Plastics and pea burgers

We've had some right funny weather here today. First it's sunny, then it gets all windy, then big black clouds come over and chuck a load of snow at us, then the sun comes out. Temperature wise, it's flippin freezing cold. Not a good day for going out. So what did I do? I thought you might be interested to see how I organise this cupboard.

I have a big wall cupboard in the kitchen which houses all my plastic containers and bottles, it could do with a sort out and a tidy up. These bottles are different sizes, I keep them because they are useful for making up diluted fruit juice drinks to take with me when I go out for the day, or several days. The bigger bottles I fill with tap water if I take a trip in the car.  I wash the bottles out when I get back home, and if any of them are looking a bit grotty I chuck them in the recycling bin. The old bottles get thrown and new ones are bought to replace them. Most of these have come from the cash and carry, or the reduced section of the supermarket. I never pay full price for a bottled drink. The smaller bottles will fit nicely in a shoulder bag, along with a sandwich and a banana. A handy lunch for the day.

In this pile are an assortment of small pots and tubs. Some are used for freezing portions of soups or stews, others can be used for storing any small objects in them. You never know when you might need a small plastic container, so it's a good idea to keep some handy. I haven't yet found a use for the small white Coffee Mate shakers. They could be used to store any dried food and herbs. Some of these could be used to propagate seeds, especially the yogurt pots, and the milk bottle. Just cut the top off the bottle and make drainage holes in the bottom.

I like to keep a few microwavable dishes, for heating up portions of my home made soup or stew. There's no need to buy any of these from a kitchenware shop, just buy a few ready meals and keep the trays they come in. They can be used over again, and replaced and recycled when they are worn out.

These are storage boxes which I have bought from shops. I bought them long before I started my frugal journey, some of them must be more than twenty years old. I won't be buying any more, these will last me. Sometimes I make up a salad in a box and take it with me when I go out for the day. They are also useful for storing portions of food in the refrigerator.

I keep a selection of smaller containers. Some of these are handy for packed lunches if I want to take some tinned fruit with me. I can put some into a tub with a tight fitting lid. I use them for camping and hostelling. Coffee, sugar, and dried milk containers.

The small ones store nicely in this big plastic box.

All sorted and tidy.

So, what happened to the peas. They soaked in a bowl for 24 hours. Then I followed the instructions on the packet and rinsed them, boiled them for ten minutes, and simmered for 40 minutes. Then they were done. I added about half of them to the vegetable curry I made yesterday. Then put several spoonfulls into a mixing bowl. They were a bit sloppy so I added three slices of crumbled granary bread and some grated cheese. I chopped an onion and fried it in a small pan with some garlic, a crumbled veg stock cube, and some dried mixed herbs. When the onion was cooked I added it to the peas. It would have been better if I added an egg, but I didn't have any left.  

 

Next I made three small burgers. They were falling apart a bit because the mix wasn't stiff enough, I don't have any flour so I opened a cheap packet of stuffing mix and used this to coat them, and firm them up. I cooked them in the pan with a drop of oil, and flipped them over to cook the other side. Here they are, my pea burgers. They were very nice, but the stuffing had such a strong sage and onion taste. Perfectly acceptable but maybe I won't use the stuffing mix next time.

I'm going to freeze the rest of the peas in portions. There's a heck of a lot of peas in one 45p bag of split green peas. I shall probably buy them again, as they are a perfect filler for soups and stews, and maybe more experimental burgers.

Toodle pip.