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!

I've got some random stuff that needs using up now. Think I'll do a red onion and feta tart tonight with salad and potatoes, but I might need your help for the next few nights 😬

Always think I'm keener on yoghurt than I actually am...
I'm the same; I've got an Instant Pot, so I occasionally make yoghurt, just because I can. I'm not that fond of it though.

theviewfromgreatisland.com/jewel-box-labneh-balls-recipe/

Try this for excess plain yoghurt

I got some stewing beef out the freezer last night so just going to do a basic beef stew, my mum is really fussy about stuff like that so will be as basic as possible! But tbf it’s still really tasty.
We’ve ordered a Morrison’s food box which will arrive today so interested to see what is in it. We don’t normally have food delivery where I live, lots of businesses have had to branch out in order to keep going, so I’m trying them all!

We are having some sort of stew involving chickpeas, chorizo, a few almost dried up parsnips from the allotment, some winter squash from last year's harvest (looks and feels perfect still) and some cabbage leaves from the raised bed that dp wants cleared. Feels a bit wintery given that it's sunny outside but it's still quite cold here in Scotland today.

Thank you @Weedsnseeds! You've reminded me that there are some great recipes in India Knight's Thrift Book, must dig out my copy

Jack Monroe's Tin Can Cook is 99p on the Kindle at the moment too!

Here we’re going to have leftover lasagne, a small jacket potato each and one garlic crusty roll each, plus a fresh coleslaw.

I’ve got a big bowl full of chilli waiting to be used, so tomorrow I’m doing something with that.

@RubySlippers77 🌷 this is a great thread; I’m really glad I started it! So many good ideas and so much support. Food is the heart of the home in a very primal sense, and I really think it matters to be able to keep everyone well fed, happy and secure.

@angelcakebananabrain we had a Morrison’s box last week and another one is coming tomorrow. It’s done a good job of tidying us over until we can get shopping delivered. Do you want to know what was in ours, or do you want it to be a surprise? I was actually quite excited to open it ☺️ amazing what counts as excitement these days! 😆

@ninkanink I know roughly what will be in it but apparently just depends on what is in stock! My mum said I only want to do it because it’s like getting those monthly surprise boxes haha

Hoping there’s not too much pork but my mum can eat it if there is, I think they usually have bacon and sausages.

Heh yes, it adds a little bit of fun to the monotony atm!

@Ninkanink thanks for the help yesterday, I did in fact make a cottage pie - it was delish (loosely based on Hairy Bikers recipe, I bulked it out with a bit more veg and some red lentils.

I'm planning on making chicken, chickpea and spinach curry this eve. We might not eat it until tomorrow eve though but much prefer a reheat job after work.

Also planning on making another loaf of bread over next day or two, I love sourdough but my starter isn't as reliable as I'd like it to be so I'm using a recipe that uses yeast instead.

Have a good day all x

@quince2figs I have diagnosed ocd which is mainly germophobia and includes anxiety about food safety but even I know better about best before dates and using stuff up. Again though (as mentioned up thread and there was at least 1 pp was the same) I was brought up in a household where there wasn't much spare money to allow food wastage and both parents raised in very poor households.

That roast chicken waste would infuriate my parents and my grandparents especially grandmothers would have raged at such waste. They each would have got at least 3 meals for their large families out of a roast chicken AND a pot of soup.

My ex was completely spoilt! Really ridiculously fussy about food and way over cautious on food dates, I soon learned to "accidentally" obscure or destroy dates on things I knew would be absolutely fine way past the date or he'd bin stuff the day before its best before date!

His face at me using bendy carrots or slightly bruised peppers or sprouting potatoes in a soup or casserole was a picture! But he gradually came around - though I still "deleted" dates.

His mum while lovely admits she spoiled her kids and they are all extremely fussy eaters - she got to the point she was making 5/6 separate meals every evening! Because they all liked different things (ex was youngest of 4), crazy situation.

Sorry to say the crumble not as nice as the jam. Edible but as the main fruit is blueberries which I'm not that keen on I'm not a fan. It'll get eaten but I don't think I'll make again or at least not with blueberries but then having them was only due to a mix up anyway.

Wasn't feeling great yesterday (felt like a migraine threatening all day but it never properly came through) so a lazy sausage rolls and the crumble.

Tonight I'm debating either omelette or pasta with bacon & sliced peppers with just some butter & olive oil tossed through as the bacon needs using. See how I feel later as still feeling a bit "off"

@Igneococcus I'm in Scotland too and most amused by all the talk of the lovely weather and the assumption it's the same all over Uk! Still only 11°c here.

It's really nice and sunny at the West coast at the moment @Graphista but nippy and quite windy. I can see the windsock of a small airport from my desk and it's been horizontal all morning.

Making pork schnitzel today. Have a pork fillet which I'll bash out and loads of breadcrumbs where I've been blitzing our loaf ends to avoid waste!

I’ve got a big bowl full of chilli waiting to be used, so tomorrow I’m doing something with that. Chilli is lovely with a cheese cobbler topping.

Sadly having to ration flour for now...but that sounds great! I’m going to file that away for future use, for sure. Tomorrow I’m going to do chilli with a French fries topping (because I need to make some more space in the freezer for frozen goods I’ve ordered from shop), with a jalapeño cheese sauce over the top - since we’ve been careful with the milk this week we’ll have some left to make a bechamel sauce. Yay!

The finished labneh

Oh they look fantastic! Might keep that in mind for our yoghurt if there’s any left once we’ve done the tandoori chicken.

I made one portion of potato salad using spuds I would normally just have eaten as a bigger than necessary meal last night. Added fresh parsley, whole grain mustard, mayo and spring onion. So nice!

Forgot the obligatory photo!

No pitta sounds I bought onion and chive bagels which I thought were lovely.

Oh yes I do love a potato salad! I might make one for myself tonight, actually. My DH loves jacket potato so he’ll probably still want that.

I got a fancy mix of mushrooms so thinking of either carbonara type pasta with a cheat creme fraiche sauce or stroganoff.

It takes quite a lot of yoghurt, but if you have milk you can make some more with whatever is left over after the tandoori chicken!

Or- my favourite - a friend who always cooked a roast chicken for Sunday lunch for herself and dh. Neither of them liked chicken skin or dark meat, and were squeamish about bones. They took 2 or 3 good slices from each breast and just threw away the rest of a whole chicken (sobs).

Quite frankly - in a world where many, if most most, people go to bed hungry every night - this is sinful.

What's wrong with some people? Why not just buy a couple of chicken breasts? I HATE food waste.