Why #givingupstockingup struck a chord

We all have food we need to use up

Before I get going with this a reminder that this is the last day of my 30% off deal on annual subscriptions so if you want to sign up for the equivalent of just £2.45 a month to get my food hacks, moneysaving wine tips, restaurant recommendations, cookbook giveaways and live online tastings take advantage!

Could you do with a kitchen declutter?

You’ve probably noticed a number of writers and influencers talking about how they’ve cut down the amount of clothes they buy. For example, Tiffanie Darke (who used to be my editor on the Sunday Times back in the day) allows herself 5 purchases a year - see her Substack It’s not Sustainable.

I was reminded by one subscriber I’d started something similar for food in January a couple of years ago to which I attached the hashtag #givingupstockingup and thought it was time I did something about it again

I basically had to use what was in my fridge, freezer and storecupboard, permitting myself milk, eggs and fresh fruit and veg (including herbs) but only in the quantities I actually needed for that day.

The triumph was an invention I dubbed Fishy Rice which think I mentioned to you in passing which is basically a tin of spicy sardines broken up into a portion of cooked rice, seasoned with a squeeze of lemon or lime and a handful of chopped coriander or parsley, whatever you have to hand. Some dried fried onions don’t go amiss either to add a bit of crunch.

There were some other good things including:

Mackerel fennel and orange salad for which I had to buy fennel but it’s a great way of using up a can of mackerel.

A BLT salad. Which is as it sounds - bacon lettuce and tomato salad

Roopa Gulati’s chilli cheese on toast - great for using up tail-ends of cheddar

Cacio e Pepe - one of my favourite pasta dishes although I don’t tend to toast the peppers. Try Felicity Cloake’s recipe here.

A stilton and bacon quiche (good if you’ve got family and/or friends round otherwise you could be eating quiche for days. You could adapt this recipe to Stilton.

Fish stew to use up any odd bits of fish and half-used packs of frozen prawns. This recipe would be a good starting point though I use veg stock and a teaspoon or two of nam pla (fish sauce) instead of fish stock and add a pinch of saffron.

I also made my own bread to use up my flour using this easy no-knead seed bread recipe I picked up in South Africa. Flatbreads are also great.

I’m going to try and do it for the next 2 weeks before I head off on an intensive Spanish course in Valencia (on which more soon!) but I’m already cheating a bit ‘cos I snapped up that bargain ham buy and some pulses this week.

I also, as you know, go out to eat quite a lot which skews the experiment a bit but am going to try to have friends round instead.

I’m also aiming to sort out the wine cupboard 😱 I’ll be posting more about how to manage your wine stocks and how long to keep wine in the next week or two.

If you think this all sounds rather dreary it’s surprisingly good fun to challenge your cooking skills and ingenuity. And given we’re half way through January already you might want to extend it through February too.

I’ll post some of the creations on Instagram but you’ll get the recipes - such as they are - here.

Do you do anything similar? What are your favourite ways of using leftovers?

Fi x

Don’t forget that discount!