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!

@8Track for the lettuce I really love to use those mini ones in place of tortilla wraps as they are so lovely and crunchy! I'm veggie so I would make a mixed bean or veggie chilli with the courgette and peppers and then load onto individual leaves with a sprinkle of cheese and a dollop of sour cream, creme fraiche or natural yoghurt. But I do a meat chilli for everyone else 👍

Fab ideas, thanks @cricketmum84 and @Weedsnseeds1! We actually had chilli on friday night (with Doritos.....!) but the lettuce sounds a great idea.

I roasted a garlic and have stored it mashed in olive oil, so will have a version of the spanish one with dinner today.

Am now enjoying a gin in the sunshine, while pottering through ideas and ingredients for the week. Contented.

I've got some shredded ham that needs using so making quesadillas with that, spring onions and cheese

Seriously craving salad right now but supermarket shop is tomorrow. Lightly fried my old tomatoes and had with poached eggs for breakfast.

Dug up the last of my chard that had bolted, salvaged what I could and have frozen.

DH is having the leftovers of a takeaway Indian for lunch.

I’m still not able to tag anyone as when I do the text box deletes everything I’ve typed whenever I go on to the next line! 😡😡

Yesterday’s meals:

Lunch: chicken and bacon club sandwiches.
Dinner: beef Bourguignon with potatoes, glazed carrots and parsnips, and green beans.

Today’s lunch was a couple of pitta breads, halved and topped with green pesto, last of the salad leaves, sliced pear and cambazola, and into the oven for a couple of minutes.

Going to try again...

@YesILikeItToo smoky stews are delicious! We often make our chillies and stroganoffs smoky, and we also very much like a goulash. I think it could work very well.

You could just roast it, though.

Lovely couple of hours pottering. Made a coconut tart with the defrosted shortcrust. Put a layer of lemon curd underneath the coconut and mixed in some frozen blueberries.

Made a lovely Spanish omelette (Raymond Blanc recipe on Delicious website) which saw four ailing spuds and eight eggs used but alas also the last of my onions! Think we’ll have to venture to the shops soon.

Also made potato peel crisps for the first time which were so tasty!

It’s still eggs and milk I really need to use. I’ve had some cereal today using some of the milk but I’m not a huge fan of cereal and only have it occasionally.

I’ve eggs dated
11 April
18 April in cupboard in my very warm kitchen

15 eggs in fridge dated i think 14 may? Long date on them anyway, they’re only in the fridge as can’t fit them anywhere else!

I’m very wary of the 11 April ones to be perfectly honest.

I also still have

Aubergines
Courgettes
Mange tout
Peppers
Mushrooms

That need using up.

I’d like to do some kind of (mild) curry or chilli actually for a change.

Spices I have in are:

Smoked paprika
Normal paprika
Ground ginger
Mild chilli
Ground cumin
Coriander leaf

I also have stock, garlic, shallots, tomato purée, passata, soy sauce (Dark and light), Henderson’s relish

If anyone would care to make any suggestions?

@weedsnseeds1 another yummy bagel filling is slice, pesto sauce to “butter” one side, cream cheese to “butter” other side and sundried tomatoes.

@8track if you have sour cream or creme fraiche you could still make a dip or even cream cheese mixed with a little milk. (Note to self use some milk for home made dips)

You could do an omelette for easy Monday night dinner using the eggs, bacon & peppers. Still works with waffles & beans.

I love celery. Celery with onions & garlic makes a great base for a wide variety of savoury dishes and sauces. Celery also works well in salads, stir fry, as a crudité, in soups, stews and casseroles...

weeds if I make dip using cream cheese, milk and herbs how long will it safely keep in a Tupperware style tub? I’ve only ever made dips like this when they’ll be finished same day eg to take along to “pot luck” style bbqs/picnics

I'd say 2-3 days for that type of dip

Cheers weeds good to know, I'm a crisps fiend and have some every evening, making some dip and having with them would use some of the milk up.

@Graphista will you do the float test on the eggs. I’m usually quite gung ho about the dates on eggs but not sure I would do anything but bin the 11th April ones.

God I have just spent HOURS planning the next week and a half's meals. We have an Ocado delivery on Tuesday, veg box and butcher deliveries Thursday, and then Ocado again the following Thursday, and sourdough starter will be ready to roll on Thursday (or so). So many moving parts!! I've now planned all the way through to May 6th. I feel like I have mentally cooked every meal in the process and am now exhausted and don't want to cook any of it as it feels like I'm cooking it "all over again".

Breakfast I realised we had no eggs, no fresh milk and no bread and it was Sunday so no shops open. I had aquafaba in the freezer from the last time I opened a tin of chickpeas, and UHT milk in the cupboard, so I made soda bread with caraway seeds and raisins for breakfast and we ate with crispy bacon. Not the world's healthiest breakfast but better than nothing!

Roast hand of pork (vvv cheap from local farm shop), roasties, apple sauce and sauteed chard for dinner. I forgot all about the pork while doing aforesaid meal planning so it's only had about half the time I had intended it to have...I hope it's edible

With the April 11th eggs I'd crack into a bowl. If they smell bad, I'd chuck them - if they are bad you'll know as soon as you crack the egg. Otherwise I'd happily cook them, especially if they're baked into something else where they will properly cook through. Eggs last aaaaaages if they're not washed or cracked.

I must say in general I ignore all dates, they're not for us they're for the shop to rotate stock and avoid lawsuits. Your nose is a far better judge of anything going off, and sometimes things that are IN date can go off so better to use your nose all the time. Forget about dates. They are pointless and will lead you astray (and into wasting food).

Oh I’d eat the eggs right to the end of May, especially if they’ve been in the fridge for all or part of that time. They are fine to eat for weeks after the date.

If you’re worried you can crack into a bowl first just to be sure.

Do the float test on the eggs.
I would be cautious with relying on your nose for things like raw or cooked meat. Pathogens don't smell, spoilage bacteria do (and they are harmless, just not nice to eat), it's pathogens you should worry about!
You get a few days extra on the UB date for that type of product, but if you can't eat it within that time, best to cook, cool and refrigerate or freeze.
Eggs are kind of their own little ecosystem, they loose moisture outwards, so the air cell gets gradually bigger, so if they float, they are really not going to be great.
Fruit and veg, just trust your eyes, nose and sense of touch.
If they are pre-prepared, exercise a little caution, there is a (slight) listeria risk.

I MIGHT do the float test but I think I'll more than likely bin - not a full box thank goodness.

And...I have scales!!
Finally!

So I can do some baking! And some savoury recipes involving flour I'll feel more confident doing now too.

sometimes things that are IN date can go off oh absolutely! Had that happen the other week with milk that was in date and only open a day!

Reason I've not used my local dairy for any deliveries is their stuff goes off really quick! Their milk doesn't taste nice even when supposedly fresh god knows what they do to it, and yet some of the locals rave about it!

If they are pre-prepared, exercise a little caution, there is a (slight) listeria risk. this is where I get stuck as due to my physical disability I am no longer comfortably able or indeed safe to deal with "harder" things like carrots and potatoes as I can't grip the knife securely and even peeling I can get in bother with so if I do get them they do tend to be pre-prepared and thus have a fairly short shelf life.

I'm ok with "softer" easy to prep things like peppers, mushrooms but even then some days I'm too sore to stand for long at all or grip a knife.

I still don't have a sieve or whisk though so that could make the baking interesting!

Any ideas for aerating flour sans sieve would be good. Can use a fork instead of a whisk I suppose.

Feel relatively confident I can manage a basic sponge. I have a loaf tin and a bun tin and when tidying out the pots and pans drawer found cake cases too. But I'll warn you now I don't produce "pretty" cakes at all but they taste good. Man I'm gonna be fat

I'm an inadequate cook, so only really coming on here to ask for help. Lettuce is great cooked, btw, but I don't think it would be easy to get for my favorite cooked lettuce dish - shred the lettuce and cook for around an hour and a half to two hours with peas and lamb mince. It's from Eliza Acton and called Chino chila (I think).

Eggs can be beaten and cooked as a fritata in the microwave. I have used tinned potatoes and frozen peas (cooked) in the past.

Here's the thing. The men asked for biscuits for cheese for Christmas. This is the only reason I bought them. Now there is zero chance that they will actually eat them with cheese. Is there some way I could make them into a crumble or something?

Wish you could send the cheese biscuits my way! They don't last long in my house!

Would they eat them with pate or deli meats?

I'm veggie but as well as cheese I have them with quorn deli slices, veggie pate, and deli items like olives and sundried tomatoes.

Woohoo Scales, Graphista, the world's your oyster ( or would be if you weren't vegetarian)!
Listaria isn't very heat stable, so if you cook it, any potential risk is gone. You are fine with cooked pre-prepated veg. It's more bagged salad etc. and I should stress, yes, there have been cases, but it's very rare.
Meckity1 you can crush them with a rolling pin, bottle etc inside a plastic bag and use like breadcrumbs for fishcakes, Southern fried chicken etc.
Or even use as a thickener in soups

@Graphista I wish I could with a chance of them getting there as they are a naice selection but out of their tin. No chance of them eating them in their current form. They won't touch pate, and are generally 'particular'. I can't eat them as they aren't gluten free.

@Weedsnseeds1 That's an idea - I have some chicken breasts coming with a veg box tomorrow so I could crumb them! Thank you. (I sliced them up, dip in beaten egg, dip in biscuit/cracker crumbs, bake in medium to hottish oven for around half an hour, right?)

Today it’s been a full day of leftovers.

Banana pancakes.
Bargain mushroom pies with leftover new potatoes roasted with rosemary sea salt and leftover root veg mash.
Leftovers from yesterday’s Indian take away topped up with some bhajis and samosas from the freezer.

It has been a good day for eating.

@Weedsnseeds1 people often say vegetarianism is restrictive/boring but honestly in over 30 years as a veggie and starting WAY before Linda McCartney let alone quorn and veganism taking off I've rarely found it to be the case.

I had to make more effort back then, mum (fair enough with a family of 5 and working full time) wouldn't cook a separate meal for me, but happy enough to buy me plenty of veg, carbs, flavourings, soy mince, bean feast, sosmix etc.

So I'd batch cook (didn't call it that then) of a Sunday and freeze whatever I'd made to eat in the week.

Back then I could eat hot spicy things too which I loved so I'd make chillis, curries, stews, casseroles, Bolognese sauce etc

It was really only when eating out it was difficult, most places didn't offer a veggie dish or tried to offer poultry or fish as "vegetarian" plus even apparently veggie options were often cooked in meat stock or drowned in meat gravy! (Even when asked to omit it!)

Often the only option was a vegetable Lasagne (which as a result I can't face thought of these days!) or if I was really unlucky it'd be "chef might be able to knock you up an omelette"

Vegetarians and vegans nowadays who are too young to have gone through this don't know they're born!

When I went to live overseas people worried I'd "starve" including my mother but it was the 90's and becoming more common and it was absolutely fine.

My ex fiancé once had a conversation with a cabbie saying he thought that was why I was so slim (then! Size 6) but cabbie said not at all his sil was veggie and the size of a house! I'm now much older and size 6 is but a dream! But I ate plenty then! I just was able to exercise it off as I swam, ran and played netball and badminton and cycled or walked everywhere I went - plus I was having a lot of sex!

I try and eat a varied diet and not get into ruts but it's hard, not because of the vegetarianism but because of the health issues.

Anyway, I've had an odd day as I had a rough night so no cooking today, going to do myself a "deli plate" with crackers, my homemade semi dried tomatoes, olives, pickles, some sliced veggies, some home made dip, quorn pepperoni and cream cheese.

Happy eating all

Graphista, not knocking vegetarian food, I love it. I eat meat and fish but not every day.
There are lots of delicious meat free meals.
I was just punning about the phrase "the world's your oyster"
Your meal tonight sounds right up my street.

Aubergine and spinach curry tonight, with basmati rice.