Scrooge in the Kitchen

[Sue]

Have been busy clearing out the freezers and concocting some very strange meals to use up last years veg - hoping I'll have tons of stuff to refill them.
I'd been saving apple cores all year - thinking I could cook them down or something, anyway all together they added up to a tidy pile so cooked them till they were soft and put them through a sieve, ended up with 2 litres of lovely apple puree to use with my rhubarb and goosegogs.

I Also found if you used all the left-over cores and peels from making chutney you could then cook them up and strain for apple jelly then sieve the pulp to make apple butter. Found this very satisfying to get three things out of one lot of apples - and of course the worms and the compost heap got the grungy bits left over.

Anyone else got any scrooge tips?
Sue

[TPeers]

I have one - I'm sure many people do this....

If you have a fresh pineapple cut the skin away in one piece and save it - it freezes very well - next time you have gammon, wrap the meat in the pineapple skin and roast it in the normal way.

Result a lovely sweet and tender gammon roast - much more so than without the pineapple skin.

Terry

[shirley]

chicken for sunday...monday boil the carcass in a couple of pints of water with carrot celery and pepper corns for stock. Strain and freeze or use for soup.

[shirley]

Same as bacon/ham joint. Use the liqour it was boiled in . Wonderful pea and ham soup.

[muckdiva]

Bread crusts and stale bits I put in a bag in the freezer and when there's a bag full I put them in a slow oven to dry and then blitz them up in the blender for breadcrumbs which keep very well in a glass jar. Great over cauli cheese, gratins and mix with butter and sugar for a good cheesecake base (instead of digestives).

[SarzWix]

chicken for sunday...monday boil the carcass in a couple of pints of water with carrot celery and pepper corns for stock. Strain and freeze or use for soup.

(Large chicken) Chicken for Sunday, chicken curry Monday, carcass stock/leek/potato soup for lunch rest of week...

My mum used to be the queen of getting 3 - 4 meals out of a lb of mince too, but as it involved Smash in large quantities I don't go there!

[shirlthegirl43]

I made a curry one night last week - bought a whole chicken and boned it out to give meat for the curry. Bones went to make stock for soup. Leftover curry (about enough for one) got some cooked spuds and veg added and was made into a pie which fed four.

[heebiejeebie]

fish pie: poach the fish (include some smoked fish and an onion, a few cloves and a bay leaf) in milk, use the milk to make sauce, cook loads of veg (calabrese, cauli, leek, mushrooms, whatever...), mix fish and sauce and veg together. Top with mashed potato and a sprinkle of cheese.

The flavour goes right through the sauce and hides the fact that you are serving up a veg pie with a wee bit of fish in it!

[stigoftheplot]

When I was a kid mum used to buy cods heads (for the cats) but the cheeks had so much they made great fish cakes/ pies etc. These days you cant find a wet fish shop near mine, let alone one that sells cods heads!
Also do the stock with meaty leftovers, and I have been known to do boiled spuds for the family and for me to just have the peelings (well it's jackets without the middles). Carrots sliced makes more than carrots cut into sticks, and cheese on a smaller grater goes further. Pies, stews, risottos, pasta dishes, pizzas etc all can get away with measly amounts of meat. I used to get 4 meals from 1 chicken, and the stock after of course. Mince can be almost doubled without anyone knowing with red lentils & a thick rich gravy. My lot dont know the half!

[shirley]

biscuit crumbs in bottom of tin can be frozen and later used as cheesecake bases,
Left over red wine can also be frozen and later added to stews

[Hazel at the Hill]

Left over red wine.........

What's that?

[kirsty b]

What's that?

Thats what I was just thinking!

[skegblade]

Left over wine???????????????? There's more chance of finding Shergar than left over wine in our house. OH lives up to her birthsign.......PISCES

[Flummery]

In our house, left over wine is a bottle you'd forgotten you had!

[Polly Fouracre]

If you are peeling your spuds and have the oven on, brush skins with oil,roast in the oven,sprinkle with salt and tou have some good quality crisps----also works with sweet potatoes.
Polly.