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

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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!

What a shame the crumble wasn’t great, graphista - but glad you enjoyed the jam.
Your stir fry sounds great, too!

It's this one:

www.bettycrocker.co.uk/products/vanilla-cake-mix

I ordered supermarkets own basic sponge mix and got this as a sub

I've only a loaf tin & bun tray for cake baking no sandwich tins I've no idea what's happened to them I'm sure I had some

I would prob use the BC cake mix with the egg, slightly less milk, and a couple of mashed bananas.

I think the issue with the crumble is the fruit is still very obviously blueberries and I'm not a fan. The topping which was crazy simple (just crushed ginger snaps mixed roughly with melted butter and spooned over the top) worked ok. I just would have preferred a different fruit filling.

I had it the other night with squirty cream which helped as blueberries are achingly sweet.

I'd normally say I am quite a sweet tooth but this is too much even for me.

I've the last bag of the errant fruit in the freezer but that's raspberries and I like those.

Not sure how I'll use them yet, debating using in smoothies with the overripe bananas but not sure if mixing/whisking with just a fork will work.

Appetites been off last couple days too which isn't helping matters, I struggle to have appetite and motivation to cook normally anyway.

I think you could use a loaf tin and mix as per quince2figs suggestion.
I also find blueberries over rated. A good slosh of lemon juice might have helped as they just don't have enough acidity for me.
Company I used to work for did blueberry jam, mainly for the Japanese Market, as they loved it.
I used to get enfless UK customer complaints saying it was bland and was do tempted to reply "it's made from blueberries, of course it is!"

Blueberries are really only fantastic if they’re eaten freshly picked from the hills in Norway, where they grow wild...brings me back to my youth!

We keep a bag in the freezer, mainly to use them on pancakes or waffles, where I’ll usually make a zingy compote with lots of lemon, or sometimes we use them plain, to sweeten porridge.

We have bilberries here. In season end of July / start of August. Smaller than domesticated blueberries, and more tart.
I don't know if I will get to pick them this year?

I just find them flavourless aside from the sweetness.

May try and do a banana cake with the cake mix, may try a sort of ice cream using mashed bananas and creme fraiche - would that work?

Yes I’ve never tasted a flavourful blueberry here.

In completely unrelated news, I think it might have rained a bit here...

Got to love some muddy pawprints Weeds!!

DTS2 loves blueberries. Shovels them in. I don't mind them but bilberries are yummy!

I was going to make a cottage pie tomorrow but it's supposed to be a hot day so I've got some salmon fillets out of the freezer instead. Would be lovely to have them with a potato salad but I don't have any new potatoes might do some pasta instead, think we have a pesto sauce which needs eating up...

You can make nice potato salad with old potatoes too.
Here's the culprit!

And apologies for the cat picture on a cooking thread. There will be no more!

That's some fluffy paws right there @Weedsnseeds1! Cricketcat has tiny, dainty ladylike paws.

Just to keep with the theme of the thread I'm cooking, mashing and freezing one of the cauli's tomorrow. And donating the mushrooms to a neighbour who really wants some but couldn't get any in the supermarket.

But also gratuitous cat pic. 😂

Graphista - freeze the bananas, whole and unpeeled. You can use them for baking - in fact they go black and horrible looking but just defrost for a bit and peel. They are ready-mashed at this stage and ready to mix straight into your banana muffins when you get flour!

Love the gratuitous cats!

Loving the cat pics. Anyone noticed we need a new thread? Who’d have thought it?!

I have a wealth of spices and herbs in my cupboard and random items in my fridge. Having a food shop on the weekend but trying to use up random stuff.

Also have:

1 pack of chicken sausages
Onion
Garlic
Eggs
Sun dried toms
Salad stuff
Rice (2 microwave sachets)
Frozen chopped parsley

I need to learn more about spices in particular.

Fancy a meal planning challenge..? This is all the fresh stuff I have that needs using up, also have a well stocked store cupboard. I've also included frozen stuff for meat.

Right way up this time!

Hey all,

New thread is here

Also cat pics are always welcome on this thread, as far as I’m concerned!

Everyone needs a little pawsitivity every so often. 😊🐱

Dogs and other pet photos welcome too! ❤️

Also, yay! I learned how to do the fancy link!!

Thread closed. 🎈