Recipies for Foodbank

Butterfly_Brain

Flour Tortillas have a long shelf life but they are easy peasy to make too. All you need is flour, oil or lard ( Lard is the proper Mexican recipe) and warm water.

Tortilla recipe

500g/1lb SR flour, sieved ( I prefer to use strong bread flour)
a pinch salt
100g/3½ oz lard or 1Tbsp of any oil
120ml/150ml warm water depending on the flour absorbency you can tell by the feel if you need more.

Place the flour and salt into a large bowl, rub in the lard.
Add the water in a steady stream, and combine, until the mixture becomes a tiff but pliable dough.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead for 5 - 10 minutes until smooth and elastic, leave in the bowl covered with some cling film or a damp tea towel to rest for 20 minutes

Divide the dough into 12 equal sized pieces and roll each piece out to form a 30cm circle. Roll them as thinly as you can. Again keep them covered to prevent them drying out.

Warm a heavy frying pan or griddle ( No oil just a dry pan) and cook each tortilla for 1 minute on each side, until the surface bubbles and has turned a light golden colour.

Wrap the tortillas in a clean tea towel to keep them warm and pliable until you have cooked them all and are ready to use them. Fill as desired. They will keep in an airtight zippy style bag for up to a week , but they don't last that long in my house

I add a few herbs or garlic salt to mine for a little change, but it is all according to taste really.

You can do so much with them:
Quesilladas
Use them as a Pizza base
Roll them up for burritos or wraps
So they are a great substitute for bread even better than crispbreads

Hawaiian Pizza

1 flour tortilla
a couple of Tbsps of pasta sauce (Use the rest for another meal)
½ tin diced tinned ham
½ tin pineapple pieces
a little tinned sweetcorn
Some dried cheese 84p for an 80g tub http://groceries.asda.com/asda-estore/catalog/sectionpagecontainer.jsp?skuId=78575154&departmentid=1214921923813&aisleid=1214921924215&startValue= it goes a long long way and adds a bit of cheesy flavour to lots of dishes if you have it or use ½ a mozzarella ball if you can afford it (44p a ball), otherwise the pizza is ok without.

Tuna and Mayo wraps
Tin Tuna, ½ tin sweetcorn and 2 Tbsps Mayo Mix the tuna, sweetcorn and mayo and use to fill a two or three wraps, slice each tortilla diagonally into 2 and serve. Even better if you can get a lettuce

chumbasmum

The idea of the tortilla and all the things that makes is a fab idea. I've made them myself years ago and if I can make then they must be easy:)
My only problem is that flour doesn't seem to be on the food list which seems strange....could it be something about the bags being a bit easy to rip if not handled a bit carefully?
Flour would be great though...
We are off to another foodbank on Tues to pick their brains and will see what 'basics' they include.

Butterfly_Brain

I can't believe that flour isn't included, because you could make all manner of things with the addition of one or two eggs and a little fat or oil

Tortillas as above
Pancakes both savoury and sweet
Fritters both savoury and sweet
Cakes and biscuits

kittycatface

It's just occurred to me: tin openers!! We have just started being a foodbank collection pt at work, and provide food also to women/children in need.

If you are homeless/in temporary accommodation rooms don't tend to come with tin openers and a lot of people donate the cheaper tins which don't have a ringpull on them. I'm also going to ask our foodbank guy if they can start providing plastic tubs so that if you are given a pack of biscuits etc you can stop them going soft and ration out more easily. Would also work if the hostel/b and b is less than savoury hygiene wise.

I would add baby food to the list: those pouches have a long shelf life, the fruit puree ones dont need warming up either.

It might also be worth having a list of soup kitchen days/times in case the food runs out!

Good luck: I'll repost if I think of any recipes with ingredients. Thinking about it our local Sure Start/NHS healthy wellbeing co ordinators do classes for women around cooking on a low budget so if you wanted to make contact with them they would have lots of ideas.

Bogof_Babe

All these fancy recipes are all very well, but don't you think *most* people who have reached such a low point that they can't even feed themselves are going to be too disheartened to want to bother with even slightly complicated cooking?

For that reason, personally I'd put in tins of All Day Breakfast, Irish Stew, Macaroni Cheese, Spag Bol etc., things that can be opened, heated and eaten, and pretty much make a meal in themselves.

Good point about tin openers btw - Asda do a basic one @ 44p which could be included in people's first box.

Also I definitely agree with including both instant mash and tinned spuds - these can eke out a tin of stew to make it serve an extra person, or an extra meal for one person.

UHT milk and cereal too, that's breakfast sorted, or a snack if hunger strikes during the day. Also packs of basics biscuits - Asda do a huge pack of Rich Tea for 14p.

£10 budget
Tin mac cheese £1
Tin All Day Breakfast £1.30
Tin Irish Stew (basics) 99p
Tin spag bol £1.20
Tin Basics spuds 20p
Pkt instant mash 70p
Tin Basics sliced carrots 20p
Tin Basics mushy peas 15p
Tin Basics sweetcorn 24p
UHT milk 80p
Pkt Rich Tea biscs 14p
Basics tea bags 24p
Small pkt sugar 60p
Tin opener 44p
Carton longlife juice 65p
Pkt basics cornflakes 75p
Pkt crackers (can be eaten with mac cheese) 40p

I've guessed some of the prices but won't be far out.

bearcub

Hi, just found this thread. Can't help with recipes (I've not cooked a meal for years), but I was involved in the setting up of our local foodbank, and there are food items which are NOT given out. Bread of any kind, even part-baked, isn't because it goes off too easily. The part-baked stuff has to be kept refridgerated, and most foodbank storage areas don't have fridges and, if they do, not enough space to keep enough bread for every client. The same goes for tortillas and pizza bases, because their shelf-life is too short, too. Not at all sure why flour isn't included.

Tinned veg can be ANY type of veg, and ready-made meals in a tin are very useful, especially for thoseon their own. Don't forget that the packs/bags given out are made up according to the size of the family - an individual, a couple, a couple and one child, and those with greater numbers. UHT milk is THE item that is most in demand, especially where there are children, because, once opened, it starts to go off, so recipes that use any leftover milk that has to be used up are useful.

And, yes, a tin opener is something we always offer clients, too.

kitschkitty

I've never ever seen part bake bread that needs refrigerating, but as mentioned earlier not everyone has an oven.

However Pita breads come vacuum packed, value ones are less than 40p they have a long shelf life and can be popped in a toaster or frying pan, or microwave (for a few secs) and some tortilla wraps have a long shelf life (though others don't).

kitschkitty

I agree tinned pasta meals are cheap and filling - value ravioli is 35p a tin, Tesco own brand macaroni cheese (with or without ham) is only 65p a tin. Tinned Irish stew (value) is 49p a tin & more hearty types of soup with meat & veg or lentils etc are 56p or less.

Instant mash may not be a gourmet food, but if you are hungry it is filling, and if combined with tastier foods, it's perfectly decent.

Back when we were going through a skint patch we ate Smash for a while, I actually quite liked the cheesy ones etc they did, (to be fair the value mash was pretty bad & I'd rather have had a tin of spaghetti of beans for the same money though).

quintwins

Tortillas and part baked bread can be kept in a cupboard, afterall thats where supermarkets keep them.

Value pitas are only 20p btw i acually like them there a good size for kids.

If you wanted to try get this list down you could shop around

£10 budget
Tin mac cheese £1
Tin All Day Breakfast £1.30
Tin Irish Stew (basics) 99p
Tin spag bol £1.20
Tin Basics spuds 20p
Pkt instant mash 70p (value instant mash is only 20p)
Tin Basics sliced carrots 20p
Tin Basics mushy peas 15p (these are 6-8p in places at the mo)
Tin Basics sweetcorn 24p
UHT milk 80p (tesco value is 49p)
Pkt Rich Tea biscs 14p
Basics tea bags 24p (there are 2 bags in these boxes so you could give half out)
Small pkt sugar 60p
Tin opener 44p
Carton longlife juice 65p
Pkt basics cornflakes 75p (value cornflakes are 33p)
Pkt crackers (can be eaten with mac cheese) 40p (tesco do a packet of cream crackers for 24p)

kitschkitty

Also tinned value curry & chilli are both filling & cheap - under 60p (and easy).