absolutely love Jamaican ginger cake and it would be great soaked in the jelly.  

I have to confess that when I cleaned the fridge today, I threw out some mozzarella and some sausage meat. I should have put them in the freezer not the fridge when I bought them, but I have a feeling the freezer was full. Anyway, they're gone... I also had quinoa for lunch and it filled me up all afternoon so there's some for tomorrow's lunch and one fewer jars in the larder,

Dinner was a chicken curry, which used up white rice, a spice mix and some sweet potatoes, but made a big batch so that's going to be Friday's tea as well. (Not the rice, we finished that). I bought Y eo milk yesterday, marked down to 19p from £1.60, so that's in the instant pot turning into yogurt. It works out at 12p per 500ml plus electricity.

Other than that I've searched unsuccessfully for the mincemeat cake recipe but it'll be on the forum somewhere.

A few things have come in: replacement tins of fruit, tomatoes and chickpeas, a big bag of peppers (£1.89 for 9 at L!dl: I've noticed them doing these large bags of veg seemingly randomly) and replacement crackers and oatcakes. I also have lots of kale that I bought yesterday: I really like it done in the oven with oil, salt and pepper, but I've not planned what to have with it and I'm out tomorrow night so really I didn't do that very well, did I?

And I won't say this too loudly, in case the tide turns, but I really think there's more larder space than here used to be.

ruby_eskimo

Using up the last of the veg in the fridge for a final stir fry at lunch today and the last of a packet of rice noodles to chuck in there.  Dinner is leftover vegetable biriyani that I made last night to stop it from going into the freezer.

Cherryfudge

In: two trays of ys Mediterranean veg. They look delicious!

ruby_eskimo

Gradually making space in the fridge and freezer - finished a block of cheese at lunch time so only have 1 in there now.  Blueberries went on this morning's breakfast and dinner tonight will use up the last of the salad bits on the side of a jacket potato.  DH's also getting in the spirit of things by having 4 wheatbisks for his breakfast this morning so he could finish up the packet (he usually has 3 but couldn't just leave the final one on it's own)

Frugalistamama

Hey ...hello 👋. 

I've been away, moving. I don't know if any of you remember. I did manage to really cut down and I emptied the freezer for the move. I've been in my new place a month now and have had an empty freezer which is weird for me! But the cupboards are still pretty full although better. We spent far too much money while moving on convenience foods, then this past week I've done a mad stock up. I want to stop before I get overwhelmed with stuff as I usually do! I seem to have done a lot of my Christmas food shopping already while I have the freezer space! So I need to start using stuff. I've joined the grocery challenge this month to at least try to stick to a budget. £80 a week for a family of 4 which is my usual budget but I've really overspent in Nov so I'm hoping to come way under this and rein it in before it becomes a problem again! 

Hope everyone is well. I'm trying to catch up on the thread. 

RHemmings

At the moment when the rest of my family is scattered across the world and I'm home alone, I'm trying to use up all the food in the house. But, it just goes on and on and on. I can't believe how much food there is here. I'm starting to make progress, but now that I have fewer things around, it's getting more challenging to use them. I was thinking I would use up some pasta of which there is loads, but I found no pasta sauce. So, I emptied a tin of baked beans in instead. Currently that's a bit ... bland. But, I'll try putting some (non-dairy) mature cheese on top of portions. 

This won't get eaten immediately. It's destined for portions in plastic boxes in my freezer. 

Now I've still got around 1kg of peanuts to go. We bought them to feed the local wildlife but stopped when they trashed our garden that my partner had spent a lot of time on. Yes, I've made peanut butter and peanut sauces, and eaten them roasted with salt. But, there are ... a lot left to go. 

Just finishing off the last of the self-raising flour and sugar in a cake, but I think they are going to have to be replaced. This really is a challenge .... 

Cherryfudge

@Frugalistamama, of course I remember you! I assumed you'd fallen into a packing box, been dumped in the garage at your new place and no one had unpacked you yet. I delighted to hear you've moved successfully.

An empty freezer is amazing. I hope the rest of the move went all right.

@RHemmings, I've come to the conclusion that you have to add to your stores in order to eat them up. Frustrating but true. The challenge is eating your way through the stuff that doesn't naturally get eaten, while adding the minimum of 'slow turn over' foods to the larder. Possible alternatives to pasta sauce often include dairy, but vegan cream cheese or vegan pesto might work. Or could you stir some BBQ sauce into the bean and pasta mix? As to peanuts... I've no further ideas.  

I spent about £30 on food today: I'm blaming L!dl for having discounts of things I know I'll use so I stocked up on pasta, tins and things. Not much Christmas food bought yet but I did get stollen while I had a voucher for it. I also replaced a few store cupboard items for a recipe, and I've realised there are three opened jars of curry paste in the fridge. At least three. I know we like curry but I've just put two portions in the freezer and there's no spare freezer space for more. The jars are unlikely to go off in the near future but there are no plans in place for them.

I've also made up some soup for my daughter and myself but there will be some left and I doubt DH will touch it... I might end up sending her home with some!