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

[Ninkanink]

Hey everyone!

1st thread is here

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

💐 and 🍰 and ☕️ to all!

Did I say ‘cottage pie’ above when I was talking about a lamb pie?? I dunno what’s wrong with me, I’m definitely not really all here right now...

@Graphista

A pot roast is a big huge piece of meat (usually chuck roast but I used a large piece of lamb) and it's roasted in a Dutch oven with a bottle of wine.

My recipe is a roast studded with garlic. Salted and peppered. Mushrooms , and new potatoes.

Oh duh, yes that would be subtle difference I’d been vaguely aware of but couldn’t remember. 😆 it is like a casserole but the meat is in one piece rather than chopped up into joints or pieces.

So many beautiful food pics and ideas. I too have two giant parsnips waiting in my fridge so thank you for all the fabulous ideas, I quite fancy parsnip gnocchi!

Made a lovely sausage ragu for dinner which was eaten by the fistful by the baby, so sweet! Lots of yummy leftovers too! It used a packet of chestnuts as well as the sausage, and I included some random veggies from the fridge. www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/italian-sausage-chestnut-pasta

Tonight we had Chicken Caesar salad and Chicken Biriyani.....

Chicken Caesar salad

Crab! I am missing seafood so much. I may have to go in search of some. Surely I can track some down in south London...

We had lentil bolognaise for dinner which is always popular. No one noticed I’d added diced courgette and leftover lettuce in to it either. Despite being in the house all day every day our food waste output hasn’t increased at all. We never threw much away but I’m pleased it isn’t going up. I’m getting good at hiding random bits of veg in places that no one expects.

@Ninkanink when you said you might have fish fingers, I was imagining my version of fish fingers, just normal sized ones with some oven chips, some ketchup and maybe some beans, and then I carried on scrolling and saw your beautiful jumbo fish fingers in brioche rolls with a salad, did make me laugh! Not at you of course, it just wasn’t what I had in my head when I saw fish fingers. Looked lovely though!

Xiaoxiong The crab crumble, tart and lemon & garlic pasta all sound fabulous.

Graphista I'm sure I found a recipe which used chickpeas and chickpea flour instead of bread crumbs. Will have a look for it. It's been a while because everyone apart from me views mushrooms with suspicion at best (dd) to loathing (dh).

The fish fingers and pizzas look amazing. I'm now fighting the urge for a midnight snack.

Making a gigantic roasted veggies with garlic, salt , pepper and olive oil.

Just take whatever you have, slice, throw in some onions and viola !

For anyone who fancies fish.....www.fishtoyourdoor.com/

@Graphinista

A pot roast is similar to a roast.

Its first seared; then essentially braised meat (sometimes with wine like mine) or some people like to use a canned cream of mushroom soup.

It's pretty much braised meat with mushrooms and potatoes; NOT a casserole at all.

The wine is almost evaporated by the time it's done cooking (4 hours).

I just managed to put an order in at Shipton Mill, I'm quite insanely chuffed. I always baked a lot of our bread but now with the children needing lunch at home everyday and one prefers softer, whiter bread than the other one does, I bake almost daily.
I'm going to tackle those sourdough croissants next.

@Graphista; apot roast is where the meat is kept in one piece, not cut up. It usually sits on a bed of diced vegetables.

I've got a tub of homemade gelatinous lovely chicken stock, I'd like to use it tonight but don't have any chicken left (we're gannets!)

Any ideas of how to make good use of it rather than putting it in something where it won't make any difference if that or a stock cube?!

Bonus points for anyone who can come up with something using any of the following bits:

Four rogue good quality sausages
Lots of carrots
Half a sweetheart cabbage
A bowl of leftover roast parsnips
Chorizo
Some parmesan
A bag of white potatoes
A bag of sweet potatoes
A courgette
A roll of puff pastry
Most of a tub of 50% reduced fat creme fraiche
Usual store cupboard stuff

Many thanks in anticipation - you guys usually have amazing ideas. 👍🏻

Courgette tart with the creme fraiche and the puff pastry (if you have mint and feta, even better)

Hash with the leftover roast parsnips and cabbage and maybe a few extra potatoes for bulk, take the sausages out of their casings and crumble in with a fried egg on top.

If you have peas in the freezer, you can make chorizo & pea risotto with your gorgeous chicken stock and the parmesan. Alternately you can make boulangere potatoes with the stock. In both of those the quality of the stock will really make a difference!

@judemom that is one of my favourite ways to cook veggies, although I loved roasted broccoli so much I ate it too much and now I can’t face it, I can only have broccoli boiled or steamed! Hope I get over it eventually because roasted broccoli is amazing. Still love other veggies roasted. And it’s just such an easy way to make a lovely meal.

You're a star, thanks @Xiaoxiong ⭐️ some fab ideas!

If you only have one courgette, I'd save that for pasta and make a tomato tart instead!

I have to say, I love virtual cooking for other people...endless creativity and no washing up!!

Also they say that lockdown makes you realise what you really miss and what's important in your life. I made homemade sausage & egg mcmuffins for breakfast - what does that say about me!!!

Do you have noodles? Some sort of Asian style soup with finely shredded carrot and cabbage, bit of ginger, garlic and fi e spice ( or spices along those lines).
Chicken stock actually mixes well with pork, if that helps, it's a kind of neutral stock, unlike beef or lamb which tend to over power.

Or stuffed cabbage leaves using the chorizo and rice, simmered until cooked in the stock?

Tolstoy where in South London?
For seafood, try SeeWoo Chinese cash and carry in Horn Lane, Charlton if you are that direction.
Open to the public and had a fabulous wet fish counter as well as every type of frozen fish and seafood under the sun!

I'd do a Ramen-style soup as weeds suggests. Uses up most of your veg, spiced up with Immune-boosting ginger, garlic, chili, coriander leaf...
Or a soup - my fav is Thai lentil, which is most of your veg, half a jar of Thai Red curry sauce and some Coconut milk if you have some. Bit of leftover chicken if you have any.

I'm still using up the potatoes from my 7.5kg bag from weeks ago - tonight is an easy sausage and mash. Hope to have a bit of sausage left over for tomorrow - looking at a lentil stew (mentioned on here on the 'What to do with lentils' thread) and chuck some leftovers in there.

I also live about as far as you can get from the sea in the UK, but I ordered from Wing of St Mawes, as a trial - 20 portions for £89 which is a great deal compared to supermarket fish. If it's no good, I'm going to try Pesky Fish which has just switched from delivering to restaurants to home delivery. (www.peskyfish.co.uk/shop-1).

The other thing you can do with your chicken stock is cook white rice in it, and eat with poached chicken, fresh coriander, chilli sauce and garlic paste - that's what makes up Hainan chicken rice.

Morning break now. I’ve got a project to use the old flour in the baking cupboard. This morning I really fancied oat and raisin cookies so made these really easy ones which some ancient wholemeal flour. They are very nice. Probably could have done with a minute or two less in the oven but the crunch on the edges is lovely.