Winter food musthaves on a budget.

sammy_kaye18

We live at the top of a welsh valley - the nearest shop is at the bottom and it is such a hazardous walk that last year when I walked to work in the snow it took me 45 minutes - whereas I can usually walk it in 10 - all the pavements and roads were compacted so this year I will make sure I am stocked up - I have a big chest freezer now so I will make sure to stock that ASAP so that I dont need to venture out too much. Im also thinking that making meals for Owen to take to work and heat in the microwave will be top of my to-do list as his work has very little heating and if he is stuck driving Id like him to have something warm to drink/eat as well. He is more a curry/rice man than a soup man though so think it will be stew for days he knows hes out delivering of see if I can get him into drinking cuppa soups

Anyway from the suggestions here I have made the following list

Porridge oats
Rice
pasta
Tins of beans/spaghetti hoops
Tomato Ketchup
milk
Frozen veg - Peas, Sweetcorn, Green Beans, Carrots, (failing that brought fresh and frozen)
Frozen fish (for fish pie)
Bread flour
Dried yeast
Bacon
Tea bags
Instant Hot Chocolate
Instant Mashed Potato
some nice things like chocolate, nice biscuits,etc for those very grey and cold days when you need a lift.
Cuppa Soups
Dried Fruit
Jam
Lemon Curd
Instant Custard
Mince
Oxo cubes,
Gravy granules
Packets of wraps - some have a month to run!
Cooking oil
Cans of peas,
cans of sweetcorn
A couple of bags of frozen chicken strips - quick chicken wrap foundations!
Jars of curry sauce
Frozen burgers & burger buns
teabags - double the usual purchase
granulated coffee
Orange & lemon squash bottles
loo roll
Microwave Rice
Microwave Popcorn - Cheap, easy, warming and nice to munch on whilst snuggled up watching films
Tinned Fruit
Biscuits
Butter - Will put a couple in the freezer
Semolina
Rice Pudding
Toothpaste
Deoderant
Value Orange Juice
Value Apple Juice
Cheese in bags
Tinned new spuds
Bread
Few whole chickens
Chicken portions
Cheap Value gammon steaks
Any cheap meat cuts I can find

Think that is most of our stuff covered - maybe a few cans of tesco's own coke brand so if Owen has a particularly cold day in work he can have a nice JD and coke to warm up in the evening.

Besides medicines then
-calpol for holly
-calpol for ben
- paracetemol
- ibprobrufen
- lemsip
- cough and cold meds for kids
- beechams all in 1
- haliborange liquid multivitamin for kids
- cod liver oil

and then a giant bag of dog food

[Deleted User]

WANTTOBESE tinned stewed steak is exactly that, chunks of cooked steak in a gravy and you can use it in pies, stews, casseroles, hearty soups, under mashed potato, with dumplings or just as stewed steak. It's a good product but I would not be tempted to buy the very cheap brands, I go for John West or some such as the quality of the meat seems better, Hope that's useful, Lyn x.

WantToBeSE

sammy_kaye18 wrote: »

We live at the top of a welsh valley - the nearest shop is at the bottom and it is such a hazardous walk that last year when I walked to work in the snow it took me 45 minutes - whereas I can usually walk it in 10 - all the pavements and roads were compacted so this year I will make sure I am stocked up - I have a big chest freezer now so I will make sure to stock that ASAP so that I dont need to venture out too much. Im also thinking that making meals for Owen to take to work and heat in the microwave will be top of my to-do list as his work has very little heating and if he is stuck driving Id like him to have something warm to drink/eat as well. He is more a curry/rice man than a soup man though so think it will be stew for days he knows hes out delivering of see if I can get him into drinking cuppa soups

Anyway from the suggestions here I have made the following list

Porridge oats
Rice
pasta
Tins of beans/spaghetti hoops
Tomato Ketchup
milk
Frozen veg - Peas, Sweetcorn, Green Beans, Carrots, (failing that brought fresh and frozen)
Frozen fish (for fish pie)
Bread flour
Dried yeast
Bacon
Tea bags
Instant Hot Chocolate
Instant Mashed Potato
some nice things like chocolate, nice biscuits,etc for those very grey and cold days when you need a lift.
Cuppa Soups
Dried Fruit
Jam
Lemon Curd
Instant Custard
Mince
Oxo cubes,
Gravy granules
Packets of wraps - some have a month to run!
Cooking oil
Cans of peas,
cans of sweetcorn
A couple of bags of frozen chicken strips - quick chicken wrap foundations!
Jars of curry sauce
Frozen burgers & burger buns
teabags - double the usual purchase
granulated coffee
Orange & lemon squash bottles
loo roll
Microwave Rice
Microwave Popcorn - Cheap, easy, warming and nice to munch on whilst snuggled up watching films
Tinned Fruit
Biscuits
Butter - Will put a couple in the freezer
Semolina
Rice Pudding
Toothpaste
Deoderant
Value Orange Juice
Value Apple Juice
Cheese in bags
Tinned new spuds
Bread
Few whole chickens
Chicken portions
Cheap Value gammon steaks
Any cheap meat cuts I can find

Think that is most of our stuff covered - maybe a few cans of tesco's own coke brand so if Owen has a particularly cold day in work he can have a nice JD and coke to warm up in the evening.

Besides medicines then
-calpol for holly
-calpol for ben
- paracetemol
- ibprobrufen
- lemsip
- cough and cold meds for kids
- beechams all in 1
- haliborange liquid multivitamin for kids
- cod liver oil

and then a giant bag of dog food

Great list, thanks! How could i have forgotten alcohol? A bottle of Baileys and bottle of wine too

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

WANTTOBESE tinned stewed steak is exactly that, chunks of cooked steak in a gravy and you can use it in pies, stews, casseroles, hearty soups, under mashed potato, with dumplings or just as stewed steak. It's a good product but I would not be tempted to buy the very cheap brands, I go for John West or some such as the quality of the meat seems better, Hope that's useful, Lyn x.

Thanks Lyn. I might invest in a few tins

WantToBeSE

Sammy-Have updated the 1st post with your list, hope thats OK?

fuddle

Lyn you mentioned a little while ago a brand of tinned stewing steak that was quite nice, can you remember what it was?

Tins of corned beef - sarnies, pie filling, tatty hash etc

[Deleted User]

John West is what I get FUDDLE in our co-op it is £2.69 a tin and that makes 4 good portions of a main meal. M&S is good too but more expensive, Lyn xxx.

ash28

I must try tinned stewing steak.......

We are rural and about 10 miles from the nearest supermarket.

I tend to have enough food to last us a couple of weeks at least.....we buy our potatoes from the farm £6 for 25k and 10k of onions for £2....already in the garage....they will last us a couple of months at least.

Currently, we have - off the top of my head

10 tins tomatoes (chopped and whole)
8 tins tuna in spring water
4 tins corned beef
2 tins chopped ham & pork
2 tins salmon
4 tins pilchards in tomato sauce
4 tins mackerel in mustard sauce
4 tins sardines in tomato sauce
4 jars curry sauce
6 tins fruit - peaches/pears/pineapple
6 tins custard
6 tins rice pudding
6 packets instant custard powder
Jellies
8 tins baked beans
8 tins tomato soup
2 tins chicken soup
2 tins veg soup
4 tins kidney beans
4 tins butter beans
4 tins canellini beans
2 tins black eyed beans
2 tins refried beans
6 tins mushy peas
6 tins sweetcorn
5 tins potatoes...ok in a one pot stew
Dried yellow split peas
Dried red lentils
Puy lentils
tin lentils
6 tins evaporated milk - can dilute for drinks
3 tubes tomato puree
bovril cubes
oxo cubes, chicken, beef and veg.
Knorr fish and ham stock cubes
Marigold veg stock powder.
packet suet
sage and onion stuffing
Corn flour
bread flour /white and whole meal
plain flour
SR flour
yeast
lard
marg
icing sugar
caster sugar
brown sugar
dried apricots, prunes, sultanas & raisins
long grain rice
cous cous/ box plain and 6 packets of flavoured
4 packets instant pasta n sauce
4 packets savoury rice
4 boxes cuppa soup
pasta
large tub smash
large box of dried milk
egg noodles
all sorts of oils and vinegars
ketchup
mustard
pickle
pickled onions
various relishes
lea and perrins
herbs and spices
tea and coffee plus lemonade and squash.

going to get
a couple of fray bentos steak and kidney pies
a couple of tins of chilli
tinned hot dogs (ye olde oak are 64p at Tesco at the moment)
a couple of tins of meatballs
a couple of tins of mince and onion

We also try not to rely on the freezer.....though there is plenty of meat and fish in there.

We have an electric oven and a calor hob.....so at worst we will be able to use the hob....and we get enough power cuts here as it is, they've never been for very long but you never know.

My sister goes into hysterics when she visits (thinks we've gone into "survivalist mode")..........generally it's no hardship as in the normal course of events I just replace as things get used.....

We have a small Coop and a corner shop in the village, the trouble is when we can't get out nothing can get in.......so they run out of stock quite quickly.

We've only been here 2 years and the winter has definitely made me do a bit of rethink with regards to the shopping.

Fruball

WantToBeSE wrote: »

No good for me, as i dont have a microwave! But i will make sure that i have a few quick and easy meals ready.

You can use the cooked rice sachets in a saucepan and stir fry. I have done them with a splash of water in a saucepan before. Perfect emergency fodder!

WantToBeSE

Thanks Fruball, a great idea for fried rice

sammy_kaye18

completely left

FLOUR
SELF RAISING FLOUR
EGGS
SUGAR

off my list - if all else fails a few microwave sponges for pudding are always easily made.