Looked through my cupboards: need some meal ideas, to make things stretch if possible

Butterfly_Brain

Pizza is really easy to make and my lot won't eat shop bought now!
Have you tried making your own soup? again it is easier than you think to make, just add some dumplings or croutons for a filling meal. I am havin a look at your list and will see what I acn come up with x

CCP

I've had a look through your list and I've had a few ideas:

The mini pizzas from Christmas would make a nice accompaniment to soup - either homemade as Butterfly Brain suggests, or your tins of minestrone. If you bulk the soup out with pasta and veg it should make it nice and filling, either as a main meal or for a hot lunch. The chicken cup soups could be bulked out with cooked rice or pasta and some veg, too, to make them more filling for lunch.

The tin of tomato soup that you don't like could be used in curry - a few blobs of curry paste might drown out the flavour of the soup!

I was going to suggest sausage casserole as a way of stretching the sausages, but I see you've already thought of that for tonight. A variation that my dad taught me is Spanish sausage casserole, which is sausages, potatoes and peas in a sauce made from tinned tomatoes (I also add dried chilli to spice it up, but it's not essential). Sausage and baked bean casserole is nice, too - it's sausages, potatoes, onions (if you have some) and baked beans, simmered in the oven for a couple of hours - very simple but very tasty! Both are good because you can use less sausages than normal and, if you cut them up into pieces first, it's hard to tell that there's not much meat there.

You could make fishcakes with some of the tuna and some potatoes, to serve with veg or baked beans.

Making some sort of pasta bake might be a good idea, too, as I find it tends to look like a bigger portion than if you serve the pasta and sauce seperately (that might just be me, though! )

Oh, and I'd definitely recommend making pizza if you've never done it before - it really is easy and tastes so good. :drool:

Butterfly_Brain

ceejaydee23 wrote: »

Freezer,
Bag of Sausages (new) I presume 20 in a bag? Slice 4 for each meal and make either a Sausage toad, sausage pasta, sausage stew, savoury bread and butter pudding, add a tin of baked beans and some chopped bacon for a cowboy stew. Or remove the skins and mash the sausagemeat up with sliced onion and a few herbs to make a sausage plait.
Bag mini pizzas (had em since christmas) = serve with chips or wedges
1 portion of casserole left over = Add extra veg and some potatoes to bulk out
Box of fish fingers (opened unsure how many)
Bisto Toad in hole (will feed 2)
2 waffles
2 crispy pancakes
Box of 4 jumbo sausage rolls (ones to oven bake yourself NEW) serve with mash and baked beans
Bag of frozen Chicken Breasts (5 peices some huge ones though) slice the breasts and make a stew, a pie, a curry, some pasties or serve with rice and veg
2 x 3 person size portions of mince beef (1 of these could make 2x2 person meals though) Spag bol, Chilli, Cottage pie, Meat and potato pie, meatballs (can be served with pasta or rice) mince curry
2x2 packs of Chicken Kievs, 1 cheese and ham 1 chicken tikka
2 packs of bacon rashers = egg and Bacon
1x back of chunked Catering bacon (off cuts that were bought in morrisons i use this for making cheesey bacon basta) or how about making a bacon and egg quiche
1x pack chicken goujons
1 box of chicken burgers
frozen veg : carrots broccoli and peas.

Contents of my cupboards
Jar Chocolate Spread
Penguin bars
loads of 1.5 oz boxs raisans
opened jar of mincemeat (from christmas when i made mincepies)roll up into pastry like a swiss roll - bake in the oven great for a little treat
pasta spirals
Black Treacle
P and SR Flour
Cocoa Powder
Ready Roll White icing
Icing Sugar
Green Giant Sweetcorn (3 tins)
Tin pinapple pieces, 2x tins fruit cocktail, 1x tin peach slices
4x tin napolina tin tomatoes (1.2 price in morrisons)
2x4small tins of tuna + tuna pasta, tuna fishcakes, tuna pasties
2x full tins of baked beans
2x tins minestrone soup
1x tin raviolli
1 small tin morrisons own tom soup (dont like the taste on its own if anyone has any ideas of what to do with it?) Might try adding a little sugar it helps with some soups I would use it as a casserole base
1x tin condensed chicken soup
2 bags of boil in bag rice (125g portions)
3 bags 62.5 gram portion bib rice
1x box chicken cuppa soups
1 jar pataks curry paste (bhuna)
1x jar Lloyd Grossman Sweet tomato Bhuna sauce
1x jar sausage Casserole sause (gonna use this tonight)
2 jars dolmio sause
2 packs supernoodles 1x sweet n sour, 1 x beef
sage and onion stuffing mix add a a little sausage meat roll into balls and fry
1x micro bag pilau rice
beef/chicken and lamb oxos
mint sauce beef/chicken gravy granules

and a 2kg bag of potatoes!

Jacket potatoes, wedges, mash, boiled another tip is when you peel the potatoes fry or oven bake the skin - tasty with dips
You could make cakes and biscuits too
I HTH x

PandorasJar

As an accompaniment to dinners, roast potatoes/slice them up thin and bake them/roast carrots etc Or add pasta/rice etc

Mince: Cook it all up with onions, tin tomatoes, carrots, peas etc in. Then split into two saucepans. Cook one lot up as chilli and one as bolognaise and freeze any extra for meals later on in the week.
Put the chilli with rice, bolognaise with pasta.
This should make at least 3 main meals

Buy 2 packs of puff pastry (just over £1 each) Cut up some of the chicken and cook it up with peas and onions, then add gravy and thicken. Roll out pastry and put in a deep pyrex bowl (or other) and fill with the cool chicken mix. Use left over pastry to make a lid.
Any left over pastry after this can have a dollop of you chocolate spread put in the centre of roughly 3" square pieces which are then closed up = chocolate puffs.

Use the left over chicken breasts to stuff. Make up half a tin of toms with herbs, onions etc and stuff some. Stuff others with cheese and wrap them in bacon (Guide:oven at about 180 for about 25mins)

Bake potatoes, take out the inside, mix it in a bowl with bacon, cheese etc (get your kid to use some imagination!) and put back into them, or if too small, use as a funky mash with some sausages.

Rustic Pasta.. cut the sausages into chunks and cook for a little bit in large wok/pan. Add onions, chopped toms, peas, sweetcorn and pour over cooked pasta twirls

Get some buns and get your kid to make the chicken burgers up for everyone (after you've cooked!) by layering different fillings

Get some mince pies made up with the puff pasty for snacking. Left over pasty can make bacon and cheese puffs

Buy some cheap yoghurt and digestive biscuits and let your kid go nuts with 'cheesecakes' Crush up the biscuits inside a bag, add as a base layer to a cup/pot (little portions in plastic cups are great for layers) or make a bigger amount. Add some yoghurt, add some of your tinned fruit and raisins, and continue layering!

Tuna Pasta bake- cook your pasta, then add tuna and whatever else you fancy, I often do peas and chopped toms, onions etc. Pour it into a deep tray, grate some cheese over the top and shove it in the oven to crisp up the top

Do fish finger sandwiches for lunch and use the 1 portion of casserole as a 2 portion lunch

Cook up the sausage rolls and slice them up, then layer on top of some mash

PANCAKE DAY ON 16TH!!! So get your flour out for that

Tom soup, I presume it's this particular brand you don't like... change it by cooking in pan and adding herbs and other bits?

Dinners Made=
Toad in the hole pre-pack
2 X Chicken Kievs
Chilli
Bolognaise
Fun mash and sausages
Rustic pasta
Pasta Bake
Goujons
Sausage rolls

Snacks/Lunchbox fillers =
Supernoodles
Chocolate Puffs
Penguin bars
'cheese cake'
Fishfingers
Casserole
Bacon and cheese puffs
Mince pies
pancakes

I think I've bored you by now!!! The only things you'd have to buy amount to less than £5 if you decided to

I've not used up all your ingredients, I've run out of steam! But none of the meals are doubled up, so there should be enough to make everything on the list plus loads more from what's in your cupboards

Hth
P

heavenleigh

ceejaydee23 wrote: »

1 small tin morrisons own tom soup (dont like the taste on its own if anyone has any ideas of what to do with it?)

I had exactly the same thing and didn't like it, last time i made pizza (i really recommend it, i will never buy a ready made pizza again!) i used it as the tomato topping as i had run out of puree, by the time i had thrown some sliced chicken cheddar cheese and italian mixed herbs on top, you would never know it was the dreaded soup :0)

ceejaydee23

There have been some absolutely fantastic ideas there! some i would have cooked anyway, others would be a first, but would be interesting to try, My girl and I are quite fussy eaters, my girl not eating mash on its own, but will when on a shepherds pie with grated cheese on, But I will be printing that big long list of ideas off, and showing my other half! I have just never known a time thats been sooo tough as this month! but if i can get heaps of fresh ideas that are simple! then we could make some serious cutbacks in food shopping!

carriebradshaw

for the tom soup try adding some finely chopped garlic or garlic puree to it before you heat it up,it will taste much better

PandorasJar

ceejaydee23 wrote: »

There have been some absolutely fantastic ideas there! some i would have cooked anyway, others would be a first, but would be interesting to try, My girl and I are quite fussy eaters, my girl not eating mash on its own, but will when on a shepherds pie with grated cheese on, But I will be printing that big long list of ideas off, and showing my other half! I have just never known a time thats been sooo tough as this month! but if i can get heaps of fresh ideas that are simple! then we could make some serious cutbacks in food shopping!

I hate normal mash, but add mustard, or lots of cheese, bacon and black pepper and it's not half bad!

Chop up meat and add mixes of veg and sauce etc and you can stretch it to a fair few meals

P

taplady

ceejaydee - we are in the same boat atm, never had so little money due to illness and having to help DS1 out so these ideas are very welcome to me too!:)

kezlou

Heres some link to recipes:-

tuna fishcakes http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=17897767#post17897767
Sausage and stuffing plait.
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=23417149#post23417149
Sausage Casserole
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=18185381#post18185381
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=14706043#post14706043
pizza
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=11402597#post11402597
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=12552263#post12552263
potato wedges
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=20826835#post20826835

Chicken:-
1)use small two or one large piece pieces for a /curry stir fry + veg + rice
2)chicken and tomato pasta sauce (use the awful tin of tomato soup add salt pepper garlic granules to make it taste nicer.)

Quiche:-
For the pastry
1/2 fat (margerine) to 1/2 plain flour rub together till it looks like bread crumbs add very cold water to it and cut it with it with a knife repeatedly till it looks like dough, chill in fridge for at least 30 mins before you use it.
While pastry is chilling fry onion bacon, mix 3 /4 eggs a little milk salt pepper and leave to settle.
When wish to use roll / place pastry into dish and bake in oven till sides of pastry become partially cooked then add egg mixture onions and bacon and cook in oven till cooked.

I use the same pastry for quiche, fruit pies, mince pies etc


Potato bake:-
Rub some butter /margerine around a oven dish slice potatos thinly, (1/2 pint) milk with salt pepper, herbs etc place over potatos add cheese and bake on gas mark 3 for about 45 minutes.
I would use the above as a side and have it with chicken kievs etc

Jacket potatoes - various filling e.g beans, tun sweetcorn, chilli etc

Sausage rolls, chips and beans
Mince i would bulk each of the three bags out with veg and make chilli, bolognese, Sheppard's pie etc

Some deserts which can be made from your cupboard
Fairy cakes.
Puff pastry chopped up with chocolate spread on top

Cornflake tart:-
Base just shortcrust pastry
For the filling:
175g seedless raspberry jam
50g butter
50g caster sugar
2tbsp golden syrup
175g cornflakes


Chocolate concrete
100g margarine
2 eggs
100g cocoa powder
1 lb self raising flour
100g sugar

melt the margarine and sugar and mix well till it goes syrupy
add flour and cocoa to the syrup on the pan mix well until its becomes stiff .
add two beaten eggs and gently mix them in until your mix softens.
place the mixture into the tray, press into the corners and flatten into the sides of the tin.
Please in the oven (gas mark 5)and leave for about 30-45 minutes. If the top feel hard take it out to cool. Cut up into slices as when its cool its quite hard to cut. It should be hard on top and moist in the middle.

Fruit pie
Use pastry from above and add a mixture of the tinned fruit to it.

HTH