Store cupboard challenge

mardatha

I have meat in the freezer and plenty of pasta & rice. Got milk, bread, stewed apples, tons of flour. Need to buy odds and sods for a weeks meals for 2, but we only have a £20 note. I cant seem to think of anything although it shouldn't be hard !! Anybody got any ideas as to what to spend the £20 on please..? All I can think of is eggs and cheese and potatoes !!:mad:

tattoed_bum

what exactly do you have in the freezer and we will see if we can come up with some recipes which will make shopping easier

frugalswan

My trinity of wonder would be to buy tinned tomatoes, onions and mushrooms. I make no end of dishes using these and different meats. Curry powder (and a few other spices) and it's a curry. Bit of garlic and some dried herbs and it's a pasta sauce. Even though my mealplans are fairly erratic, those are the three items I always have on the list. Mixed with stock and microwaved (or baked, even) and with a little cheese on, and it's a risotto I've a lovely recipe for a microwaved tomato and cheese risotto, but it's in my desk drawer at work ). Tinned beans, jazzed up with a bit of sauce (bbq or brown is nice) and bacon make a staple in our house - melee beans. Whatever I've got left in the fridge goes into this and served with jacket potato. Whatever doesn't get eaten gets put with some cooked cold pasta and served as a pasta salad.

So that's my suggestion, tinned tomatoes, onions and mushrooms. I hope that helps

mardatha

In the freezer is loads of mince, some stew, some chicken legs, and some cauli. My mind is totally blank (it often is) I hate cooking and have to be in the mood for it. I can bake and have loads of cake recipies etc, plus apples so sweets r ok. Just main courses I need.

lynzpower

Let us know what youve got, you might not have to spend anything!!

GrillMonkey

Depending on how much mince, stew, and chicken you have it sounds like you only need to buy peripherals i.e. chopped tomatoes, beans, onions etc.

Also, how many are you feeding?

Best you make a list of everything you have. I doubt you'd need to spend more than a tenner but list out what you have and we'll be able to be more precise with our help.

Welshwoofs

I'd get some tinned tomatos, rice, lasagne sheets, cheese and potatos. If you have loads of mince you could then do a cottage pie, spag bol and a lasagne and that's 3 days sorted. If still have more mince, do a chilli for 4 days done.

For chicken legs (depending on how many you have), do a curry with some - an easy curry sauce is 1 tsp each of ground cumin/coriander/chilli/turmeric + 1 tin of chopped tomatos - chuck the chicken legs in from the beginning and strip the meat off when it's done.

You can do some sticky chicken with others with spicy potato wedges (cut potatos into wedges, put in a baggie with some oil then on a baking tray with salt/pepper/chilli and bake until crisp). You're now up to 6 days.

If you have cheese and flour - cheese souffle, or cauliflower cheese with your cauli for day 7.

mogoot

Mince: tinned tomatoes, tomato puree, onions, and plenty of black pepper and you've got yourself a bolognese sauce that you can put with just about any pasta, or use it to make a lasagne. Make a big batch and freeze.

Stew - is this stewing beef? If so: chuck a few tablespoons of flour onto a plate, with salt and pepper - mixed herbs if you have them - and coat the beef in this. Fry in a little oil just enough to darken the surface. Put this, with a chopped up onion and a couple of chopped up carrots into an ovenproof pot, with a crumbled up stock cube, and enough water to cover about two thirds of it all.. Cover and cook at about 150-160 degrees for 3-4 hours. Add mushrooms in the last 45 mins if you wish.

Savoy cabbage is a good cheap accompaniment - steam in the microwave or steamer pan if you have one so that it's softened but still a bit firm. Plenty of butter and black pepper and you're done.

Apples - apple pie? apple crumble?

Chicken legs - much more flavour than breast and there's loads you can do with them. Remove the meat from the bone, and grab a curry sauce or a Chicken Tonight sauce for an easy meal option.

Cauliflower - use a sachet of cheese sauce powder to make a cauliflower cheese.

mardatha

oh brilliant ta !! If I could get by with a tenner then I would be so happy hallelujah LOL ! Only thing is we dont eat curries or chillis, but there's tons of ideas there, thanks so much yur all amazing x
Only feeding 2 adults .

Toonie

Good old fashioned mince and gravy with boiled (or mashed) spuds and other veggies is a good cheap meal. You can also use any leftover mince the next day with peas and carrots for lunch with bread or toast.