Food Hoarders Challenge

[chody47]

Well we were out to dinner tonight but I've decided to use the lentils to make a lentil shepherds pie tomorrow night. DH isn't a mega fan of vegetarian dishes (but he will tolerate them) so I'm hoping that the fact it looks like a hearty pie will win him over.

Question: the recipe calls for a tin of lentils. Since I'm using dried lentils should I soak them or something first? (This is probably obvious to everyone else, but I rarely cook with them).

[Rouge]

Yep soak or cook them keep in mind they double in size when soaked.

Dinner actually turned out great.

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1389173651.981924.jpg

Tomorrow is going to be warm. So I might do something on the bbq... Not sure yet.

[chody47]

Looks great!

Thanks for the advice too.

[Olive]

Well we were out to dinner tonight but I've decided to use the lentils to make a lentil shepherds pie tomorrow night. DH isn't a mega fan of vegetarian dishes (but he will tolerate them) so I'm hoping that the fact it looks like a hearty pie will win him over.

Question: the recipe calls for a tin of lentils. Since I'm using dried lentils should I soak them or something first? (This is probably obvious to everyone else, but I rarely cook with them).

I make lentil shepards in the thermomix and my DH nd kids love it!! It's not the prettiest looking dish but it really is tasty, I don't soak the lentils as the recipe doesn't call fr them to be soaked first

[Rouge]

I still haven't tried that!

With lentils it depends on the recipe. Some recipes need pre cooked lentils because of the cooking time. If I was substituting I'd cook the lentils similar to how they are canned. Or ensure there was enough cooking time without over cooking the other ingredients. When you cook lentils in a dish they tend to break down slightly. The texture also changes depending on how much salt is in the dish.

[BlackRose]

I make lentil shepards in the thermomix and my DH nd kids love it!! It's not the prettiest looking dish but it really is tasty, I don't soak the lentils as the recipe doesn't call fr them to be soaked first

Oooo Olive is this an RC recipe? i'd like to get more lentils and legumes in my families diet!

[OceanPrincess]

We've been going well! I did a big shop of fresh produce - no meat at all. Lots of veggies and fruit. The last two nights I've done a spinach risotto with some frozen spinach I dug out of the freezer and then last night we did a BBQ with frozen snags and steak. And roasted sweet and normal potatoes.

Off to my parents' tonight. Back onto it tomorrow.

[Astrid]

Bad planned on baking to use up yoghurt, bananas, etc, but MIL is here and the queen of eating dodgy food and has scoffed one of the bananas. Suppose can still bake but wont be as banana flavoured as I would like.

[OceanPrincess]

Haha Astrid my DH did that the other day when I wanted to make banana bread. It was not a banana that I would have eaten but he scoffed it down.

I did something else today to try and combat the food hoarding. I usually make a batch of savoury scrolls for lunch once or twice a week, and we always end up with four or five left over. I bag them up and freeze them. But they never get eaten. So today I wanted to make some and I decided to halve the dough. I used less flour, less ham, less cheese and we still ended up with plenty for all of us for lunch. And possibly not so many for the freezer. Win!

[Joski]

Wrong thread... Oops - sorry

[Joski]

I did mean to write that I was inspired to make Dahl yesterday with the leftover lentils in the pantry

Thanks for the inspiration ladies!

[trishalishous]

Had a great week overall!
A total of $94.82 on groceries, including a fruit and veg top up with 5kg of carrots, 2kg of onions and 1kg of potatoes, which will be used this week, and then hosting another 4 people for lunch twice, and another 3 people for dinner once.
We also spent $50 on takeaway, $20 of which was budgeted for and planned, but $30 which was unplanned as we were out helping a friend move furniture, and it was suddenly 230 with hungry kids, so we had to just stop and grab food.

Our meals were:
Wednesday - Picnic lunch (cold meat/roast chicken and salad) Left over Curry
Thursday - Picnic lunch (cold meat/roast chicken and salad) Roast chicken and roast veg
Friday – Subway/McDonalds lunch in town. Chicken and noodle stirfry
Saturday – Sandwiches. Left overs
Sunday – Take away. Chicken casserole
Monday – Sandwiches. Left overs
Tuesday – Picnic lunch (cold meat/roast chicken and salad). Tuna bake/spinach and ricotta cannelloni

[LimeSlice]

Do you normally eat so much chicken in one week, Trishalishous?

ETA: I hope the reads properly! LOL I am just curious, I'm not being a cow.

[LimeSlice]

Going well here. Basic vegetable/nap pasta here last night - with more left over Christmas ham! But, it is almost gone now!!

Fried rice tonight, have couple of ends of cabbage left in the fridge I think are still salvageable, plus...ham... frozen veg. Super easy, cheap, and I make huge batches at a time and freeze the rest.


Also, have a large pottle of cream I need to use - looking for inspiration... not feeling the cream pasta vibe at the moment...

[OceanPrincess]

Make butter LS! That's my latest thing with old cream Or scones... Panna cotta... I'll see if I can come up with anything else.

Need some dinner inspiration. In our freezer we have lots of chicken... Drumsticks/Maryland plus some breast. Some mince. Some trout and barramundi. Maybe I'll do something with some fish... Not feeling the chicken vibe... Suggestions anyone?

ETA - suggestions in general for the chicken Maryland would be appreciated..!

[Joski]

Lime slice- with leftover cream I have done the following recently:

Béchamel sauce for lasagne - still a pasta, I know.
Pavlova topping for a quick dessert or icing for cakes or cupcakes
Soup- works well in Tomato, Cream of Mushroom, even add a dollop to a clear vege stock to give a bit more body (plus soup freezes well for future quick meals)
Ice Cream - if you have a machine handy, cream goes well in the plain old Vanilla base

HTH

[Joski]

OP, I did a Portuguese chicken thighs last night. Can also apply to the Maryland (providing it is not already coated in something)..

Very quick and simple- marinade chicken in Portuguese sauce (had an open bottle stashed in the back of the fridge) bake in the oven, turning every so often. Serve with polenta and raw vege- we had carrot and capsicum.

As I used thighs we have some leftover chicken and polenta too for another dinner or lunch. Easily makes serves 4.

[Rouge]

OP:

Ok chicken

Roasting:

On a bed of sliced onion/leek/minced garlic lay down bacon wrapped Maryland splash of wine sprigs of time and dots of butter salt & pepper. Bake for 180c 45mins-1hr. You'll know it's ready when the meat starts to pull away from the bone.

BBQ:

Martha Stewarts oregano lemon chicken. My tips... Score the chicken before marinating. Helps flavours to infuse cooks quicker.

Stovetop:

PW's Chicken Tikka. Remove skin from mary lands and cook as per recipe. You can chop thigh/leg so they are smaller pieces. Make the rice as per her instructions. It's amazing.

Others include Chicken with olives (another PW recipe) or Chorizo Chicken bake (random veg and chicken and chorizo baked with oregano, rosemary, lemon juice, garlic, onion, olive oil. Sprinkle with fresh parsley when cooked. Serve with salad.

Soup, remove the skin and poach the pieces to make stock.

Curries. Make a paste in the TMX. Cook in a pot. I always used to make Thai green curry with chicken pieces.

I have NFI what I'm doing for dinner. Forgot to lift something out.