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!

placemarking.... great thread

I've got some sour cream left over, can't decide between mushroom stroganoff or make some flatbreads?

I'm also making a banana loaf today to use up bananas, and when we've eaten our way through that I'm going to make Smitten Kitchen's pumpkin bread as I found a tin of canned pumpkin puree in the cupboard when I was playing tin tetris.

Today's lunch will be fried rice - we had homemade chinese last night and I made extra rice. Chinese food really is amazing for when you have lots of little bits of stuff, none of which is enough for a whole meal but you need to stretch it out.

I've not got any parmesan in, but assuming my Ocado shop shows up on Thursday I'm going to try the pearl barley risotto! Thanks for the suggestion.

I really need to get ALL of our stashed pantry food out and do a mammoth stock take. I'm a bit of a food/ingredient hoarder at the best of times and I'm sure we have more than we realise.

If you have tins of beans, chickpeas, borlotti etc you can use the water left behind in place of eggs when you are baking.

I do a weekly fridge frittata. Get any tired looking veg from the fridge and roast them in the oven, add any little bits of leftover chorizo, bacon or ham and transfer to a pie type dish. Pour over beaten eggs to cover and grate or drop in any little bits of cheese. Use whatever you have and bake for 30 mins in the oven.

I've also been making a sort of cheats ramen type dish. Chicken stock, lime juice, fish sauce, soy. Drop in some dried noodles and cook for a couple of minutes, sprinkle in sliced spring onion, any brocolli, carrots of pak choi if you have it. Add bits of chicken (you don't need much) and top with a soft boiled egg. You can also throw in any tired coriander or parsley.

Butter, cheese, milk, cream etc all freeze really well. Any remaining herbs that are getting tired can also go in the freezer and be added to soups and stews. I slice up tired lemons and freeze for dropping into a G & T. Yes I still have gin

I also turn leftover bits into a curry, or pasta sauce depending on the weather.

Another favourite of mine, DDs not so much, is an omelette/frittata with sautéed veg bits.

Play around with whatever spices/herbs you like/have.

I was watching one of Nadiya's cooking programmes the other week and she used beef jerky with some instant noodles, the logic being that's it's just dehydrated beef so one you rehydrate it then it's just beef... Bought some beef jerky for the store cupboard today.

Also, can’t see if it’s been mentioned already, broccoli. Chop the stems for the soup/casserole but leave the florets out until the last few minutes of cooking.

@TheDogsMother we don’t have gin (waiting til our next shop to get some) but we do have tonic and martini Rossi, which makes a great cocktail! 👍

@Ninkanink We need another thread with cocktail ideas for the random dregs of the drinks cupboard.

Thankfully we’re not in dire straits for a while yet - quite a lot of whisky, some cognac, some calvados, angostura bitters, amaretto and triple sec for hot chocolates, chambord, 2 or 3 tonics, a few cordials, 1 box of red wine and 1 of white, about 45 beers, and 2 bottles of Prosecco. Plus 1/4 of a bottle of a really quite nasty rhubarb and ginger gin which we can’t stand to drink any more of but can’t bear to throw out. We’ll see how desperate things get...

My cupboards are looking pretty bare but have tinned toms, usual spices, a few peppers needing used and a red onion so today's effort will be:

Make a spicy tomato sauce using the peppers and red onion with cumin, oregano, chilli flakes, pinch sugar, squeeze of harissa paste cooked down to make a thick sauce. I have half a tin of chickpeas that I'll chuck in to bulk it out.

Will have that with meatballs I found in the freezer. The leftover sauce will do for baked eggs tomorrow. Don't want to go to shops until I absolutely have to.

I love spicy tomato sauces, and baked eggs. It sounds like you’re making exactly the things I would have made with the ingredients you’ve got to hand!

Also love ramen/Asian soup-style dishes, they are very good for using up bits and pieces. Same for frittata/omelette.

Later I’ll post a few really easy tasty recipes that we make and then stretch out as required.

If you have leftover bits of cheese & Greek yoghurt you can use them in a quiche. Delicious & healthier than using cream.

Ninkanink; can I come and eat at your house?!

I use quinoa instead of rice in risottos.

We are defrosting a pot of bolognese sauce for tonight, but also I saw some opened tinned tomatoes in the fridge which are often one of the things that end up wasted. So we are going to eke out the (small) sauce, and then I might separate it out so the kids have some but add chilli flakes and kidney beans, maybe some peppers to ours and have with rice instead

Lentil stew (red lentils simmered) works with pretty much any veg. Usually I try and add some roast chicken in there too but I think I’ll save that for something else as the lentils themselves (which nobody but me will eat anyway 🙄) have plenty of protein.

I need to go through the veg in the fridge and see what I can chop up for the freezer. Things like celery are good for a sauce base

If you've got lamb or beef mince, you could do a pasticcio-cook the mince with stock and tomatoes, top with cooked pasta, and pour over a cheese sauce.www.thehungrybites.com/pastitsio-recipe-greek-pasta-bake/

Found some less appealing old Ritz at the back of the cupboard. Anyone got any exciting cracker toppings for a light meal or other uses for old crackers?

I googled as I’ve not got any go-to recipes myself

viralnova.com/ritz-cracker-recipes/

You can crush ritz crackers, mix with butter and use as a topping for macaroni cheese or similar.

Yes I think that’s what I would do - or crush and use as breading for chicken or pork. Or maybe use it as a crust for a quiche!

Blatant placemaking here as we're awful for wasting vegetables food!

@sueelleker it’s too bad we can’t hold a frugal foodie bring a dish soirée...sounds like we could have a great meal with everyone’s contributions!

Let’s do the MN equivalent!

and for all!

I'm just cooking for me right now, as the DCs sorted their own food out.

I have some cherry toms close to gonig over, some mushrooms to use, and a 5 cm pice of chorizo. So I've halved the toms and chopped the mushrooms, popped into a dish with a bit of pesto and oil, and am now roasting these. In about 20 mins, I'dd add the chorizo (now finely chopped) to cook for the last 5 mins.

I'll also add some left over croutons for crunch, and that'll do me fine. Followed by fruit and yoghurt to use up.

Leftover chilli and jackets here.