2023 Vegan Storecupboard Challenge

KajiKita

Sun_Addict said:

@KajiKita is the wellington the frozen one? If so let us know what you think of it as I have one in my freezer. Morrisons sent it me by mistake a few weeks ago, I’d ordered beer battered cod for Mr SA and got this instead, it wasn’t even a sub 😆

It was a chilled one, with mushrooms, parsnip, chestnut etc. Does that sound familiar?

KK

KajiKita

Thank you @PurpleJay - I have copied that into my ‘MSE master file’ ready for next year 😊

KK

KajiKita

OMG @leftatthetrafficlights I LOVE mushrooms …..!!! So trying this one!!! 😉🤤👍👏😊

(I love this board so much already - so wonderful to be able to ‘talk vegan’ …. ❤️)

KK

KajiKita

I’ve done the cellar tidy up 😊

It’s a load better but it’s amazing how long it took me (soooo much 🕷💩!!). List will be for tomorrow, along with going through all the stuff in the kitchen.

One issue I have is how much out of date stuff I have …. 😢 I am wondering how much of it I can chance still eating … any comments on the below (some of it is out of date in 2020!, all closed packets, tins and containers) would be much appreciated:
- dried quinoa
- tinned cooked pulses including aduki beans
- still sealed activated yeast flakes 
- porridge oats, various pastas
- flaxseed and hemp seed
- coconut milk 
- non dairy pesto, red pepper pesto
- tinned and jarred olives, one with garlic
- vegan mayonnaise 
- veggie soups
- jack fruit, canned and vacuum packed
- various tinned daals 
- pickled capers, beetroot
- seaweed sheets (still sealed)

KK

leftatthetrafficlights

Looks amazing @KajiKita! 🙌 

Personally, I'd use it all as long as the packaging isn't damaged- the only things that may be slightly ropey in my opinion are the mayo and pesto - however, it's unlikely that they'll be a problem if the packaging is fine 😉

PurpleJay

Hi everyone, 

Just checking in to say I have started my inventory and am really giving some thought to meal planning and only buying what we need for the week. I have a Tesco delivery booked for tomorrow.

I am planning a buffet tea for new years eve and will be buying quorn ham, salad and hummus for that and some Indian snacks which will also do another couple of meals at some point (with home made curry). I have loads of tins of beans so will be making a 3 bean and vegetable chilli tomorrow for tea with leftovers for new years day and again for lunch later in the week with jacket spuds. 

I have a cauliflower which needs eating so I am going to make crispy (breaded) cauliflower for tea today with wraps (from the freezer) and coleslaw. It will be a good way to use up old bread too. I would usually make a cauliflower cheese but we have overdone the gravy dinners a bit this week with having mushroom wellington 4 times! We have just had the last bit for lunch with oven chips, kale, mushy peas and gravy.  We can have the cauli wraps again in a couple of days. I often make enough to do 2 meals when I cook. will do us twice. 

So meal plan for the coming days..

Thursday
Tea - crispy cauliflower wraps with sriratcha, nuts and seeds sour cream and slaw.
Friday
Lunch - jackets with cheese, beans and salad
Tea - chilli, rice and nuts and seeds sour cream
Saturday
Lunch - cauli wraps as above
Tea (NYE) - picky tea (crackers, cheese, ham, pickles, salad, hummus, Indian snacks etc)
Sunday
Lunch - pea soup with french stick
Tea - chilli as above
Monday
Lunch - out
Tea - stir fry veg and noodles
Tuesday
Lunch - pea soup and bread
Tea - mash, sausages, brocolli, roasted carrots and parsnips, gravy
Wednesday
Lunch - jacket potatoes with cheese, chilli and salad
Tea - pasta with tomato and veg sauce
Thursday 
Lunch - leftovers 
Tea - chinese vegetable curry with rice
Friday 
Lunch - leftovers
Tea - picky tea

Starting to get a little sketchy towards the end of the week but we will see how it goes 😀

For breakfasts there is cereal, toast, leftovers and Huel (vegan protein shake). I accidentally bought to much Huel when I had it on subscription and we haven’t been having it so my plan is to have it for breakfast 3 or 4 times per week which will make the bread and cereal last longer.

KajiKita

Just eaten one of the out of date soup tins from the cellar (this is huge for me as my instinct is always just to get rid of ‘out of date’ food). I remembered it was a bit of a limp flavour (which is probably why it was still sitting there ….) and rather low in protein, so I razzed it up with some precooked puy lentils, a tablespoon of nooch and a teaspoon of Dijon mustard - came out amazingly! 😊

Found a recipe to use some of the tins of jackfruit I have hanging around, out of date-ly, a chilli-non-carne, so I will be making that as a batch for work lunches tomorrow when it’s raining 😊 In the meantime I shall head out and finish prepping one of my veg beds this afternoon 😊

KK

PurpleJay

@KajiKita I tend to give tins and packets a year past best before but know they should keep for years. I will likely be ditching anything pre 2022 that I come across when doing my inventory. 

I am just back from walking the dog it is quite breezy out there but nice to blow the cobwebs away. Hope you enjoyed your gardening.

KajiKita

Thanks @PurpleJay 😊

I will see what filtering by ‘pre-2022’ would mean I still have to chuck ….

I had a lovely time in the garden. Cleared one veggie bed and got it covered with the cardboard I had already prepped and stored in the potting shed and the beginnings of compost, dead pots etc. I will gradually top this up with other dead pots (I have quite a few after summer’s hot spell! 🙄) and when I get to it, compost from my dalek riddled through my Christmas present! 😊

Also, managed to rehome a whole load of foxgloves that were in the veggie bed, under an apple tree, at the bottom of the garden by the pond. I hope they will look lovely come the spring and will seed themselves around …. 😉

KK

leftatthetrafficlights

@PurpleJay - hope your crispy cauliflower turned out well! Glad you're making inroads on the inventory 😁

@KajiKita - glad the soup went well and it sounds like you had a really productive time in the garden! 🙌 

We ended up at dds yesterday so I didn't cook but today we had the cauliflower dish: 

Cauliflower Steaks
Slice a cauliflower into steaks, brush with plenty of olive oil, grind over salt and pepper and cook in the oven at 215°c for 30 minutes turning once. Remove from oven, brush with harissa (or chilli sauce) then return to oven for 5 mins. 


Lentils
Cook 1 cup of dark speckled lentils with a whole chopped deseeded lemon in stock until tender and liquid absorbed. Remove lemon and stir in 2 - 3 tbs capers & 1-2 tbs lemon juice. 


Bean Puree
Drain 1 tin cannellini beans and add to a processor/blender. Add 3tbs olive oil, 2 tbs lemon juice, 3 cloves garlic & 2 tbs harissa. Process until smooth. 

Assemble all components onto a plate and serve with salad leaves. 

It was absolutely lovely - I had to substitute chilli sauce for the harissa on the cauliflower as I didn't have enough to do both the cauliflower and bean puree! 😂

I actually used dried cannellini beans and cooked them in stock in my instant pot. I also cooked the lentils in the instant pot too but I've done enough of both to be able to repurpose what remains. I may have to freeze some as dh is away from tomorrow until new year but he loved it so much he's taking some with him for his relatives!! 😂 it's definitely a dish worth repeating! 

I've also made some buckwheat bread so I can use up some of the remaining bean puree with that 😁