2023 Vegan Storecupboard Challenge

leftatthetrafficlights

leftatthetrafficlights said:

Freezer inventory was completed and there was a lot more of dh's stuff in there than we expected!! 🤦‍♀️ suffice to say that we will be eating separately for quite a few meals! 

I have the following left in my freezer:

1 box freezer surprise 
1.5 bags haggis bites (down to 1 bag) 
1 box smoked tofu
1 bag broccoli stalks
4 boxes butternut squash & tomato soup/sauce (now 3)
5 boxes veg casserole (now 1)
0.5 bag fries
1 corn cob
4 pasties
2 bags broccoli (now 1)
3 bags smoky courgette & tomato sauce (down to 2) 
1 bag vegan duck (gone) 
2 boxes cooked chickpeas (1 left) 
1 box cannellini beans (gone) 
1 box leek & potato soup
1 box red cabbage cooked with apple & balsamic (gone)
1 box bubble & squeak (gone)
1 box rhubarb 
2 boxes apple
Chinese pancakes (2 packets less!) 

Having a quick look at what needs using I'm going to have the following over the next couple of weeks:

1) haggis bites with red cabbage, bubble & squeak and broccoli 
2) butternut squash & tomato soup with hm olive bread
3) buckwheat pancake 'lasagne' with dark speckled lentils in a smoky courgette and tomato sauce.
4) veg casserole with broccoli and herb dumplings
5) hoisin 'duck' and cucumber stuffed chinese pancakes 
6) pasties with fries and mushy peas
7) miso ramen with smoked tofu 
8) freezer surprise 
9) lentil 'shepherd's' pie (dark speckled lentils cooked in the butternut squash and tomato 'soup' topped with horseradish mash 
10) mixed veg with harissa cannellini bean puree

Well we've been doing reasonably well on the freezer food clear out - I've updated both lists.

I was hoping to be a bit further on with it but a few social events arose which meant that we haven't eaten as much as I thought we would but I'll do as much as I can in the next week and then I may be in a position to defrost one of the freezers at least! 🙌 

We're having haggis bites, asparagus, broccoli, green beans and harissa cannellini bean puree tonight 

Tomorrow I'll make the lentil 'shepherd's pie and then the rest of the week will be: 

Monday - pasties, fries and mushy peas

Tuesday - jackfruit chilli in smoky courgette and tomato sauce

Wednesday - freezer surprise 

Thursday- miso ramen with smoked tofu

Friday- Banana blossom 'fish' with fries and sweetcorn 

Hopefully things will go according to plan this time and the freezer will look reasonably empty by next Saturday!! 

leftatthetrafficlights

Did not go according to plan! 🤦‍♀️😂 Dh ended up working over the weekend so I made the 'shepherd's' pie yesterday (which was gorgeous!) but somewhat over-estimated the amount of potatoes required and cooked loads! 😳 I also decided not to use the squash & tomato 'soup' as a base for it but had got it out for defrosting....

So, I ended up with a considerable amount spare plain mashed potato and a box of 'soup'..... I used half of the soup for lunch and then cooked some aduki beans in berebere spice and mixed them in to what remained - very tasty but very spicy as the soup already had a kick to it!! 🔥

With the potatoes I stirred in a finely chopped onion and the remains of a jar of homemade chutney (about 2/3rds of a jar) and baked for 20 mins. 

The aduki beans are spicy and the potatoes are quite sweet and they go together beautifully 😁 we shall have those tonight for dinner. However, there are too many  aduki beans (too spicy for a full plateful!) so some will need to be repurposed - I'm planning on making some burgers with what is left by blitzing them and adding some wheat gluten to bind it and having those tomorrow- one day we will stick to the plot!! 🤦‍♀️😂😂😂

leftatthetrafficlights

Made the burgers with the remains of the aduki beans which were lovely then blitzed the remaining burgers into mince and made a bolognese!

A lot of repurposing done and definitely worth it - we'll finish the bolognese today and then it's a weekend of veg, fruit and salads.

KajiKita

Feeling like death lightly warmed here (lots of work and personal stress over the past few months finally catching up with me now that Mr KK has finally had his kidney stone surgery this week as an emergency!) - brain not functioning too well so didn't have any more ambition than a tin of H3inz baked beans with vegan sausages (only just discovered these - they are not bad for an emergency meal) and some toast for lunch.

Mr KK wandered into the kitchen as i was preparing this culinary delight and expressed an interest ....
He never normally eats vegan food as he sees it as not 'real' food  He shared the full tin with me with some toast. So that's a full tin consumed and not hanging around - I couldn't have faced a whole tin myself.

KK

leftatthetrafficlights

Really sorry to hear you've been going through such a tough time @KajiKita 😔 I hope that Mr KK is on the mend! 

I'm on a 'clear out' at the moment so started my day with a lemon water then had a smoothie for breakfast- watermelon, apple, strawberries and frozen mixed berries - it was very nice! 

I had a late lunch of salad leaves, strawberries, grapes, tri-colour quinoa and dark speckled lentils cooked in stock with mixed herbs and dressed it all with a  balsamic glaze. 

I was going to have broccoli spears, cauliflower and the quinoa/lentil mix with tarragon tonight but to be honest,  I'm just not hungry now so I will have that for lunch tomorrow instead...

KajiKita

leftatthetrafficlights said:

Really sorry to hear you've been going through such a tough time @KajiKita 😔 I hope that Mr KK is on the mend! 

I'm on a 'clear out' at the moment so started my day with a lemon water then had a smoothie for breakfast- watermelon, apple, strawberries and frozen mixed berries - it was very nice! 

I had a late lunch of salad leaves, strawberries, grapes, tri-colour quinoa and dark speckled lentils cooked in stock with mixed herbs and dressed it all with a  balsamic glaze. 

I was going to have broccoli spears, cauliflower and the quinoa/lentil mix with tarragon tonight but to be honest,  I'm just not hungry now so I will have that for lunch tomorrow instead...

Thanks L@TTLs ❤️ Apologies for bringing the mood down! 😉😊

You are encouraging me in my efforts to eat a lot more fruit and veg this week to try and re-set my eating habits / tastes (been eating waaaaay too many crisps etc of late and my weight is creeping up, which is nit helpful). I love HM coleslaw but Mr KK finds it gives him indigestion, so as he is out today, I suspect that will feature for lunch - I quite enjoy the meditative press of chopping the cabbage and carrots etc. when I have the time 😊

KK

KajiKita

Morning all 😊

I am after some help ….

Work are sending me on a team building thingamee with the rest of the management team in a week or so. It’s a cooking thing and we are making pasta …. 🙄 Is it actually possible to make vegan pasta? I suspect I will be on my own with this, as when I had a conversation with the organiser, she made it very clear that ‘Chef’ would be very busy helping the other 11 people on the session rather than helping me if I struggle without using eggs ….

I will do some googling and looking through my recipe books, but any advice or tips would be HUGELY appreciated!

I will also make some cashew cream to take with me to make the meal a bit more nutritious and to go with the mushroom filling. 

KK

leftatthetrafficlights

KajiKita said:

Morning all 😊

I am after some help ….

Work are sending me on a team building thingamee with the rest of the management team in a week or so. It’s a cooking thing and we are making pasta …. 🙄 Is it actually possible to make vegan pasta? I suspect I will be on my own with this, as when I had a conversation with the organiser, she made it very clear that ‘Chef’ would be very busy helping the other 11 people on the session rather than helping me if I struggle without using eggs ….

I will do some googling and looking through my recipe books, but any advice or tips would be HUGELY appreciated!

I will also make some cashew cream to take with me to make the meal a bit more nutritious and to go with the mushroom filling. 

KK

Vegan pasta is really simple - 400g pasta flour, 250ml - 300ml warm water, 1tsp salt, 2tbs oil. Mix flour and salt (if you want to add herbs do it at this stage), slowly add the water and oil (I put them together before adding) and mix together until the dough forms. Knead for about 5-10 minutes until the dough is elastic and smooth, leave to rest for 10-15 minutes then use as required 😁

KajiKita

Thank you so much @leftatthetrafficlights 😊

That doesn’t look that difficult, why were they making such a fuss ….? 🤷‍♀️

What herbs do you normally add to the flour? And what would go well with a mushroom filling? Thyme?

KK

leftatthetrafficlights

KajiKita said:

Thank you so much @leftatthetrafficlights 😊

That doesn’t look that difficult, why were they making such a fuss ….? 🤷‍♀️

What herbs do you normally add to the flour? And what would go well with a mushroom filling? Thyme?

KK

No idea why they made such a fuss! 🤔😂 perhaps the person you spoke to heard the word vegan and went into meltdown!! 

I normally add dried Italian herbs to mine as a general rule but it depends on what I'm making. It’s just down to personal choice really- thyme would be nice as would sage although that depends on the strength of the mushrooms and what else is going in to the filling - if its a delicate mushroom flavour then sage may be overpowering...I'd just go with whatever you usually put with mushrooms!