Food thread! Favourite leftover dishes, avoiding waste, menu ideas.

[Ninkanink]

Thought I’d start a thread for everyone to post their tips and ideas on how best to use foodstuffs. Hoping it could be an easy guide as well for those who maybe aren’t so used to home cooking or using leftover foods, or understanding how best to utilise everything you have, expiry dates etc.

We have always been very conscious of food waste so we plan very carefully to use every scrap of food, it’s not hard, it’s just a skill one develops.

I’ll post some of my favourite leftover/using up bits meals and menus here and if anyone else wants to as well, please do!

Serves 4^

@joesev thank you for the chapati recipe! I have curry in the fridge waiting to be eaten, I'll give it a go soon as an accompaniment 

The gratin looks lovely @Ninkanink - I will try it once we've got some more fresh veg in - the veg drawer is pretty much down to that ruddy celery now  I made pasta sauce today @OJZJ and used a fair bit in that but I think it's breeding when I take my eye off it...

Also made carrot & lentil soup, carrot cake (just the cake, no frosting), risottos and French onion soup today. Tomorrow is 'using up beetroot' day with roast beetroot & cheese pasta and beetroot brownies to be made. I've already prepped the beetroot so many things in the kitchen are an interesting shade of pink!

Ooh you can dye your hair a funky shade of pink whilst cooking RubySlippers77

Got any tee shirts that need a dye job??

Ohhh...you could dye egg shells to decorate for Easter!

I hate food waste and have always been a menu planner. Normally I place a food order such that the fridge is almost empty the day a delivery comes - great in normal times, but a bit of a risky habit in today’s environment of food hoarding a scarce delivery slots.

One evening I made a roast chicken. The next day for breakfast I made buttermilk biscuit with sausage gravy (my children love southern US food). For dinner that day I made a barley and veg stew from a stock made from the chicken carcass and threw in the picked over chicken meat. I also had soup dumplings made from the unused biscuit dough from the morning to which I had added shredded cheddar cheese and chive snippets.

I used half of the sausage meat which remained along with some leftover bulgar wheat from another meal to make stuffed peppers. I have leftover tomato sauce from that which I will use to sauce a pizza for tomorrow lunch.

I always cook more than I need to use in other dishes.

I hope that one good thing which happens as a result of COVID19 is the rediscovery of cookery skills - not one to make pretty dishes for dinner parties, but the basic understanding of ingredients and how to plan and use them efficiently.

I forgot I had a zoom meeting most of the evening so I ended up eating a vegan ginsters pasty that’s been having around the fridge. Was surprisingly good with tamarind spicy sauce.

My veg box arrived and looks fantastic. Lots more traditional veg than I’m used to...swede, cabbage, two sorts of potato, carrots etc. Not an aubergine or bulb of fennel in sight! Going to make some colcannon cakes for Saturday brunch. Maybe try some gnocchi next week too.

Spicy lentil and swede soup is a favourite here so I’ll make some of that for the freezer too.

I hate waste too, always have done.

When we have a whole chicken, it lasts us 3 meals (each serving 4). We have a roast the first day, a curry or risotto, etc, the second day and then I use the carcass and any leftover meat, stuffing, veg, etc to make a soup or stew. I usually add pearl barley, potatoes or lentils to this to make it more filling.

Knowhowufeel2 Fri 27-Mar-20 01:10:56
I hate waste too, always have done.

When we have a whole chicken, it lasts us 3 meals (each serving 4). We have a roast the first day, a curry or risotto, etc, the second day and then I use the carcass and any leftover meat, stuffing, veg, etc to make a soup or stew. I usually add pearl barley, potatoes or lentils to this to make it more filling.
.....
Girl after my own heart, my mouth is watering. I love proper chicken soup or broth and used to save carcasses in the freezer to make them. I don't bother now I'm on my own but really fancy it now you mention.

I adore a really lovely, moist roast chicken, so did my husband and son.

Left over cold chicken or any meat is nice with creamy mashed potato and Branston pickle.

I have little in the way of leftovers now but recently have been quite inventive with a few, especially in a pasta dish.

I also keep all my veg 'waste' eg cauliflower and broccoli leaves/stalks, top and tail of carrots etc, potato peelings, etc, and when I've enough I use them to make a soup. If it takes a while to build up I keep it in the freezer until needed.

To make the soup, I fry onions and any carrot bits, along with any spices, seasonings and/or herbs I fancy.
I then add this to a stock along with the leftover veg and bring to the boil then simmer until soft. I check seasoning again and then puree before serving, sometimes with a dollop of creme fraiche or something if available.

Whenever I roast meat, I leave the juices in the pan overnight (refrigerated) and then scrape off any fat, which I might use to fry veg at a later date. The jellied stock gets frozen to be used in soups, etc, at a later date.

Thanks, Lynda07, me too 🙂

Obviously already been answered, but this recipe is good to use up/replace with sour cream :

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/summer-winter-chicken

You can easy add other veg too - spinach, red pepper.

Good with pasta, mash, roasted veg, garlic bread

Here's what I've made recently :

Chicken and mushroom pie
Chicken fried rice (used onion, cabbage, red pepper, broccoli and spinach for veg, did an omelet beforehand which I added at the end)
Banana muffins
Banana pancakes (yeah, bananas were on special!)
Big batch bolognaise (celery, carrot, onion) I've discovered it's a lot better if you blend the sauce once finished, and use full fat mince
Chicken quesadillias, which the kids loved

Ooh, another thing I do is add mashed potato to quiches. I usually make a quiche per week to take to work and always have leftover mash so I add it to the quiche before baking. It's nice with mashed leftover baked sweet potato too.

What can I do with a Savoy cabbage? I don’t at it often and when I do it’s almost always in mash!

Managed Miss
My mum used to make a lovely thing that she called flan:
Pastry case filled with mashed potato mixed with boiled onions and leeks, plus lots of grated cheese, and then baked until golden. She used to make baby versions too, in jam tart tins.

@PurpleDaisies
Few ideas here
www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/chunky-minestrone-soup This minestrone uses bits from the fridge and can be frozen.

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/chorizo-cabbage-stew This looks yummy if you have chorizo in your storecupboard.

Or maybe this store cupboard pasta dish if you’re lucky enough to have some pasta still www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/garlicky-linguine-cabbage-anchovy

I’ve not read the WFT but this is brilliant!

I went through my ‘dry’ cupboards yesterday with my phone on voice memo, and made a list of everything in there. Anything that was out of date (but only by a month or two) I put on the counter top. Those will be incorporated first.

Plan to do freezer today, so I have some semblance of list from which to work.

I’ll keep the list on my phone so I can add and subtract stuff as we use or buy more.

If anyone is planning a veg patch, and needs seeds, I found a website called Seeds of Distinction that has most seeds in stock. Not the cheapest but still cheaper than buying them!

Wow, thanks! I have pasta. I bought some tricolour spaghetti in the last Lidl Italian week. I love the look of that pasta dish. I’m veggie but find capers chopped really finely work as a good anchovy substitute.

I like the idea of the chorizo stew too. I’ve got some veggie sausages in the freezer so reckon with a tonne of paprika and garlic that would work really well too.

Have some tiny pasta stars lingering at the back of the cupboard that I bought on impulse ages ago. Minestrone could be a good way to use them up.

My guinea pigs are always willing and able to polish off trimmings!

This thread is my new favourite thing!

We don't have an oven at the moment as we moved house shortly before this all started, & couldn't get one delivered any sooner than next week. Praying it doesn't get cancelled... anyway, our menu has / will include the following:

Burgers - any mince available, done on a health grill. In rolls, with 2 minute microwave rice, or whatever else we can find.
Meatballs - usually the 2nd half of the pack of mince, made to go further with some finely chopped onions & herbs. Done in the Instant Pot, with whatever veg we can get that work, jar of pasta sauce, then some pasta.
Tuna pasta done in the Instant Pot. Cook the pasta, & your choice of veg, in the IP together, drain & set aside. Heat a Tin of (condensed) soup - preferably mushroom, but celery also works. Add the pasta & veg back in. Add a drained tin of tuna (1 tin for up to 3 people). Stir in. I usually add cottage or cream cheese as well if I have any going spare. Heat through. Serve topped with any cheese you can.
Chicken pasta - as tuna, but use a chicken soup, & use chicken, & cook it first & set aside. I'd also add some onions but DD is fussy & would pick them out...
Risotto - preferably use risotto or paella rice, but apparently pudding rice is acceptable. Could flavour with peas & ham, squash, herbs, mushrooms (including dried) there are lots of options. Or just plain & have it with any leftover meat you've saved.
Corned beef fritters - I've found 2 different styles of recipes for these - with batter on, and without batter. The blog I linked is quite interesting for storecupboard recipes actually.

@PurpleDaisies - I'd use Savoy cabbage up in either a minestrone soup, or make some bubble & squeak. Both pretty adaptable. You could use parsnips, carrots, turnips etc as well as any kind of potatoes including tinned in bubble & squeak. Minestrone - any fresh veg you can get, any kind of onions including leeks, spring onions etc, just chop them all very small, fry them up & add some stock or water, & dried mixed herbs. Tinned tomatoes or puree if possible, then some lentils, any pasta shapes you have, a potato finely diced, or plain tinned beans (in water). Season & simmer until done. If you've got some fresh herbs or pesto that's really nice to add at the end.

Plan for today! I have some slightly worse for wear courgette, pepper, onion, broccoli and cherry tomatoes. I'm going to roast them all with frozen garlic and chilli then add 2 tins of whole plum tomatoes to make a spicy roasted veg pasta sauce. It should make about 6 portions so I'll be having a portion tonight with spaghetti and then will freeze the rest on individual portion bags for when I can't get out for fresh veggies :)

OJZJ
Thanks for the oat flour and flatbread ideas!

Thinly sliced cabbage with julienned veg is great raw with an Asian style dressing. You can also used thinly sliced cabbage in savoury pancakes with a soy dipping sauce. East Asians eat quite a bit of cabbage.

Savoy cabbage ribbons with onion and curry spices, fried up.

Yes to bubble and squeak.

I've got an interesting Madhur J recipe which cooks cabbage in bitter marmalade, that I've always fancied trying to never got around to.

Nigel Slater is usually good for cabbage recipes too.

We love Savoy cabbage just fried down in butter with garlic until well coloured, almost on the verge of starting to burn, and served with lamb/pork/chicken.

Also in stews with butter beans (other beans can be substituted) and chorizo/chicken/pork sausages. Can vary the style by using stock or a tomato base.

Minestrone is our catch-all for wilting/tired veg and cabbage is a natural addition.

Mash/cakes always a favourite too.