How to survive on what’s in the store cupboard (plus a little money)

Butterfly_Brain

Why not try to make your own pizza very easy to do
see this site for step by step instructions
http://cook.dannemann.org.uk/mains/pizza/
There are other step by step recipes on there too.
Jamie Oliver's web site has how to's as well
http://www.jamieoliver.com/

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=480335&postcount=8

fairy3

Hi wish my storecupboard looked like yours!!!! I also have three teens who eat more than me!

I would get a piece of paper (no cooking involved!) or try looking at organisedhome.com for a free downloadable monthly menu plan and start by dividing your meat into 4 portions eg 4 steaks or 4 pork chops and putting them on the menu, this will help to 'spread out' your meat/fish so you don't all get bored. Next I would look at what you have in to go with it eg rice pasta potatoes and put that on too.

When you have a roast look at stretching it to 2 meals, there is a site called cook once eat twice which you might find useful. Next I would fill in the lunch and breakfasts.

Once you have a basic idea of what you are going to have I would trawl the recipes with the main ingredient either in the indexed link on here or on the internet and when you find ones you like print them off. Once all the boxes are filled in you will have a clear idea of what extras you need to buy and this can form part of a weekly shopping trip with your £50, at least you will have no more meat to buy!

Getting the teens involved with cooking is great and you could possibly have a 'come dine with me' style evening once a week?

I think you will manage fine as you have lots of basic ingredients. Main thing is breaking it down into weeks so it is not so daunting.

Good luck

G
x

givememoney

Wow you have plenty of stuff there.

Fajitas would be nice fry chicken with red and green peppers and some fajita seasoning then into tortillas.

When you have whittled down your stock I would advise planning meals and only buying for those meals that way there isn't food just sort of hanging around in there with nowhere to go.

I used to do the same as you just buy loads then get some meat out of the freezer and rack my brain trying to think what to do with it.

What I do now is every time I plan a meal if I can I cook double quantity and freeze one lot. This way you always have a convenience meals at hand but they are nutricious.

Tulip09

Thanks for all your advice I think i will spend all day tomorrow looking up recipes and trying to work stuff out. I havent a clue about proteins and carbs etc. I moved into this house a few months ago complete with veg/ herbs/fruit garden and really dont have a clue with any of that stuff. I know i am fortunate as my freezers are full and so is my store cupboard so at least i have food there for times like these. I have thrown away all the takeaway menus:T and am determined that we will start cooking proper food.

Re beetroot soup? How do i make that? I have only ever had pickled beetroot before and am a little scared to try it hence its still in the garden But i did peel 7 cooking apples today and mix with suger in the microwave so i have alot of sweet apple puree now that needs to be turned into something tomorrow.

Thanks again for your help & advice:T

Penelope_Penguin

Tulip09 wrote: »

I havent a clue about proteins and carbs etc.

Re beetroot soup? How do i make that?

Please don;t take this the wrong way, but do you really have 3 teenaged children, and have no idea about food groups? How do you work out what's best to feed them, and balancing their diet?

Here's a nice recipe for beetroot soup

Tulip09

Thanks for the recipes I will definately try it out.

Re food groups - not really without looking it up anyway, my memory is terrible. I know some of them but not others.

Long_tall_sally

I used up a tin of chick peas and some red lentils last night when I made a chorizo, lentil & chick pea soup. Only problem is we liked it so much I might go & buy some more of those things!

Beki

Hiya, I found a thread the other day with how to categorise the food list, but i can't find it again now, so am posting separately in the hope that one of the BG's can move it if needs be - sorry to be a pain!

Basically, we're going away for a few days at the beginning of december and have pretty much no money saved for either that or christmas :eek: so we need to make the food we've got go as far as possible. We seem to have quite a bit of food in the fridge/freezer/cupboards.. but i just tend to look at it blankly and not have any idea of what to make with it

I used to make everything from scratch, and was a regular on here, but somewhere along the line have lost my 'oomph' i suppose :cool: I was hoping that if i list everything, you'd be kind enough to tell me what you'd do with it all and hopefully set me back on the right track?

Here's what i've got *deep breath*


Protein

lots of eggs
smoked mackerel - 1 pack
6 portions salmon and smoked haddock lasagne
8 portions fish pie
4 cod steaks in parsley sauce
4 cod fillets
pack of smoked salmon
2 bags king prawns
2 haddock fillets
2 packs mussel meat
15 salmon fillets
10 fishfingers
2 smoked haddock fillets
3 bags breaded scampi

stewing steak - 500g
liver - 1 pack
pigs in blankets - 1 pack
12 sausages
2 burgers
bag of sausage rolls
8 mini burgers
1.5 bags quorn dippers
4 confit of duck
5 large meatballs

2 large pork chops
2 portions moussaka
1 small steak and red wine pie
1 portion spag bol
3 large racks of pork ribs
1 large belly pork slab
4 medium rolled pork joints
1 pork loin fillet
500g lean diced steak
2 pork steaks
4 pork kidneys

cheese 1kg
baked beans - 1 tin
red split lentils (2 bags)
chickpeas - 1 tin
pack of mini quorn kievs
2 quorn burgers
4 crispy quorn fillets
2 cheese and broccoli quorn escalopes
bag of quorn mince
1.5 bags quorn dippers


Carbs

filo pastry
2.5 packs spaghetti
half a bag paella rice
half a bag risotto rice
500g brown rice
250g couscous
3 small tins kids pasta shapes
6 soft tortillas
250g wholewheat pasta
canelloni tubes
weetabix
cereals
porridge oats
4 blocks puff pastry
couple of handfuls oven chips
1.5 bags frozen roast potatoes
8 potato waffles
1 portion creamy mash
6 rolls


Fruit and veg (not really a problem to buy more as the local farmshop is so cheap)

carrots
parsnips
swede
brussels
salad stuff
bananas
sweet potato
tomato puree
4 tins tomatoes
green beans
loads of cherry toms (in the freezer, picked from the garden)
bag of garlic mushrooms
bag of onion rings
mushrooms
corn on the cob
2 bags brocolli florets
bag cauliflower florets
5 large ziplock bags of stewed plums (from garden)
extra large ziplock bag of blackberries (from garden)
2 ziplock bags chillies (from garden)
carrier bag gooseberries (from garden)



Miscellaneous

loads of bruchettas (mini pizza style things on french bread)
blackberry and apple crumble - 10 portions
stuffing
popping corn
gravy, ketchup, oil, soy sauce etc
herbs, spices
parsley sauce
cheese sauce
white sauce
miso soup
s/r flour - 1kg
1.5kg bread flour
sugar
butter
yoghurts
double cream
milk
85 vanilla pods


ermm.... i think that's it! :eek:

thanks so much for reading it all! xxxxxxxxxxx

hot.chick

WOW - that little lot should last you a while

write down each day - then put a meal next to each day ticking off the list what was to b used.

So you might have meatballs and rice one night, pork chops roasties and veg another night etc....

and do the same for the following week,

Good luck - I'm sure others will be able to give you more specific advice, but you have lots of good food there for dinners etc...

x

Fruball

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I know a compulsive shopper when I see one

You have loads there! Did you ever watch "ready steady cook"? It taught me loads about how to put things together and make meals.

I could live for a couple of months off what you have on your lists

Fish pie is the most obvious from all the fish you have!
casseroles
beef in red wine yummy
roasts
soups
snacky night - sausage rolls and snacky bits

I am sure other OSers will be along with lots of fab ideas for you soon.

Enjoy... Wish I had space to store all that food My shopping capabilities are only limited by the amount of space I have to store it all