Store cupboard challenge

[Deleted User]

Very well done Its suprising how a meal can be 'cobbled together' out of all sorts of odds and ends.I had my friend down for a visit from Friday until this morning.I had a chicken that I bought for a fiver on Thursday I put into cook overnight in the SC so Friday morning it was delicious and falling of the bone.I strained all the stock off (will use as a basic for soup today)we had a sandwich aon friday lunchtime some cold sliced with a big salad Friday night before we went to the movies Last night we had with roast potato's and all the trimming and yesterday at luchtime some chopped up with some mayo and curry powder and salad in a couple of wraps This morning there was one big breast left so she took a coiuple of slices home for her sandwich lunch today and the rest we chopped up with two rashers of bacon and a tin ot tomatoes,some left over mushrooms a handful of chopped onion from the freezer and some chopped left over peppers This I added to a jar of Tomato and chilli sauce that was nearing its best before date in the cupboard and stirred to whole lots togeter with 6 ozs of dried paste and its happily baking in my oven at the moment .Whe done I will get at least 6 single portions to go into my freezer as a quick meal to accompany a jacket spud or some rice during the week.So for a fiver I have had four dinners,five lots of sandwiches and 6 pasta based portions for the freezer.Blooming good value and my five quid chicken has done me well, in effect 15 meals .It was a nice fresh clucker as well not a frozen one.Plus I will get at least a litre and a half of soup from the stock for 'free'

Kittenkirst

Well done you :0) On this weeks meal plan I've put a soup/use up meal in so will use up what we've got. Loving all the thriftiness! :0)

I'm feeling fairly pleased with myself too, we had neice & her boyf staying this weekend. Instead of ordering pizza in when they arrived on Friday, I went to Sainsbobs and bought value pizza bases, value mozzarella, meat slices & sundried tomato from deli counter (so I got the quantity we actually needed), tinned s/corn & pineapple (value again) and made some pizza's!

Made garlic bread with partbaked baguette with garlic crushed into butter, alongside this I served sweet potatoes (yellow stickered) & standard potato wedges (lidl offer) with herbs outta the cupboard & breadcrumbs from the freezer.

A veritable feast but minimal expenditure for 4 people! Used Sains vouchers too so no pennies from my purse either! Yay! :0)

(next time I'll make my own bases-I usually do!)

All small things but if we'd have ordered in we would have spent a good £40+ instead of £10 (plus we have loads of bits left over so will use it in pack lunches for work! Wooop!)

Blue_Elephant

haha just saw this and i'd done the same thing - I was about to go to the supermarket and decided to see what I had for this weeks meals - I've not been doing this long as normally my parents do the food shop but they've been away for the last 5 weeks and get home next week.

Anyway I had a look and realised that all I actually need is a loaf of bread for lunches, and I've got enough for tomorrow so i can pick up the bread on the way home from work tomorrow. result!

Tonight - been invited to dinner by family friends
Monday night - chickpea, potato and pea curry with HM chappatis
Tuesday - Chicken and frozen veg "cheats biriyani" with the frozen chicken thighs
Wednesday Meatballs and spaghetti from some frozen mince lamb
Thursday (my parents get back and it's my day off so will make dahl and rice, chappatis and curried cauliflower and peas
Friday - mum will cook as she knows I miss her cooking

Catmom

Isn't it a great feeing :j im doing exactly the same, and Im even getting excited a the prospect of how many meals Im going to get out of the RTC chicken Ive just roasted:D Good luck with the freezer - if its anything like mine you'll be amazed at how many meals you can construct from its contents :eek:

QueenB.

Doesn't it feel so much more rewarding. I hate throwing food away but sometimes the odd bit does end up in the bin just depends how busy my week has been. What I tend to do is to put a bits and bobs meal on the meal plan each week so that I use up whatever needs using before the next shop. It has meant we have had some very interesting meals over the past few months:D I have a bad habit of puuting any extra sauces into bags without labels and freezing them so we also have freezer surprise meals :rotfl:Even extra gravy gets frozen which can be added to all sorts of meals.

Keep up the good work :T

[Deleted User]

Just got in from dinner at DDs she 'donated half a cauliflower cheese and a large portion of apple crumble towards my dinner tomorrow as with 6 in her family it wouldn't streetch around.So I have bangers, new pots,carrots and cauliflower cheese for dinner tomorrow, and some apple crumble for pudding, I think with a dollop of custard the crumble will do me two days puddings.

Jadeytee

Wow thats awesome! Inspires me to think that little bit more with my food wastage

Jadeytee

I love the name freezer suprise. I regularly cobble up random ingrediants and call it cupboard suprise, interesting but you'd be suprised what works. I love speghetti bolagnase, throw anything and everything in there. Limp carrots, almost gone off cauliflower (a particular favourite) as long as you cook it long enough anything can go it
Well done original poster

karren

well i took out what i thought was chilli but it was spag bol, and had some carrot and tom soup i took out for work but popped that in with it to make it stretch so tea from freezer in our house xxx

pennypinchUK

NicChanna wrote: »

Hey all - you probably know about this already but just in case you don't ...

recipematcher.com

You enter the stuff that's in your cupboard/fridge/freezer and it searches a database of gazillions of recipes that people have volunteered, then telling you what you can make, and whether there is anything extra you need to buy to make it.

:j

Similarly, there's supercook.com It's probably been mentioned before, but just in case....