Getting my knickers in a twist

Thursday night to all intents and purposes is meant for "sorting out the fridge" - having a stir fry with any errant veggies that are left so as not to waste them or in particular if there are any root veggies left actually slinging them into a stew in the slow cooker so as to get every penny out of them.  This week I forgot and went off merrily on my own way doing something else.  I then went shopping yesterday which I have already relayed in an earlier post.  It only dawned on me when I opened the fridge up to put the new purchases in there that I really needed to sort the fridge out before I could get anything else into it.  A bit of a "doh" moment.  Daft bat that I am.

It was not what I had planned on doing but I ended up sorting the fridge out.  Fortunately there was hardly any waste its just the shelves needed sorting out more than anything.  Probably I store more in the fridges than I should do by way of veg but in this house things dry out very quickly on the bread and veggie front.  I cannot leave them in the pantry.  My pantry although useful is what I call a "dry larder" more than anything else.  It is not the larder of my dreams which is nice and big and cold enough to keep preserves longer term as well as my veggies and other preserves.  I suppose what I am really after is a CAVE!  Somewhere to store wine as well!:)

After sorting everything out in fridge number 1 I then managed to get the majority of everything new in that I had bought. Fortunately I was able to put everything outside the back door as it was really cold outside whilst I was sorting the fridge.  That was a big help.  So I definitely need to put another note in my diary for Thursday night  - SORT FRIDGE NIGHT.

A rough meal plan for the week is therefore as follows:

Sunday night

• Roast beef and all the trimmings
• Mixed fruit Strudel and custard.

Monday night  

• Fresh haddock, home made chips and mushy peas.

Tuesday night

• Steak pie and veggies
• Stewed plums and custard

Wednesday night

• Cottage pie and veggies.
• Home made rice pudding and stewed plums

Thursday night 

• Beef and carrot stew with mashed potato
• Fruit and a little cream

Friday night

• Pick n mix night - cheese, biscuits, cold meat, chutney, dips, relishes
• Fresh fruit

I do not normally do a  menu plan as we tend to interchange things quite a bit, but this week I have as a I have items in the fridge that need using quite quickly and I do not want to waste anything.  Well that is the outline at the moment.  The days may get mixed up a bit if we don't fancy something and as OH is a bit that way inclined at the moment I do need a little bit of freedom to move things around or indeed change the menu completely.  The fish though even in a very cold fridge needs using by tomorrow.  It looks very nice and I will cook it simply with home cooked chips and mushy peas.  After a cooked meal this evening it will be nice to have something a little lighter.  I am very fond of fish - especially fresh fish it is really good for you and because of the arthritis I do try and incorporate as much as I can into our diet.  Sometimes we do better than others.  Fortunately our local Waitrose has a very good fish counter although I do like the one at Tesco as well.  By the way I am not a keen advocate of freezing fish.  To me it tends to turn the texture like leather even after a very short period of storage so I do prefer to eat it fresh.  When we go to Cornwall we usually go to somewhere like Mevagissey and then fish off the end of the pier.  Then going back to our accommodation with the fresh mackerel, cleaning it, washing and then lightly dredged in seasoned flour and then pan fried and served with some bread and butter.  Nothing better than fresh fish.

Right I am off to get a wriggle on.  I have two chickens, and a piece of beef to cook in the ovens ( I will have to use both the large and the big oven for this lot as well as the baking).

I am also hot on having a selection of fresh fruit to hand as well.  So there is always plenty to eat  (my biggest fear is going hungry) and we are lucky we do not do very badly.  

Next weekend when it comes to shopping I shall check out the reductions and if anything is worth the buying then it will come home with me.  I may need a little extra veg too.

I also need to stew some plums and then pop them in a bowl in the fridge ready for pudding during the week (I have stewed plums and custard on the list and also rice pudding with stewed plums).  At least they will be more or less ready just a warm up and they will be done.  Which reminds me I need some more bowls for the freezer to do pasta sauces, and things like stewed apple and plums.

Right I am off to cook.

Catch you later on.

Pattypan

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