Storecuboard Challenge - New for June!

Floss

I think I need to join this gang - my cupboards & freezer are bulging but I can never find anything to cook that DS will eat without planning like a military operation and starting cooking 3 hours before I finish work!

I know i've got couscous, dry & fresh pasta, at least 3 types of pesto (:o), the ever-present tins of tune (but I never buy any - how does that happen??), beans, frozen mince (beef & pork and maybe lamb too!), risotto & basmati rice, parmesan (but no other cheese - trying to go low-fat but not having much success!), stock powder, tinned toms, bread flour, yeast & dried milk (for bread machine), various packets of savoury rice & super noodles, and a bag of frozen carrots! Also potatoes & onions in cupboard, leeks mushrooms & toms in fridge, with milk,eggs & bacon and various bits of frozen chicken & cheapie sausages in freezer.

So thats: risotto with leeks & bacon; mushroom risotto; spaggie bol; tuna pasta bake; lasagne; sausage & mash; veggie soup; chicken curry; pasta with red pesto; pasta with green pesto & bacon; pasta & chicken in tommy sauce........ can't think of anymore!

Well i've got 11 nights tea....savoury rice or couscous mountain for lunches, fresh (yummy!) bread for DS's lunch...and i'll sort out the other nights as we go along!;)

Lydia.42

Hi
Really interested in joining in, just wanted to ask if anyone bought fresh fruit and veg when they are clearing out their cupboards, or do you just use what's available? Only asking as i am due to go shopping Sat or Sun, and would like to get an idea of how to go about this challenge, as we have 2 bendy carrots and half a squash left and not much else in the way of veg.

GardenMillie

Count me in, I took an inventory on Thursday of everything in the fridge, cupboards and freezer. Tonight I made a delicious turkey korma with mushrooms, onion and cashew nuts - bought some fresh spinach to pop in but I love to use it in everything and my homegrown spinach isn't quite ready yet. Had it with naan bread (8 in freezer - are the breeding?) Enough for tea tonight and to freeze two portions. Less fat and certainly less cost than a take away.

Will probably make a risotto some time this week with king prawn and yes more spinach.

Happy cooking folks.

northern_star

Lydia.42 wrote:

Hi
Really interested in joining in, just wanted to ask if anyone bought fresh fruit and veg when they are clearing out their cupboards, or do you just use what's available? Only asking as i am due to go shopping Sat or Sun, and would like to get an idea of how to go about this challenge, as we have 2 bendy carrots and half a squash left and not much else in the way of veg.

It would be impossible for me to do this without being able to buy fresh fruit/veg, milk and bread.
I'm guessing the idea is to make use of the stuff many of us have lurking in our cupboards and freezers that we seem to ignore. I'm hoping to check out my stock today though I reckon it'll take some imagination as the findings will probably be tons of pasta/rice/cous cous (from the cupboards) and a selection of bizarre impulse purchases (rosemary encrusted trout springs to mind) from the freezer. Oh well here goes......

johanne

I decided to do a storecupboard challenge this month too. Started it on sunday 29th may when i did an inventory of all i had.. and mealplanned the best i could and got at LEAST 17 evening meals out the cupboards.. which is great!! Streched even more now though by fact OH isnt eating here this week as hes away on holiday and ive eaten at my mums too last night :j

But left on my list of "use up meals" i have

Jacket potato, roast chicken + sweetcorn
Pasta Bake
Tomato sausages egg and bacon + beans
Lamb stew
Burger HM chips/wedges and baked beans
Bolognese with rice/spaghetti
HM pizza
Pasta with jar of sauce
Spaghetti + courgettes (recipe i have)
Lamb grill-steak with mash peas and broccoli
HM fishcake + chips
Sausage and tomato and bean casserole


I also have bought a "big" shop at £27.04 to cover fresh stuff for this week, some cleaning/household stuff id run out of and storecupboard/fridge/freezer "essentials" id ran out of too or where on an "unmissable offer" so worth stocking up on.. like chicken breasts - buy 2 save £5!

Penny-Pincher!!

We're having a buffet style tea tonight and have used up the following in my cupboard:

last third of a pack of pasta
5 eggs hard boiled
boil in bag rice
last handful of peas
half bag of new spuds needing using
1/2 tin of sweetcorn needing using

Pasta will be made into chicken carbonara with left over chicken from last night, mayo, sweetcorn and chilli powder. Rice has been boiled and will be served with the sweetcorn thats left. New potatoes will be made into potatoe salad with salad cream and bacon bits. Eggs served hard boiled.

Also will have salad, ham, cheese, scotch egg and tortillas. There should be tons left for tomorrow too:D

PP
xx

jazzyjustlaw

Ill have a go at this. Got umpteen jars of pasta sauce that was on special last month lol. Had a hard couple of weeks and I tell myself I deserve the takeaways. Plus I love food its a hobby. Also I get paid on the 15th so money is a bit tight now - been a bit indulgent recently not just on food but on presents for me, me, me and oh yes me!!

Doom_and_Gloom

Im going to try this as well as the Grocery Challenge so I can try and save even more money. The month will span from the 4th of June to the 2nd of July just like my Grocery Challenge so I can see how well it works together. I have so much food:

• 1kg wholemeal pasta
• 2kg white rice
• 1 kg brown wholemeal rice
• At least 3.5kg soy beans
• 500g soup mix
• 500g soya mince
• goodness knows how many tins of tomatoes
• same for baked beans
• same for peas
• just under 1kg of oats
• 2 pots veg gravey graniels

Gna I can't remember right now but I know on the last cheak I had over 70 items that I could use up and yet I'm still going out and buying food :eek: . I'm going to do my best to use only use up what's in the fridge, cuboard and freezer. The only thing I plan on buying are veggies and fruit when I need them.

Need to look through what I have and work out what meals I can make out of what I have already.

annie-c

:j Wow!!!

A couple of days away from my PC and so many of you are joining in!! Excellent!

I don't think there are any hard and fast rules to this challenge -only that you should decide your own rules in advance, depending on your personal circumstances, and then stick to them!

For me the rules are that I can spend up to £25 per week - this has to cover fresh fruit & veg, bread and dairy, and any cleaning materials/toiletries etc; it can also cover bought lunches at work, meat/fish and random food items if I really want them, but the challenge is to see how much I can use up from my storecupboard and therefore save each week and add to my holiday fund. As a tiny extra challenge, and because I had stuff in at the start of the challenge, my first 'week' runs from Thursday 1 to Friday 9 June.

I have actually spent £15.05 already this week, but that includes wine, as a treat after a hard-working week...

I actually have a fridge jam-packed with delicious fresh veggies that I bought in the bargain section at Tesco yesterday - loads of packets of tomatoes, peppers, spinach, basil, potatoes, bananas, exotic fruits etc, all for about £3.50!

I'm incorporating it all into meals for the next few days and most of those meals will include extra portions for the freezer.

I think it's up to individuals how they want to use this thread - personally I don't intend to list here my entire food inventory, but I'll be sharing my best tips and recipes and asking for advice about what to make with the more obscure items lurking in the cupboards.

I'm going to check in every couple of days to look for inspiration and will make a proper report each Saturday on the totals I've spent/saved to date.

The biggest challenge I'm setting for myself is that at the same time as saving money, I want to expand my current menu repertoire and learn some exciting new recipes along the way. For example, today I had the most delicious Chickpea and Chorizo stew, using loads of fresh (bargain veggies) and staples that I had in anyway - before I started this moneysaving lark I would have spent £9 on a tasteless pizza and thrown half of it away.

For me the Storecupboard Challenge means taking my newly-found Old Style approach to living just a little bit further....

I really hope you will all keep up the challenge with me. For the record that means you, endemoniada, luckylukey, northern_star, nicki, Penny-Pincher!!, GaredenMillie, Floss, recovering spendaholic, scottishspendaholic, Doom_and_Gloom, Cheapskate, sophiesmum, jazzyjustlaw, rubytuesday, lightatendoftunnel?, johanne, Bellie, catznine, biglass, Lydia.42 and melabarrie....

Let's all stay in touch on this thread and achieve this together!!!

Annie :T :T :T :T

northern_star

Yay, have just found 4 bottles of beer hiding away in the cupboard as I do my stock check - how good is that?