Please help me make the food in my cupboards last as long as possible.

AutumnLeaf

Spicy cous cous and stir fry veg:

Pour cous cous into large bowl. Cover with boiling water - enough so there's about 1cm above grains. Cover the bowl with cling film or a plate. Leave for 10 mins.

Chop up carrot, courgette and pepper.

Fry a bit of garlic for 60 secs. Fry chopped chilli if you like it hot. Add veg. Add a couple of teaspoons of 5 spice power. Keep mixing veg around frying pan until it begins to soften a bit. Remove from heat.

Take cling film off bowl. Add a teaspoon or two of butter and fluff up cous cous with a fork.

Serve. Enjoy. Make OH clear up.

Readytomakechanges

Autumn Leaf you don't know how good it feels to hear that someone else has a similar problem with the mess. Everyone I've ever mentioned that to in real life has laughed at me. I've been finding it easier to prep stuff early in a morning as am most stressed at the end of the day or if the kids are whinging and can't manage it.

We have one thermos flask and a bottle warmer (that is essentially a thermos flask), so soups may be an idea for lunches once we've run out of bread.

When you mentioned the beef grumplestiltskin I remembered I also have a sachet of slow cooker beef and ale stew recipe mix. It calls for 1 onion, chantenay carrots, 450g diced beef, 250ml ale, 2 tbs tomato puree. Does anyone think it could be used with alternative ingredients that I have in. We wouldn't mind if it was a veg based casserole featuring lentils or chickpeas or even baked beans instead of beef, but I'm not quite sure how to go about it. Or do you think it'd be rubbish with no beef and no ale?

Readytomakechanges

Some great ideas so far. Thank you! I've never really known what to do with cous cous unless it's specifically in a recipe to make it not taste bland, and have only made stir frys from a bag or with a sachet of stirfry mix!

AutumnLeaf

Everyone has quirks. And you and me have very tidy kitchens!

Re beef and ale stew - I think your suggestion is great. Those mixes are just seasoning. I'd chuck in some carrot / parsnip and a tin of chickpeas and see what happens. It might not taste like beef and ale stew but it will be nice!

I'm still very much on a cooking learning curve but I take the view that if you can substitute something with something quite similar i.e. courgettes for aubergines, it tends to work out okay!

Since you don't have much meat, is it worth googling some easy vegetarian recipes? When I'm stuck for inspiration, I pick something I want to use up. Last night it was mozzarella cheese. Ended up having a fairly tasty baked egg and mozzarella dish!

Grumpelstiltskin

You could always chop the hot dog sausages up, but the fresh Carrot and parsnip would take longer to cook than the sausages.


With the beef and ale mix just look on the packet and see exactly what it contains, you will never buy a packet mix again when you see how you have been ripped off because my guess is it will contain things you already have in your cupboard, what is a beef and ale mix if you have to add the beef and the ale?


I think if you can afford some stewing beef it will be worth while.

MallyGirl

Jamie's superfoods program the other day did a chicken and sweet potato stew that you have most of the stuff for.


once you have run out of bread you can make chappatis or soft taco wraps with the flour. Dead easy - and cheap.

Readytomakechanges

Beef and ale mix is apparently:

Potato starch, Wheat flour, Paprika, Salt, Flavouring?, Modified maize starch, Onion powder, Garlic powder, Sugar, Stabiliser (Guar GUm), Parsley, Celery seed, White pepper, Anti-caking agent (Silicone Dioxide).

I've always liked the sachets because they tell me exactly what to put in, but they're definitely an extravagance we can no longer afford on a regular basis, (along with pre-chopped onions) especially as we have a fairly well stocked spice cupboard.

Grumpelstiltskin

One trick, you have red lentils, add them to any stew, chilli, any minced beef dish. If you do it in the slow cooker they will disappear and mean you can use less meat.

Tink_04

I have kitchen mess issues too!

I prep evening meals on a morning, or on a weekend batch cook and freeze stuff in portions to pull out at a later date. The slow cooker is my best friend tho - one pot to wash and a hot meal good to go.

Tink_04

You can make sweet potato and chickpea curry either by using one of your jars or a tin of tomatoes and some spices & serve with rice x