Frugal Foodies, thread 3! Favourite leftover dishes, avoiding waste, menu ideas. Plus pets, and other chat.

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Hey everyone! 🌺🌼🌸

1st thread is here

2nd thread is here

Looking forward to another lovely thread! ☺️ Eat, drink and be merry!

What can I do with 4 ripe-ish conference pears?

I don't usually buy them, they came in the fruit box last week. In the past I have done poached or crumble, any other ideas? Thnx

This is a lovely cake @lexloofah...

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/pear-hazelnut-chocolate-cake

I like pears either in a salad with radicchio and blue cheese (dolcelatte for preference) or in scones! smittenkitchen.com/2012/10/roasted-pear-and-chocolate-chunk-scones/

No I don't have a starter yet, there are too many options on how to do it that I'm overwhelmed 😂 Jamie Oliver just uses flour and water so I might just go with that, but I do also have Paul Hollywood's How to Bake and he uses a different method that I can't currently remember.

I have lots of middle eastern-y bits (jar of zhug, tomatoes, little cukes, flat leaf parsley, tahini sauce I made last week in a jar in the fridge, etc), a lot of eggs and 4 aubergines to get through at some point so I'm using 2 of them to make sabich tonight. (Probably stick the other 2 on the bbq this weekend and make baba ganoush).

Means I have to make pita bread, but that only takes 10 mins hands on time to roll them out and they bake in minutes. I'll mix the dough up now, leave it to rise while I do an exercise class on Zoom from 5-6pm, then fry up the aubergine and bake the pita at the same time. I'm making a big batch of pita so I'll put whatever DH and I don't eat in the freezer and they toast up wonderfully from frozen.

Kids are having cut-up raw veg and ham & pineapple pizza, because they are philistines.

Spam88 I just used flour and water to get mine started! It does work, it was definitely good to add some wholemeal though as that made it much more bubbly.

I love fruit in salads but It is cake/scone kind of weather so will see what ingredients I have and go with one of those ta.

Spam Simple sourdough starter instructions and video on Bake with Jack: https://www.bakewithjack.co.uk/blog-1/2018/6/14/making-your-own-sourdough-starter I use mostly white bread flour with a bit of rye, that or whole meal definitely makes it more frisky but not essential

I follow his no discard feeding method so as not to waste flour but I know many of you actively love baking with the discard. I am not organised enough to do that even though I used to love the sourdough crumpets we could make, probably for the best anyway, I seem to have put on the 'lockdown 30'

Was hunting in the cupboard for inspiration, and found a biryani mix dated today! So I’m taking that as a sign. I’ll probably do just a veggie version. But I have some fancy mango chutney, and cucumber and yoghurt, so I can have all the trimmings.

Made sabich yesterday - love it and it used up a lot of leftovers including two whole aubergine - and sourdough baked this morning. I added 150g golden linseed to each loaf and it's delicious.

Leftovers for lunch today, and tonight chicken thighs roasted with creme fraiche, mustard and vermouth. Comfort food for a gloomy day.

Random query - does anyone else find that this thread doesn't appear on "threads I'm on" in the iOS app? I see it when it updates on the website no problem but on the app i have to actually search for the thread, it never pops up in "I'm on" even when I know for a fact it's the most recent thread I've posted on.

Segregate was the biryani nice?

Bear how were your fritters?

lex when I was getting my starter going, I didn't discard for the first 4-5 days and just built it up more and more. I have a "trashpot" of starter discard in the fridge that is always on the go - I feed 30g flour and 30g water per day, and discard 40g a day. I cleaned out the trashpot using 500g of it last week to make crackers so that was almost 2 weeks of saving my daily discard to build it up!

I’m making crackers this afternoon from my trash pot xiaoxiong. Those are still the top discard recipe, although there are a few strong challengers now. Your meal looked lovely.

I’ve got curry on the meal plan but no more details so I might do a veg biryani. I’ve got a aubergine... Thanks for putting the idea in my head @SegregateMumBev

Dh bought gooseberries by accident (he thought they were grapes). Any ideas? I don’t fancy crumble.

Diana Henry has a brilliant cake recipe - here: forkandflower.com/index.php/2014/08/13/gooseberry-spelt-almond-cake/

Or make the famous plum torte from the New York Times, and replace the plums with gooseberries - this cake is amazing on day 1 and even better day 2 when the fruit and sponge has gone all jammy: smittenkitchen.com/2013/10/purple-plum-torte/

You can also use them anywhere you might use plums or blackberries, so baked with pork chops or sausages.

Fantastic, thanks!

Ok I had to look up Sabich, looks delish, like the sort of thing I would order while out as no one else in the house would appreciate if I made.

Jealous of the gooseberries, I rarely see them here. I suppose they do look like hairy grapes.

Loaves look gorgeous. We had hm soft sesame breadsticks with our roasted carrot and chickpea soup for lunch. My stick blender finally died while making it so now looking at buying a proper blender and oh my things have moved on since I last looked at blenders.

The Biriani was yum, I had peppers, broccoli, mushrooms and onions. I’d definitely buy that Schwartz packet seasoning again if I saw it on offer. There some leftover, I might have it with spicy salmon tonight.

What recipe did you follow @SegregateMumBev? I’m quite a confident and mostly confident cook but biryanis never work well for me. The rice seems to either be burnt or crunchy. Somethings both.

Used the back of pack recipe. Sautéed one chopped onion till soft, then added chopped peppers, broccoli, and finally quartered mushrooms. Stirred in packet mix, then rice ( packet said 175 g, I cut that to 150, long grain rather than basmati ), plus water and tomatoes ( packet said tin of toms, I added a good slosh of passata). Bring to boil then reduce to simmer. I added more water during the cooking when it looked like it was drying out too much. Keep tasting the rice till it’s cooked.

Leftovers heat up in microwave brilliantly!

Sorry I’ve been somewhat absent from the thread, had a weird week and I’ve not been on mn much at all really.

I feel I’ve lost my way a bit and gone back to old bad habits. Help me find my way back?

Just had this weeks delivery - much better than last weeks.

Need to do a meal plan!!

Have treated myself to new pie dishes wee enamel ones which I have lazy plans for but if you guys have any ideas I’d love to hear them.

Hoping I’ll be up to a “kitchen day” tomorrow, I’ve a pile of dishes to do, and would like to get some “proper” cooking and maybe some baking done though it occurs to me it’s been a while since I even TRIED to get more SR flour.

This weeks items that need using up or I’d like to be using:

Ready rolled puff pastry - long date but packaging feels a little damp one end which worries me

Grated cheddar

Apples

Fresh pasta

Creme fraiche

Eggs

Milk - I’ve 4 pints to use again.

I have my usual veggies - sweet peppers, mushrooms, cherry toms but also some cucumber as I was craving simple cucumber sandwiches earlier in week

Unfortunately not much room in freezer so might be a case of juggling, having something that’s already in the freezer one night then making something to go in freezer the next?

Any tips on MENTALLY getting back into the thread mindset much appreciated, I’m struggling a bit.

does anyone else find that this thread doesn't appear on "threads I'm on" in the iOS app? yes me! It’s on watching but not “I’m on” which is annoying

Could you make a raita with the cucumber and crepe fraiche? Have with something spicy or curried.

Is it the cardboard that is damp on the puff pastry? Because any puff I've ever had ready rolled has the pastry in a sealed plastic sleeve inside, damp won't get to it.

I'd make a tart with the puff pastry, smear the base with some dijon, slice the tomatoes and arrange on top, sprinkle with cheddar if you like. You can cut the sheet in half and use half one day and half the next.

Alternatively, I'd slice the apples and use the other half of the puff to make an open-face apple tart, eat with the creme fraiche.

I'd make the pasta with mushrooms, creme fraiche, garlic and FL parsley if you have it (and bacon also, can't remember if you're veggie)

If you have porridge oats in, I'd make porridge for breakfast using milk, or cereal and milk. Make hot chocolate as a treat as well. Your milk will disappear in no time!

@Graphista is the pastry inside a plastic bag in the box? Mine get a bit wet from touching the back of the fridge but the pastry isn't affected.

Biology may have put paid to my plans! I have endo and I'm on meds to prevent periods but apparently they've decided not to work this weekend!

So will be mainlining carbs as a result! (They somehow help)

That said.

Raita is a good call, I have some "curry" in the freezer - though it barely qualifies as I massively under spiced, but I can add spice to it when reheating.

I don't know if the pastry is in plastic inside the box - it's jus roll if anyone knows?

I have mustard, thinking to do a vegetable tart with mushrooms, tomatoes, peppers...

I did consider an apple tart too - would I need to pre-cook apples? They're just golden delicious. Could I use jam or marmalade to spread on the base of an apple tart?

I am veggie but I have quorn rashers that need using too. So could defo have those with the pasta.

I have packet cheese and parsley sauce mixes in which are good for using up milk. I recall happily using parsley sauce this way YEARS ago (impoverished student days! Living in a bedsit so not much storage space)

But it's not as appealing now, but I'm thinking if I flavour with garlic/herbs should be ok?

No need to precook the apples! Just slice thin, lay out over the pastry, sprinkle with sugar and a bit of vanilla if you have it, dot with butter. Fold the edges roughly over the edges of the apples just so any liquid doesn't run out and bake 15-20 mins at 220c. And yes if it's jusrol it's definitely in a plastic sleeve inside the cardboard box. So even if the cardboard gets soaked the pastry will be fine. If you're cooking for one or two people, I'd halve the sheet of pastry and do a veg tart with one half and an apple tart for dessert for the other

We're going to a BBQ today!!! So exciting. It's at our neighbours' house who have an absolutely enormous garden - the lawn alone is probably 100m x 100m. They're doing the BBQ, we're bringing salads so I've done some very frugal ones - bottom of the fridge coleslaw (used up a random kohlrabi, 4 carrots, half a head of white cabbage, red onion and coriander); potato salad (used up a celery heart and all the leaves, 3 salad onions, plus some old tarragon and FL parsley) and finally salting tomatoes to make panzanella using up 250g of nearly week-old sourdough that distinctly needs some soaking!

On the downside, I did an exercise class on Thursday evening, was very stiff on Friday, and this morning when I got up and stretched it felt distinctly like I had twinged a muscle in my upper back - luckily it's definitely the muscle well to the side of my spine and not in my spine itself so I think I just need to take it easy for a bit. The irony is that I specifically was doing exercise for my back because I know so many people (including my mum, my godmother, DH's aunt, colleagues at work) who didn't take care of their backs and core fitness and are suffering in their 60s. And now I am suffering in my 30s!! Hopefully only temporarily

From a fellow endo sufferer, enjoy your carbs @Graphista. I’ve also got day 1 period pain and I’m feeling v sorry for myself. We’ve had fake sausage and egg McMuffins for brunch, jalapeño sweet potato soup for lunch and I think dinner is going to be an easy curry with whatever veg are in the fridge and a jar of sauce. Thanks for the biryani tip @SegregateMumBev. That’s def one for next time.

Hope your back is better soon @Xiaoxiong and enjoy your bbq. Homemade coleslaw is one of those things that’s about a hundred times nicer than shop bought.

I have had some lovely grated cheddar and cucumber sandwiches for lunch which I used salad cream instead of butter, yum. Some Humous and crisps, fruit and I'm now nibbling at biscuits. I know it's a lot of carbs but it does help. I find I "rebalance" after anyway as I go right off carbs for a few days then.

Reason it's buggered my plans is it also affects my legs (I basically have dead legs for 2 days!) so not a good idea to risk trying to lift items in/out of oven - I lean on the counter for stovetop level stuff. Also makes my spinal pain worse and I can't increase pain meds any more.

Thanks for the apple tart instructions! Will look forward to doing in a few days. I have some brown sugar in and real butter so depending how I'm doing I may do that and some scones too which is why I bought the butter!