Store cupboard challenge

life_in_termoil

Thanks WMF and Miecherox. Things arent looking as bleak now

life_in_termoil

On my NEED TO BUY LIST so far is

Milk
Rice
Bread
cooking oil
flour
spuds
fruit
onions

babychick

it sounds like you have quite a decent stock and a fairly reasonable amount of cash to last the next couple of weeks.

essentials on my shopping list would be:

a sack of spuds
milk
bread (or make your own?)

just for starters;)

lunchbox ideas -
carrot sticks
breadsticks with philly type cheese (I buy a big tub and decant)
raisins/sultanas (again, get a big bag and put into portions)
Homemade Twinks (the recipe is on the index)
cold pasta with tuna and sweetcorn (other fillings are possible! )

Hope this helps a little, I'm sure others will be along soon with some far better ideas!

life_in_termoil

Thanks Babychick. I would make my own bread but the kids dont like it!!! BUT i will be making pizza dough and maybe some chelsea buns.

Im off work tomorrow so can see myself spending the day in the kitchen.

quintwins

you acually have loads

i'd suggest you make pizza (make sauce with you passata) i'd make mini ones to eat cold for lunchs aswell, oi make pizza tarts and the kids love them

tomatoe pasta (use same sauce as you used for pizza base)

quiche

toad in the hole

chicken curry

beef stew (don't see any carrots but you could add your swede)


really all i can see that you don't have to make all this is flour (maybe you forgot to list it most people have flour) and you may need more taties

life_in_termoil

ive got carrots and 1/2 a bag of plain flour and 1/2 a bag of SR flour

determined_new_ms

ok meals - I'm not as expert as many of the other peeps on here but I will give it a go!

1. prawn, cauliflower & brocolli pie (cheese sauce using butter, flour & milk, topped with mash)
2. chicken & mushroom risotto - use 1/2 pack mushrooms (with rice buying) + nan
3. hm ham & pepper pizza - either dinner (+ salad) or lunches
4. chicken curry - 2 chicken breasts/or some chopped chicken, 1/2 a pepper
5. spag - using 1 jar sauce, beef, grated carrot, 1/2 pack mushrooms, 1/2 pepper, some peas & sweetcorn & pasta & salad
6. tomato tart - using toms & puff pastry - lunch item
7. spicy pasta - using passata, 1/2 pepper, carrot battons, chilli
8. chicken pasta bake - chicken, sweetcorn, peas, broccolli & cauliflower, passata or tin toms & herbs, grated cheese on top
9. chicken burgers, hm wedges - using the pots - & spagetti hoops
10. quesadillas (buy some flour tortillas or make some recipe on index) - 3 chicken breasts, tin of toms, 1/2 spoon of chilli & pinch of sugar, either cook in SC if you have one or in the oven very slowly, when cooked use 2 sppons to shread the meat, put in tortillas & some plain yog if you can afford or without is fine, some grated cheese and fry. I'll come back with a recipe.

Aldis have baking pots this week for 39p


Lunches:

buy bread & do:
cheese sandwiches
sausage sandwiches
cheese spread sandwiches

chicken soup x 12 - noodles, small amount of chicken, peas, sweet corn & bread - weekends

omlette

LO pizza/tomoto tart

piece of fruit & some sultanas

couple of twinks hobnobs

so going on the above I think you only need to get the potatoes, maybe some tins of tuna & ham for sandwiches - maybe some jam.

then come back with what's left & get some more ideas! Lovely roast with all the trimmings when the HB is sorted I think!

Good luck x

RAS

life_in_termoil wrote: »

Tins - can be used later in the month

9 tins baked beans
4 tins hot dogs
6 tins spaghetti hoops
6 tins tomatoes
2 tins mac cheese


Ingredients
4 cartons passata
3 tins kidney beans
7 tins mushy peas
sage and onion stuffing mix
half bag SR flour
half bag Plain four
2 packs naan bread mix
3 kilos pasta swirls
1 packet shortcrust pastry mix
6 packets chicken flavour noodles!
dried milk powder - fine for pancakes etc.
yeast
sultanas
granulated sugar
soft brown sugar


Flavourings
3 jars sweet n sour sauce
2 jars bolognese sauce
2 jars mild curry
garlic
salt, pepper, most herbs and spices baking powder etc

Veggies and fruit - limited life
1/2 a cucumber
1/2 bag of mixed salad - needs eating urgently
6 tomatoes
red green and yellow pepper
1 1/2 kilos carrots
4 onions
1 pack mushrooms
1 swede
4 lemons - will keep better than most things
6 bananas - and custard or banana cake/loaf for lunch packs?
6 pears
6 apples
half a sack of spuds (but theyre only small none suitable for baking)

Dairy
10 eggs
1 kilo cheese
2 tubs cheese spread
margarine
small amount of oil
1 pack butter
2 packs lard
1 1/2 litres of milk!!

half a pack of ham - needs eating urgently

FROZEN
4 bread
900g chargrilled chicken mini fillets
15 spicy chicken portions
15 fish fingers
1 kilo sweercorn
1 kilo peas
1 kilo broc and cauli mix
3 kilos diced chicken breast
10 chicken burgers
2 kilo chicken breast
1 pack braising steak
15 sausages
1 pack puff pastry
1/2 bag prawns

Either freeze that half pack of ham, use it in sarnies now or make a spaghetti alla carbonara.

You have plenty of meat, but you need more oil (for cooking and baking) and more padding (carbs)

misscousinitt

Hi

Just a few ideas from looking at the list:

Sausages - chopped into chunks they look more and go further
* Mix with beans and veggies to make a Sausage Casserole
* Mix with pasta sause or make your own with passata & herbs etc... for a pasta sauce (LOs could be used for lunches)
* Skin and chunk add made up packet of stuffing mix and use your puff pastry to make sausage rolls for lunch box treats
*Hot dogs - can be used in pasta sauce or to top HM Pizzas (you could use the naan bread mix for pizza base)
*Chicken Chilli - use 1 kg of your diced chicken, add tin kidney beans, an onion, yellow pepper, passata, a few mushrooms, chilli, mixed herbs - serve with mash or pasta
*Make a Chicken & Ham Pie - diced chicken, 1/2 pack ham, mushrooms, peas, sweetcorn in a white sauce, top with shortcrust pastry made from your mix.
*Beef Stew
*Chicken Curry

Lunch ideas:
*Spanish Omelette, eggs, veggies, chopped hot dogs, thinly sliced pots, peas - can be cut into wedges for lunches
*Pasta salads, add peas, sweetocorn, chopped onion and pepper to the pasta while cooking - then add chargrilled chicken fillets and a few spoons of pasta sauce.
*HM Soup using broc & cauli mix, potato and stock

Hope all goes well.

apple_mint

It's do-able life in termoil. If you can, make yourself a meal plan for the number of lunches and evening meals. It's a case of stretching you meat elements further so that your teenagers don't notice they are getting less. Pizza's are great for this as it doesn't take a lot to make a topping. When I don't want to use the breadmaker I use Delia's pizza dough recipe:

http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/type-of-dish/italian/pizza/basic-pizza-dough.html

It uses plain flour and can be made ahead and put into the fridge. In fact it is better when chilled or taken out of the freezer. Pizza is good for evening meals or cold in lunch boxes.

You've got enough to make some pasties. I often make some for OH for his lunch boxes. He takes a little dollop of brown sauce in a separate tub to have with them.

You could use your shortcrust pastry or if you want to save the frozen pastry for something else:

I use a shortcrust pastry recipe from 'Kitchen in the Hills'.

8 oz plain flour
3 oz fat (half butter / half lard)
pinch of salt

Mix the flour and salt. Rub the fat into the flour. Stir in some cold water with a knife and pull together as dough. Wrap in some clingfilm and pop in the fridge for half an hour or more. (Could easily make some up ahead and keep in the fridge or freezer).

Fillings:

I often chop fine: a bit of onion, carrot, mushrooms and potato (you could use some of your swede and peas). Fry them off gently and add some spices (curry powder or garam masala, tumeric etc) or a couple of big spoonfuls of your curry sauce. Allow to cool. Roll out your pastry and cut out some circles (I cut around a small plate or for mini pasties I use a large circle pastry cutter). Put some filling into one half of the pastry circle. Use some milk to damp around the edges and fold the pastry over. Pinch the edges around the pasty and cut a couple of slits in the top. Brush milk over your pasty. Pop into the oven on a pastry tray at around 180 for around 15 - 20 mins until golden brown. You could brush these with a beaten egg but I'd save your eggs for another meal.

Other fillings: cheese and potato; corned beef, potatoes and onions (just be creative).

These would also be nice with some chips and peas (not entirely healthy but filling). Or perhaps pasty and mushy peas.

If not pasties then a pie might be a quicker alternative.

I've taken cold potato wedges to work for my packed lunches (chopped potato - thrown into a bag with a little oil and some herbs / spices - put onto a baking sheet and pop into the oven for 45 mins when you have something else in there). Make a dip with the philly cheese (making it a bit sloppier with some natural yogurt or sour cream). Ideas for flavouring the dip - add some mustard or some mint sauce if you have any in your stock).

Use the cheapy chicken noodles as the base for a main meal. Make them up as usual and serve something on top like the hot dogs chopped into a tomato sauce base (fry off some onions, whizz a tin of tomatoes, add some herbs and simmer). You could also do something similar with chicken.

You could also get some cheapy bread fingers or rolls and have an American themed evening. Hot dog sausages, fried onions, mustard, tomato sauce in a finger roll served with potato wedges and some baked beans.

I'm sure lots of people will be along to help. Most of us have been in similar situations before when money hasn't come through when it should.

Other ideas:

Pancakes
Tortilla wraps. A good thread here with ideas. Squeakies post (number 13 has a link to a cheap recipe) https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/65952

Hope this helps