Store cupboard challenge

sophiesmum_2

I have one of those American fridge freezers and I love it,Everything is so easy to get at and it holds tonnes of stuff.Also the water filter and ice maker have saved me a fortune too, especially the ice maker as now everyone fills their glasses with ice before adding drinks,and I use half the amount of coke,squash etc,and the water is lovely and cold filtered.
Got mine in the sale too £700 down from £1100 - stainless steel.
sophiesmum

zubezube

Can I join in please?
I am a compulsive buyer of tinned and packet food to keep "just in case" so I could do with using them up, but it's how to put them together to make a meal thats the problem for me i've no imagination

MushyPeas

Of course zubezube

Why not list some of the items in your cupboard and people could suggest meals? Or, do as I just did. I've found a box of desiccated (sp?) coconut in the cupboard and have just searched the recipe threads to find some yummy flapjack recipes. This counts as baking for me and I haven't done any of that for years so it should be interesting!

snoozer

I would like to join in too please, I must keep my grocery spending under control. Will try only to buy bread, milk, fruit &veg.

pawpurrs

Lillibet wrote:

OK, have done a cupboard & freezer inventory. Shockingley I have come up with 23 meals out of what's in the freezer alone!! And that isn't accounting for leftovers! Trouble is, a lot of what's in my freezer is meat which I would cook to get several meals out of, freezing some of them. So as fast as I get something out I could be putting more meals back in! I should certanily be able to get by with just buuying my fortnightly fruit & veg boxes, extra bananas, baby stuff & drinks. Oh, ok, and maybe garlic bread ingredients, 'cos I love it with anything.

I know it isn't quite May yet but I'm starting.....

I have a list of meals that are all ready to go from the freezer (mostly frozen leftovers as I tend to batch bake, but some supermarket stuff too:o) plus I have a list of raw ingeriedents with which I will have to concoct some kind of nightly fare:p I will go in 3 day spurts for now, until I'm fully back on the wagon when I'll get back to weekly & then fortnightly planning

Tonight is salmon in some kind of sauce with lemon & corriander cous-cous.
Tomorrow is Chinese ribs, oriental duck & rice
Monday is beef burginion (sp?)

Just for a laugh, I also found in my freezer :

3 stray bulldog clips (I use them for keeping bags of veggies etc shut)
4 cartons of breast milk!!!
8 packs of x6 pitta breads & 3 small/medium portions of 7 bird roast with stuffing, leftover from Spud's baptism last week.
The obligatory tupperware box with mystery contents....possibly more beef burginion, lamb casserole or maybe prepared mince for a Mexican casserole?

Does anyone have any suggestions on what I can make with
2 very very salty haddock fillets? (I have 6 but have planned ot use the other 4 up by mixing with other fish in fish pies. It is far too salty to eat on it's own (and I won't be buying it again))
Medium size pack chicken liver. We don't like it on it's own, think I bought it when I was weanng Spud onto solid foods.
Leftover cooked 7 bird roast with stuffing? I am thinking of turing it into pies with some kind of soup-sauce but other suggestions welcome.
Any other uses for pitta bread apart from sandwiches?
Cup-a-soup when you don't like it? I think it would work as sauces/casserole mix?

Now the chicken livers, just used mine up, I put them in a ragu sauce, I use the one from Delias winter book, that makes enough for 8 meals for two, and its yummy, brilliant done in the SC.

annie-c

Please can others tell me how they are approaching the challenge - are you making a list of what you have in stock and then meal planning for the month, or are you just making it up as you go along?

I feel that I should really be making an inventory so that I can see what I've got and spread the 'good' stuff out over the month, using up things that go together sensibly... but so far I've just used up the first things I've found that look interesting - it could get a bit lean towards the end of the month if I carry on like this!

Would be really interested to hear what others are doing... :T

LearningToSave.

hiya annie-c,
personally i did an inventory of my freezers and cupboards and took note also of what spices,sauces i had too.
then i sat down and planned meals around what i had....but to be honest with very few exceptions they were all normal meals we'd eat anyway-not weird concoctions.

annie-c

Thanks LTS (am missing the thanks button now!)

Baileys_Babe

We keep our bulk buys mainly in a built in wardrobe in spare room and toliet roll, kitchen roll in the cupboard under the stairs.

sophiesmum_2

I squirrel stuff away where ever have space but then sometimes forget about it.Last year when we were getting ready for our hols DH opened a suitcase and it was full of BOGOF kitchen rolls I had forgotten about..:rotfl:
sophiesmum