Help for feeding just me?!

brighthair

oh great. If you see a story in the paper about a crazy lady checking chicken size against a pan in ASDA, that'll be me!
Now for using up the freezer and cupboards. I seem to have a pesto issue, the cupboard is full of the stuff and the freezer is full of sausages
I did demolish some of the food by making a pasta bake with tinned tomatoes, tinned fried onion (don't ask I don't remember buying it), tinned tuna and tinned sweetcorn, topped with cheese and v yummy too

brighthair

maybe I should list my cupboard and freezer contents for more ideas

brighthair

You can tell I can't sleep!

Right – cupboard contents!! Listed as I find them

4 x tins tuna
Pesto
Sun dried tomato and garlic stir through sauce
Mackerel in tomato – think might take this to work to have with toast
10 servings of Samsh (where on earth did this come from?!)
Veg biryani rice (microwave one) x 2
Spanish chicken sauce
Marmite
2 packets instant cheese sauce
2 packets taco spice mix
Balsamic vinegar
Egg noodles
Chinese style glaze for meat
Sundried tomato and garlic chutney
Sticky bbq spread and bake sauce
Soy sauce
Sweet chilli sauce
Wild rocket pesto
Tomato relish
3 tins corned beef – 1 spicy, 2 plain
Sausage casserole mix
Fajita spice mix
Chicken stock cubes
Easy chilli
Cranberry sauce
Random selection of oils, herbs, spices, peanut butter, coffee syrups

Freezer (starts to despair)
Pizza
Bagels
Cod in parsley sauce
Unidentified tub of something I cooked
Mixed veg
Sausages
Potato waffles
More veg
Quorn cheese and leek escalopes
Glamorgan sausages
Tomato pasta sauce
Tropical fruit
B&J Chunky monkey ice cream
Oven chips
Quorn chicken pieces
Peas
Second unidentified tub of something I made earlier (may be lasagne)

Stephen_Leak

brighthair wrote: »

oh great. If you see a story in the paper about a crazy lady checking chicken size against a pan in ASDA, that'll be me!

And what's wrong with that?

I use their basic SmartPrice ones, and they taste fine. Now I know that doing so is going to upset some people, but needs must as long as the one-eyed Scot and his pet badger drive.

Olliebeak

Had me over that last comment, Stephen THEN the penny dropped - bit early in the morning for my brain to be working :rotfl:.

[Deleted User]

I think maybe a good idea would be before you buy anything else try to eat up what you have in your freezer. I am doing that at the moment, and freeze only soups that I have made .It takes ages when you live alone as I do, but sooner or later you will get it all down to a level that you can cope with .Why not get some paper and list all of your freezer contents just to see how many meals you have in there .
As a widow who lives alone I know how easy it is to fall into tthe trap of just cornflakes or a bit of toast for 'quickness' sake. I did after my late husband died 6 years ago but its not healthy and you need your stamina, even more so if you are working long hours. After about six months I thought why am I eating like this? My old man would have been horrified to think I was giving up and not bothering, so I made a concious effort every day to cook myself a proper meal and got into the habit of cooking and potioning extra for the freezer for when I just wanted something quick. I cooked a chicken a couple of weeks ago it was only a little 1.50kg one that cost me £2.00 but managed to get 8 portions plus a big pot of stock out of it.The stock I used on Sunday and made two and a half litres of leek and potato soup which was portioned up and frozen to be used at some point over the nexr few weeks. Good luck and do have a rummage in your freezer you may be suprised at how much food you already have in there .its money in the bank as you haven't got to buy anymore until its eaten

Fire_Fox

Once you have eaten up some of what is in your freezer, you might consider investing in a slow cooker: the cheapest is Asda £7 I believe. They can be used to cook soups, stews, whole chickens, mince dishes, currys etc. The vast majority of dishes can be slung together raw in five to ten minutes, switch on low and go to work.

It's practically impossible to overcook the meat as it just falls apart eventually and you can use relatively cheap cuts padded out with lots of healthy/ cheap veggies. It's luxury to come home after a long day to the smell of a homecooked meal and only one pan to wash up!! :T

brighthair

thanks for all the advice. Tonights tea is sweet and sour chicken and egg fried rice, I did the chicken on a George Foreman grill so cooked 2 chicken breasts so one left over for lunch tomorrow