Convenience foods you love... mse of course!

[Deleted User]

Being a war-time baby I have a stash of tinned stuff 'just in case' and I could probably feed half the street from my stash,but its been a good investment as the past few weeks I have not been able to shop as usual owing to my op. so my food stash has helped no end I can go out to the shops now but carrying stuff is a problem and I'm not driving atm. Fingers crossed normal service will resume shortly :):) until then I have my tinned and frozen bits to fall back on.added to stuff that I pre cooked before my op. I have eaten fairly well.Its only fresh milk or fruit and veg I have had to buy.I usually use a spare grandson to hump the shopping home for me :)Three of them have been coming to my house after school for a few weeks :):)
I too use lazy Garlic as I find it so easy to use and no waste whatsoever.
I have started a 'Ben box' for my DGS who is at Uni and any spare tins I can put in there I have donated so when his parent go up to see him next month they will take a box of bits and pieces for him which will help him with his student grant.Every little helps and if it helps him then I am happy he's not going hungry

Eliza_2

Frozen veg medley pack from Aldi - great to chuck a handful into a quiche etc. Tinned peas, esp mushy, are great for quick ham and pea soup, very yum. Otherwise I tend to grow and buy fresh veg and freeze myself. I have several tubs of mixed celery/onion/garlic/carrots in freezer, to chuck a handful into a soup/stew whatever, as well as anything on super6 that I like and freeze too.

Tinned beans etc are like bullets unless you buy expensive ones. I buy dried always and cook in pressure cooker - chick peas have a seriously delicious taste done like this and depending on how you want to use them, you can cook them down into a gorgeous creamy mush for spreads/dips etc.

Tinned baked beans however are always on standby, either just on toast for lunch, or rinse off the sweet sauce and use as any other beans - in stews, to make beanburgers etc - I always get value brands for this, after all a bean is a bean is a bean!

....but I don't know what I did before tinned tomatoes came on the scene!!!

flipper_72

I am similar to a lot on here and use tinned pulses and tomatoes and frozen veg. I also have lazy garlic and freeze fresh ginger to grate when i need it. I freeze fresh parmesan and grate from frozen as we don't eat it quick enough if we leave it in the fridge. I buy tinned potatoes to make quick potato salad or for using in frittata but otherwise don't like them! I also buy puff pastry.

Horace

I always have tinned and frozen veg in.

I do not like the feel of a fresh spud (it makes me feel sick to peel them) and as I do not eat them that often I find they always go soft. I get the tinned New Potatoes from Aldi which are 27p a tin and they come in salted water which I drain off and add fresh (these get used as plain boiled and the leftovers get drained and allowed to go cold before they are chopped up and fried to go into omelettes etc).

I have tinned fruit in the house too - usually tinned peaches in light syrup (another Aldi special). Sometimes I will have a tin of grapefruit.

I usually have the following in my store:
Tinned spuds
Tinned Tomatoes (chopped)
Cartons of Passata (often on offer)
A tin of Eazy Onions (onions that have been partially cooked in olive oil, Delia recommends them in her book on How to Cheat at Cooking).

I have frozen veg:
Peas
Mixed Veg
Plus anything that I have frozen myself such as carrots and runner beans)
The odd bag of frozen jacket spuds (I have found Aldi's to be the best)
Sometimes I have frozen pastry or a frozen dessert - or even frozen pears which have been stewed using my grandma's old recipe (stew them in lemonade - do not add sugar).

If I am given plums then these are bottled for winter. I will also have longlife milk (I need to go and get some) so that should I be trapped in the house when it snows at least I will have milk). I drink fresh milk the rest of the time.

I also have a few tins of soup and in the freezer I have cartons of fresh soup which I buy when it is reduced in price plus meat that has been reduced.

natlie

Jars of pasta and Chilli sauce - from ALDI cheap and tasty and easy I use the pasta sauces for lasagne and for bolognaise 35p a jar


Fresh pasta for lasagne - as I am veggie its easier and uses less energy plus avoids burnt lasagne as the dried stuff just takes ages to cook


Ready rolled puff pastry - but I do make my own other types of pastry


Bag of frozen mixed veg - the Med veg in Tesco is particularly good


Oven Chips


This is difficult as I do cook a lot from scratch - on the Pizza Bases - I never make yeast dough years ago I saw a JO 30 mins meals and he just put a mug and a half of plain flour in the mixer with a splash of oil and some water to bring it together and salt - works perfectly


Nat

Minihauk

kboss2010 wrote: »

I bought a bar of metal soap on ebay for 99p and it gets rid of the garlic smell

http://www.lakeland.co.uk/13940/Lakeland-Steel-Soap

Sorry - off topic but
a stainless steel spoon works just as well. Just rub in between your hands as you would the bar of "soap" Much more money saving.

Minihauk

Ches wrote: »

kboss2010 wrote: »

I bought a bar of metal soap on ebay for 99p and it gets rid of the garlic smell

http://www.lakeland.co.uk/13940/Lakeland-Steel-Soap

Or rubbing your hands on the stainless steel sink does the job

Sorry Ches, I should have read further before replying.

kboss2010

Lasagna sheets cook much quicker if you soak them in hot water while you prep the other ingredients

blueneleh

MandM90 wrote: »

I also keep frozen cubes of ginger in the freezer as they are so much cheaper than fresh and the rest of the root usually gets left to rot as we use it infrequently.

Do you just peel and cube fresh ginger then freeze them like that? I use fresh ginger for some recipes but always seem to throw away what's left

blueneleh

Loving all the tips regarding metal and garlic smells.
I have a stainless steel sink so will try that next time