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Using up the food in the cupboard and not going shopping

10 replies

CrowsInMyGarden · 22/02/2025 22:04

My husband enjoys cooking. He cooks lovely meals but they are more traditional type dinners such as veggie burgers/curry/chilli and he likes going shopping for the ingredients every day (strange man!).

He is now working away for a month so I have set myself a challenge to use up food I already have and things that he would not usually cook with (I buy things like dried pulses, TVP chunks, silken tofu when on offer) and I am aiming to not go shopping or do any online orders. Last week I had some very strange dinners as I munched my way through what was left in the fridge first. Had a sort of pizza made from a flatbread covered in last bit of pesto in the jar, topped with mushrooms and tofu chunks. Lovely. Made a pea and ham soup using La Vie Ham and split peas, a half dead carrot and a wilted spring onion. It was delicious. Had it for dinner with the last chunk of bread topped with vegan Philadelphia cream cheese and saved half for lunch the next day. I spent my morning doing a cleaning shift thinking of my soup waiting for me at home!

I am not going to buy any bread while he isn't here. I have a lot of sachets of MOMA porridge that are slightly out of date and I have been having one for breakfast every morning with a variety of toppings; maple syrup and walnuts has been my favourite so far.

This week I am going to make a macaroni cheese with the silken tofu, something with a packet of Gnocchi that's been lurking in the fridge for ages whilst I wonder what to do with it and then there are the TVP chunks and a packet of dried tofu knots. Anyone else done a similar challenge? Or have any ideas what to do with tofu knots?

OP posts:
garlicyogurt · 22/02/2025 22:06

For the dried tofu knots throw them in a soup, they’re lovely on a Chinese hot pot, but for the not buying rule, just whack them in any soup you make

HundredPercentUnsure · 22/02/2025 22:10

'Throw it all in gnocchi' - gnocchi, tin toms, passata (yes, both!), grated carrot x 2, tin of green lentils, a couple of shakes of paprika, stirred together topped with cheese baked in the oven. Or something like that. Think it was a recipe from Family Comforts cookbook by Rebecca Wilson

CrowsInMyGarden · 22/02/2025 22:20

@garlicyogurt Oooh one of the things I am planning is a peanut soup to use up some peanut butter. I plan to add a chilli and some spinach from the garden so the tofu knots are going in!

OP posts:
CrowsInMyGarden · 22/02/2025 22:22

@HundredPercentUnsure That sounds amazing, I could eat it now if I wasn't off to bed in a bit. Do you have to do anything with the Gnocchi first? Fry it or anything. Cannot believe I am 62 and never cooked, or indeed eaten it.

OP posts:
HundredPercentUnsure · 22/02/2025 22:50

CrowsInMyGarden · 22/02/2025 22:22

@HundredPercentUnsure That sounds amazing, I could eat it now if I wasn't off to bed in a bit. Do you have to do anything with the Gnocchi first? Fry it or anything. Cannot believe I am 62 and never cooked, or indeed eaten it.

Not if it's fresh or vac packed gnocchi. Literally just shove it all in a big oven dish and bake👌 low prep and quick to clear up!

PigInADuvet · 25/02/2025 07:56

For the chunks, Google Rita's No Beef Stew recipe, it's great!

HarrietJonesFlydaleNorth · 25/02/2025 19:02

Ooh I love a peanut soup! Good with chunks of sweet potato and lots of curry spices or ras-el-hanout 😋 I think the tofu knots would work well in it.

tothelefttotheleft · 25/02/2025 19:36

No advice but I've been doing the same thing and eating what I have.

SilverScales · 01/04/2025 15:15

Thanks for this thread for reminding me to dig deep in the freezer and use up things that are going to get stale. Maybe I'll aim for one item a day to help clear it out, or look for things to be tossed if they're past their prime. We have a big standalone freezer and it's so easy to forget about things in there!

UpEarly · 07/04/2025 15:57

Generative AI is really good at suggesting recipes from random store-cupboard items! I've found it helpful when coming up with ideas for different combinations of things in the fridge which need using.

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