[Janeymiddlewife]

I have acquired rather a lot of flavoured couscous - 8 packs of mediterranean, 10 packs of lemon and 4 pacls of Ainsley harriotts sage & onion couscous stuffing - some in date, some out of date. Any ideas what i could make it into? I'm thinking possibly fidhcakes wirth the lemon & salmon, maybe pork burgers with the sage & onion - all ideas welcomed!

2ndly I have some fruitshoot drink that expired MAy 09 in a cupboard - it appears to have small bits of "scum" round the inside of the bottle - what d'you all reckon - will I poison the kids? After all, wine is in date for years & years!!

[mrs.ploppy]

Stuffed peppers or stuffed muchrooms. Have it with salad, fish or anything else. Quite flavoursome stuff and I use a lot of it mostly to go with other stuff.

As for the drink, BIN IT!  It would be quite off and can do only harm that much out of date! Trust me - I work fo a drink manufacturer.

[mumofstig]

Depends how much out of date the couscous is whether I would eat that either.
Not so much the couscous itself but the 'bits' in the flavoured ones, can turn nasty

[sunshineband]

Try a test run with the couscous to check the bitty bits in it have not gone rancid, like mum said 

and throw out the froot shoots 

[Janeymiddlewife]

As for the drink, BIN IT!  It would be quite off and can do only harm that much out of date! Trust me - I work fo a drink manufacturer.
[/quote]

That's interesting mrs P - it's actually sold by a company selling short dated & out of date products. I usually click on the "display products in date only" but must have slipped up with this little lot! How can they sell it on when it's so out of date?

[mrs.ploppy]

I really dont know how they get round the out of date thing. A best before date is different from a use by day. A best before is an advisory date regarding the taste, look etc of the product but a use by date means the product will be bad after this time. I think if the drink has separated and has stuff floating in it, it will probably taste bad. It may also be bad but untill consumed you may not know. The packet goods may be ok for short time after the date but will gradually deteriate. Depends on how much of a gambler you are. Also depends on the condition the product has been stored troughout its shelf life.

[stompy]

I wouldn't give the kids fruitshoots at all.
They are just as bad for the kids teeth as Ribena used to be years back.
A friend of ours kids have had to have thier 4 year old to the dentists to have some teeth removed, they brush their teeth regularly and couldn't understand why they were having the tooth problems.
The dentist said it's fruitshoots, it's alot to do with the design of the bottles, they draw the juice out of it through their teeth.
And it's packed with sugar.
There are the sugar free ones but apparently they arn't much better.

[Lewjam]

Bin the fruit shoots!

Cus Cus is lovely, stuff into peppers or large porterbello muchrooms, add chunks of goats cheese + choritzo if you have some, bake and finish off under the grill.

[chrissie B]

i would check the old packs of cus cus for webbing on the inside of the packs as there is a moth that likes dried goods , a friend gave me 5 pks of dried peas never thinking they were out of date i didnt check within a few weeks i noticed a moth in the cupboard and just got rid of it then another so i had to pull out the whole cupboard and finally found the moths were emerging from the packs of peas , i had to go through everything and chuck loads of stuff just incase , so i would advise you to put them in a container till you use them better that than have to chuck out good food .
sorry to be a pain but its a real pain having to shake stuff and hubby thought i was going mad as i had the cupboard out every day .
chrissie b

[CanningEspana]

I am hoping you have already binned the drinks... they sound a bit rank.

Cous Cous, I enjoy it with some chopped up salad, onion, tomato, cucumber, perhaps some apple, peach or mango to give a nice sweet flavour.