Empty the Freezer Challenge 2018: Week 5
The 2018 Empty the Freezer Challenge rolls into its fifth week, and yet again we’ve been trying to make fresh meals suitable for the hot weather instead of the usual boiling and baking. It’s been tricky, but the extra effort has finally paid off. Here’s what we’ve been cooking and eating during Week Five.
Meal 1 was pea puree and smoked salmon salad (pictured above) using up 300g of frozen peas cooked and made into a puree, served at room temperature and topped with smoked salmon pieces, creme fraiche with homegrown dill and a squeeze of lemon. There was also a side salad of cous cous with tomatoes and capers.
For Meal 2 we had veggie hotdogs and salad to use up the last two vegetarian sausages. They were served with potato and chive salad and cucumber salad, and we ate them outdoors on the patio as the sun went down.
Meal 3 was frozen potato gnocchi topped with homemade pesto, and served with a big side salad. All the fresh stuff in this picture was grown right here in our little kitchen garden, including the first fresh tomatoes of this summer, and it was beautiful.
Our fourth – and last – Empty the Freezer Challenge evening meal was a goat cheese salad that used up the last of the frozen peas. These were quickly boiled then refreshed in cold water, then drained and mixed with diced beetroot, lemon and herb vinaigrette, fresh mint and goat cheese. It was simple but perfect for a warm evening, and the mint made it nicely refreshing.
Other meals and snacks: Fish finger sandwiches to use up the last fish fingers, and a delicious dessert using the final bag of frozen rhubarb which was served cold and topped with vanilla yogurt and sliced homegrown strawberries.
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We did it! After five weeks of using up our old frozen foods the original list is now completely crossed off. Hurrah! We can now get on with filling the freezer up again with tasty fruit and veg from our kitchen garden so we have lots of good things to eat over the Winter.
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If you want to look back through the last few weeks so see what we’ve been cooking and eating, it’s all here: Week 1, Week 2, Week3 and Week 4.