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What's for tea tonight? (#8)

Dad wanted salad so we had seafood salad - it's a treat meal, hot smoked salmon, crab sticks, rice, peppers spring onions, sweetcorn, tomatoes, lettuce, radish, cucumber and Lidls soy and ginger dressing, it's quite firey. I gave dad far too much but he still ate 2/3 of it so I'm pleased. He's eaten quite well today.
 
I have a load of fresh veg that needs using (carrots, celery, mushrooms, red peppers) so I can feel a big stir fry/Chinese fakeaway coming on. I meant to make one a few days ago but it's not happened yet. I really fancy it though.
Not quite decided on dishes yet, OH wants egg fried rice and veggie lo-mein (all the carbs!) to nuke in the morning after work, but I might do myself Sichuan style chicken.
 
It should be Bacon wrapped chicken roulade with fondant potatoes, carrot and swede mash and a pan jus from the roast and some homemade stock. However, I forgot to take the roulade out the freezer and we have a strangely large amount of rolls and tortillas that need to go. So probably something Mexican as I have other veg to use in the meantime and it plows through tortillas, maybe Burritos or Enchilada style baked Burritos. Will have to see what effort I can be bothered to make.
 
Epona said:
I have a load of fresh veg that needs using (carrots, celery, mushrooms, red peppers) so I can feel a big stir fry/Chinese fakeaway coming on. I meant to make one a few days ago but it's not happened yet. I really fancy it though.
Not quite decided on dishes yet, OH wants egg fried rice and veggie lo-mein (all the carbs!) to nuke in the morning after work, but I might do myself Sichuan style chicken.
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We buy a big pack of mixed stir fry veg every now and then to force us to use them. Apart from anything else I need to find some way for us to use all the herbs, spices, jars, mixes etc so they get used before they go out of date. I had a forgotten 5kg tin of jalapenos I was going to do as jalapeno poppers and smoke in the BBQ, throwing those out was extremely irritating on many levels, not least since I managed to let them get 2 years out of date.....
 
newme said:
We buy a big pack of mixed stir fry veg every now and then to force us to use them. Apart from anything else I need to find some way for us to use all the herbs, spices, jars, mixes etc so they get used before they go out of date. I had a forgotten 5kg tin of jalapenos I was going to do as jalapeno poppers and smoke in the BBQ, throwing those out was extremely irritating on many levels, not least since I managed to let them get 2 years out of date.....
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Most of those will be best before dates. It's perfectly safe to use stuff after its best before date if it looks, smells and tastes ok.
 
iona said:
Most of those will be best before dates. It's perfectly safe to use stuff after its best before date if it looks, smells and tastes ok.
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Absolutely this! And stuff in tins or pickled/perserved properly in jars can last pretty much indefinitely until the seal is broken and air gets in - even then stuff in brine or oil is usually good to go for a long time after.
Use by dates for fresh meat and fish tend to give a good indication of when it should be used by - but a best before is not at all the same.
Store spices in a cool dark cupboard and they will be fine for ages, the worst that is going to happen (barring cupboard beetle invasion) is that they won't be quite as potent, they don't actually go off in a harmful way.

I'd be more careful with rice, pasta, lentils and nuts - although you might think dry goods won't go off, lentils and some nuts especially can have trouble with aspergillosis so I'd be careful not to store for too long. Probably more risky than a jar of pickled jalapenos!
 
Another one is honey, that doesn't go off. It might form sugar crystals or look a bit cloudy if that happens, but it doesn't go off off despite some jars from supermarkets having a best before date on - that isn't an indicator of safety, it is an indicator that after that date it might crystallise a bit. (Crystallised honey, Mmmmm makes Homer Simpson Mmmmm face. ) Marmite, that will be what the cockroaches are living on after the apocalypse.
 
iona said:
Most of those will be best before dates. It's perfectly safe to use stuff after its best before date if it looks, smells and tastes ok.
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Oh yeh I know, 2 years was past my leniency tho lol. The bags of stir fry stuff start accumulating water and going smelly quite quickly tho. Used mince a week out of date that was fine to smell check. Also binned stuff before it that smelled wrong. I hate doing it but I'm not giving myself food poisoning. Done it before no thanks.
 
I mentioned wraps and they have now been SO requested on top of us needing to use stuff, so something like that, got beef, beans, rice, peppers, salsa, red and green jalapenos, all sorts of mexican spices and herbs, 8 different powdered chilis. I pity the toilet tomorrow.
 
newme said:
Oh yeh I know, 2 years was past my leniency tho lol. The bags of stir fry stuff start accumulating water and going smelly quite quickly tho. Used mince a week out of date that was fine to smell check. Also binned stuff before it that smelled wrong. I hate doing it but I'm not giving myself food poisoning. Done it before no thanks.
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Oh certainly fresh stuff especially meat/fish/seafood be careful with. I use those green foodsaver bags that trap the ethylene for veg and that massively increases how long vegetables are good for in the fridge (seriously lifechanging) and is safe. I've had e.coli and honestly thought I was going to die (people who think they've had a serious bout of food poisoning because they've had the shits twice do not know what they are on about quite frankly) that wasn't from anything I made for myself though it was a fray bentos meat pie and a dodgy oven responsible for that, nearly ended up in hospital and it took me about 3 months to recover.
So yeah don't mess around with fresh or frozen or defrosted stuff at all. Jars of things usually OK though if they look and smell alright and no mould.
 
Epona said:
Oh certainly fresh stuff especially meat/fish/seafood be careful with. I use those green foodsaver bags that trap the ethylene for veg and that massively increases how long vegetables are good for in the fridge (seriously lifechanging) and is safe. I've had e.coli and honestly thought I was going to die (people who think they've had a serious bout of food poisoning because they've had the shits twice do not know what they are on about quite frankly) that wasn't from anything I made for myself though it was a fray bentos meat pie and a dodgy oven responsible for that, nearly ended up in hospital and it took me about 3 months to recover.
So yeah don't mess around with fresh or frozen or defrosted stuff at all. Jars of things usually OK though if they look and smell alright and no mould.
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I was pissed off that I had to bin some mince that was 4 days out of date. The pack wasn’t blown (inflated) and it looked ok, but didn’t smell great. Hate wasting food but I shopped in a rush and didn’t check the pack dates.
 
Pasta parmesana and some madeira cake for afters.

By the way any idea...@Epona or anyone....how long do wraps last after the package is open if they're stored jn the fridge?
Just found a bag of 6 that have been there 2 weeks. They look perfect.
 
Aladdin said:
Pasta parmesana and some madeira cake for afters.

By the way any idea...@Epona or anyone....how long do wraps last after the package is open if they're stored jn the fridge?
Just found a bag of 6 that have been there 2 weeks. They look perfect.
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Like flour tortilla type wraps? Check them for mould and smell them to make sure there is no musty smell.
If the pack is still sealed they will probably be fine if there is no sign of mould because they will have been vacuum packed in an aseptic environment, if the pack is open and been open in the fridge for a while I would get rid though.
Because of the mould issue, bread products form an excellent nutrient for mould. I usually go by appearance and smell though and would make a judgement based on that.
 
Epona said:
Oh certainly fresh stuff especially meat/fish/seafood be careful with. I use those green foodsaver bags that trap the ethylene for veg and that massively increases how long vegetables are good for in the fridge (seriously lifechanging) and is safe. I've had e.coli and honestly thought I was going to die (people who think they've had a serious bout of food poisoning because they've had the shits twice do not know what they are on about quite frankly) that wasn't from anything I made for myself though it was a fray bentos meat pie and a dodgy oven responsible for that, nearly ended up in hospital and it took me about 3 months to recover.
So yeah don't mess around with fresh or frozen or defrosted stuff at all. Jars of things usually OK though if they look and smell alright and no mould.
Click to expand...
OOf yeh the shits for a few days from sketchy stuff sure (probably other substances did not help) but not e.coli. I imagine its like when I had flu, I thought I had it before, but that was just a really bad cold. Not where I could barely make it to the toilet 6 feet away, just wanted to sleep so I was not conscious and it was like my body hated me and so did I and the walls.
Veg we usually either use within 3-5 days if fridged (varies for some things obvious), a week if not or onions/potatoes its well lets see what it looks like even after a week. I will happily cook stuff thats a day off just to get it cooked, the properly frozen to deal with later even if its useless that evening. Does lead to making some weird combinations just so its cooked and then frozen tho.
I make massive amounts of stuff to freeze and we have far too much freezer room (one small chest and two fridge freezers) half of which is either homemade meals in boxes, stock in boxes, stock in cubes, stock in large pans cos I had no boxes, tomato sauce in any of the former, onion gravy, etc etc. (I have 6 Litres of chicken stock to defrost through muslin for consomme)
Defrost anything and you have 3/4 days depending on the fridge it went into, including the defrosting time, then its on smell for a day or two, then its gone, plus if past 3 days its getting cooked to fuck so good luck and dont take out things you don't need next time.

Planning on doing a few veg beds, mainly cos I am annoyed at paying on a Friday for something I might want on a thursday and its wilting. Probably mostly herbs, chives especially, chilis, absolutely all lettucy type things plus I am determined to grow a Brassica of any description I can actually eat. Also with it there, I have to eat it! Then Mexican tonight would have a lettuce ready to go and the virtually unpurchasable other mexican herbs too, assuming I can grow them here?
 
Epona said:
Like flour tortilla type wraps? Check them for mould and smell them to make sure there is no musty smell.
If the pack is still sealed they will probably be fine if there is no sign of mould because they will have been vacuum packed in an aseptic environment, if the pack is open and been open in the fridge for a while I would get rid though.
Because of the mould issue, bread products form an excellent nutrient for mould. I usually go by appearance and smell though and would make a judgement based on that.
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Yeh if they are not opened and no visuals I would say thats fine unless smell says run away. Any mould at all on any bread thing and it is all ruined tho.
 
Cook frozen pot for one: lemon and herb chicken with rice and spinach. Yoghurt with maple syrup for pudding.

I got a big consignment of the Cook pots for one on Friday to hopefully tide me over being ill.

They are genuinely very tasty and feel like someone cooked you a decent meal with no need to do separate veg. Very small but about right for being ill if you have something else with it. Expensive though, specially as there's a fairly hefty minimum order.

Veggie options a bit limited as too much aubergine for me.
 
newme said:
OOf yeh the shits for a few days from sketchy stuff sure (probably other substances did not help) but not e.coli. I imagine its like when I had flu, I thought I had it before, but that was just a really bad cold. Not where I could barely make it to the toilet 6 feet away, just wanted to sleep so I was not conscious and it was like my body hated me and so did I and the walls.
Veg we usually either use within 3-5 days if fridged (varies for some things obvious), a week if not or onions/potatoes its well lets see what it looks like even after a week. I will happily cook stuff thats a day off just to get it cooked, the properly frozen to deal with later even if its useless that evening. Does lead to making some weird combinations just so its cooked and then frozen tho.
I make massive amounts of stuff to freeze and we have far too much freezer room (one small chest and two fridge freezers) half of which is either homemade meals in boxes, stock in boxes, stock in cubes, stock in large pans cos I had no boxes, tomato sauce in any of the former, onion gravy, etc etc. (I have 6 Litres of chicken stock to defrost through muslin for consomme)
Defrost anything and you have 3/4 days depending on the fridge it went into, including the defrosting time, then its on smell for a day or two, then its gone, plus if past 3 days its getting cooked to fuck so good luck and dont take out things you don't need next time.

Planning on doing a few veg beds, mainly cos I am annoyed at paying on a Friday for something I might want on a thursday and its wilting. Probably mostly herbs, chives especially, chilis, absolutely all lettucy type things plus I am determined to grow a Brassica of any description I can actually eat. Also with it there, I have to eat it! Then Mexican tonight would have a lettuce ready to go and the virtually unpurchasable other mexican herbs too, assuming I can grow them here?
Click to expand...

Which herbs? Marjoram is a good substitute for Mexican oregano - afaik they are both wild small leaved herbs that are more similar to one another than either is to cultivated oregano that we get here under that name. So that makes a good substitute in Mexican cooking in a pinch (deliberate pun!)

In a similar vein, I want to try to grow some Thai basil on my windowsill this year mind, it annoys me having to go to Waitrose (the only half reliable source for it I have found) to buy a small pack when I can probably grow it.
 
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newme said:
Then Mexican tonight would have a lettuce ready to go and the virtually unpurchasable other mexican herbs too, assuming I can grow them here?
Click to expand...
Lots of them, yeah. Real Seeds sell a few unusual central/south American herbs iirc.
 
Have failed to cook again, been a bit unwell (nothing catching, long term issue) and I am now on day 3 without food and just feeling a bit weak and odd.
I need to go and make some food within the next half an hour just so that I eat something.
I really want the Chinese fakeaway that I was fantasising about earlier.
 
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