Emergency Meal Ideas

Lifes_Grand_Plan

Afternoon everyone, apologies if this has been covered before.....

Got back home from a weekend away last night and being later than expected we had no meal planned in and the supermarkets were shut. Wanting something that would be quick and easy, we ended up buying two frozen pizzas from Tesco Express - this was more MSE than a proper takeaway so don't hate me too much.

Anyway this got me thinking about what "emergency meals" I could have to keep in the cupboard (hopefully with a long shelf life) that I could whip out in the instance above without having to buy expensive and unhealthy "convenience" food.

Requirements are:
1. Hopefully long shelf life so can just leave in the cupboard for when needed.
2. Quick to prepare.
3. Quick and easy to cook.

So anyone got any suggestions or have a similar "backup plan" like this?

BrassicWoman

*looks at cupboard* I cannot imagine ever having nothing in!

Anyway, tinned curry + bombay potatoes + microwave rice

And a pack of cookie mix that just needs water adding, to make pud

Hedgehog99

Tinned tomatoes with cooked dried pasta & some grated cheese (keeps in fridge un-opened if the use-by date is good). Chuck in some other frozen veg &/or cooked meat if required (or freeze batches of this already cooked for your return). Or do a lasagne with some UHT milk/soya milk etc or a jar of sauce. Or cook pasta & have it with tinned tuna & sweetcorn or tinned salmon & frozen peas (either with UHT cream &/or cheese to taste). Or tuna & sweetcorn macaroni cheese bake.

Fluff15

Fray Bentos pies - these last for ever and they're delicious (in my opinion). Match with some frozen veg and frozen potato goods (my preference is potato croquettes), and you've got a substantial meal in less than half an hour. You can even omit the potatoes and use a can of veg instead, in case your freezer is full.

Brambleberry

I have an emergency stash of a couple of tins of M&s tinned chunky steak and beef bolognese. Lovely on toast or with a handful of oven chips/ roasties or a few frozen peas chucked in to warm through. I never buy them full price, but manage to hit an offer now and then.

valk_scot

Jars of nice pasta sauce and dried pasta. Tinned curry and microwave rice. Tin of chicken in white wine sauce and tagliatelle, add tinned ham and/or creamed mushrooms. M&S are very good for this sort of thing btw.


But for preference, I freeze meals for emergency use. Do you have a freezer?

RAS

Most people have some pasta in somewhere in the cupboard? If not, time to keep some.

At worst, cook some breadcrumbs, garlic and chilli in olive oil. Add to drained pasta and a spoon of cooking water. You could add a drained tin of chick peas as well.

Or keep one or two bought or HM pasta sauces in reserve.

Alternatively, add a a pack of rosti to the store cupboard and add any bacon, cheese, egg you have? Nicer with salad.

Butterfly_Brain

I always have tinned ham, chicken in white sauce, corned beef , tuna, salmon, pasta sauce, curry sauce, fuselli, rice, jars of chilli sauce, tins of potatoes and tins of beans of all kinds in the cupboard.

With these you can make lots of different meals

chilli beans and rice tin mixed beans, basmati or LG rice and chilli sauce, if you want meat chop up some tinned ham and add.

corned beef hash potatoes corned beef and a sliced onion fried together

Corned beef fritters

Ham spaghetti bolognaise....... diced tinned ham, tin of pasta sauce, tin of mushrooms, a sliced onion

bizzybee

This is our favourite emergency meal but if being really quick we don't use the onions but use olives instead.

http://www.food.com/recipe/sicilian-anchovy-pasta-137814

Spaghetti and Anchovy Sauce


Ingredients:

Servings:
3
Units: US | Metric
2 (4 ounce) cans anchovies packed in oil, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 small onion, minced
fresh ground black pepper
1 lb pasta
Directions:

1
I dont remember how big the anchovy cans are, but they are those little oblong cans twith the fillets in olive oil.
2
Cook pasta, open the anchovy cans and use the olive oil in them to coat the pasta so it doesnt stick together. set aside.
3
Add more olive oil to a skillet, enough to coat all the pasta well later on. (Not much since it is already coated).
4
Saute the garlic and onions in the olive oil.
5
Add the chopped ahchovies and a good bit of pepper. (a lot of black pepper is good in this).
6
Pour the mixture over pasta and mix well to coat all the pasta, serve as it is with no cheese or other toppings.
7
**If you add fresh chopped basil and a touch of lemon juice, it completely changes the dish. I like both of them.**.

splishsplash

Frozen hm meals are my first choice but failing that I would reach for any of a number of things I always have in, all ready in 10 - 15 mins:
- fried eggs/beans/mushrooms/toast with big mug of tea
- rice/tin tuna/baked beans/spoon of mayo/s&p
- toasties (always have bread and cheese in freezer)
- pasta pesto jazzed up with toasted pine nuts, grated parmesan and garlic and lots of olive oil
- hummous on toast (tinned chick peas/tahini/lemon juice/garlic/s&p blitzed for a sec, add oil or water until it's the way you want it)
- peanut butter and jam sambos with pints of milk
- fish in sauce over pasta/mash/rice/noodles - sauce depends on what it's going over but usually white/sweet chilli/curry (frozen fish poached for 8 mins)

PenguinOfDeath

I always have some pasta, cous cous and gnocci in the cupboard, along with tins of things like baked beans and mackerel for 'on toast' meals in a hurry