To ask for tips on how to make the most of 15p Christmas veg?

[Sparrow7]

With money tight this year does anyone know which veg lasts the longest and have any cunning tips for storage? Recipes to make the most of it over the Christmas period? I don't have a huge freezer so would especially like recipes for pickling etc, Some sort of Christmas veg kimchi would be lovely, but I wouldn't know where to start!

Most veg lasts OK in the fridge or somewhere cold in the house (I store my spuds, carrots, parsnips etc in my conservatory). It's probably a bit too late for pickling... you may be OK with sauerkraut and kimchi as it only needs 10 days or so.
Japanese pickling is very quick. Look up recipes for Shiozuke and Misozuke. Shoyuzuke is also fairly quick but I am not a fan.
Kimchi is more for watery veg like cucumbers, cabbage and radish. Not sure how it would work with roots.

How about making lots of hearty vegetable casseroles , soups , lasagne etc and freezing it.

Leek and potato soup with any left over cream
Parsnip and ginger or spicy parsnip & apple soup.
Brocolli and stilton using up any left over cheese
Make a mixed veg soup with the carcass of the chicken or turkey

Freeze portions for lunches throughout the winter.

I always batch cook a few soups, and a pasta sauce (with blended hidden veg in) to malware most of the 15p veg and shove it all in the freezer.
I think you can chop into cubes then freeze root veg (carrot, parsnip, Swede etc) which can then be used at a later date to make soup/stew etc.

Keep it outside in a shed or garage.

To use up, soup, puree or roasted veg.

My parents chop up carrots and whatever other veg and put them in bags in the freezer for when they make casseroles or other similar meals.

I think Delia's advice in the seventies was to use the car boot as a fridge extension.

I keep root veg in the garage, in a cardboard box layered with newspaper. It will last a surprisingly long time, easily a couple of weeks.

Storage - a traditional root veg pit dug in the garden? We used to live in a place where people didn't have fridges and this is what they'd do.

Hmm maybe a bit too much work!

Which veg are we talking here

Car boot is an excellent idea. We have a side return utility room which is not insulated and unheated

Sprouts for example, do not remove them from the stalk until you need to cook them

everything else to be fair just keeps well.

Great thanks I will look those up x

I think that last year, Tesco had potatoes, broccoli, suede, parsnips, sprouts, green cabbage for 15p each. I may have missed a couple. I bought a couple of the large bags of potatoes but they were sprouting before I used them all .

I use my garden with a plastic box. Fridge needs to be 5 C and it's usually cooler than outside.

Be careful where you store potatoes outside as they attract rats

You can preserve food in jars, they have to be sterilised, filled and then sealed, submerged and boiled....you can find instructions online. Might be good for veg soups.

From Aldi website:

The discounter’s ‘Christmas Super Six’ promotion will see white potatoes (2kg), carrots (1kg), parsnips (500g), red and white cabbages, brussels sprouts (500g) and broccoli all priced at 15p each from 19 to 24 December.

^

www.allrecipes.com/recipe/240784/easy-coleslaw-dressing/

Awesome coleslaw recipe here ☝️

I use green cabbage, carrot and red onion

This!
My gran used to do this. It’s still a popular food prep style in some countries. You conserve bases for soups and stews in jars, even including things like rice, beans and meat. Then when you need a quick meal you empty a jar in the saucepan, add some water and cook it. If you want the jar to last only a month you can often get away without fully pasteurising it.

Google how to properly store your root vegetables. As long as there’s no mold sprouted potatoes are fine to eat. Just remove the sprouts and peel off shrivelled bits.

I think you can par boil the potatoes then put a little oil on them freeze on a tray then once individually frozen into freezer bag then use as needed for roasties. Haven’t tried yet but was reading up on it this morning. Same with other root veggies i think.

My parents used to do this every Christmas!

I don't like waste of any kind so when I buy a large bag of carrots I chop any I don't use up fine and freeze. I do the same with peppers and celery especially as frequently only need a stick or two for a recipe. They are fine to use in meals such as bolognese, chilli, wraps. I've only just finished using last year's sprouts in this way too quartered in stew or chopped up, not as good as fresh obviously but perfectly edible and nutritious..

I didn't know this! Will look into it thanks x

It really isn’t worth canning, the expense of equipment and storage for cheap veg.

Potatoes, carrots swede and cabbage keep for months in the garage, out of plastic. Cardboard box and pale or cardboard between as PPsays.

sauerkraut is worth it- but probably only a cabbage at a time. You won’t eat it for a couple of months, but it will last a long time.

Brocolli and sprouts don’t keep well once picked.

@SensibleSigma has nailed it. It's not worth it really. Though saukaut is cheap and easy.

Just look up the optimism storage conditions for each veg. Keep potatoes somewhere cool dark and ventilated and they keep for months. We used to buy huge sacks of them, like chippies buy, and keep them in the pantry.

Just only buy what you need. If you are thinking of pickling and kimchi it suggests you are not desperate for cheap veg to ensure a balanced diet.