Can we have a chat about what food/s you most frequently throw out from your fridge and how they could actually be used up?

[Mintyy]

I'll start:

Creme fraiche - I buy this to go in a chicken paprika casserole thing I do, but then can't think of another way to use the other half pot within a week.

Sweetcorn - the dc like tuna sweetcorn (ick!!) in wraps and sandwiches but again I only need half a tin. So the other half festers in the back of the fridge until it grows blue mould someone realises and chucks it.

Coleslaw - never eat the whole tub

Olives - ditto

Grapes - similar

Apples - quite often the apples end up going wrinkly

Potatoes - omg, I have thrown away so many potatoes and now we have full blown potato plants growing out of our compost bin

cantabile one of our favourite meals is made with leftover pork. You chop it up, bung it in a casserole dish or pan with two tins or drained, rinsed chickpeas, and two tins of copped tomatoes. If you have odd bits of veg you can chop them small and bung them in there, too. If you want to get really fancy you can start by chopping and sauteeing an onion or two before bunging everything else in. Season and cook it for ages, and it is so delicious, either with bread and butter or mash.

This works for all kinds of leftover pig-meat, and you can mix and match the chickpeas, too, with other beans and pulses you like, eg we also like bacon knuckle and tinned broad beans with the tinned tomato. Leftover sausages, cut 'em up and pair with haricot beans and the tinned tomato, and you can even bung in any baked beans looking sad in the fridge. My very favourite is made with the end of a chorizo sausage, but you can also just put a bit of smoked paprika in to jazz up the regular pork.

All you are doing is chopping a bit of meat and opening four tins, but it is a proper satisfying dinner, and is so cheap and tasty.

Redundant -here's a link to show you what the box looks like. If you have a reasonably large supermarket, it should be in the world foods aisle.

My local asian newsagent does a good line of large packs of spices for less than a pound, and also boxes of the coconut milk powder... for a bit more!

thank you! looking forward to not wasting money on throwing out coconut milk

I don't suppose any of you know if honeydew melon freezes ok? My dad bought one for the girls but dd2 isn't keen & dd1 can't possibly eat the whole thing herself

Too much water on it to freeze I'd say.

Quite possibly, I didn't think of that. Will have to find something else to do with it so it doesn't go to waste

Some great ideas

In this house it's mostly things like sour cream, guacamole etc that are bought for a meal, used for that plus another and then we don't want it again.

And cabbage. I like cabbage. But occasionally, not every day for a week. Same with leeks. Both of which made regular appearances in my veg box until I cancelled it.

And things like pate, that one of us gets a craving for, we eat for a couple of days and then don't want it again before it goes off.

I don't buy any of these very often though so we don't waste much.

Careeristbitchnigel I won't buy florette since I had a live moth in the bag.

Coruskate Does powdered coconut milk have the same health benefits?

nothing, too many dogs, horses, sheep, pigs and chickens to feed. Theres always something that eats everything - usually the dogs and pigs

I don't know what health benefits coconut milk has, so I wouldn't know, Frorg - sorry. Perhaps the fat profile is a little different, depending on how it's dried? It's not something I'd have a great deal of anyway as it's so high in saturated fat (though healthier saturated fat than you get in meat IIRC). I know the powdered stuff has a bit of dextrose and some milk proteins in as well as coconut, which the tinned ones tend not to, but then the tinned ones often have different added ingredients too.

I just want to check, you're not confusing it with coconut water, are you?

Woah, hang-on hang-on hang-on.....

So you're telling me those nasty green peppers are just unripe red peppers??????

Am I the only person who did not know this?

Thanks for the turnip suggestions. I forgot to mention I don't like turnips but do like swede mashed, especially with carrots. I am going to try turnip cake. Like carrot cake but with more ground almonds and maybe cream cheese frosting. Or a turnip blondie.

Or maybe chuck some in with the chicken soup I'm making tomorrow because I have 4 of the buggers.

past it tomatoes = amazing slow roasted oven tomatoes.

Halve them and lay out on baking paper on a baking tray
Sprinkle a 50:50 slt:sugar pinch on each one
Sprinkle fresh thyme leaves on each one and some crumbled dried bay.
120 degrees ish for 5-8 hours

divine

No I do mean coconut milk. It's meant to be high in antioxidants and lauric acid. Although how good it is for you is debatable and depends what you read. I suppose a better question would be whether it has the same nutritional properties.

TitusFlavius (good name!) thank you, I shall try that. The main problem with pork is that I don't like it . It always seems tough to me and more so when cooked again, so I cook it and smile magnanimously while dh and dd rave about its tenderness and deliciousness. Every other week, fgs.

I think you have saved my bacon

Mine is carrots. Bags regularly get thrown out here. I'm not sure soup will get eaten either. Any other ideas?

Carrot cake. Mary Berry's spiced carrot cake tray bake is a nice easy one and good for anyone with a dairy allergy.

Not so good for dairy allergies if it is spread with cream cheese frosting. Yum!

I very often make a beetroot, carrot and apple salad - grate the lot, add olive oil, cider vinegar and some salt, also nuts or seeds if there's any knocking around.
keeps in the fridge for at least 5 days.

Male a good sandwich/wrap filling as well with some hummus.

Frorg - I suppose another poster's suggestion of coconut cream rather than powdered coconut milk is more likely to be closer to the exact nutritional profile of the tinned stuff.

My green peppers are now ripening nicely in the cupboard

I had to tell DH why they were there so he didn't think I had lost the plot

We don't throw much away as we don't mind adding fairly random ingredients to what we make - and we'll do a curry/chilli once a week and you can throw anything in those. We're also not fussy about use by/best by dates and have survived so far.

Any veg going a bit sad are used up, cooked up for bubble and squeak, or thrown into the big veg tub in freezer along with peelings, trimmings and leftover cooked veg, to be turned into soup when the tub is full.

Green peppers - I don't think they are anyone's favourite. I can't eat them raw or as a main ingredient like for stufed peppers, but sliced up small they can disappear quite nicely in a curry/chilli/stew/shepherds pie/stirfry/pasta sauce.

I've just remembered I have two parsnips rotting in the bottom of the fridge. Shamed.

Leftover green leaves of any type (salad leaves, lettuce, rocket, the non-stalky bits of cauliflower leaves, cabbage, spinach) are surprisingly good shredded up and added to a curry or stirfry for last minute of cooking. Only a handful or two, don't go too mad with them, obviously, but better than throwing it all away.

I also use most dairy interchangeably. I'll use natural yoghurt, creme fraishe, normal cream in any recipe and they seem to work (potato bakes, pasta sauces, sauces for fish/meat, toppings for spuds etc).

I'm currently having a heated discussion with DP about a courgette in the fridge.

Me: There's a courgette still in here.
He: Oh, that's ancient. It'll be knackered.
Me: It looks fine, not mouldy or anything.
He: It's ancient, we bought it weeks ago.
Me: I wonder what we can use it for.
He: What? It'll be knackered!
Me: Why, what's wrong with it?
He: It's ancient!
Me: Yes, but what's actually wrong with it?
He: Er… it'll be all watery and horrible. It's knackered, love.
Me: But marrows keep for months.
He: Yes, but that's ripe marrows.
Me:

So, people, tell me: several-week-old courgette. Still firm, has some blemishes (tiny dents) but nothing that wasn't there before. What exactly is likely to be wrong with it?

I would use it if it looks ok and feels firm. DH and I have similar conversations - he's a slave to Use By Dates IMO. I'm much more likely to go on look and feel

Trouble is, skin, he's the one who does the cooking