Vegan Storecupboard Challenge Winter 25 - Winter 26

LotsOfTea

Thanks @leftatthetrafficlights! I don't think I'll bother searching out the 'fish' sauce in that case. I've got enough jars and bottles of things in my cupboard that it needs to something good to warrant taking up the extra space. I will try the H&B nooch when I next do my grocery order though. 

Brie

re your harissa roasted pumpkin....what type of pumpkin are we talking about?  are you skinning it and roasting chunks or roasting a wedge?

leftatthetrafficlights

@LotsOfTea - let me know how you get on with the nooch 😉

@Brie - it's the pumpkin that is used for halloween lanterns! My grandbaby wanted to grow his own this year and we got a decent sized one for him and a much smaller (and oddly shaped!) one from the plant 😁 My plan is to peel it, cube the flesh then coat in a harissa/oil/salt and pepper mixture before roasting 😋 

Yesterday I had a banging headache all day so didn't cook - I couldn't face food at all so dh had sausages, sweetcorn and hash browns for his dinner! All from the freezer so a bit more room in there now! 🙌 

I'm feeling a lot better so I'm making the chilli today - I'll post a piccie later 😁

Dh spent £19.49 on groceries yesterday:
Cereal £1.45
Oat milk (for dh) £2.35
Oat milk (me) £1.50
Pears £1.85
Avocados £1.50
Oranges £0.99
Apples £1.80
Deodorant £1.90
Bananas £0.62
Cucumber £0.89
Rocket £0.84
Strawberries £2.30
Bread (wholemeal) £0.75
Bread (white) £0.75

Most of the fruit is for dh's breakfasts (as is the cereal and his milk); the deodorant is his (I get mine from fussy) and he wanted to have bread for the freezer! 🙄 😂 

Brie

thanks for the info @leftatthetrafficlights
I was surprised (aka truly shocked) that someone locally was freegling some unused halloween pumpkins.  Obviously great that they didn't want them to go to waste but it was obvious that they weren't considering eating them.  used to love having the seeds roasted but normally as we would use a candle to light the jack o'lantern the pumpkin itself would end up inedible (well I would eat it if I was starving but not willingly otherwise).  A fresh pumpkin is quite a different story of course. 

leftatthetrafficlights

@Brie - I must admit that I've never eaten this type of pumpkin before but it is really quite nice - not as flavourful as butternut or spaghetti squash but dh's soup was tasty, I used it in today's dinner which was lovely and I made the harissa roasted stuff today for later in the week as I had the oven on for the lasagne I made for tomorrow's dinner 😁 

So, today's dinner was the pumpkin, black bean, pineapple and smoked tofu chilli (I forgot to put the spinach in it!🤦‍♀️); mixed grains (oat groats, rye berries, barley groats, short grain brown rice) barberries, sunflower seeds and hemp seeds; rocket, strawberries, black grapes, pomegranate and broccoli sprouts with blood orange balsamic. I dolloped a bit of Greek style 'yoghurt' on the side which I was pleased about as the heat was a builder!! 😳😂 It was really tasty and there's plenty left for another day 😁 

leftatthetrafficlights

Dark speckled lentil lasagne with a cashew cream 'cheese' sauce for dinner yesterday - tonight was a combo of that and Tuesday's chilli as I made quite a lot of both!! 🙄😂 

I'm making avocado and cucumber sushi and inari tomorrow - I've got two bao buns left in a bag and a pack of gyozas in the freezer so will serve those too 😋 

I'm away for the weekend so I'll have to leave dh to munch the leftovers 😁

leftatthetrafficlights

Still haven't made the sushi! 🤦‍♀️ Dd was ill yesterday so I ended up picking my grandbaby up from school and taking him out for dinner. 

I cooked some butter beans yesterday though so I'll be having something with those tonight - I'm desperate for some decent food after three days of processed rubbish!! 🙌

leftatthetrafficlights

A simple but absolutely delicious one last night - butter beans, ethiopian lentils, mixed grains, rocket, blueberries, strawberries, black grapes and blood orange balsamic 😋 

boultdj

Hello everyone, meat eater here, but I have started using tinned beans in stews and soups, then tesco's had an offer on the dried beans, cheaper than the tins but I would like to soak and cook the whole packet, so questions, do they freeze well? Do they cook well after defrosting if you can freeze them?

leftatthetrafficlights

@boultdj - they freeze really well and have it has little impact on them 😁 when you freeze them, cover them in either their cooking liquid or in water. 

Hope this helps 😁