Store cupboard challenge

Steve059

JackieO wrote: »

I too have a dozen or so tinned mushy peas left over from the Great Tinned Mushy Peas War between the supermarkets back in the spring.I snaffled them for 3p a tin ??? I must have been having a daft moment.

PEA SOUP

Makes 2 x 250ml servings

INGREDIENTS

250g of peas
1 vegetable stock cube
500ml of water

METHOD

If you are using dried peas, soak them in water according to the instructions on the box.

If you are using tinned peas, open the tin and drain off the water.

Put the peas, stock cube and waterinto a saucepan on a medium heat. Bring to the boil, then turn down the heat until it is just boiling.

Put the lid on the saucepan and continue cooking until the peas are soft. Check the liquid level from time to time and top up if it starts to dry out.

If you have a food processor, put the soup in it and blend it to the desired consistency. If you have a hand blender, put it in the soup and blend it to the desired consistency. If you don’t have a food processor or hand blender, use a potato masher, press the soup through a sieve with the back of a spoon, or leave it lumpy. If you used a food processor, rinse out the saucepan and put the soup back into the saucepan.

Put the saucepan on a low heat and reheat the soup gently.

ADDITIONS & ALTERNATIVES

You can use dried, fresh, frozen or tinned peas.

Dried peas need to be soaked in advance.

Tinned garden and marrowfat peas come in water and the drained weight of a 300g tin of peas is 185g, so use two tins and 750ml of water and make 3 servings.

Tinned mushy peas can be used straight from the tin and with just 250ml of water.

3p for your tin of peas, and my current reduced salt vegetable OXO cubes were (and still are) 2 x boxes of 12 for £2.00 (in Tesco), which is 8.33p per cube. That's 11.33p for 2 x 250ml bowls of soup. 5.67p per bowl.

Steve059

Tomato Puree. Butter beans.

TOMATO & BUTTER BEANS

Serves 2

INGREDIENTS

2 cloves of garlic
1 onion
1 tablespoon of olive oil
140g tin of tomato puree
1 teaspoon of mixed herbs
1 vegetable stock cube
125ml of water
400g tin of butter beans

METHOD

Peel the garlic and chop it into tiny pieces. Peel the onion and chop it into tiny pieces.

Put the oil into a frying pan on a medium heat. Add the garlic and onion. Fry them for about 3 minutes until golden. Stir frequently to stop it sticking.

Add the tomato puree and herbs, stock cube and water. Mix thoroughly.

Open the tin of butter beans and drain off the water. Add the butter beans. Stir thoroughly.

Continue to cook for about another 3 minutes.

ADDITIONS & ALTERNATIVES

Sprinkle some grated cheese on top.

Serve with rice or salad, or as a side dish.

maman

Easy side dish that I do with tinned peas(actually I se peas&carrots): fry an onion (I soften mine in microwave first) until brown then pour the 'juice' from the peas into frying pan and stir to get all the caramel bits into the sauce. Add peas and a pinch of sugar and heat through. Tasty and a bit different to peas on their own.

I heat peaches (halves in my case) through in a saucepan with a good slug of brandy if you have it. Makes a quick and yummy pudding with cream or ice cream.

I'd have thought you could make fishcakes with the tinned salmon, perhaps mashed potato and onion and maybe some sweetcorn with loads of seasoning.

Loads of people on Slimming World swear by mushy pea curry. Apparently it's like chip shop curry sauce. Just google if interested.

camNolliesMUMMY

Wow! Lol good luck.

How many is there in your household?

I've got loads too that needs to be used and I too won't be shopping again for another two weeks. See if I can stretch it longer?

[Deleted User]

Well I live alone and I probably have as much, if not more, in my store cupboards and fridge freezer, and I will definitely be shopping from my stores instead of the shops in the coming few weeks.

I normally have a budget of £60.00 per month anyway for me and usually have a small amount of cash left over at the end of the month which gets put straight into my holiday account.I will be using up my store of lentils hopefully as I have a massive 2kg bag of them that I bought several months ago for under £2.00 so they will help 'pad' out meat dishes and also go towards some lentil curries and spicy lentil soups.I only use cash and keep it in a seperate purse for food/groceries alone.So good luck with the challenge ,perhaps you can post a few things on here that you've managed to use up in the coming weeks
Cheers JackieO xxx

[Deleted User]

Steve059 You are a star I had a feeling you had posted this before awhile ago, but couldn't find it .I had lots of recipes that I lost when my hard drive got 'wiped' Thank you so much I have now got a copy and looks like the New Year will be pea soup for awhile :):)
Happy Christmas
JackieO xxx

parkgirl

I am going to be trying really a lot harder in 2014 - I am a very frugal cook and I believe that its my duty to use all the animal up (love liver!) if it died to feed me. However, daughter has an eating disorder which has meant that it has been very hard keeping control over what is in our freezer - we seem to have turned a bit of a corner so I am hoping that we are in for a better year and that I can keep our costs down a bit. Good luck to everyone trying this challenge this year.

Butterfly_Brain

http://www.wisebread.com/50-ways-to-use-canned-salmon

http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/type-of-dish/soups/butter-bean-bacon-and-parsley-soup.html

http://www.lavenderandlovage.com/2013/09/a-hearty-52-diet-recipe-for-autumn-butter-bean-chorizo-stew-with-tomatoes.html

sp1987

Thanks for all the great ideas. But please do share how you come up with these ideas, is it just experience or are you dreaming up these things? My brain doesn't really think up such things...

queengoth

I adapt things that I see in restaurants or on menus added to things I see on TV or may read on here. If I see a recipe I will adapt it to add in things I have in my store cupboard and omit what I don't like or think is too expensive to buy. I still resort to the things I grew up with when I am lacking inspiration or motivation.