Vegan Storecupboard Challenge Winter 25 onwards

leftatthetrafficlights

Used the citrus carnitas recipe mix and the soft tacos yesterday and used one of the blocks of tofu I made on Monday. Cooked the dish with sweetcorn, peas and onions, made some hommous and a tomato salsa with lime and coriander as additions along with an avocado. It was really lovely and we both ended up going back for seconds! 😂

Dh is out tonight for dinner so I'm eating the leftovers 😋

I've updated the inventory above 😁

leftatthetrafficlights

I took dh out for lunch yesterday; dh had a vegan cheeseburger and I had a jackfruit burger. The cheeseburger was fine but my jackfruit burger appeared to have been deep fried 🤢🤦‍♀️ I don't do fried stuff at the best of times and I certainly don't ever do deep fried stuff so gave up on it after the first bite! 😔 I should never eat out - it's always disappointing! 🙄

Anyway, last night I decided to just have something out of the freezer as I was knackered from my outing - we had the this isn't steaks, potatoes from the garden with dijon and mustard dressing, roasted tomatoes, broccoli sprouts, strawberries, black grapes, blueberries and pomegranate salad with balsamic 😋

leftatthetrafficlights

The okara balls taste lovely - I made one batch with a jar of 'herbs' we found in the freezer (was actually hm thai curry paste), lo lime juice and rind from the tomato salsa I made earlierin the week, onions and garlic and another batch with liquid smoke, hg chillis, smoked paprika, worcestershire sauce, onions and garlic. I couldn't be bothered to add oat flour or gram flour so they are quite mushy in texture - I'm either going to make mince from it, add oat/gram flour to it or if that's not successful, it makes a great sandwich filler! The flavours are so good the texture is almost irrelevant! 'Waste' product used up, providing the basis for a variety of meals for pennies! 🙌

I also made a roasted tomato and basil soup yesterday - it's absolutely beautiful; even dh who doesn't like tomato soup is raving about it! I've got some sprouted wheat in the cupboard so I'm going to mill that and make some bread to go with it - I've never made it before but if it's successful, I'll get more wheat on to sprout. I'm slightly intolerant to wheat (white bread is the main culprit) so I'm hoping that I won't react to sprouted wheat 🤔 I've got kilos of wheat grain so my fingers are firmly crossed! 🤞

I've made a dark speckled lentil casserole today - lentils, chard stalks, parsnips, onions, sweetcorn, potatoes, cavolo nero, swede and mixed herbs plus a couple of vegan 'beef' stock cubes. Very tasty 😋 I've made enough for a couple of days - no cooking required then and I can just concentrate on other things 😁

leftatthetrafficlights

The bread didn't quite go according to plan! 🤦‍♀️ I milled the sprouted wheat, made the bread mix and decided to put it in the dehydrator on a very low heat to maintain a decent temperature as the kitchen was surprisingly chilly - unfortunately, I put the dehydrator on full blast as I always do for the first couple of minutes (basically to get rid of any hidden dust on the fan), put the mix in and walked away totally forgetting to turn the heat down!! 🤬🙄 suffice to say, a couple of hours later, it was never going to be bread! 🤦‍♀️😂 Not to be totally deterred, I kneaded the half baked mess and made flatbreads with it! On the plus side, the flavour was lovely so I will sprout more wheat and give it another go!

We had the casserole last night and I made stuffing to go with it (piccie below) - the stuffing was out of date so I used both boxes; we'll freeze what we don't use and then I will have ready made stuff for a bubble and squeak 😁 The casserole will do for tonight too but I'll add some broccoli as a side; tomorrow I really need some salad, beans and grains - it seems like ages since I've had them and I miss it!

leftatthetrafficlights

Tonight we had pulled shitake mushroom chipotle barbacoa with refried beans, leaves and soya yoghurt in a buckwheat pancake 😋 very nice indeed!

silverwhistle

Interesting thread, I randomly came upon your original stock take, which must have been quite a labour. Many of the pulses I have, often in tinned form, but not quite in the variety perhaps as I'm not even vegetarian. Hodmedod now seem more widely available but often sold out. Some runner beans and drying bean from the allotment too.

I was a bit disappointed in only one olive oil, I think I've got about 5 different in my larder and my annual trip to Italy did help!:-) Also I must have around 25k of flour of various sorts, English heritage (Maris Widgeon ISTR), Italian OO, Swiss Rye, Canadian V strong, etc. I must add some of my pea flour to a batch to see what a higher protein bread is like.

Thanks for the photos; they won't convert me, but they'll do a lot better job at upping my vegetable intake than some of my less inspiring vegetarian friends' cooking!

Having a new kitchen put in at the moment and I bundled everything into boxes and bags but putting it back again will be be a good opportunity to throw out and renew even more of my old spices and bottles of dubious sauces. Some of the best before dates I came across when I emptied the cupboards were really quite impressive.:-)

Edit: The Italian trip (in a car) was also useful for stocking up on good quality carnaroli and riso venere (a black rice), and chestnut flour. Always fun shopping in a different country.

Vanlady

Hello, just stumbled across this thread. Your food looks so healthy and appetising leftatthetrafficlights. I'm guessing you put lots of thought into it. I'm not a vegan or a vegetarian, but rarely eat meat as I actually prefer vegetarian food. Though I do like my fish!

Edited to add...I do make all my own bread, all different types, it's been a passion of mine for years. Soooo much different to shop bought. Milling home grown sprouted wheat is a new one on me though😆. I'm glad the flatbreads turned out lovely. I find that any potential disaster dough can always be made into a good surprise!

leftatthetrafficlights

@silverwhistle - welcome to the thread! 😁 It certainly was a task and a half getting the inventory together! 😳😂 I have bought homedods stuff before but not for a while - they are a little hit and miss with availability 🤔 I rarely use oil so my one bottle is okay for now - I bought some oils last time I was in Italy, I loved their markets and produce! Good luck with the new kitchen - mine was done almost 14 years ago and needs redoing again but I can't cope with the trauma!! 😳😂

@Vanlady - welcome to the thread! 😁 thank you for the compliment - I don't put that much thought into it really, I've been vegan for so long it's just second nature now! 😂 I'm also a 'chuck it in and see what happens' cook so we end up with some very random stuff! I love making bread but it doesn't always like me 😔 that's one of the reasons I am trying the sprouted wheat stuff (I just sprout, dehydrate then mill) - I'm really hoping that it cuts down on the bloating then I can eat more!! 🤔😂 I really hope that the next attempt works! 🤞

We were outside at a birthday celebration yesterday (a kids venue) and my only option food wise was fries - I ate some and they were nice enough but I was desperate for some decent food when I got home so had my favourite - butter beans, my four grain mix with barberries, sunflower seeds and hemp seeds, salad with rocket, broccoli sprouts, pomegranate, raspberries, blueberries, strawberries and black grapes with balsamic plus a splodge of hommous 😋 not sure what we're having today as I can't remember if I've got leftovers! 😂

leftatthetrafficlights

I've had a nightmare headache for the last two days so haven't eaten or cooked 🤦‍♀️

However, today I'm back to normal and I've made a tofu bolognese - I grated tofu and cooked in a saute pan with garlic and onion granules, worcestershire sauce and a bit of soy sauce. I roasted a load of tomatoes with garlic and basil then blitzed it and added to the tofu 😋 it's lovely 😁 I'll pop a piccie on later ....

I've made loads of chutneys again today - green tomatoes, apples, onions, ginger, cumin and coriander - I've definitely got enough to last for a year!

In other news, I've ordered a pressure canner so that we can utilise all of our home grown produce next year - I should have bought it at the beginning of the season really but I'll be taking advantage of the winter veg offers later in the year 😉 I'm spending time tomorrow watching YouTube videos for ideas on what to make!

Vanlady

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82135069#Comment_82135069

That Looks AMAZING leftatthetrafficlights! Gorgeous colours, I am drooling😋. Im guessing a bit sweet and savoury??? Good luck with your next batch of bread, let us know how it goes.
I love hummus, i make it in big batches and freeze in portions, surprisingly freezers very well!
I made a simple vegan curry last night- Chickpeas, carrots, spinach, peas, passatta, loads of spices, onions, garlic, Tom puree and coconut milk with brown rice. So simple to make, all from store cupboard and spinach, peas and carrots from the freezer.

Sounds like you have been very busy, and have plans to continue being busy🤩