Whilst meal planning is usually a great way to keep us on track with what to cook each day and for helping with food shopping, occasionally you need to concentrate on getting the freezer under control!
This is where leftovers week comes in.
This week, we have been getting creative and making all our meals (yes, breakfast, lunch and dinner!) from the freezer, or things we have left in the fridge and cupboards.
Leftover week is a really great way to take stock of what you have, save some shopping time, save some money, reduce your food waste and be creative! I’m going to share with you everything we’ve eaten this week, and some handy hints to help you do the same.
What we’ve eaten
| Breakfast | Lunch | Dinner | |
| Monday | Yoghurt, fruit, toast & peanut butter | Leftover pork wraps | Leftover gnocchi, garlic bread, broccoli & peas |
| Tuesday | Toast & peanut butter, with fruit | Fridge-raid puff pastry pinwheels, salad | Minestrone soup, bread & butter |
| Wednesday | Corn cakes with peanut butter, yoghurt & fruit | Fridge-raid puff pastry pinwheels, salad | Lasagne, peas, mashed swede & garlic bread |
| Thursday | Yoghurt & fruit | Tuna couscous cakes | Red lentil dhal with rice & minty yoghurt |
| Friday | Corn cakes with peanut butter, yoghurt & fruit | Cheese salad wrap | Balsamic chicken & potatoes with green beans |
Freezer Stash
We generally keep a number of staples in the house which helps to turn random bits out the freezer into full meals.
| Fridge | Freezer | Cupboard |
| Butter | Broccoli | Lots of herbs and spices |
| Cheese | Peas | Pasta/Noodles/Rice |
| Yoghurt | Fish fillets | Eggs |
| Tomato purée | Bread rolls | Tinned chopped tomatoes |
| Pancetta/chorizo | Grated ginger | Tuna |
| Puff pastry sheet | Coconut milk | |
| Lots of different condiments | Lentils |
You can see from these lists, plus flour, sugar, salt & pepper, olive oil, we can make a huge number of things already!
How did it go?
I was confident that this week was a good week to pick for leftover week. We had a family birthday last week, and had family to stay over the weekend, so last week’s shop was a big one. It’s important to time it right – don’t pick a week you already have very little in the house! I knew leftover birthday cake and the ingredients from the bigger meals we had over the weekend would be very helpful!
The first & most important job for leftover week is to make a list of what you have in the freezer. Take it all out, work out what the unlabelled UFOs are, get the zip-lock bags out and sort it. We found we had a number of frozen meals already that would need very little adding to them.
Then, you can either plan out what you’ll have each day, or if you will have time in the week, you can pick as you go. We chose the latter this week. We had time to cook from frozen. But if you’ve got a busy week, just plan ahead & give things time to defrost for faster cooking times.
This week has also been a good opportunity for some baking. I had some leftover roast pork tenderloin and homemade salsa. So I combined those with some spinach, grated cheese and puff pastry to make fridge-raid pastry pinwheels. Everyone enjoys these for lunch. Easy to pop in a lunchbox, or even freeze them! I also had some cinnamon apples leftover from the birthday cake I made last week. I had a look through a new cookbook I bought over the weekend and made some apple crumble bars and apple pie blondies to use that up.
Tips & tricks
Here’s a few more tips to make your leftover week a success!
🍎 Invest in a set of glass containers with clip-on lids. They’re freezer, microwave and dishwasher safe, and will last ages!
🍓 Keep lists of what is in your freezer and make sure to label everything. Cross off as you go and add on things you add.
🥕 Keep some staples in the store cupboard or freezer. You can make your freezer stash go much further with some pasta, garlic bread, or some extra frozen vegetables!
🥦 Store leftovers in portion sizes you’ll use. Keep to one or two person sizes, so you don’t end up wasting it by defrosting a four person meal for two people.