It is said that a third of the food bought at present is thrown away in this country. I horrific thought in my mind I just can’t afford to do so and even when there was a really good income in the house I just couldn’t bring myself to throw perfectly good food away. Even the majority of vegetable peelings/trimmings make their way into stocks in this house. A small potion of anything left over will be enough for a toastie or a light meal, if there is enough for a full dinner for 1 or more it is frozen as such and brought out to be used as what I consider to be my convenience food.
Last week we had roast chicken for Sunday lunch along with stuffing, roast & steamed vegetables and gravy, and fruit salad for dessert. A chicken of the size I used can be currently picked up in a supermarket for as little 3 for £10. The fruit salad was more than enough to go round and was eaten for tea as well as chicken sandwiches with some carrot salad and coleslaw knocked up as I cooked lunch so no cooking for me after lunch was served. The roast chicken made a left over pie for Mondays dinner with the left over vegetables and gravy with a crust on it, the rest of the chicken with the peelings made 2 litres of stock some of which I added to the meat stripped from the carcass before finally discarding it and some other vegetables to make a pan of soup for Thursday’s dinner.
This week I cooked a turkey crown which cost me close to the price of the three chickens but I will make it go far further than the chicken did. First of all there was less than half of it used for Sunday lunch along with roast potatoes and parsnips and some lovely freshly steamed spinach and mushrooms in garlic cream, with a dessert of hot cross bun bread and butter pudding. There will be enough for another two family meals that will be sliced and frozen with some freshly made onion gravy to freeze it in which keeps it nice and moist while it defrosts. Today I shall make a pie with vegetables and a creamy white sauce. Finally using some of the stock from last week and some coconut milk I think a curry for later in the week.
Next week I have a leg of lamb, with all the trimmings, earmarked for Sunday lunch as it will be Easter Sunday and my mother’s birthday. Depending on how much is left over I can already foresee a lamb and lentil salad, and a soup from that if not more.
