so much food, so un-insprired.....help

feefeelalabelle

hi all, im new to the OS board but have to say im loving it so far!!!!
Ive been reading alot of the threads and my word you guys can talk lol....i love it:D, so was woundering if you guys would pleeeease help me out as i need to make a few changes and start to use food to the best i can. Ive just been and wrote a list of everything i have in at the moment. I did a trip to asda earlier and got lots of items you guys have posted about on other threads but im not sure the exact way to do stuff. im hoping that with money being tight i can just get away with buying staples, eg milk for DD, toilet rolls ect ect
would you mind if i posted my list and you clever guys inspect it, pleeeease:rolleyes:

greenbee

Post the list and I'm sure you'll get loads of suggestions!

feefeelalabelle

cuboards
2 x tuna
crispy seaweed
dolmio bolognaise
rice pudding
black olives
shrimps
maple syrup
angel delight
chowmain sauce
different rice packets
jelly
lasagne sheets
sponge mix
gravy
chicken stock
various pasta and sauces
2x sweet and sour sauce
2x bolognaise sauce
4x sliced carrots
2x baked beans
2x casserole sauce
2x sweetcorn
4x chopped toms
1 uht milk
1 bag of onions
sardines
500g dried split red lentils
oats
s/r flour and plain
passata
rice
garlic puree
2x mozarella
puff pastry

im sorry for the list, i dont want it to put you off:rolleyes:

eggs
milk
butter
8x chicken thighs
8x chicken drumsticks
french fries
mash potatoe
10 sandwhich steaks
southern fried dippers
4 redfish fillets
3 ham and cheese slices
2x lasagne
rack of lamb
minced beef
pancake rolls
mexican chicken breasts 2x
apple crumble
fish fingers
potatoe faces
breaded prawns
5x fish fillets
OH lasagne
hash browns
ruhbarb
other fruit

wow theres a list... im so rubbish though all i can see is the obvious fish fingers chips and beans, would like to do the casseroles and stuff woth the lentils to bulk it all out but i dont know how xxxxxxxx

jenster

thell be loads of sugestions but at a quick glance

if u have a slow cooker chuck a jar of the sweet and sour sauce in you have in with some chicken - cook the rice seperate hey presto theres your first meal

Bitsy_Beans

What jumps out at me is use make a spag bol and add red lentils to it to bulk it out so you have more than one meals worth of spag bol.
You could bake some fish in tinned tomatoes (onion, garlic, mushrooms, basil, black olives). Saute onion until soft and then add tinned toms and garlic. Simmer and cook for about 15 mins. Add mushrooms and simmer until thickened. Finally add basil and pour over fish. Top mixture with olives, cover with foil and bake for 25 mins (depending on thickness of your fish). Serve with potatoes or rice.
Cook chicken thighs using your casserole packet mix and serve with mashed spuds. Again add red lentils to this and any other veg you have, sliced carrots perhaps?

HTH

misscousinitt

Tuna ideas:

1. Mix tuna with sweetcorn and use as a jacket potato topper.
2. Make a spicy tomato sauce using chopped toms, onions, garlic & dried chillis, stir in drained tuna and serve with pasta.

Jedilibrarian

Tasty Chinese meal jumped out at me!

Use your shrimps and one of the S/S sauces (or chowmein) and some of your veggies in a stir fry, make some rice to accompany it. Have your pancake rolls and seaweed as starters.Yum!

I'd suggest soup too as you have lentils but you've no veggie stock and all my recipes contain it! Maybe someone else can suggest.

See the start of the Grocery Challenge thread for more ideas.

feefeelalabelle

oh i do have stock, i found it when cleaning out the cuboards,
a quick question, so i have to cook chicken before i put it in the slowcooker or will it cook it for me properly?

MrsBartolozzi

The chicken will do fine in the slowcooker without cooking. Some like to brown it first, but I don't mind either way.(I am assuming you are putting chopped chicken in with the sauce as mentioned earlier).

To make soup you don't need veggie stock cubes! Chicken, ham, lamb will do too (ham is especially nice with lentils). I've not tried beef stock cubes in a soup, but I would imagine that would be edible too!

miecherox

I don't know if this would help but I always feel a bit overwhelmed when I do a list of food in my cupboards etc to the point where I would rather go and buy more stuff than use what i've got because I don't know where to start...

SO I make a list of meals but only 2-3 days worth then tomorrow or the next day do another 2-3 days and so on until before you know it you've had two weeks of meals from the list.

If money is tight substitute! If you want to make tuna pasta bake and you normally put sweetcorn in use your sliced carrots instead don't go out and buy the sweetcorn. That sort of thing.

Also if you're still struggling try having themed nights, from your list you could have several chinese nights, a mexican night, italian nights, a few roasts (good old british grub!) this might help organise things in your head for you to meal plan...

HTH

M

falady

Hi there,

When you want to bulk out a sauce / meal by using lentils, just add them when you add the liquid, and simmer it all for 30 - 40 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the lentils have almost disappeared. You might need to add more liquid than normal as the lentil absorb lots of liquid. Wate / stock is fine.

Hope that helps.
Ali

PS you can add tinned eg to homemade sauces eg tinned carrots to HM bolognese.

PPS you coul use the bolognese sauce to make the meat sauce for lasagne.

PPPS You can use the UHT milk to make the angel delight for dessert. You could alsoput a little maple syrup in homemade flapjacks (using the oats, and a bit of butter). Serve cold in slices or as a warm pud with some fruit and custard.