Meal planning

[Azvanna]

When I create a meal plan, I still find I have waste because I'm not using the left-over ingredients. This is because I'm buying a jar of this or that and not using it all in the week. Does anyone know of a meal plan app or pre-made plans that can help me use all of the ingredients I buy in a week? I need to be able to cook different dishes using the same base ingredients. I have found one here for an example http://thestonesoup.com/blog/2011/02...menu-planning/

[thalassa]

Re: Meal planning

Why can't you repeat some of those recipes the next week and not buy that product?

[Azvanna]

Re: Meal planning

That's a good suggestion, part of it is because I don't go back and make it and end up with bits and bobs and the other part is because it goes off.

- - - Updated - - -

That's a good suggestion, part of it is because I don't go back and make it and end up with bits and bobs and the other part is because it goes off.

I suppose it doesn't really matter.. it all comes down to how much I buy in the first place.

[Willow]

Re: Meal planning

I guess I don't really do meal planning anymore. I did a few years back, but I found that after the first couple of meals I chose it ended up not really being time or cost efficient (convenient) in the end. So mostly I plan a couple of my meals for the month and then stock up on staples and then get inventive with the ingredients I do have on the day or the day before. We actually don't end up with much waste, as long as the leftovers are rooted out of the fridge for lunches.

[Tylluan Penry]

Re: Meal planning

I hate wasting food. So the first thing I do is work out what can be done with whatever I have available. For example, today I'm making an apple crumble with cream. But I bought the cream close to its sell-by date, brought it home on the bus on a hot day so there's a good chance it's gone off. That means I'll make up some custard to go with the crumble (or tinned cream which I happen to like.) Meanwhile the sour cream will be added to chives for the garden and a small amount of finely grated strong cheese and used as a topping for a jacket potato.

When milk goes sour, I add some salt, hang it in a muslin/fine cheesecloth bag and make soft cheese out of it.
Just get inventive - and enjoy it!

[Azvanna]

Re: Meal planning

When milk goes sour, I add some salt, hang it in a muslin/fine cheesecloth bag and make soft cheese out of it.

I had no idea you could do anything with homogenised and pasteurised milk once it goes off!

[Tylluan Penry]

Re: Meal planning

I had no idea you could do anything with homogenised and pasteurised milk once it goes off!

Yes, just add a pinch of salt or drop of lemon juice and you can do loads of things. Sour milk added to scones for example makes them wonderfully light!

[thalassa]

Re: Meal planning

I had no idea you could do anything with homogenised and pasteurised milk once it goes off!

Yup, its really no different than if it hadn't been

[B. de Corbin]

Re: Meal planning

Why can't you repeat some of those recipes the next week and not buy that product?

My youngest daughter - a vegan, while being supported by M & D - was terrible about this. She'd find recipes to try on the internet, never check to see if we had any ingredients already, and would request packages of food stuffs of which she only needed a tablespoon...

OK - I let her experiment, and spoiled her terribly... but she went to the grocery store with me, and we had fun.

Does anybody need flaxseed, by the way?

[Tylluan Penry]

Re: Meal planning

Does anybody need flaxseed, by the way?

Hang onto it. Makes a great laxative!