Store cupboard challenge

youngmum_2

I'm joining in this month!

Just made my inventory of my freezer and cupboards and by the looks of things should only need a few basic ingredients bought this week :j

What I was wanting to ask was what do you all do with instant noodles? Tend to buy these but never know what to serve them with, lol! And they need using up!

snoozer

OH my God - how many packets of pasta can one cupboard contain:rotfl: . I have a serious buying habit here, not to mention the jars of sauce to go with it.

I also have a freezer full of meat (most of it bought at end of sell by date). I think I can easily do May without buying anything other than staples.

But made lasagne yesterday and have ended up with a dish going into the freezer which takes up three times as much room as the mince that went into it, don't know how I'm going to squeeze it in. That's as well as the lasagne me and OH are going to eat tonight.:T

annie-c

I don't buy instant noodles anymore, but as kids we used to have them with sausages or burgers as a potato-substitute in a quick meal.

As a student we used to have them in sandwiches to cure hangovers!!!

annie-c

Still on the noodles front - when in my first job, I sometimes had them for lunch - all you need is a kettle! Even if the instructions recommend cooking for 3 mins, you can still get away with making them in a mug, and putting a saucer on top for a few minutes after adding the boiling water.

Actually, I ate noodles all my life until a few years ago - no wonder I went off them!!!

Lillibet_2

Quick update, tonight we are having BBQ chicken made with a pack of drumsticks/thighs, half a jar of BBQ sauce stretched with the dregs of a bottle of soy sauce, 2 packets of beef & tomato cup-a-soup & water, & onions all cooked in the caludron (my SC has been re-named as Hubby says I cook magic meals in it:D:D:D) with rice mixed with chopped frozen peppers. Tomorrow is lamb hotpot with pasta, thursday will be prawn curry made with a bag of value prawns, onions, aubergine, a jar of curry sauce & rice, friday will be caujan chicken & medaterrian veg made with chicken breasts & a packet of caujan seasoning & veg & a packet of med seasoning (a kind of round-the-world dinner that night!).

Anne-c
I usually plan my meals to the nth-degree but that's gone out of the window lately for many reasons, so I have made a fairly rough inventory of the odd things lurking but not the stuff I would always keep in stock anyway, and am planning 3-5 days worth of meals at a time using that. HTH;)

Pawpaws
Do you think I could do your chicken liver meal with a jar of curry sauce? I still have another jar that needs using up!

Happy cooking everyone:j

sophiesmum_2

Poached salmon salad for lunch, crispy duck and plum sauce wrapped in lettuce leaves, with stir fry and green lentils for tea.
Checking through cupboards and stores i have found 32 tins of tuna!!!!!!!!!!:eek:

Anyone got a recipe for tuna casserole?
As for pasta fetish posted above I have the same problem with pulses, I think I have enough pearl barley,lentils,quinoa,aduki beans etc to feed a third world country for the month (there is only 3 of us).

sophiesmum

Mumofthreeboys_2

I hope there's some help out there for this one......

Just found a tin of Carnation Light at the back of my cupboard!!! I have a vague recollection of needing it for some kind of low fat Bannoffee (sp) pie, but not sure.

Anyway suggestions would be great.

helenstuff

annie-c wrote:

I'm good at buying healthy foods but not so good at using them up....

Can anyone help with recipe suggestions for using up lentils (green and red), mung and aduki beans (apart from sprouting), pearl barley (can it be used other than in soups/stews?).

I saw a recipe on here over Easter for lentil and sweet potato cakes, which I plan to try this week - yum! :j

Annie

I know it's not really in the spirit of cleaning out the freezer but I find I don't get round to using lentils as they take so long to cook (ok, not that long but I'm lazy...). I usually cook half or a whole bag in one go and then put in small portions in the freezer for future use. You can usually 'revive' them just by pouring boiling water over them again. Then very nice to use warm in salads with a few spinach leaves, cherry tomatoes, feta cheese and balsamic vinegar. Can also just chuck a portion into soups or casseroles or whatever...
Bon appetit!

saving-grace

Mumofthreeboys wrote:

Just found a tin of Carnation Light at the back of my cupboard!!! I have a vague recollection of needing it for some kind of low fat Bannoffee (sp) pie, but not sure.

Anyway suggestions would be great.

Banoffee pie is usually made by boiling condensed milk(the thick stuff with sugar in it) so I don't think Carnation would work for that.
Simplest idea - pour it on top of tinned fruit.
Or you could dilute it with some water and use it as part of the milk in a rice pudding. This is what I do if I have any leftover evap milk - it makes the rice pudding nice and creamy.
Regular Carnation -you can whip it up with an electric mixer so it gets full of air and then use it to make a frothy milk jelly/mousse but I don't know if it would work with the Light stuff

Mumofthreeboys_2

saving-grace wrote:

Banoffee pie is usually made by boiling condensed milk(the thick stuff with sugar in it) so I don't think Carnation would work for that.
Simplest idea - pour it on top of tinned fruit.
Or you could dilute it with some water and use it as part of the milk in a rice pudding. This is what I do if I have any leftover evap milk - it makes the rice pudding nice and creamy.
Regular Carnation -you can whip it up with an electric mixer so it gets full of air and then use it to make a frothy milk jelly/mousse but I don't know if it would work with the Light stuff

Thank you saving-grace, if there was thank you button I would press it!! I might give the frothy jelly a go and see what happens anyway, xx