#KitchenClearout March roundup and April linky

Well, March 2018 is over and done with and I have to say, good riddance to it. We started off the month as a boisterous family of five and finished as a subdued and still slightly bemused foursome. The weird thing about this month's round-up for me is that it includes some of the last meals that I shared with Madhouse Daddy - certainly something neither of us saw coming when I was haphazardly throwing them together. But life must go on for those of us that remain, and sitting down together to work out menu plans and shopping lists and seeing what is in the cupboards that needs using up are all things that are keeping us grounded and getting back into routine.

This month's roundup is just the way I like it - a totally eclectic mix of exotic dishes, random gatherings of ingredients and delicious cakes and bakes.

Chicken Pot Pie with Cheddar & Chive Biscuits is an American recipe that got a great reception - the ultimate hearty comfort food and looking at this picture makes me want to make it (and eat it) all over again. It used up lots of odds and ends of veggies from the freezer and fridge, and would also be perfect for using up the leftover chicken after the Sunday roast.

Jess from Jess Eats and Travels has started an alphabetical globe-cooking tour of the world, so she tried an Algerian recipe, Kesra, which is a semolina bread.

Another of my throw-it-all-in-and-see-what-happens concoctions was Prawn & Pasta Mish-Mash, and cleared out all the odds and ends from the fridge before the weekly shop.

Jess's foray into Algerian cuisine continued with Lamb, Chickpea & Freekeh Chilli. I have a bag of frik in the cupboard from an old Kitchen Trotter box so this could be a good way of using it up.

Moving on to Andorra, Jess shared her recipe for Battered Bubble & Squeak. This reminded me of the Irish dish Colcannon, which inspired me to make it - I'll be adding it to the new linky below.

Coming across a jar of peanut butter lurking in the back of the cupboard, I decided to try a popular dish from Ghana, Peanut Butter Soup. It's actually much tastier than it sounds and used up the end of a bag of frozen spinach, along with the peanut butter.

Jess was also cooking with peanuts, recreating the Angolan dish Chicken Muamba.

She also recreated a traditional Angolan peanut cake with caramel buttercream, Bolo de Ginguba.

I decided to use up half a dozen surplus eggs in a classic New Zealand dish, Bacon & Egg Pie, which also finished off the end of a bag of frozen peas.

Toffee Apple Shortbread Cake was a sweet, gooey and delicious way of using up some slightly wrinkly apples from the fruit bowl.

Still on the A's, Jess tried some BBQ Grilled Chicken Anguillan Style. 

Finally, I cleared out some of the jars cluttering up the fridge - sun-dried tomatoes and olives - as well as some green peppers lurking in the veg box, to recreate a #readcookeat recipe inspired by The Court of Lions : Piquillos rellenos or Spanish stuffed peppers.

Fancy joining in? Have a rummage through your kitchen cupboards, spice rack, freezer or fridge and see if there's anything that needs using up then come and share your creations with us. Or if it's way past its sell-by date, throw it in the bin and come and tell us what you found ! It would be great if you could add my badge and a link to this post for anyone else who wants to get involved.