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

[Ninkanink]

Hey everyone! 🌺🌼🌸

1st thread is here

2nd thread is here

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

Tonight was curry to use up some paneer leftover from veggie burgers. But the paneer had at least three different types of mould on it 🤦‍♀️ did use up half a butternut squash that's been sitting in my fridge for a week or so and a sweet potato that has been in my veg box so long I don't remember the origins of...

The lasagne sheets would be good in a minestrone?

I had salmon and lots of leftover veg for dinner with a sauce using up lemon, butter and cream, and I added some tarragon.

Leftover veg: I wish we had some, we always seem to eat all of it and the fruit well before the week is up. Maybe I am not buying enough but it is two full shoppers from the grocers every week sometimes with a top up. We only have celery left and that is for the guinea pigs!

The veggies use ups sound good though, chilli, pasta, mmmm

It's been so grey and miserable all day, so I made a sort of cross between cassoulet and boston baked beans, an almost entirely store-cupboard and freezer meal. I soaked 500g dried haricot beans overnight, then put them in a pan with the bones from a pork rib roast from the freezer, onion, carrots, celery and rosemary with water to cover and brought to the boil, then in the oven for an hour. Then I added cubed pancetta and pork belly slices from the freezer, seasoned with treacle, mustard, tomato puree and brown sugar and baked for another 3 hours. Ate with oven chips and sauerkraut from a jar and I have enough for at least another 3 meals so I'll keep some back for tomorrow's lunch and the rest will all be going in the freezer for another day!

Also made more banana bread, and I'll make one more loaf tomorrow and bring to our neighbours who just had their second baby. That will polish off the last of the bananas and eggs. Just need to make something with chicken thighs, half a cabbage, a lot of green herbs and a tub of sourdough discard tomorrow (not all together...!) and the fridge should be pretty much bare, just in time for us to go away for 2 weeks. I think it's probably going to be cardamom chicken rice pilaf from Ottolenghi Jerusalem to use up the chicken and herbs, crackers to use up the sourdough discard, and...not sure about the half a cabbage but I bet it will probably keep for 2 weeks in the bottom of the fridge. Or maybe I can take it with me to our holiday let, like a real weirdo. Yay frugality!!

We made pizzas tonight, first time making our own dough (now that I'm a dab hand at bread making!). There was even a moment where I thought my 3 year old was actually going to eat some of the pizza, but she picked all the pepperoni off and ate that so I'm calling it a win because she's never eaten pepperoni before 😂

Mmm now I want a homemade pizza. My two sons will eat squid, oysters, even snails - and will not eat pepperoni because it's "icky"!!

@Xiaoxiong you could shred, blanche and freeze your cabbage if you don’t use it.

I added some leftover roast squash to beans on toast for lunch - it was a very weird combo.

I’m missing everyone’s input.

Tonight I’ve made my own pittas, tatziki and we’re having chicken gyros because I decided that Summer Saturday nights now need to feel like a holiday. Never been to Greece (too hot), but happy to have a Greek night at home in the garden. The only really frugal thing is stretching out the chicken breasts (3 between 4).

To use up today: 1/2 a baguette, bag pf rocket, blackberries and creme fraiche.

I've just whipped up some meringues to have with the creme and blackberries, will make the baguette into croutons and use the egg yolks to make mayo/ aoil.

I love the idea of Saturday summer nights. You have inspired me, we are having lamb koftas and hm pita tonight.

Mmm meringues, what do you do with the egg yolks? I usually make lemon curd.

We were supposed to be on holiday by now but having a holiday at home instead. Have a shop arriving tmrw with lots of easy, picnic and grazing stuff so I can have a bit of a break too.

Egg yolks....thought I’d make mayo, but didn’t realise how much olive oil I’d need! So I have a bit of a mayo monster( halved it half way and will do the rest later)

Another bread pudding for me to make today with DS1's leftover crusts... he loves toast but not the crusts, annoyingly! I'm trying to plan ahead and do some batch cooking as we only have a few more days of school before six looooong weeks of holidays

DS1 decided to make a pudding yesterday and I thought fine, keep him quiet for a bit, he's only little, encourage him whilst I can and then use up the ingredients afterwards. He used tinned peaches, custard and some sugar - ok, I can work with that - then he managed to grind pepper all over it and I was at a loss it all had to go in the bin, unfortunately!

Sounds like he's got the makings of a Michelin-starred chef!

Hello from France we are having lots of holiday food so far, you know, where you don't have to cook and there is minimal cleanup. I love cooking but it's nice to have a break!! Tonight we're getting a couple of roast chickens from the butcher and eating with fresh baguette, tomatoes, salad and garlic mayo. Kouign aman for dessert. Yum!!

Also, off topic, when I was on the ferry I couldn't sleep (honestly I thought someone might turn us back and make us go home!!) so I was MNing at midnight - Graphista I saw you reply to someone on another thread who had moved their boyfriend in too early - I didn't clock your username at first but reading your post I thought - hey this person's posting style sounds very familiar and then saw it was you! I thought your reply was AMAZING!! You rock.

Oh @Xiaoxiong I want to hear all about it. I’m going to France in September (go most years) but have been worried about how difficult it will be. Easy food sounds great.

Leftover roast chicken used in a risotto tonight. Bit bland, but DH used a recipe, and everyone ate it. Bonus is that there is still chicken left for sandwiches (a true MN chicken 😄)!

Leftover potatoes being sautéed tonight, tomorrow the leftover baguette will go into Jack Monroes spinach and chickpea thing.

TheRe will be some leftover brioche burger buns- hit me with your suggestions!

1question you could use the buns for pulled pork, sloppy joes, fried egg sandwiches or french toast, but I had this the other day and it was glorious: www.telegraph.co.uk/recipes/0/apricot-almond-croutes-recipe/

Basically you cut the buns in half, and soak them with a combination of amaretto and simple syrup, or vanilla syrup works too. Then butter the soaked brioche with very soft butter, top with halved apricots (or plums, peaches, nectarines would all work) and some marzipan if you have it, sprinkle with some sugar and bake 25 mins, and sprinkle on some flaked almonds for the last 10-15 mins. It's amazing with a bit of creme fraiche or greek yoghurt!

Well we had one night of easy food, then the yesterday DH and my mum came back from the beach bearing an enormous crab and a lobster so we steamed and picked them and I made pasta for everyone which was lovely.

Wilderness the trip here was easy as pie - booked onto the ferry, drove the car onboard, we were sent to our cabins one at a time (you have to book a cabin for social distancing and wear a face mask whenever you're not in your cabin), fell asleep and we were in france the next morning! We could walk around the ferry if we wore our face masks but there weren't many people on board so it was easy to social distance, you could tell they'd been deep-cleaning the ferry and everything was sparkling. Everything seems to be open here in France, though I think most attractions you have to book in advance rather than just turning up. It's just so wonderful not to be looking at the same 4 walls!!

@Xiaoxiong that recipe sounds amazing!!

I'm following Weight Watchers at the moment and have turned to Instagram for inspiration on no/ low point recipes, especially for snacks; I'm taking the DC out for long walks at the moment and need something for a boost in the middle! There's only so many combinations of banana, egg and porridge oats I can take...

Hey everyone!!

(👋👋👋 excitedly!)

I’m sorry I’ve neglected this thread for so long - had a couple of difficult months and then we made a very big house move a couple of weeks ago, which took a lot of time and energy.

But I’m sure you’ve been keeping each other company just fine...🙂

Hope you all are well and happy. 🌻🌷🌼🌸🌺

Tonight we’re having lamb, with couscous and roast vegetables. Cannot wait!

I’ll probably have to dip in and out (still pretty busy with getting things sorted and settling in, plus I need to look after myself a bit which means I sometimes need to cocoon myself away a bit), but I just wanted to say hi.

Happy new home @Ninkanink

Have you moved far? Maybe there will be more delicious ingredients to be found in your new area!

I've developed bad jaw pain - don't know if it's tooth-related (although I don't have toothache?) or ear-related, as I had a bad ear infection a few months back - but I think I'll be eating a soup-based diet for a while

RubySlippers77 hope your ear/jaw ache is better

Still frugal then splurge then frugal again with us. Splurged on a fish box and a meat box but really that was a bargain from a local farmer but the amount of meat seemed decadent.

So 7 hour roast leg of lamb yesterday, some leftovers in the freezer, some in the fridge for curry tmrw with roast aubergine left from a few days ago and hm naan

Saved the peel off the potatoes with our roast and just made 'crisps' with them