Hello all you foodies out there, come share my meals with me. I am getting down my food supplies, the fridge is bare apart from half a lettuce, half a cauliflower, some green grapes, and half a tub of plain yogurt. Putting off going shopping, I haven't been for almost two weeks, but might do a yellow sticker run soon.
So, I am using stuff up. Yesterday's lunch was some of those not very nice beef style soya strips cut in half and cooked in a drop of oil with half a tin of chick peas, and a shake of garlic powder. After a few minutes when the strips were soft, stir in two eggs and scramble. Eat straight out of the pan to save washing up. Nice and filling.
Yesterday I dug up one bed of potatoes, in all that wind. Got a good haul, still one more bed to go. I spent £3 on seed potatoes, and so far have done well out of them. Haven't had to buy any for months.
This is my food experiment for the week. I made a veg stew on Monday in a big pan. The ingredients were potatoes, carrots, cauliflower, one onion, bulgur wheat, garlic powder and half a packet of sauce mix. Yesterday I added a tin of chopped tomatoes, and the other half tin of chick peas. I transferred what was left after dinner last night, to a medium size pan. I've just had some for lunch, zapped in a bowl in the microwave, and now the pan is sitting in the fridge.
I'm going to see how long I can keep it going for, by adding to it each day. It will last till Friday, possibly longer, but I might have gone shopping by then so I might eat it and finish it off. As I said, I haven't got much food left, but this is what I thought I could add to it. Any tins because the contents are already cooked. I could cook some rice, pasta or noodles. Sultanas are a good addition to stews.
From the freezer. sweetcorn, ready cooked rice, more runner beans, cooked swede and carrots, and the last of the beefy strips. I could cook the onion and the potato in the microwave and add them.
These should keep it going, plus some spices, or veg stock cube, or curry powder, and porridge oats to thicken it.
Have you had a look in your cupboards and freezer to see if you can make an everlasting stew? What will you put in it? Can you stretch your weekly shop to ten days or even longer? C'mon, spill the beans :o)
Toodle pip.
When the hubster is away I will make a stew on Monday, which lasts til Friday. I like soya beans, so I buy them frozen and put those in at the start, but the fun is adding stuff as the week goes along. Another thing I do is make some noodles, rice or jacket potato and dollop a reheated portion of stew on top.
ReplyDeleteYou are good! Sometimes I think that I have nothing to eat, so it is good to see how you can stretch a few ingredients into different meals.
ReplyDeleteMy family would probably revolt after more than 3 days of an everlasting stew though. :D They are good about eating leftovers , esp if I can makeover them into something different each day.
I like to end up this sort of journey by adding broth and making soup, which I blend to make a different texture. And I make oats into oat flour using my tiny coffee mill, and that's a wonderful thickener, plus a great pancake flour when you want to use the last bits of veggies in an interesting way. In fact I make flour out of lentils, split peas, raw chickpeas, almonds anything I can grind! it's interesting as an addition and a bread flour along with other gluten flours. As long as you have an egg or two, you can keep on going and going!
ReplyDeleteI did a bean and sausage casserole which lasted 3 days, varying the meal each time with different veg or pasta. DH waded through the chicken casserole portions from the freezer. Looks like all your store cupboard food will last you for a fortnight never mind only a few days!
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Gosh you did well digging in that wind yesterday hun! It was awful here.
ReplyDeleteOur food cupboards last for ages at the mo, as we really need to stretch our income this month.
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I forgot to mention that another money saving and very good food item I make is my own yogurt. Very easy, no special equipment needed, and it's good, too. Buying milk is a good bit cheaper than buying the equivalent in yogurt. At least here it is.
ReplyDeleteThere is nothing quite like those potatoes from the garden, Ilona. I remember when we used to dig them up back on the farm and store them in potato bins in the basement. Yummy, and I still love them.
ReplyDeleteFrom Margie in Toronto - I think I'd make a chilli dish - I do eat meat but also add a lot of lentils & beans. I could start off serving it over rice - then add more veggies - fresh & frozen to stretch it out - next day serve it over a baked potato with some grated cheese added - and then finally fry or poach an egg and add that.
ReplyDeleteDon't add the rice Ilona. Its one of the main causes of food poisoning and if it is going to be left to go cold it needs to be chilled very quickly.
ReplyDeleteSome nights, after dishing up the dinner, there might be a bit of rice, a few veggies or some mashed potatoes left over - just a bit more than we really need. These go into a box in the freezer. When it's full, we defrost, add a couple of eggs and seasoning, mix it all together and cook as a thick omelette, a bit of grated cheese on top goes well. Any left overs make a good lunch (hot or cold) the next day.
ReplyDeleteWell done with your never-ending curry Ilona, and also your potatoes. Those spuds look lovely. I see Eileen M advised not to use the rice, but I often freeze leftover rice and then reheat it and have never had problems. I know you're vegetarian, but I liken it to using leftover chicken, as long as you make sure it's reheated to a very high temperature it should be perfectly okay. At least, in all the years (too many to count) that I've been doing it I have never given my family food poisoning or even an upset stomach.
ReplyDeleteI too have everlasting stews (but haven't called them that). I start off with, for example, a veg stew with red lentils. As it starts to go down, I often pop in what is left of my homemade soup as a base and bump it up that way.
ReplyDeleteDon't spill the beans! Better put them in the stew, any kind of beans, cooked from dry or canned.. With some red pepper , the red beans would turn the stuff into a sort of chili. As another option , I add frozen peas , little cubes of tofu, which I think tastes better then imitation meat. A little soya sauce in this variation and serve over rice . Or add canned cubes tomatoes , spice well and serve over polenta , with some grated sharp cheese on top. Or make into a curry; endless variations! And at the end , turn it into soup , with olive oil , croutons and grated cheese on top.
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