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

Cherryfudge

London_1 said:

Cherryfudge, that's true I seem to have far too much jam indoors, I shall be using some of it up this winter, I always have honey in the house as I use it instead of sugar when stewing soft fruit, but my rice puds are going to get a dollop of jam now.
I remember I used to enjoy a jam and banana sandwich years ago when times were a bit lean so I may use some up like that . I could make a stack of jam tarts for my grandsons as the four boys seem to have hollow legs.

I've added jam to overnight oats or put a dollop on top when making fairy cakes, so it sinks into the middle.

Mamaofmanybudgets said:

Will there be a 2024 thread for this? 

Whichever way, I'll be back!

We've been grocery shopping for Christmas today. We decided against turkey, (DH has had two traditional Christmas meals already, and I don't care for it), so we have chicken, gammon and the Christmas cheap veg as well as three bags of cheap potatoes which I shall keep as dark as possible so they last. DH turned some of them into corned beef hash for dinner, so there's also half a tin of corned beef to use up, which I'll probably freeze. I also got extra parsnips so I can make soup to freeze.

A couple of observations, I wonder if anyone else thinks the same? Medium chickens are smaller than they used to be. Is this true? We bought one today and I'm sure it had shrunk! Also, what veg are most often discounted where you are? I resisted buying extra swede and only got extra parsnips as the price was so good, because both seem to be regularly marked down at the end of the day.

London_1

I think you could be right about the chickens, they used to be around £2.00 for a 3lb chicken, I've no idea what they are now as at the moment, but I bet a lot dearer.

 I seem to have a good lot of chicken pieces legs ,quarters breast and thighs in my freezer ,but I am getting them out bits at a time, and cooking, and turning them into other things then portioning up and freezing.

I too freeze corned beef and I buy the large tin cut it in half as there is only me to feed and freeze the other half.Half a tin will make me a good couple of meals and a sandwich got lunch.
I know the cheap veg is a 'loss leader' for supermarkets but if they have a glut wouldn't it be nice if they kept the prices lower after Christmas for a short while .
I love parsnip and apple soup, and use up any wrinkly apples  with the parsnips. I love carrot and swede mashed so if I make it then it too gets portioned up and frozen . At the moment in the bottom of my freezer I have a large bag of mashed potatoes frozen on portions so defrosted and microwaved in January with some of the chicken and some green veg will be a nice quick meal. I didn't want to waste anything as I'm away over Christmas & New Year ,so did them last week  

JackieO xx

Cherryfudge

London_1 said:

I think you could be right about the chickens, they used to be around £2.00 for a 3lb chicken, I've no idea what they are now as at the moment, but I bet a lot dearer.

The chicken was just over two and a half pounds weight for £4. It looked like a small chicken to me, but was classified as 'medium'. I wonder if that's another example of shrinkflation? Even if it had been a bit bigger, (what I'd call 'medium'), that's still a big increase from what it used to be!

I expect I'm not the only one being as ingenious as possible to save all the bits left over from Christmas meals. The fridge is really full, though we will gain a little space as some milk is going to our son in law who can drink it by the pint. We have most of the chicken and gammon, a generous bowl of veg and roast potatoes, a bit of bread sauce, the remains of cranberry and red currant sauces, Christmas pudding, custard, gravy, and possibly more carefully packed away. There's aspic left over from the meat cooking, which I've put in the freezer and will use to flavour the gravy in a pie or two.

The gammon and chicken were cooked in the slow cooker, so they are really tender and succulent, and there was plenty of space in the oven. I've cooked up the rest of a 15p bag of potatoes using the rest of the oven space that was left when the veg were roasting, so we have some baked potatoes ready to go. The corned beef left over from a couple of days ago has been frozen (and labelled!) as have five portions if chickpea tikka from a batch made on Christmas Eve.

carinjo

Season's greetings everyone. Hope everyone's meal was lovely! Ms C has been tasked with dealing with leftovers and 15p veg, since she finish work at lunchtime today and then off for a few days.
Enjoy filling up that freezer!

cuddlymarm

Good morning everyone 
I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas. We did but boy do I feel full so today is going to be grazing depending on how we feel. There are some currant tea cakes to toast, and plenty of cheese and bread, plus chocolate, mince pies, Xmas cake and crisps so we won’t starve 😂
Then this evening will be chicken with a jar of tikka sauce and rice.
We go on holiday on the 13 th Jan so I’m buying nothing apart from cheap bread for the freezer until we come back. We may have some strange meals but I just can’t buy food and risk it spoiling if there’s a power cut.
I’m back at work tomorrow so there’s going to be some strange and glamorous packed lunches for=r the next few days 
Any way I better get on 

Frugalistamama

I hope you all had a great Christmas! I went away for Christmas so I don't have all the leftovers but have a lot of Christmas veg and will be using some up over new year. I have a freezer full again as I stocked up on discounted meat so I need to get on with using things up and keeping my grocery budget down for January to make up for some of the holiday spends! Went to Spain and came back with food. I always buy food items when I abroad. I probably shouldn't but I was quite restrained. You should see it when I go to France!!

Frugalistamama

Spent an hour this morning saving a few items left in the fridge while on holiday. Parsnips don't last long do they? Miscalculated that one. Blanched and flash froze the good ones and will put the not so good ones in a soup for tonight. Prepped some apples for apple crumble later tonight as they were going a little mushy. Also need to prep and freeze some Brussels. And a swede. Not sure I have room in the freezer though!

So I made a bit of an error with my small second under the counter freezer. I packed up a couple of drawers with fresh meat and now I can't open them! Any ideas what to do?. The meat has obviously frozen and increased in size a bit. Not done that before what should I do???

Cherryfudge

I don't think the 15p veg keep as well as normally, perhaps they had to be packed early to meet demand?

I'm trying to put my food hygiene head on regarding your meat. Obviously it's safe as it is, the issue is using it. I assume it's not a case of a package fouling the drawer, but things have pushed upwards as the water in them froze.

All I can think of is to remove any unaffected drawers (wrap them in towels or whatever you do when defrosting) and start to defrost the rest, checking often so you can intervene as soon as things start to become moveable. Most of each piece in there will stay deep frozen even when there's a bit of a thaw on the outside.

So, have ready a plan to defrost some of the top items fully - they will have normal fridge life even after they're defrosted, say three days. If they weren't frozen at once when you got them home, take away the difference, if you see what I mean. So, if something went in the fridge for a day, it will have used a day of its fridge time already and should only be kept in the fridge up to two days before it's cooked.

As soon as things allow for movement, get them separated and refrigerate any you are planning to use in the next few days. Anything that's still frozen solid should be fine to put back in - just as if you'd bought from a supermarket freezer and carried it home then put it in your freezer. Any that are starting to soften - personally I might risk putting it back in, but I can't advise anyone else to do so! The way to make a defrosted item safe for refreezing is to cook it, allow to cool completely then refreeze. This is because the bacteria that grow in raw food are killed by cooking, and so long as anything raw is kept away from anything cooked, the cooked food is safe to eat or to freeze/fridge then eat. Of course, cooked food can go off too, but that's another story.

End of food hygiene lecture, any questions? (Please pretend I never said that about risking anything. ) 

PS - if you have a freezer thermometer, frozen food should be stored at -18C or colder (which means -20C is okay, -12C isn't). You can test, say, a frozen chicken by putting the tip of a freezer thermometer on it and waiting for the reading to stabilise. If you don't have one, use that good old standby - common sense. Does it feel frozen solid?

Frugalistamama

Thanks #Cherryfudge that's really helpful. I'm going to have a go at the tomorrow. So annoying. I won't do that again!

Cherryfudge

Frugalistamama said:

Thanks #Cherryfudge that's really helpful. I'm going to have a go at the tomorrow. So annoying. I won't do that again!

Official advice: Food safety | Food Standards Agency