Pantry Challenge 2024

[2024Hackathon]

A relative has downsized. I 'inherited' a mass of pantry items she couldn't take with her. They range from the exotic to the everyday. A lot of them are well beyond their Best Before date (some going back to 2012 like stock cubes).

However, I can't bear food waste. So, I'm making a conscious effort to use up the pantry items along with the contents of our freezer and minimise the need to purchase much beyond fresh fruit and vegetables (we do have a lot of dehydrated vegetables).

I know I'm going to run out of inspiration and find it easier to default to not rotating in the pantry items which is why I'm hoping to keep this here.

Note from 31 Dec. I used some dried whole egg when baking (I used half the amount of fresh eggs and the remainder was from dried) and it was (unexpectedly) fine.

01.01.24 pantry challenge

Breakfast: porridge, HM bread toasted, HM yoghurt (all pantry; I may need to try and shift yoghurt making to dried milk)

Lunch: yesterday's vegetable soup (pantry) with tomato salad (current stores)

Dinner: duck (freezer) with roast potatoes, vegetables all from pantry (red cabbage, rehydrated carrots and celeriac).

DH wants to buy some Tunnocks teacakes. They're £2.25 for 10 at Sainsbury's.

https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/gol-ui/product/tunnocks-milk-chocolate-teacakes-biscuits-x10

I've made teacakes before and they're quite faffy (Paul Hollywood recipe with everything from scratch). But, I've noticed that I've inherited several jars of Marshmallow Fluff. I could put this recipe together because it's essentially just assembly and I wouldn't have to use the oven. It's just melted chocolate, fluff, a little jam, and a biscuit (I've some random ones from a Christmas tin someone gave us).

Ordinarily, I wouldn't think of doing this but

• it would use up some items
• it's different to tiffin | fridge cake
• it might nudge DH into a 'less spending if we can do it ourselves from our stores' mindset.

I am fascinated by your haul!

In a way, it's like unpacking a very weird treasure trove!

I opened another box this evening. I had to scan a packet and put it in Google translate to identify the contents as there was no English on the packet and the illustration was no help.

I think it's a packet of ribbons of dried jellyfish. I'll have to see if there's a reasonable way to use it or if I end up soaking it in some seaweed or fish stock and blitzing it.

There were a couple of jars of pickled sea lettuce. Apparently this is good with rice or as part of a tapenade. We shall see.

Following closely to hear what jellyfish tastes like! What a great challenge for 2024.

The teacakes. For preference, the biscuit was a little too thick but, we used a jar of fluff and other stores! Sceptical DH who wanted to spend £2.25 on 10 Tunnocks is impressed.

I'm going to use the remains of that jar in some fudge (thanks to @MotorwayDiva for the slow cooker suggestion).

I've had the ribbons of jellyfish in a salad in a Chinese restaurant. I think it also had cucumber ribbons, and a chili, soy, sesame dressing.

The teacakes look amazing!

06.01 All today's meals are from stores and freezer.

Breakfast: porridge or yoghurt and granola; toast and various jams
Lunch: onion soup (using up bits of caramelised onion left in the pan with a 2014 stock cube) plus HM bread

Dinner: Grilled prawns in peanut dressing; some of the preserved radish mixed in with rice; peas and sweetcorn with a garlic and coriander dressing (I have coriander flavour drops although I'd have liked the green of the herbs); stir-fried broccoli with sesame.

I made the caramelised onion I'm using for the soup earlier this week. We've a jar in the fridge and the rest is in the freezer.

Despite their age (2014), the stock cubes are fine. The BBE date is for the packaging and that's a fiddle to remove. So far, I manage to remove the foil but I have to soak the cube in a perforated spoon while the soup is heating to make it possible to remove the paper.

I need to make yoghurt and villi today. I'm still thinking about the L. Reuteri yoghurt upthread but MIL's DP really wants to try it so I should start it sooner rather than later.

There are so many Asian ingredients that I want to try out a recipe for bao dough. I need to start it today as it uses the Tangzhong method and it needs to sit in the fridge overnight. I've got a tiny piece of pork belly in the freezer which can be shredded for some filling. I'm wondering if I can use some tinned fish and hoisin sauce for other filling choices.

https://www.souschef.co.uk/blogs/the-bureau-of-taste/bao-bun-recipe-by-bao-restaurant-london

I'm cooking a sweetcorn relish from an inherited tin of sweetcorn and dried red peppers. I don't have a fresh chili so I've decided if people want heat when they're eating it they can add a little chili crisp (inherited). The colour of the dried red pepper isn't as vibrant as this but I tend to use this to make a box of tinned fish salad that people can help themselves too so I think we will have to live with the relatively dull appearance.

https://www.asda.com/good-living/recipe/sweetcorn-relish?recipe_id=384e8e23-2aff-11e9-8802-7daf07a34f81

This is brilliant! Found my way here from the No Spend Jan thread and am loving the meals so far. I did a big pantry clean and organise this week so I’ll also be doing some pantry meals, though have nowhere near even a quarter of this stash!

I used this recipe before for bao buns and they turned out great: https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/steamed-bao-buns

Those teacakes look fantastic!

Thank you. I was fortunate that I already owned the silicone moulds which made this very straightforward. I was hoping to take a photo of one after it was cut open but the gannets family mid-morning coffee intervened.

I used a leftover pickle brine from some shredded peppadew peppers to make the sweetcorn relish upthread. Because I used the pickle brine, I misjudged the amount of fluid. I should have discarded some when I realised but I'd found a bottle of 99.5% acetic acid in my inheritance (food grade) so decided to add a little to make it more vinegary. It was a mistake to use up the last of a bit of a syrup bottle as part of the sweetening as it's made the relish colour a bit dark. The taste is fine but, especially with the lack of fresh red pepper, it's visually dull. But, I'm planning to use it as a mix-in so it's OK.

The relish has thickened nicely. I've set some aside for the fish salad and the rest is in jars for the fridge.

The (usual) yoghurt is underway and I'll start the villi later.

07.01
Breakfast: porridge or yoghurt and granola; toast and various jams
Lunch: onion soup (using up bits of caramelised onion left in the pan with a 2014 stock cube) with some noodles (a little trepidation as these are from 2011 but they're egg-free and I've cooked a couple in soft water and they're fine)

Dinner: I've taken various odds and ends of pastry from the freezer along with portions of stew and other bits and pieces. These will be put together as individual pies: steak and ale; cheese and (caramelised) onion; rabbit and bacon; squash and roast vegetables. The pies will be served with an appropriate choice of red cabbage, roast broccoli, and green beans with onion gravy.

I'm doing some food prep for the week (the bao buns, some vegan and regular Shepherd's pie etc., a curry sauce to try with tinned salmon). I have some plans in my head but, as ever, these may vary depending on new discoveries as I work my way through the inherited boxes.

Tonight’s meal was a version of this with tinned salmon, the non-mouldy half of an old lemon, and a bit of cream that needed using up: https://www.delish.com/cooking/recipe-ideas/a26951289/lemon-butter-salmon-pasta-recipe/?epik=dj0yJnU9WXJabWxYTFZyRzhQU3RRRTV4eklodGxpS05wZmFrVEgmcD0wJm49eDYxMXhOamNyM2RGYkJQN3diMWJndyZ0PUFBQUFBR1dhLVln

Thought it was delish but DH didn’t love the tinned salmon. He’s in for a fun month!

HowDidThatHappenDinesh Thank you for that recipe. I may try it this week. I've got some bottled lemon juice and a jar of lemon purée of some sort. I don't think I have an accurate estimate of the tinned or pouched salmon yet but I know it's over 14kg.

The pouches have >3kg in them so I need to be able to make up a lot of food to put in the freezer if I open one which means I need the space. I'll try that recipe with one of the (regular sized) tins.

08.01 all from stores and freezer

Breakfast: porridge or yoghurt and granola; toast and various jams
Lunch: onion soup (using up bits of caramelised onion left in the pan with a 2014 stock cube) with some noodles (from 2011 but they're fine)

Dinner: A vegan Shepherd's Pie (adzuki beans) and a Shepherd's Pie (lamb) served with roast broccoli and red cabbage.

That pasta dish looks lovely, my DH doesn’t like pasta though 🤦‍♀️ so I’ll do some rice for him.

It’s so easy too, @AdoraBell it would probably make a good risotto type thing!
@2024Hackathon I’ve only used tinned salmon in that and in fishcakes so far. Looking forward to seeing the inventive ways you use up that stash!

Over the weekend we had a nice roast so this morning we had crepes with the leftover yorkshire pudding batter (I can never make the right amount!) and I’ve blitzed up a soup with the leftover roast veg and gravy base. Chucked in some red lentils to bulk it out 👌

A mini inspiration from your thread was that I used up a bag of US style grits purchased on a whim and then never eaten! It was ok, made a right mess of the pan though.
And I boiled up to see if they were ok, a bag of black soy beans, years out of date. Absolutely fine! Cooked up soft, unlike the ordinary black beans I tried last year. Ended up donating the dried beans to my daughters classroom for sensory play.

WeirdPookah boiled up to see if they were ok, a bag of black soy beans, years out of date.

Some time ago I read that the BB dates for a fair number of pantry items relate to the breakdown of the packaging rather than the contents. I have to say that's true for the elderly stock cubes as I have to resort to soaking the paper off them but the stock itself is fine ( as it should be with that amount of salt and lack of water). I agree that not all beans come back well.

Today's Shepherd's Pies were very good. Adzuki beans make a fine dish by themselves and work as an extender for lamb (Shepherd) or beef (Cottage Pie or Chili).

HowDidThisHappen Looking forward to seeing the inventive ways you use up that stash!

It's going to be rissoles, muffins, chowders, salads, curries, pasta dishes, fish pies and I may as well see if I can glaze it with mirin and tamari at some point. I shall keep on the lookout. I need to work out what to do with whatever is left from draining a 3kg pouch and then cooking it up and freezing it.

On a frivolous note, it's DH's first day in the office for 2024 tomorrow. We've made a couple of batches of white chocolate fudge. If it sets up, I'll post a picture. If it doesn't, we'll jar it up as white chocolate sauce and serve it over steamed chocolate pudding in place of the chocolate sauce (we won't need to buy double cream).

Oh I agree about dates, I am not one to hold to them. I saw a TV program where they opened a tin of sardines from the 1940's. Absolutely fine, human safe and they even tested the nutritional content and found it hadn't even diminished the vitamins and minerals!

Today I used a mix for millet dosa, I failed to get them to work as dosa so left the last bag languishing. So made it up as a flat bread instead, really tasty!

I'm loving the inspiration your thread has given me and looking forward to your next box unpacking

If you have lots of dried fruit, sugar, spices, make Mary Berry homemade mincemeat. You just need butter and some alcohol (I use amaretto, but most other similar things work ie brandy if you have).

You basically heat everything in pan. Then jar. It lasts 2 years easily jarred up. I would make lots and use as Christmas gifts for friends and family for Christmas 2024. Just add a nice label and ribbon.

DH's white chocolate fudge set up very well. It was a good white chocolate with actual cocoa mass (unlike most white chocolate) so it was surprisingly good (to me because I normally loathe white chocolate).

09.01 All meals from stores

Breakfast: porridge or yoghurt and granola; toast and various jams
Lunch: mushroom soup

Dinner: baked potatoes filled with either tuna salad with the sweetcorn relish from earlier this week or 3 bean salad - both options with an assortment of vegetables.

10.01

Breakfast: porridge or yoghurt/villi and granola; toast and various jams
Lunch: mixed vegetable soup with added rehydrated vegetables

Dinner: choice of Shepherd Pies from Monday with additional vegetables

Unexciting but it's emphatically cold weather food and everyone is out tonight at different classes and events. We all need something quick to heat and self-serve.

@WeirdPookah i too have a package of grits that need to be used! Cheesy grits can use up some of the Christmas cheese we still have loads of.

had a craving for duck leg cassoulet I usually make it with the Lidl confit duck legs. I have all the other ingredients bar the duck and celery. Hoping to stay strong and just use the masses of food I already have in the house. Or make it without duck!

had a craving for duck leg cassoulet I usually make it with the Lidl confit duck legs

That sounds very Winter Warmer.

11.01 All from pantry stores or freezer

Breakfast: porridge or yoghurt/villi and granola
Lunch: mixed vegetable soup with added rehydrated vegetables or tomatoes on toast

Dinner: Salmon and octopus (both tinned) with artichoke bake and assorted vegetables (aubergines and red peppers)

I'll need to make some more granola soon (I have the ingredients in stores).

NB: I've discovered 9kg of octopus.

@pistachiosanscream your duck leg cassoulet sounds amazing. I’ve never made a cassoulet before but may need to try it out. My local Lidl doesn’t sell duck though ☹️

It’s been mentioned on this thread before I think but egg foo yung is a great way to use up fridge food. I did one last night with leftover roast beef and bits and bobs of veg that was on the verge of going off. Still putting off the big shop hopefully for one more week