Sorry very long but it was my responses through the thread
I’ve long been in the habit of lining the salad drawer with kitchen paper, find as well as food staying fresh for longer it keeps it clean and tidy and if you have any spillages makes it easier to clean up.
I’d also say that the plastic packaging many foods especially veggies come in are awful so I tend to immediately unwrap or at least open so there’s no moisture buildup. A particular issue with mushrooms I wish they’d go back to paper bags for those!
The main difficulty I have is as I now live alone it’s really hard to buy small amounts of pretty much anything! Especially at the moment. Also the lack of confidence I rarely feel confident leaving an ingredient out or knowing what to use as a substitute. I used to be more confident on this.
Agree soups and casseroles are generally best way to use up leftovers but I’m wary of having the same meals too much and getting bored? Especially as my appetite isn’t great anyway. Also I’ve only got a small freezer 2 drawers really.
With current situation I’m using the nest egg app I even forked our for paid version. Let’s you inventory everything inc expiration dates with alerts.
@cricketmum I’ve also got creme fraiche needs used and it’s not an ingredient I’m very familiar with. Had some last night with pesto pasta with some veggies, I used it to make the pesto go further. It was ok but I prefer being able to use more pesto but it’s fine for now.
On my other thread was considering doing the following:
Thinking maybe quorn chicken, peppers, shallots, mushrooms, Passata, tomato purée, herbs, creme fraiche cooked as a casserole?
Thinking sauté off shallots and garlic, until translucent, then sliced peppers and mushrooms and quorn chicken. Transfer to casserole dish, make up in a jug/bowl a sauce from the Passata, purée, creme fraiche and herbs and cook...
How long and at what temp?
I was also wondering if I could use in a mushroom stroganoff instead of the usual sour cream? This is one of the dishes I have in the past cooked regularly, no idea of how much of what I use I just do from memory.
If I made a batch of stroganoff sauce (shallots, garlic, mushrooms, peppers, paprika, seasoning, creme fraiche instead of sour cream) will it freeze ok?
@XiaoXiong bulk out pasta with veggies? Also I recommend nest egg app for keeping track of what you have in
Loving the idea of using loaf ends for gratin topping. I do like them toasted with marmite dipped in soup but it’s not something I have often and quite honestly I’d rather prioritise using fresh up before using up my tinned soup - I make home Made soup too but I have tinned in for days I can’t stand very long at all to make something to eat or days when appetite poor and so motivation to cook not great.
Oven made frittatas - how long to cook for how many eggs used? I’ve eggs to use up I was thinking to do this with. And then can I think ok to store in fridge for up to 2 days? What about freezer?
Alcohol wise I’m limited due to meds (not dangerous I just get tipsy very quickly!) I have lager in love a cold lager with a spicy dish, also rum. Not a gin fan. Seriously considering getting some wine in though for cooking as well as drinking, I drink red so it goes great in rich dishes like stroganoff, ghoulash, beefy type casseroles, chilli etc
Op - the rhubarb and ginger gin might work in gingerbread?
I’m Ltd on foil trays & “Tupperware” type plastic containers plus they take up more room in freezer. Can I freeze ratatouille in bags do we think? What about the chicken casserole?
@furble I LOVE ritz crackers, I am a bit of a cheese fiend anyway so have no problem using them up. But as well as cheese for topping how about sandwich spread, pâté, pickles, deli slices (I’m veggie and like the quorn versions but ham, sliced chicken, sliced beef, sliced turkey), before being veggie I used to like shipphams paste on them.
I’m also a fan of a sweet/salty mix so will happily have jam, lemon curd or choc spread on them too.
I’m sure they’d work well as a crumbly topping for a gratin or savoury crumble?
@sockittome123 how about watermelon soup? Loads of recipes online, or a sorbet? Watermelon cocktail? Googling throws up some recipes that basically look/sound like boozy slushies! Winner there
I’m a very bad vegetarian being not a huge fan of lentils and pulses. I find them quite dull and I can’t eat loads of them as my system can’t handle it. But...needs must so I’ve some tinned lentils and chickpeas ordered on my next online delivery but I’d really appreciate tips on using - do I need to soak overnight and all that palaver? I don’t have a microwave either.
@Itstrueiswear I’m wondering if your northern potato, bacon and onion dish would work with:
Quorn bacon
Tinned potatoes sliced
Shallots rather than onions
Do we think?
Would definitely need the butter as quorn bacon not fatty but I’ve plenty butter in.
Would it go well with the chicken casserole?
Also you say couple hours in oven - what temp?
“Any suggestions for using up beef mince other than the usual bolognese, chilli, cottage pie..?” As a Scot I have to say stovies! Easy as, fry off mince, onions, carrots and whatever other root veg you may have to use up, add stock and seasoning/herbs and potatoes, simmer until potatoes cooked. Every family has their own recipe in terms of herbs and spices, our family’s errs more to the savoury, others are more spicy.
Bread and butter pudding I’ve had and liked but never made. Recipes mostly say cream but I never buy cream. Would creme fraiche or bust milk work? How long does it safely keep for?
I’m also minded to try 2 ingredient banana and egg pancakes.
@joesev teens have a high metabolism and need more calories than adults. Protein helps fill them up, but carbs are cheaper. What’s his cooking ability like?
Savoury oats recipes - use to bulk out pie and savoury pudding fillings, make your own veggie haggis (lentils, oats, carrot, onion, spices etc)
Here’s one recipe
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/user/451190/recipe/vegetarian-haggis
Use in fritters, burgers, home made sausages - manufacturers use oats as a bulking agent in such things all the time.
“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.” This is normally me but because of the current chaos and difficulties getting delivery slots and actually also difficulty getting foods with long shelf lives! I’ve got a fridge absolutely rammed full and a cupboard that’s half empty which is panicking me more than a little! Be so glad when things back to normal grocery wise.
Add in I only have one cooked meal a day (ill health, lack of appetite, lack of motivation plus chronic pain) and maybe toast or a bowl of cereal at some point (not necessarily for breakfast) and things are getting very muddled!
I’ve always had a tight budget and with parents who’d also been raised very poor by parents who’d been young adults during ww2 and rationing as well as being from very poor families themselves, the idea of wasting food was offensive!
Savoy cabbage is delicious stir fried, also works well in soups/stews/casseroles.
“I bet you have loads of latent vegetarian knowledge lurking in the depths which will come out as you start to use it again” crikey! Hope I don’t disappoint!
“I'll eat mushrooms with anything.”’we mushroom lovers are normally vilified on here! I’ll quite happily sit and eat a full punnet of fresh raw mushrooms as a snack - tip for this garlic grinder! Remove and eat stalks and in the upturned “cups” of the mushrooms grind away and there you have a fresh/raw version of garlic mushrooms. I used to mainly eat this when I was trying to lose weight instead of crisps. The grinder trick works on carrot batons and sliced peppers too.
@OnceUponAMidnightBeery
Mustard works fantastic in cheese based dishes brings out the pungency of the cheese (makes it taste more “mature”)
I think most of us, especially mums with possibly fussy or in my case ill children partners and husbands who won’t or can’t eat certain things, and leading busy lives find a few dishes that everyone will eat and is easy to cook and stick to those dishes as it also makes shopping easy if you get pretty much same every week.
I’m coming out of a period of almost 25 years of shopping, planning and cooking for not only myself but 2 of the fussiest/most difficult people to feed! Ex I’ve been split from 17 years was a nightmare! Aside from takeaways or eating out (where he’s surprisingly adventurous) there are fewer than 10 foods he’ll eat! His 2nd wife is an amazing cook but has to accommodate this I really feel for her on this score at the moment more than ever! My dd has a disability that went undx for many years, unbeknown to me when she was younger this disability means certain foods give her indigestion or hurt her mouth or throat. So I’ve had to accommodate that.
It means that the foods I like and was used to cooking before meeting/marrying ex I am now rediscovering. But I’ve bloody forgotten how to use em!!