Frugal Foodies, thread 2! Favourite leftover dishes, avoiding waste, menu ideas.

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Hey everyone!

1st thread is here

Hope that link worked! I’ve never done it that way before...

💐 and 🍰 and ☕️ to all!

@PurpleDaisies re milk generally I agree but uht smells "off" to me anyway, hence not that keen on it.

I'm really funny about milk as soon as it looks or smells even slightly "wrong" I won't use it. Bad memories of being caught out in past!

@SegregateMumBev that does look quite bad

Milk is really obvious to know if it’s bad. It just smells and tastes awful
Which I usually discover just after I've poured it into my coffee!

@Graphista milk that has soured is actually very good for making scones. And cakes. As long as it’s not actually curdled and lumpy, it’s fine to use for baking.

Oh ok I can kind of see what you mean with the pepper...

However I can’t lie...I still would have cut half the depth away and seen what the rest of it looked like!

I have a bacon quandary! I've been volunteering at a food bank delivering stuff to people isolating.
They were donated a lot of bacon catering packs which were past their sell by and had been previously frozen so we can't distribute them, so we volunteers were given some.
I have a kilo of unsmoked back bacon, none of my neighbours want to risk it!
I'm thinking chop it up and saute with onions then freeze in portions to use as bases for casseroles, pasta dishes.
Unless any of you have a better idea please!

My soda bread experiment with various flours was a triumph. It looks completely dodgy but is fantastic toasted and as it is just me this week I don’t care about looks.

Tonight is some elderly veg stir fried with pasta and what is left of the artichoke and truffle pesto jar from a while back. I was going to add chorizo but cannot be bothered to chop it and it has a long time to go before it needs eating so I will save it for another time.

Raera, you could use it in all sorts of things: risotto, omelettes etc. And in bread. But I would cook and try some before I froze it just to be safe.
I brought a load of very ripe bananas back from the food bank yesterday that we couldn’t give out, and left them on the front wall. A neighbour just sent me a text to say they were enjoying smoothies, so that was good.

Green pepper, red onion, tomato, mushroom, halloumi traybake, with granary bread croutons and pesto dollops.

graphista nigellas moonblush tomatoes are nice (basically semidried tomatoes) - cut in half and pop on a baking tray, drizzle with oil and herbs if you like, then put in the oven once you've finished cooking something else, turn it off and leave them in there overnight. Will last a few days in the fridge. Nice in pasta or salad, or would be nice with your cheese and crackers.

Milk ways to use lots
Rice pudding - do you have, or could you add to your shop short grain rice?
Paneer - heat milk, acidify with lemon juice or vinegar until it coagulayes, strain and press
Yoghurt - do you still have any of your Greek yoghurt left? Warm milk to blood temperature, whisk in a couple of spoons of yoghurt, cover container, wrap in a towel and stand somewhere warm for 5-8 hours
Pasta bake with sauce
Potato bake with sauce
Quiche

Pancakes

Fry onio, garlic, mushrooms stir in some milk and cream cheese - serve with pasta or rice. Or on toast, then under grill until bubbly

Our dinner tonight:

Bacon, mushroom and lentil stew.

I used this recipe:

leitesculinaria.com/68174/recipes-bacon-mushrooms-lentils.html

Modified a little - I chose this recipe because I needed to use a pack of smoked and cooked belly pork. Half of it went into this stew, half will be used in a hash later on this week. I didn’t have fresh parsley (just used the very last bit 😭) so I added thyme instead. Used the last few dried porcini mushrooms to add some extra depth. Threw in some greens from the farm veg box as well. Served with a part baked wholemeal baguette which has been in the fridge for a few days now waiting to be used. 👍

It was very nice indeed, very rich though so we both ate less than we were anticipating and now we have a ready made lunch for later in the week. 👍

Our lunch yesterday and today was the leftover curried potato and butternut dahl, with chapati. 👍

I baked buckwheat muffins, using the recipe on the back of the flour pack with the last gooseberries from the freezer instead of brambles. They are almost all gone already.

The muffins look delicious!

I forgot to mention I also used lime in the stew as I don’t have any lemons right now.

@raera I have to be honest while I'm veggie now I was taught growing up the worst culprits for food poisoning were

"The 3 p's - pork, poultry and prawns"

A shorthand for remembering as the "prawns" refers to seafood generally.

While I don't eat meat dd is omni and when she lived at home I was cautious when it came to those items and bacon being pork I'd not be using it at all given what you've said.

@spam88 I'll check that recipe out thanks

@Weedsnseeds1 Thanks for milk tips, last thing I need is more yogurt I bought loads and then haven't been fancying it since! Unfortunately I do this occasionally, take a fancy to something, buy loads of it and then go right off it! Usually sweets I do that with though so not disastrous as they keep till I fancy them again.

Quiche I've been debating but I don't have a suitable dish and think I'd struggle to make the pastry as still can't get hold of scales!

Rice pudding I'm not a fan the only one I like is my mums and despite many attempts following her instructions to the letter to replicate I haven't managed it yet!

If I made pasta/potato bakes how long would the finished article last?

Pancakes - again how to make flour ones without scales? Or a whisk! Also there'd probably be too many pancakes for me to eat in one go can they be stored?

I like the sound of the onion garlic & mushroom pasta sauce

Thoughts on how long the pasties I made yesterday will last?

I'm thinking up to 3 days?

All your dishes look fabulous serious cooks envy here.

3 days sounds about right for pasties.
Make yoghurt, then add a bit if salt and strain to make soft cheese?
Pastry is half fat to flour, so use a mug or something and do it by volume!

Smoked mackerel florentine with poolish bread toast and green beans

Interesting - I was coming on here to ask what I could do with a glut of milk!

Mine is Soya milk tho - ds used to use it all the time on porridge in the morning, but he's having toast instead now. I opened a litre with a BB date of 17th April, as the carton was bulging, but I think the milk is actually fine. What to do with it?

i don't eat pasta, so pasta sauces are out. Rice puddings - no one eats them (but me occasionally) and milk jellies are bleurgh. Don't think you can freeze soya milk. I'd use it in soups but it's too warm here for soup.

I might have to start eating porridge for breakfast instead?

In other news - dinner is Red Lentil meat-less loaf with leftover bits from the fridge in it; half an orange pepper, half a chili, a teaspoon of pesto sauce, some sun-dried tomatoes... With coleslaw using up the last of the white cabbage.

@Raera bacon is cured so should be absolutely fine. You will be able to tell by smell and/or taste (once cooked) if it’s off - there is no mistaking pork that’s gone off. But bacon generally lasts ages past the time especially if it hasn’t been opened, so I wouldn’t worry at all. I routinely use bacon that’s up to a couple of weeks over.

Oops forgot to say, I think the idea of sautéing it and freezing is a good one, as it would be best to freeze it for long term preservation. You could also take a punt and freeze as is, and then just check packets as and when you open them.

Oh just noticed they’re previously frozen - in that case you would have to cook it and then it can be safely frozen again, so I’d go with your soup base idea.

What shall I do with these? Have most baking staples.