It’s January, the month of new starts and, nine times out of ten, no money. Our employers kindly paid us two weeks early so we could finance the festive overspend however, I always find myself caught very short by mid-January regardless of my budgeting skills.
The benefit this that I am forced to be much more creative in my cooking as I re-discover the delights I have in both my cupboards and freezer to help me through the coming weeks.
Throughout the year, never one to buy only one of anything, it means that I’ve squirreled away a whole pile of different dried, tinned and frozen foods that I forget about when I move onto my new favourite thing to make. I also tend to freeze a lot of meat, fish, homemade stock, soup and berries so I’m only 12 hours defrosting or soaking time away from a nice hearty meal.
Love your freezer, its not just there to keep your ice cubes and vodka frozen, in recent times we’ve been turned away from it as food marketing has focussed upon ‘fresh being best’. I haven’t seen an ad for Findus crispy pancakes for a long time, and who advertises their tasty frozen vegetable selection?
There is a very strong argument for frozen food, of the natural rather than ready meal variety of course. Freezing food not only preserves a food for longer it also keeps its nutrient status stable. When you make more of something you can save it for another day rather than get sick of it because you’ve been eating the same meal for lunch and dinner for the week. Use those take-away cartons to freeze excess cooked food in single portion sizes giving you the luxury of choosing what you want, when you want.
When the family is out of the house and you’re having some me-time, preparing food will spill into that all-important time spent doing the things you want to do. Basically your freezer is just another cupboard, albeit a very cold one. Just make sure you label the contents otherwise you might get a nasty surprise!
January Survival Tips:
Make Stock
Seriously so little effort required, I don’t know why it has fallen from grace. When you next have a roast chicken, bung the carcass in a large saucepan with a carrot, onion or leek, a handful of peppercorns, a bay leaf (optional), a tomato, stick of celery (optional). Fill the saucepan with filtered water, bring to the boil and simmer on a very low heat for 1-2 hours. Once cooled, remove the carcass and vegetables and sieve the liquid. Freeze the stock in plastic containers or ice cube trays for easy access when making soups or gravy. The beauty of stock is that you can use it from frozen, use old soup containers so you have an idea of the volume of liquid for recipes.
Freeze Fresh Berries
The only berry you can’t freeze effectively is the strawberry. Berries can be defrosted quickly when placed in a bowl of water, or you can add them to your porridge straight from frozen and the heat will thaw them in no time.
Frozen Veg
Whether its peas, edamame, spinach or mixed vegetable; frozen veg are worth their weight in gold at times like these. You can make a quick pea & ham soup soup or add frozen veggies to casseroles, pasta dishes or just steam. Plus they always make a good compress if you pull a muscle in the gym!
Pulses
These wonder beans including lentils, kidney beans, chickpeas and aduki beans are a fantastic source of fibre and vegetable protein. They are jam packed full of nutrients including B vitamins which are essential for helping you support your body in stressful times and are key ingredients in the body’s energy cycle. Make bean chilli, coconut chickpea curry, bean salads, dahl or even homemade beans on toast. Just make sure you cook them for long enough to ensure that you don’t suffer from beans delightful side effects!
Tinned Food
Let me get this straight, we’re not talking spam fritters here. Tinned tomatoes, fish, sweetcorn, coconut milk – all is needed is some garlic and onions, beans or meat and you can make a delicious supper.