Store cupboard challenge

znbut9

Hi. I stumbled upon this website recently that has quite a few alternative recipes which also look simple and healthy. Perfect for using store cupboard ingredients http://jeenaskitchen.blogspot.com/

Bunny200

How many eggs do you have and whats their best before date. Use the stuff in the fridge this week if you can as I doubt its going to last a month, unless you can make a dish and freeze it for later.


I've relisted your food into different food groups to try to make sure we can get as balanced ideas as possible as a month is a long time.

Protein - Gammon steaks, 20 Fish fingers, 20 Pork sausages, Streaky bacon, Bacon bits, Whole chicken, Slices of braising steak, Lamb knuckle, Pork chops, 2 veggie sausages, Corned beef, Minced beef and peas (tin), Baked beans, Soup mix, eggs

Carbs
10kg sack spuds, Cheese, Naan bread, Stuffing mix,
Sachet suet dumpling mix, Pasta, Porridge Oats, Corflakes, Wheat biscuits, Breadcrumbs, Spaghetti, Vermicelli noodles, Egg noodles, Lasagne sheets

Veg
Carrots, Swede, Onions (brown and red), Cabbage (green an red), Cauliflowers, Leeks, Purple sprouting, Parsnips, Salsa, Stir fry veg, Peas, Sliced potato, Sprouts, Crispy potatoes, Tinned mixed veg, Tinned sweetcorn

Fruit
Bananas, Mixed dried fruit, Dried cranberries, Dried apricots,

Store Cupboard
Tomato paste, Mint sauce, Apple sauce, Mayonnaise, Garlic puree, Beef gravy (from a stew), Chicken stock, Beef stock, Vege stock, Chilli powder, Curry powder, Oil, Horseradish sauce, Custard power, Dried yeast, Turkey gravy, Sachet cheese sauce, Sachet bread sauce, Bisto gravy thickening powder, Sachet bbq sauce, Vinegar, Soy sauce, Dried milk, Dried sage, rosemary, parsley and mixed herbs, Lime juice, Teriyaki sauce, Red wine sauce (tin), Chasseur sauce (tin), Paprika

Misc
Tonic Water, Small carton orange juice

I'll post this first and it might help other people to think while I get my thinking cap on

lynzpower

Im sure its doable, remember maz feeding a fmialy of 4 on 20 quid!! that was exceptional, and im certain we can help you with it,

Why not stick your cupboard contents up here and we'll have a go of helping you out with it

Chin up, these things are sent to try us

princesstippytoes

mummytoash wrote: »

hi thats a good idea with the soup. over the next 4 weeks i have £590 but £500 is rent £60 for bills and the rest is for nappies and milk.

So you have £30 left, not nothing, and a full storecupboard and freezer. Definitely doable IMO. Good luck.

tessie_bear

try and post a few more details of what u need and im sure loads of people will pile in the help...im sure it will work out ok

Bunny200

I think this is gonna be a hard month with small portions. Please if you can try to get some fresh milk DS needs it, try to use the fresh food first to ensure nothing gets wasted then move to the freezer. Try to get DS to eat as balanced a diet as you can manage. I've come up with some basic ideas not very exciting but edible. Not sure how long 10kg of spuds will last so you might end up eating pasta for strange meals...! Also not sure how many eggs to have. Great for lunchs, protein for DS!
Something to be aware of - this will seriously deplete youe freezer and storecupboard so when you do get some money (I hope next month) remember you will have to restock so it might cost more than usual.......

Breakfast
Cornflakes with dried fruit
Porridge with dried fruit
Wheat biscuits
Boiled/scrambled/poached eggs & bacon

Lunch
Soup – make a batch of veg soup with soup mix, I know DH doesn’t like it but not sure he’s gonna have much choice this month!
Scrambled egg
Omelette – add bacon bits & onion

Dinner
3 meals - Roast a chicken use 1 breast for the 3 of you (times are hard!) serve with potatoes & veg, strip the chicken, 1 breast for another meal with Red Wine Sauce served with pasta. Pick every bit off the chicken mix with chasseur sauce and serve with mashed potato, add a little cheese for extra protein as not much chicken by now.
Minced Beef Cobbler – tin of minced beef, use suet dumpling mix to make cobblers on top serve with veg
Braised Beef with Beef gravy from freezer, served with potatoes &veg
Corned Beef Hash – combine corned beef with baked beans & mashed potatoes add some cheese serve with veg, alternatively combine with gravy instead of beans.
Pasta Carbonara – bacon with cheese sauce served with pasta & sweetcorn
Sausage Casserole – cook with stock/turkey gravy & BBQ sauce; serve with noodles(?)

FairyElephant_2

Please don't panic leiela....you CAN do it, and we will all help you if we can!

Just think - you've made the first step towards it by posting on here.....

Now make yourself a nice cup of tea/coffee or whatever, grab your pen & paper and make that list! Then pop it on here so that the collective wisdom of MSE OS can get workling on it!

(((HUGS)))

FE

leiela

Argh Sorry for the super long post, as you can see i do actually have plenty of food, but it's just all to much to cope with right now sorting it out, i keep bursting into tears and it's stressing me out.

Tins / Cuboards

5 tins of plum tomatos (was supposed to get chopped but asda sent the wrong ones.. grr)
1 tin of beans
3 tins of tuna (me and DS1 are the only ones that will eat it)
2 john west tuna filets in sauce
½ small bag of pasta (maybe enough for 1 meal)
1 packet of spaghetti
Nuts/seeds - various (salted peanuts, pecans, walnuts, pumkin, pinenuts etc etc the list go’s on)
Raisins – ½ big bag
Dried Apricots – ½ bag
Dried mixed Fruit – ½ bag
1 bag SR flour
1 med bag brown rice
22 eggs
5 wholemeal wraps (for kids sandwiches ds1 eats 1 per day, ds2 eats 2 (don’t ask haha))
1 bag sugar
1 bag oatmeal
2 packs jelly crystals
Gravy granules chicken/small amount of beef
Oxo – various
Red Lentils – half bag
Barley – full bag
Dried mixed beans – full bag
Herbs + spices – enough to drown a battleship
1 packet desert whip - strawberry
1 tin bamboo shoots
½ packet of lasagne sheets
Golden syrup
1 bottle of squash
1 carton of longlife apple juice
1 tub dried milk
Toffee sauce
Custard powder
Lemon juice
Tea – green/normal and fruit
Coffee
Drinking Chocolate
½ pack ritz crackers
6 bags of crisps
Woustshire sauce


Veg

8 small potato’s
5 leeks
1 celeriac
1kg carrots
Sack of onions
4 medium sweet potato’s.
1 savoy cabbage
1 bag spinach
½ iceburg lettuce
1 round lettuce
4.5 peppers (2 green, 1 yellow, 1 and ½ red)
3 courgettes
1 bag bean sprouts
1 cucumber
1 packet of mange tout
1 white cabbage


Fruit

4 banana’s (on the turn)
1 punnet of grapes (bought for ds1’s packed lunches)
3 apples
3 sticks of rhubarb
2 grapefruit
2 cartons of Fruit juice – 1 mango/orange 1 pineapple

Meat - fresh

5 slices of ham
½ packet sliced chicken (maybe 8 slices)
1 small gammon joint
1 pack bacon
8 steak mince burgers – quite big
1 chicken (currently in the slow cooker for tonight/tomorrow)

Meat - Frozen

1 pack turkey mince
1 small pack – beef mince
1 small chicken
1 packet sausages
2 large chicken breast
4 beef steaks (very small)
1 packet of chicken strips in batter
4 fish fingers
1 packed diced chicken breast
1 small portion of plain cod
4 very small chicken breasts

Fridge

2pts full fat milk for kids
1 pts skimmed milk
1 large tub of stork for baking
¼ tub marg
¼ block of cheese
1 packet cheese strings – (8)
1 packet of frubes – (9) + 3 loose
½ pack of cocktail sausages – about 15 sausages
14 mini savoury eggs

Frozen – Pre-prepared meals

Lentil and Lamb – Casserole (1 person portion)
Chicken Soup - (1 person portion)
Sandwiches/filled wraps – 6 sets.

Frozen Veg

Green beans – ½ pack
Broccolli – 1 pack
Onions (home - frozen) – 4 small bags 1 chopped onion in each
Mushrooms (home - frozen) – maybe 200g
Peppers (home - frozen) – 200g
Stirfry Veg (home - frozen) – 400g ish
Casserole veg – precooked (home - frozen) – 400g ish
Cauliflower – ½ pack
Spinach – 1 pack
Sprouts – 1 bag (im the only one who will eat them)
1 bag chopped 1 whole white cabbage (home – frozen)

Frozen other –

Frubes – 1 pack (9)
HM flapjacks – 8
HM chocolate fairy cakes – 4
HM Banana Cake – ½ loaf
HM Chocolate Cake – ½ loaf
Small HM Rhubarb Crumble
HM Frozen pancakes (leftover from pancake day) – plain – 8 large
20 mini sausage rolls

Dogfood

2 tins
Enough dry for 4 days

Catfood

30 foil packets
Enough dry for 3 days
Cat litter – 1 weeks’ worth (and even thats leaving them abit stinky)

Other

Loo rolls – 8
Stardrops – 2 bottles
Various other cleaners
1 bottle white vinegar
½ small box of soap powder
1/3 bottle of fabric conditioner
Washing up liquid – ½ bottle

Im feeding 2 adults and 2 kids, including a very hungry 7 year old who i sware can out eat more grown men. 2 cats (one of whom can only eat wet cat food due to a damaged jaw) and a greedy german shepard cross.

Also i have the major issue of my husband who will go out and buy food on the credit cards without a second thought if he feels he's somehow being starved and he's a big snacker... grrr.. you know the type, if you leave something cooling in the kitchen ready to be frozen for another day next time to go into the kitchen it's gone :mad: :mad: so you end up hiding things in the tumble dryer because it's the only place safe in the house he's sure not to look.

Anyway i just need to make sure he's not left starving because he will spend on the CC's and i've worked so damn hard to pay them off in the last few months, he'll undo all my good work in a matter of 1 shop (he does not understand the concept of thrift and will buy what he fancys regardless of cost)

I need to provide Breakfast for just me and my husband (kids are in breakfast club and get fed thier, i've already asked school if i can pay for that next month) - husband won't eat oatmeal/cereal, but i will.

Packed lunches for everyone, kids need something cold and portable and won't eat HM bread :mad: but my and the hubby have microwave access for re-heating if needed.

Then of course dinners for everyone, me and the husband usually have high protien requirements for bodybuilding, but i have plenty of protien shake so for this month where gonna rough it and suppliment with shake lots...so it doens't dip too low, but we've accepted our nutrition isn't likely to be quite on par this month.

Anyway i have exactly £33.44 and i know a huge chunk of that is gonna go on feeding the pets... Sigh!

freebiequennie

for lunches could you buy value pittas for the children think they are about 20p for 6 and would do them for 3 days and can fill them with almost anything.

soup is cheap to make for lunches for you and husband.

have you looked on www.approvedfood.co.uk for pet food sometimes they have some.

tiff

Dogs can be fed on rice and veg, there is rice in some commercial dog food anyway. I would do that if I couldnt afford dog food.