I try and keep separate shelves for fruit & vegetables, bread products, dairy items, home-cooked meals and meat and fish, but the Christmas leftovers and redundant party food have messed up my filing system. Spiced red cabbage lies next to the bagels, smoked salmon mousse is wedged between a cheesecake and a joint of beef, and turkey curry is piled on top of pizza. There are goodies stuffed into every gap and crevice and of course I haven’t labelled anything. One of the boys went to get out the ice cream, and came back with chicken liver pate which I’d put into an empty tub of Neopolitan!

I need to have a good clear out. I am catering for my parents Ruby Wedding Anniversary this weekend and the party food can be recycled. The last mince pies can come out to have with the leftovers of the Christmas pud – which I’ve stirred through some softened vanilla ice cream with the remains of the brandy butter and refrozen. 

Once we’ve eaten that lot, I’m determined to get into the habit of dating and labelling everything I put away in the freezer… and stay on top of my filing!

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‘F’ is for Freezer.

Talking of freezers, I’d be completely lost without mine. We’ve got one of those enormous American style ones, given to us by a friend. I was terribly grateful – it is absolutely huge and has made such a difference to the way I shop and plan meals for my tribe. I really regard it as another storecupboard, only much, much colder. I throw all the meat and fish into it when I’ve done the weekly shop, portioning up the really big bags into smaller ones to make it easier. Then I only have to remember to take something out each night before I go to bed, to defrost for the next day’s supper. It means the fridge is much less crowded now. I can see what’s in there and things don’t get lost behind the yoghurts. No more missing the ‘use by’ dates on forgotten packets of sausages and having to chuck them out. No more discovering the last slice of bacon, a bit blue around the edges and fit only for the bin.

Or that’s the theory anyway… The freezer is so full at the moment that I can’t actually find anything!

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The Big Chill

The Husband works with a fruit and veg supplier. Every week he brings home a huge box of delicious fresh produce – particularly welcome because it’s free! However, quite often the box has things in it that are nearing the end of their life – squash that are…well, a bit squashed, apples with a few bruises, soft tomatoes and browning broccoli. If I act quickly, most of the fruit and veg is great. I just cut off the bad bits and no-one is any the wiser. Shoving most of it into the fridge, where it keeps for longer.

I make a lot of soup, which invariably ends up in the freezer. So do tomatoes, which go straight into the pan from frozen when I’m cooking pasta sauces or casseroles. Bananas too go in the freezer if we have an abundance, once frozen put them straight into the blender for yummy smoothies and milk shakes without the need for ice or ice-cream! Bananas (un-frozen) are also perfect to use in custards, puddings and cakes.

At least once a week we eat a variation of bubble and squeak, using up any cooked or soft veggies that are past their best, with the odd apple or pear thrown in. I’ve also made chutneys and  preserves until we’ve run out of empty jam jars. And you can’t beat plain old roasted veg. The chickens take care of a lot of bits I can’t rescue, but there’s a limit to the amount of old cabbage the girls can eat.

At the risk of sounding ungrateful – which I’m certainly not, because that box probably knocks at least £40 off my weekly grocery bill – I’m fast running out of ideas of what to do with it all. You can have too much of a good thing.

If you have any fruit and veggie rescue tips, I’d love to hear them – if the kids get vegetable soup for lunch again, I may have a mutiny on my hands.

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Veggies Galore!

Supermarket Savy!

Featuring Julia Falcon from Love Food Hate Waste! Julia gives some great advice on buying and storing fresh fruit and veg, meat, fish, and dairy products. She explains what those ‘best before’ and ‘use by’ dates really mean and how to use your freezer more effectively. She’s even got some good tips on buying ready meals and party food – perfect for Christmas entertaining.

Turkey Crumble, anyone?

Alison Gribble from the WI has some brilliant ideas for turning Christmas dinner leftovers into some delicious dishes. She shows us three recipes to use up what’s left of the turkey, stuffing, cooked veggies, potatoes and – even the gravy. She combines her well-stocked store cupboard with her imagination, to make sure her Christmas cooking goes on feeding her family into the New Year.

Christmas Leftover Recipes…

Turkey, Ham and Leek Pie
Christmas Pudding Strudel
Pear and Stilton Toasts
Cranberry Brownies

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Two Great Christmas Films… to help you save money!

Small and gorgeous…

Talking of mince pies, they do freeze brilliantly, which is just as well because we’re going to be eating them until Easter at this rate. I’ve just spent £20 on two mini muffin trays (don’t tell The Husband) because I thought that if I make them really small, they look gorgeous and guests can get them in their mouths in one bite. It will rescue the carpet from potential mince-pie spillage and therefore actually save money in the long-term… A friend pointed out that I could have spent less than 20 quid on ready-made ones from the supermarket and saved myself a whole heap of stress. She’s right, those TV ads for perfect little nibbles are really tempting, but buying them doesn’t quite fit with my domestic goddess inclinations…

Furry squash!

We’ve eaten a lot of baked potatoes this week – partly because my planning has gone to pot slightly. With all this frantic activity in the kitchen, I’ve ended up running out of time in the evening and having to fend off starving children. So I’ve chucked potatoes in the oven for a quick supper, but I’d already defrosted some stewing steak for a casserole and also some sausages to have with mash. Now I’ve got to cook it all up before they go past their dates. I did manage to use up the carrots earmarked for the stew in coleslaw. But the butternut squash, which usually lasts for ages in the veggie rack and was going to be served roasted with the sausages, has gone decidedly furry.

But a least we’ve got mince pies…

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Mince Pie Madness