Stocking up

ooobedoo

After moving house this weekend, it has become apparent that I have very little in my cupboards after clearing out all the out of date stuff(one record was feb 2002......eeek!).

I have just made a list of food I intend to buy, I am looking for ideas in how to bulk up meals healthily, I only have to cook for myself in the week as DS & DH eat elsewhere then. This is what I have so far:

Tinned Tom's
sugar
tinned mushrooms
tinned tuna(in brine)
sweetcorn
peas
kidney beans
coffee
tea
scotch broth soup
maconi cheese
salmon(for freezer)
chicken
bacon
mince(lean finest)
pork chops
sausages(finest)
biscuits
pasta(lots of)
milk
bread
fresh veg
frozen veg(for me in the week)
pots for baking
fruit
eggs
clover
cheese
pesto sauce
cashew nuts
lemonade

any suggestions.......I don't want to waste food(as I have been-not mse!!)

Raspberry_Swirl

rice is always a great storecupboard stand-by
haricot beans are good in soups/stews/mince

freda

Tinned Tom's
sugar - I have castor sug for baking, granulated for drinks and cereal, demarara for cooking and soft brown for things like flapjackstinned mushrooms
tinned tuna(in brine)
sweetcorn
peas - frozen are nicer than tins
kidney beans
coffee
tea
scotch broth soup - make your own soup and freeze
maconi cheese - freeze grated cheese, freeze milk. Then make your own from scratch. Tastier and healthier. You can even freeze your cheese sauce all ready made up.
salmon(for freezer)
chicken
bacon
mince(lean finest) - get this sort of thing from the butcher.
pork chops - butcher
sausages(finest) - butcher
biscuits
pasta(lots of)
milk - remember you can freeze this too
bread - ditto
fresh veg - learn how to use up veg thats going out of date, i.e. make soup, stock etc.
frozen veg(for me in the week)
pots for baking - store in brown bags in a cool cupboard, they'll last for ever
fruit
eggs
clover
cheese - as above, buy loads of cheapy cheese and grate for freezing and using at a later dat in your cooking.
pesto sauce - make your own
cashew nuts
lemonade

I'd add:

flour - plain (white sauce etc), Seflraising (puds, cakes), strong (bread)

Lentils

cake making things if you're going to do baking, i.e. chocolate, glace cherries, dried fruit

Dried fruit for snacks

Gravy granules, or gravy browning

Good quality stock cubes for when you run out of hm stock in the freezer, i.e. marigold

Garlic

Onions

Cocoa/hot chocolate

Tinned salmon (for fishcakes)

All sorts of herbs, i.e. mixed, rosemary, thyme etc
Spices that you like, i.e. cinnamon, mixed spices, nutmeg etc
Curry powder etc

HP sauce
Worcestershire sauce
Encona sauce/tabasco sauce

Fruit squashes
Long life orange juice and apple jiuce

Tonic water

mince for the freezer for those emergency spag bols/shepherd's pie/burgers/meatballs/lasagne

Tomato paste in tubes
Garlic paste in tube

Yeast if you are making bread

Mustard (powder or jars, whichever suits best)

Jam, marmalade, honey, marmite etc

Rice (brown, basmati and white, depending on what sort of things you make)

tifnstav

spaghetti is my all time favourite thing... so quick to cook and fills you up.
great with garlic and chilli (the stuff you get in jars so it keeps longer), bit of oil, bit of parmesan (or any hard cheese, they all smell like feet anyway.)
hmmm, i want some now!
also, if you go on the bbc food website you can put in 3 ingredients and it'll give you a recipe with all 3 things in. Great if you have a few bits that are on the verge of being thrown out and you need to use them quickly.
Granted you don't always have the other bits, but you can sometimes find some great ideas.
if you're going to buy herbs and spices for your cupboard go for the supermarket's own brand cos its often about 50p cheaper for the same thing - who can tell the difference between named herbs and supermarket herbs?

ooobedoo

This is ace, Thank you all so much. I plan to go to Aldi, Asda and there is a butcher's shop near that is meant to be quite good. Only 5 wks and 6 days till the baby is born so better crack on!!!