Eating out of the freezer and cupboards challenge - part two

K9sandFelines · 3 February 2017 at 7:34PM

Didnt get milk or the mountain dew and flour off Topcashback. The flour is not cheaper and mountain dew not really needed.

Out - all premade seitan. Have made seitan before, but this particular recipe did not work out, and the sauce that coated it and gave it it's flavour, is way too overpowering.
Fennel bulb - burnt it

, medium potato - sliced with rosemary and garlic, parsnip - also burnt

, end of a bag of Tesco frozen asparagus, two crispy chicken, six slices of hovis, 1/3 pack of violife cheese, chocolate biscuits, crispy lettuce and bag of crisp

JingsMyBucket · 3 February 2017 at 8:58PM

Crawling back into sanity after a long hard week of work. I just did a shop at Lidl for some basics including more pasta for OH, a pesto, eggs, and some other things. We still had penne in the cupboard but he uses spaghetti or angel hair as a staple. The penne will get eaten eventually.

I checked the weather for the weekend and it's going to be rainy and mucky. So, I pulled out some Black Forest smoked/cured raw ham from the freezer to make soup with it using up some black beans in cupboard. Because my brain is mush right now, I can't think of a good recipe to throw at this. I'm not really feeling a Cuban or Mexican version with cumin. Maybe a more herby treatment with sage, black pepper, garlic, etc? Any suggestions would be great so I can figure out if I should soak my beans tonight or not.

There are also a *bunch* of bones in there. It may be a stock making weekend that results in a freezer decluttered but consequently somewhat refilled with stock. That'll make souping easier for the next month or so.

OH used the leek in the fridge for one of his meals this week so there goes potato leek soup. I might make another baked eggs/frittata with those remaining rotisserie potatoes.

IN
-- spaghetti
-- angel hair
-- red pesto
-- hummus
-- pain libanais / Lebanese flat bread
-- ham slices
-- gouda cheese slices

OUT / WILL COME OUT
-- raw smoked ham
-- turkey bones from Xmas 2015 (yikes)
-- red meat bones (pork, lamb, beef)
-- defrosted bacon in the fridge
-- mixed minced garlic & onion that OH prepped on Sunday for the week
-- older ham slices, last bit of olives and some gouda
-- some Ikea pancakes/crepes
-- leftover rotisserie potatoes

WILL COOK
-- black bean and ham soup
-- turkey / chicken stock
-- red meat stock
-- ham, olive and gouda crepes with Ikea pancakes
-- frittata

Should I be listing all the ins from the grocery shops I've done this week or is that more so for things that go into the freezer? I guess that should include the stuff that goes into the fridge aand the pantry too?

FurryBeastOz · 3 February 2017 at 9:02PM

Very nice Beef stir fry used up some strips from the freezer.

I need to re-jig the menu plan again. DH away overnight on Tuesday but I may have a friend visiting.

No study groups here this weekend - so I feel some rugby watching coming on.

FurryBeastOz · 3 February 2017 at 9:49PM

Ok.

Coming out: 2 x Breakfast Bake, 2 x Sea Bass. Going to roast lots of odd veg to go with.

I'll have the last of the stir-fry for lunch. Sunday I'll take out soup for lunch. Dinner will be Chilli, Lime Mackerel (bought 8 for £2 YS some time ago) Mr T fish counter. They are very good.

I'll also be baking - Eggless chocolate beetroot cake, Butternut Squash browniews. That should keep the wolf from the door for a couple of days.

Franalamadingdong · 3 February 2017 at 11:08PM

We went shopping today. I picked up some small pizzas for the boy 4 for £1.60, much better than the 2 for £2 ones he used to pick out. We shouldn't have any crazy rush days now though. They were able to go in the freezer with the bread though. Each shop I fill the bread drawer and it empties again so I feel OK doing it. Also got frozen peppers. I used to use them all the time, the recent weather troubles made me remember I could just get frozen.

My appetite has gone down now I'm on medication, it's a common side effect, but I'm hopeful that it just needs to be for a few months. I just need to remember it when cooking. Stocks might go down a bit slower, but that's no bad thing! This weekend should see a salmon fillet, last of the smoked salmon and a half pack of pastry (used the other half) out of the freezer, should use up some pasta and the last of the new potatoes. We have a good veg turnover, so not concerned about that.

In other news a tub of 500 flying saucers (sweets) is surprisingly huge! :rofl: good old online ordering! They're for DS's birthday next month. I realised that they are gluten, dairy and nut free, and I'll have to check if they are vegetarian, I think they are, if so I can pop them into little snack bags for DS's class. They like to bring things in on their birthday. The whole school is nut free and there's at least one veggie and a few gluten and dairy free kids in his class. Last year we did little sheets of stickers to make sure we catered for everyone. In the meantime the tub has had to go on top of the fridge as there's no way it can go in the cupboards!

Suffolk_lass · 3 February 2017 at 11:18PM

Quick update -

out - 10 onions - only one gone a bit soggy and another a bit sprouty! They were dug out in September though so not doing too badly. I made onion soup for supper.

Had lunch at our community lunch club today - £2.50 a head for lasagne, salad and bread, followed by cakes (no bread or cake for me!) and tea or coffee. Good company, and we run at a small surplus each month, reimbursing the costs and paying the Hall rental - there were about 35 or so today (the whole Village is only 210!). It's a good way of getting people together regularly and making sure everyone is OK

SL

JIL · 3 February 2017 at 11:48PM

Save_Dosh wrote: »

Apologies, I don't post for ages, then you can't get rid of me. I have a ton of onions, any good soup recipes, I prefer simple recipes, also have some gram flour, so was thinking onion bhaji, anyone have a tried and tested recipe for that. Thanks. xx

Here's my recipe I'm sure you could just use onions.
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=67429799&postcount=767

NewShadow · 4 February 2017 at 1:16AM

Evening All,

I'm thinking about what I'm going to cook this weekend and hoping for some inspiration from you lovely people.

I've got two leftover breaded chicken 'steaks' - cheap and mostly breadcrumbs without any real seasoning but they were free leftovers so I'm loathe to waste them. I've also got three bacon medallions lurking.

First thought was diced over a salad - but salads really don't inspire me and I'd have to buy all the salady bits fresh...

Second thought - chuck in pasta with onions and tomatoes and cheese on top. Not feeling the love.

I've got bread and wraps, various tinned cooked beans, lots of types of frozen veggies, but not much 'fresh' stuff (it's been a bit manic the last few weeks) - I've some baby toms that probably need using. They might be nice roasted/grilled with the bacon? And I can pop to the shops - just don't want to for a basic 'wet lettuce'

Given I'm only feeding me, ideally I'm looking to use all of it - the 3 bits of bacon and the 2 chicken - to make something for sat/sun with maybe enough leftovers to have lunch on Monday, so I'm thinking a cold baked pasta or baked spud topping.

What would you do?

dannie · 4 February 2017 at 7:21AM

My cupboards are starting to look less cluttered and one of the freezer drawers seemed lighter recently! However, there are food groceries under one cupboard and on the floor. The fridge usually seems too packed (at least for one day of food). Nevertheless, items are being used up and this month £1 has been spent on food; this was a ys item.

New Shadow - I'd be inclined to save time by making sandwiches with some of the ingredients.

Suffolk_lass · 4 February 2017 at 10:23AM

Hey Save Dosh, if you still want an onion soup recipe (I thought JIL's recipe for indian snacks sounded fantastic!) - here is what I did yesterday.

Chopped up onions, and fried them gently in a mix of oil and tiny bit of butter, then added a knorrr veg stock-pot jelly thing and water (the amount depends on how many onions, just so it's runny, and not stodgy) and seasoned with S, P and chili flakes. Put the lid on and simmered in the oven for a couple of hours until it was starting to caramelise on the sides of the pot, then scraped it all down and whizzed it (I used a wand mixer in situ) and served it with a bit of past-it cheese on top.

HTH
SL

PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING

Eating out of the freezer and cupboards challenge - part two

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