Freegan October Food Challenge

Viking_mfw

Another 1.55 on milk yesterday and my husband bought a YS 10p loaf. We're getting low on some things - porridge oats are definitely looking a bit woworrying. At some point the children are probably going to have to start eating toast or eggs for breakfast no matter what they think!

We had a "lean" few days when there wasn't much left from my Sunday collection after others had had their pick, which is to say we had to get some previously frozen stuff out. I filled in for someone else last minute yesterday, and have another one tonight for the same reason, and we are therefore riding high again on things people didn't want. We have a lot of bags of preprepared baby potatoes for the microwave - which I know from two weeks ago are not that great but do last way past their use by date. I see a Spanish omelette in our family's near future because also it's egg day today and we've got at least a dozen left from last time.

I am wondering if we'll be able to get through the month without buying: butter, cheese, ketchup. The three mainstays of a small boy's diet! Oh and pasta! 

Otherwise things are starting to seem a little less jam packed into cupboards but I feel like we haven't had to get particularly creative. The only things we've been eating less of that normal are basically chocolate, yoghurt and biscuits. Apart from the yoghurt that's probably a good thing!

Viking_mfw

Fridge positively heaving with veg no one wanted. Making a valiant effort to get through them... parmentier potatoes for breakfast, a chicken Caesar salad with a whole tub of coleslaw and some tomatoes from a busted box salad for lunch. Dinner will be rich with veg! 

Viking_mfw

Just picked a huge amount of sliced mushroom out of some bags of stirfry before the beansprouts turn it all to mush. The rest will have to be composted but at least that will be a rapid decomposition instead of heading to landfill in plastic bags. 

It's interesting what goes. I did a pr*t collection this afternoon and kept 3 sandwiches and 3 bircher bowls. Two people have requested 90% of the rest of it (a lot!) between them. Pr*t always goes like wildfire- different variations on sandwiches. But try and give away a bag of carrot batons? Crickets.

Viking_mfw

A slight adjustment at the weekend. As our intention is to reduce food waste, ironically we decided we would be able to do that better if we did indeed buy butter, cheese and ketchup, so we did. 

I had a pret collection on Friday and a Sainsbos one on Sunday. These were actually incredibly successful in terms of people requesting things and we were left with much less than we have been, probably partly because there wasn't an overwhelming quantity of any one thing. And possibly because it was a nicer day than many have been, so people felt inclined to pop out for some stirfry veg and a pack of vegan chicken pieces. 

So that means it is more of a challenge than it has been, although I'm still not worried about starving. Tonight the kids had some southern fried chicken sticks which weren't supposed to be frozen but were fine, and we had roast turkey slices, along with some roast potatoes (pre prepped for cooking), pickled beetroot and coleslaw, or steamed mixed veg for the kids. The younger one tried beetroot on the promise of it turning his wee a funny colour, and then immediately excused himself to go for a wee to see if it had worked. He thought it extremely unreasonable that it has to work its way through the system first. 

We have some hardo bread that didn't find favour with our local residents, so a sweetish, solid white bread, that will keep the children in toast for a few days, along with the jam stocks. Tomorrow will be a casserole with some frozen meat from last week's collections, and some random veg, possibly rice from our existing mega bag. On Wednesday I am out so the others can have the remaining frozen pizzas (one bought, one Ol*o) while I get fed at work, and then I have a late collection, which means 90% of it will remain with us. 

I need to make another apple pie or apple crumble - or another carrot cake. Mostly for my own benefit!

Tomorrow's breakfast for me will be a smoothie using some greek yoghurt I froze for some reason or other, plus part of the enormous backlog of spinach I froze a couple of weeks ago, and other frozen fruit. Not quite the warming stuff you want in October, but that's not the point!

Viking_mfw

Apple crumble made. 

Sadly the best laid plans of mice and men - OH and DS2 had the pizzas for lunch today. Having peered in the freezer I am reassured he'll find something to feed them tomorrow while I'm out. 

Casserole for dinner included the last of the non-frozen carrot batons! Whoop! 

Viking_mfw

Triumph over carrot batons short lived... found two more bags hiding in the fridge...

Viking_mfw

Collections this week have been more limited in amount (which is good for the planet!). Interestingly the little bags of ready prepared mixed veg to cook have gone down very well with the children who like the variety of them. We are running down the build up of food from the beginning of the month, and have caught up with all the fridge potatoes (as opposed to the cupboard potatoes, ie the unprepped ones). I actually had to request a loaf and some English muffins from someone else's collection yesterday. Despite the fact that Olio is often mainly bread, we haven't really experienced that. I will be buying more porridge oats tomorrow as it turns out the children are bereft without them, and we need to pick up more milk tonight. 

Last night we had a bake thing made out of potatoes, goats cheese, onions and chorizo, with veg. Tonight my husband wants to make curry with some frozen cooked chicken and some of the remaining fridge veg. I have a nominal collection tonight but it's usually cancelled for no food, so we will see. 

PipneyJane

Viking_mfw said:

First spending on food: 2.25 on additional milk (we have 6 pints a week delivered and top up as needed). There were a small handful more windfalls and one more to come I think. 

Egg fried rice last night using cooked chicken left over from our last bought chicken, and a pack of stirfry veg no one wanted by its use by date. Today is a more luxurious potato bacon onion bake with milk instead of the cream we'd usually use, topped with cheese. Only the potatoes are ol*o but it is good comfort food for a cold wet night. 

Please do share the recipe for the potato bacon onion bake, @Viking_mfw.  It sounds delicious.

- Pip

PS:  You’re doing really well.  Hope you can hear us cheering from the sidelines.

Viking_mfw

Aww, thanks Pip.

Recipe is really easy, generally known as 'potato layery thing'. Fry onions and bacon. Parboil and slice potatoes. Layer the two in a deep pyrex dish. Put onions/ bacon on the bottom to prevent sticking. Pour over a carton of cream. Back for 30 mins covered in foil, then cover with cheddar and bake uncovered for a further 30 mins. 180 fan. Serve with some kind of green veg, usually frozen peas!

We are clearing away extremely elderly oatcake stores like nobody's business, which is helpful. Things definitely becoming more visible in cupboards. 

This morning I picked up some bread rolls and some doughnuts in the community fridge near my children's Saturday morning activity. I also got a cucumber. It is incredible how thrilling finding a fridge full of vgc cucumbers has become after weeks of not choosing your own shopping. This exercise is giving me a real appreciation of some things which we treat as everyday. Children had peanut butter and cucumber sandwiches for lunch, and I had the same with oatcakes. Then everyone but me had a doughnut. 

Tonight OH is making curry with some veg from the fridge and some previously frozen cooked chicken. I have identified a freezer shelf full of previously frozen meat, so we can cope with just veg from Ol*o if that is all there is for a while. My mum is coming to stay next weekend but at this rate I think we could just make fish pie from the freezer rather than needing to buy things to feed her. Although we probably will get a roasting chicken as a treat (again with the change in attitude!), and she'll want some yoghurt so that will be another treat We still have cans of chickpeas and lentils, so it's not as though we are low on protein sources. 

PipneyJane

Viking_mfw said:

Aww, thanks Pip.

Recipe is really easy, generally known as 'potato layery thing'. Fry onions and bacon. Parboil and slice potatoes. Layer the two in a deep pyrex dish. Put onions/ bacon on the bottom to prevent sticking. Pour over a carton of cream. Back for 30 mins covered in foil, then cover with cheddar and bake uncovered for a further 30 mins. 180 fan. Serve with some kind of green veg, usually frozen peas!

Thanks @Viking_mfw.  I’ve added it to my Recipes document saved on Word.

- Pip