Challenge Seven - The Leftover Challenge - End of Challenge Round Up

It has been a good seven days - almost a finale as it were to the last Challenge the 'For the Price of a Coffee Challenge'.  It seemed very fitting to continue with another challenge to use up all those amazing leftover items of food shopping.

Having £2.75 a day proved to be a luxury during that Challenge and it was always going to be a bit easier for me to manage buying a weeks food when I have previously done Challenges with much smaller amounts of cash in the kitty at the beginning.

After the seven days of this Challenge there are still a few leftovers, but that is of course because I allowed myself the luxury of being able to use up to five items a day from my own cupboard, fridge or freezer and that is what made this second week possible.

The foods that are leftover from the Leftovers Challenge

In the cupboard there is:

500g Porridge Oats

486g Brown Rice

262g Spaghetti

Virtually all of the tub of Gravy Mix

In the fridge:

A large tub of Red Lentil Dhal

2 and 1/3  Onions

In the freezer:

3 tubs of Tomato and Pepper Sauce

1 tub of Potato Curry

1 tub of Butternut Squash and Garlic Puree

So straight away I can see the meals I would make if I were to continue, but I'm not.  It's time for a weekend off, for buying chips from the caravan park chippy, for eating pizza in the Clubhouse and for generally eating what I want when I want.

But the meals I see from the food I have leftover from the leftovers are:

10 x 50g breakfasts of Porridge or Oaty pancakes

4 portions of Red Lentil Dhal with Brown Rice

2 portions of Spaghetti with Tomato and Pepper Sauce

1 portion of Potato Curry and Brown Rice

1 portion of Tomato and Pepper Soup

1 portion of Butternut Squash Soup.

Which leaves me with the tub of gravy granules and the onions, which instantly bring to mind making some thick onion gravy and digging in the freezer for a couple of veggie sausages to go with a portion of mash.  

So … if I raided the freezer and fridge for any vegetables that need using up and made myself a six portion pot of soup, and bought a single loaf of bread and two tins of value beans (costing under £2 in total) I would be able to use the porridge or oaty pancakes for breakfast, my soup or beans on toast for cheap lunches and use one of these meals each night for my tea … and eat well for a further ten days!!

Nothing will be wasted I'll just not be eating these meals straight away.  The oats have actually been tipped into the jar with my chunky mixed grain oats, the rice has been tipped into the rice jar and the spaghetti into the other already opened spaghetti packet.  I had some of the rice and dhal for tea last night and will have another portion tonight, the rest will be in the fridge until I need it and the frozen things have gone back into the freezer for the next week or so.  But they will all be used up before the caravan park closes for the Winter and the fridge and freezer are emptied and switched off for three months.

All in all a very satisfying little Challenge that kept me on my toes and got me back into the mindset of being careful what I bought and what I ate … and it's really good to do that every now and then.

Thank you to all of you who followed along reading the posts every day and there were hundreds of you, special thanks must go to those among you who took the time to comment and help keep me on the straight and narrow knowing you were really interested, following my every move and coming up with some good suggestions of your own.

Now I'm off to walk the dogs and call into the chippy on my way back for a small portion of chips.

Sue xx

Challenge Seven - The Leftovers Challenge - Day Seven - Final Day

Breakfast - A simple bowl of Porridge

You really can't beat it can you, it's good for you (lowers cholesterol and all that), fills you up and is warming and tasty.  And it's so cheap if you buy porridge oats and not some fancy pack of  'three tablespoons of oats in a sachet with a dash of flavouring'.

If you want or need the convenience of that why not do it yourself.  Buy some little zip-lock bags that you can use over and over and portion up a weeks worth of breakfasts at a time.  Adding some cinnamon, some sugar or any other dried flavouring that you fancy.   Or leave it simple, just weighed out oats, and then once your basic porridge is made add some tinned or fresh fruit, some syrup or anything else that you love.  If you like your porridge made with milk add a tablespoon of dried milk powder to your little bag … that's what's in the sachets you buy.

If you make too much porridge, or are just not particularly hungry one day, leave it in the dish and pop it into the fridge, the next morning stir in a tablespoon or two of flour.  Stir to a nice consistency and then fry dollops in a hot oiled frying pan and you have lovely little oaty pancakes.  Serve with syrup, fruit or jam and maybe an dollop of yogurt.

As dinnertime came around I was eager for something fresh but light, so I decided on a cheese salad sandwich with cheese and tomatoes brought in from the fridge.

Dinner - Cheese Salad Sandwich with extra Tomatoes.

It was lovely to have a nice fresh tasting sandwich, it's something I don't eat that regularly as I have to be careful how much bread I eat.  But this Chia Seed bread, taken from the freezer at the start of this week seems to be reasonably okay for me … hence me risking three slices!

I decided tea would be Red Lentil Dhal and rice, and that I might as well use up all the remaining lentils so I could have some dhal in the fridge or freezer for later in the week.

It did make a large pan full … I forgot to take a photo of my tea though!!

Tea - Red Lentil Dhal and Brown Rice

Looking through the fridge at what was left from my initial stash of foods I spotted the four apples.  So I defrosted the sheet of ready rolled shortcrust pastry I had in the freezer and chopped the apples. 

 I just kept it simple, draping most of the 3/4 of the pastry into the tin, pouring in the apples slices and pulling the excess pastry over the edges in a sort of thick tart.

Half an hour later I had this lovely chunky Apple Tart.

Supper - Apple Tart

It seemed a shame not to use the little left over piece of pastry while I had the oven on.  So I topped it with some of my Tomato and Pepper pasta sauce, some onion slices and a good sprinkle of grated cheese.

Totally unnecessary but very delicious     Snack - Pastry Pizza


A very delicious day food wise.  Sometimes you just have a day when you eat a lot 😁

Today's  Up to 5 Items:

Vegan Cheese
Two Tomatoes
Garlic Paste
Cumin
Ready Rolled Pastry Sheet


Back tomorrow with the End of Challenge Round Up.


Sue xx

Challenge Seven - The Leftovers Challenge - Day Six

Breakfast - Toast with Flora Spread and Orange Juice

A quiet, simple breakfast now that Alan has gone back to the mess that is our house in Wales.  I spent a bit of time flicking through a couple of my cook books, I have a few here at the Van but the rest are about to packed away as the interior plastering work on the house is now in full swing.

 And after reading this inspirational book and watching a few of Miguel Barclay's YouTube clips I feel another Challenge coming on already  😃

Dinner - 'Mac and Cheese'

I decided to finally eat the leftover portion of Mac and Cheese for my lunch, I was glad it was there as I was pretty hungry after having just a couple of slices of toast for breakfast.  It was surprisingly still in very good condition after being abandoned in the fridge for so long.  Along with it I finished off the last of this mornings glass of orange juice, which had also been put back into the fridge only half drunk.  I diluted it slightly with some water and some ice-cubes.

Tea - Spaghetti and Tomato and Pepper Sauce

I added the last little piece of Feta style cheese that I brought in on Day One for a little bit of creamy taste.  It was delicious.

Left in the Leftovers:

6 onions

2 leaves of iceberg lettuce

4 apples 

600g porridge oats

250g spaghetti

 250g red lentils

600g brown rice

tub of gravy mix

Today's  Up to 5 Items:

None - All the food was from leftovers, both ingredients and ready prepared sauces etc.

Sue xx

Challenge Seven - The Leftovers Challenge - Day Five

Breakfast - Peanut Butter on Toast

After yesterdays luscious foody shots, todays photos (when there are photos) seem positively boring.  That's not to say the food was.

It was just a simple food day, taking things easy and not over-thinking things too much.

Lunch - Coleslaw and Jacket Potato.

Unfortunately, I forgot to photograph our plates before I shared my food once again with my lovely hubby.  I grated the carrot, finely sliced the onion and after keeping back a couple of lettuce leaves I shredded all the rest of the Iceberg.  Mixing everything with a couple of tablespoons of mayonnaise and some salt and pepper, made a big bowl of nice simple and crunchy coleslaw.

Tea - Potato and Chickpea Curry with Brown Rice

Once again I forgot to photograph our meal before we got stuck in, so this photo is shamelessly stolen from yesterday's post.  It was even more delicious second time around.  I do find stews and curries mellow nicely after a night in the fridge.

Dessert - Mandarin Oranges and Ice-cream

Having a smaller portion of the curry this time, we had room for dessert.  As I don't eat any dairy (I'm dairy intolerant) this is my preferred ice-cream, luckily Alan loves it too, although at home he has a freezer full of Magnums … he thinks I don't know - but I do  😉

Left in the Leftovers:

orange juice

6 onions

2 leaves of iceberg lettuce

4 apples 

600g porridge oats

375g spaghetti

250g red lentils

600g brown rice

tub of gravy mix

Today's  Up to 5 Items:

Peanut Butter

Ice-cream

Mayonnaise

A much easier day of cooking and eating today.  And as you can see the leftovers from last weeks Challenge are going down nicely.

Sue xx