Well, we've made it to the end of confinement and a tentative period of deconfinement is beginning. For these past couple of months, we've been working miracles in the kitchen, using up odds and ends and pulling out weird and wonderful packets of random things from the back of the cupboard. Someone suggested that this would be a great time for starting the #KitchenClearout linky back up again, so here it is ! Here's our collection of confinement creations. (On top of this, we've used up loads of baking odds and ends which won't even get a mention. My kitchen cupboard hasn't looked so clear in a long time !)
Starting us off was Cheeseburger Rice, a dish that will win no prizes for the way it looks but the kids wolfed it down and said it tasted amazing ! (I think maybe they were just missing McDonalds though, to be honest !)
Next, an adaptation of an American dish, Crunchy-Creamy Chicken. Another big hit with the family, this involves throwing together whatever you have in the fridge (chicken, bacon, veggies, ...), throwing in a tin of soup (without the tin - that might break their teeth !) then topping it with crushed-up crisps or crackers. I will absolutely admit that it sounds weird and vaguely disgusting but it actually tastes surprisingly good !
Jane from Onions and Paper was along next, with her gorgeous-looking dish : Meatballs in a Spicy Veg Sauce and its Infinite Variations. The ultimate confinement dish, this can be adapted to whatever you have in the cupboards and fridge and Jane even gives various versions you can try - Indian, Mexican, Middle Eastern, Italian, ... We made this and the kids loved it :)
Claire from Life, Ninja Killer Cat and Everything Else brought along dessert with her Store Cupboard Bread & Butter Pudding. Perfect for using up not only Christmas panettone but all manner of slightly stale bread and cakes. Looks delicious !
Bacon & Tomato Chicken Traybake was another big hit with the family, even though (or quite possibly because !) we were almost out of anything resembling a vegetable!
Jane was back with another delicious sounding meal - Sausage & Cider Hotpot. Perfect for using up half a bottle of cider, it also uses sausages, potatoes and onions. I had everything but the cider !
One day, I fancied chilli con carne but had no mince. Mexican Meatball Chilli was born and it ticked all of the right boxes !
Yellow Rice with Chicken & Beans is a one-pot wonder that is great for using up leftover cooked meat, maybe after the Sunday roast. Another one that the whole family enjoyed.
Alison from Dragons & Fairy Dust came over to link up her recipe for Easy Hot Dog Hash, which could be eaten for breakfast, lunch, dinner or, if the kids had their way, probably all three !
Fruity Couscous Salad is the perfect recipe for clearing out your fridge. We used up cooked meat, salad veggies (sweetcorn, peppers, cucumber, ...) and fruit (grapes, apple, ...) but just use your imagination and see what you can come up with ! Perfect for the hotter weather.
Well, confinement is pretty much over and I doubt if we've got much left to use up in our cupboards any more, but this month was fun, so I'll start another roundup. Head on over if you have any dishes that you'd like to add :)
*** If you've been using up any odds and ends from your cupboards, looking for ways of reusing leftovers or just digging out things that have lurking at the back of the cupboard for way too long, share your posts here ! It would be great if you could add my badge and a link back for others to join in too :) ***
That was a lot of fun, thanks for reviving it. Those first few weeks we literally didn't know where the next meal was coming from - hopefully everyone now has some kind of shopping/delivery routine in place now. We've joined a veg box scheme now so I can foresee a few "using up last week's veg before the new box arrives" meals appearing on my blog soon, I'll link them up when they do
ReplyDeleteIt will be interesting to see how many things stay as long-lasting changes. We're allowed to go out now but we still haven't really left the house much - it seems wrong somehow, as there are so many people wandering about.
DeleteOh gosh! I have just thought I bet your kids are missing McDonalds. You used to go every week. Eek! Our nearest one is miles away and 2 bus rides so it's not a big thing for us. We need to try that Cheeseburger rice!
ReplyDeleteAll of your thrown together meals look so good. x
I've never bought so many burger buns in my life ! lol. Seriously, it's not that bad - maybe we'll stop going after all this ?!
DeleteSome gorgeous recipes -making me hungry!
ReplyDelete