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).

I've just used a bar of dark chocolate to make some with the fluff I was begged for and some peanut butter cups

Ooh, I have both tahini and peanut butter. DH would like that, thank you for mentioning it. I also have a jar of caramel sauce/spread so I wonder if that, the tahini, and a shortbread base would make a good tea cake?

19.01 All from stores and freezer

Breakfast: porridge or yoghurt/villi and fruit compote
Lunch: Mixed vegetable soup with extra veg leftover from last night.

Dinner: Fish pie (artichoke bottoms for vegans) with red peppers and mixed mushrooms on the side. (I'm very impressed by how well both of these come back when rehydrated.)

20.01 All from stores and freezer

Breakfast: porridge or yoghurt/villi and fruit compote
Lunch: Tomato soup with smoked tomatoes

Dinner: Egg curry or tofu chilli bake with sides and vegetables. We've found some dehydrated cauli so we're going to try that out with peas in a separate dry curry.

Visiting family tomorrow so baking for that today. Making a range of pies to take for lunch and for their freezer; poaching some Christmas oranges for pudding. We soaked some fruit last night for fruit cake today and we're making fudge (white chocolate as above) and a traybake or biscuits.

I havent tried those flours, I have a selection im trying to work through at the moment but will keep them in mind!

Sorry teacakes I meant I melted dark chocolate, put the fluff, jam and cookies inside like the tunnocks ones. They have nearly all gone now!! 🙈

I have some tahini what are you using it for? I have no idea what to do with it 🤔 I think the caramel with shortbread sounds lovely.

It’s been a good use it up weekend so far. I made homemade pizza on Friday which used up some Christmas antipasti and were relish.

yesterday we had acai bowls for breakfast and then a brunch mix for lunch using up potato waffles, sausages, beans and eggs as little one had a swimming lesson at 1:30. We then had the leftover pizza for dinner with some air fryer chips.

today I’m going to my sisters for a party and don’t know what we will have for dinner. It may be a freezer dip as DH has to help my brother building some ikea furniture for my mothers new place this evening so not much prep time. The healthy eating can start tomorrow.

tomorrow I plan to make a quiche, chorizo potato and oepper salad, a quinoa salad and a pot of soup. This will do for lunches for the week. It’s lunch food that we are low on at the moment. I’ve the pastry in the freezer for the quiche.

im paid next Thursday, we get paid monthly on the 25th except December when it’s paid on the 20th. So it’s been a long few weeks. I’ve done a shopping list for the big shop restocking basics. I’m hoping to do one big shop a month and then just fill in with small local shops. I’m working next weekend so may do this shop on Friday though it would be interesting to see how long I can get before running out of options. I will see how bad the grocery anxiety gets.

Honey & Co have a recipe for Middle eastern millionaire's shortbread. The description is:

A three-layered bar with a shortbread bottom, halva in the middle, and a glossy tahini caramel on top. This was a winning combination just waiting to happen

I put in a dab of caramel sauce that I'd stirred tahini into and used that in a teacake chocolate shell (using the mould I used last time). Then I put in marshmallow fluff (inherited jar) and used a Rich Tea biscuit for the base (shortbread would have been better) and put more chocolate over that. I'll probably do this again, but I'd put the tahini caramel between the fluff and the biscuit.

Tahini yoghurt dressing is excellent with a lot of vegetables.

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/jan/30/tahini-recipes-yotam-ottolenghi-chilli-fish-roast-cauliflower-sprout-burnt-butter-black-garlic

21.01 All from stores and freezer

Breakfast: porridge or yoghurt/villi and fruit compote
Lunch visiting family: Pies we baked (individual pies, so people have a choice) with an assortment of vegetables. Poached oranges for pudding. (Someone gave us a case of oranges for Christmas.)

Tea: Cheese, crackers, vegetable spreads, garden vegetable preserves (these look good). Maybe some of the fruit cake we brought.

Looking at the skint thread has reinforced how fortunate I am to have 'inherited' all this food. A lot of it may be unfamiliar, and people who are more attentive to BB dates wouldn't be content with a menu based on these items, but it's helping us so much. (I still have food insecurity of course, but I'm resisting the urge to buy food. We haven't bought anything except fresh milk, butter, eggs, cheese since Christmas. (DH has bought a few bottles of beer.)

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/4989430-how-skint-are-you?

We did a freezer soup roulette for lunch one day this week. Turned out to be parsnip and pumpkin. Served with some pizza subs found buried in the ice and a dollop of sour cream close to perishing.
I bought fresh veg and meat this week as stocks were low. So haven’t been having quite so many inventive meals! Still enjoying the inspo here though. The tahini caramel sounds really good.

We did a freezer soup roulette

I like that phrase!

The tahini caramel was good. I've found a tub of halva (I don't know why I'm surprised) and I'm thinking of making something like the Honey & Co recipe with the tahini and halva filling. If I like it, I've enough jars of tahini to make my own halva.

https://themadscientistskitchen.com/tahini-halva-recipe/

22.01 All from stores and freezer

Breakfast: porridge or yoghurt/villi and jam
Lunch: Mushroom soup with added mixed mushrooms

Dinner: Venison rogan josh (or paneer) with additional vegetables and rice.

Oh I love halva!!

Another thing I used up today was a bought-on-a-whim tin of Laverbread, from when we went on holiday 2019!! It had only just gone out of date, but it's been lurking in the cupboard reminding me it was pretty expensive.

So we had it under fried eggs on toast for lunch.

It was...interesting. Not something I feel the urge to stock up on.

I’ve done some good freezer dipping and prep to sort out the week. Took leftover funeral ham from the freezer for a quiche along with pastry. Tonight’s dinner will be tikka masala lamb chops with a butternut squash, rocket and pomegranate salad and some rice and a quinoa salad.

The leftovers can be made into a soup for the rest of the week

make quesadillas using bits and pieces from the fridge for lunch and inventoried the remaining Christmas cheese so I can put it ti good use.

its funny how I think the fridge is really running low but once o do some prep I realise it’s that it’s just running low on the easy go tos

23.01 All items from stores or freezer

Breakfast: porridge or yoghurt and granola
Lunch: mixed vegetables soup and crackers

Dinner: Grilled prawns in peanut dressing; preserved radish (finally finished the tin) mixed in with rice; peas and sweetcorn with a garlic and coriander dressing (coriander flavour drops); stir-fried palm hearts and chilli crisp.

Used up a litre bottle of maple syrup I've had lurking at the back of the pantry for literally years... I give you Spiced Maple Mead! It's bubbling away in the airing cupboard - should be ready in about 6 weeks! I have enough maple syrup for another one gallon batch - hoping if it turns out okay there will be enough for us and also for some Christmas gifts this year!

@Pebble21uk I bet that is going to be beyond amazing!! Sounds so good!

So impressed by the mead!

24.01 All items from stores or freezer

Breakfast: porridge or yoghurt and granola
Lunch: mixed mushroom soup

Dinner: Fish fingers with vegetable hoops stirred with caramelised onion and sandwiched in HM bread :)

It's been a very intense few days at work and I just can't muster anything more than that!

@Pebble21uk Wow!! Would you mind sharing the recipe? That looks amazing!

The grilled prawns in peanut sauce and @pistachiosanscream ‘s tikka masala lamb chops also sound great. Inspo for next month’s meal plan!

I’m currently looking through cupboards and fridge for a quick meal tonight as I’ve been called into office and won’t be home in time to cook, and I’m determined not to let DH get a pizza!! I could do:
Tuna or pesto pasta (but we had pasta last night)
Jacket potatoes (but our potatoes are waxy and a bit too small!)
Sausage stir fry (bit low on veg to chuck in, but this is the meal DH is least likely to moan about)
Could do sausage chips and egg… think DH used most of the eggs for carbonara though!

What I would do for some octopus!! @2024Hackathon 🤣🤣 only kidding

@HowDidThisHappenDinesh I used this one https://www.growforagecookferment.com/maple-mead/
I really like her site - has some great recipes and ideas! I also liked the fact that mead is a much simpler process as opposed to making wine. I made a couple of home made wines years ago, but gave up as they were a lot of work... great when it worked but not so great when they didn't and I'd lost so much time and expense trying.

Demi Johns you can usually get for a couple of pounds on FB Marketplace. The key is to use sterilising tablets and sterilise everything to within an inch of its life!

last night we lost momentum and just had beige food in the airfyer. We weetoo busy to eat earlier as i'd to go to a funeral and eventough i'd made a lamb and chickpea soup/stew as the evening goes on we didn't fancy that. still better than a takeaway as i was actually passing a famous chipper after the funeral and DH was amazed i didnt get anything. think he was hoping id bring some home.

Todays a busy day, i'm in the office but need to leave to bring Little one to an appointment and then get back to the ooffice. however i have everything prepped for pesto pasta with ham and roast veggies so will be quick to put together. Breakfast and lunch were brought with me so hoping iwon't be spending.

What I would do for some octopus!!@2024Hackathon

You could come to dinner on Sunday where it's making a star appearance. I'm having visions of a stargazey pie with tentacles rather than fish heads. 😋

https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/stargazey_pie_95306

25.01 All items from stores or freezer

Breakfast: porridge or yoghurt and jam (need to make more granola)
Lunch: tomato soup with smoked tomatoes

Dinner: Fish stew or vegan aubergine stew with HM bread.

@2024Hackathon oh please please do make it with tentacles poking out.

It could only be improved by finding a tiny plastic boat to put on the pastry sea!!

And if you can... PICTURES!

There is some mutiny about the octopus pie as we're having guests on Sunday. Maybe I still need to build people up to this? 🤐

26.01 All items from stores or freezer

Breakfast: porridge or yoghurt and jam (toast as option as I didn't make granola)
Lunch: vegetable soup with smoked tomatoes and rice

Dinner: Fry-up with vegan options and mushrooms, tomatoes, piccalilli (HM)

I guess if the poor thing’s already dead one can justify cooking octopus. I confess I’ve enjoyed preparing and eating them in the past. Now I am better informed and would never contemplate doing so - it would be like eating my cleverest sibling.

@2024Hackathon i would have loved to see the octopus pie.

I'm working the weekend shift in work so tonight i unearthed a portion of shepherds pie from the freezer and brought that to work for dinner. It was lovely and there is another portion in the freezer that will do for a late shift next week. Win Win as the container took up quite a bit of room in the freezer.

DH will look after himself and little one with the groceries in the house.

I'll take some of the soup for lunch tomorrow and i still have pretty full freezers and a pantry.

I'm low on easy fridge snacks but some more freezer dipping and a bit of prep cooking will sort that. I must make some chocolate biscuit cake as we are very low on treats.

I had planned to go grocery shopping today but definitely putting it off until next week. I think a cucumber is probably the only thing i will need and we still have a full melon, bananas, grapes and grapefruit for fresh fruit. Beginning to wonder if i can even get away with just a €20 top up shop now i think about it. Milk and eggs are delivered so i don't count these as "shopping"

Shepherd's Pie sounds good.

Beginning to wonder if i can even get away with just a €20 top up shop now i think about it.

It's gratifying and somehow a shock to realise how much we can develop the stance of 'using things up' and not food shopping while we can prepare something from what we've got.

I'm making individual pies (variety of fillings) for the guests tomorrow. But I may build towards thinly sliced octopus as a starter in the future rather than launch out into things they associate with being on holiday but don't eat in the UK.

27.01 All items from stores or freezer

Breakfast: porridge or yoghurt and HM granola
Lunch: Tartex pate with smoked tomatoes and HM crackers

Dinner: Curried goat or sweet potatoes with rice and vegetables.

NB: I've discovered some goat liver and heart so I may need to consider making a pate from these.

28.01 All items from stores or freezer

Breakfast: porridge or yoghurt and HM granola

Lunch: Individual pies with a range of fillings served with roast potatoes and several vegetables. Poached sliced oranges with cardamom and plain tuiles for pudding. NB: I experimented with an olive oil (vegan, no roll) pastry for the vegan pies and it was interesting to do. (For anyone wondering, you press some of the pastry into the tin and you mostly crumble the rest on top.)

Dinner: Vegetable soup, crackers, remains of Tartex and some cheese.