Storecupboard Essentials

Ken68

You can't beat natural ingredients, home grown, steamed or pressure/slow cooked and with nothing added,except the protein.
An oven is an expensive way to cook.

newlywed

My essentials are milk, flour, eggs, sugar, choc chips (for cakes and biccies), tinned tomatoes or passata, onions, basil and oregano, stock cubes, oil (I hardly use any anyway).

With some extra veg and meat you can use these things to make pasta sauce, shepherds pie, risotto, omlette, soup, lasagna and cakes/biscuits.


Worcs sauce is a bonus but not necessary as it adds flavour to s/pie, pasta sauce, lasagna, soup.

Alfietinker

Another vote for the tinned tomatoes!

I always have loads of fresh veg around and base meals on these - ie pasta sauces with added veg, veggie stirfry, risotto etc. Also soy sauce, garlic, vinegar etc to add to said stirfries etc.

Flour, butter, milk always for making a white sauce etc.

meerkatgirl

Stock cubes and garlic - then when you have any veg that's looking a little past it's best, add some garlic and stock, blend it up and you get great soup.

The other thing I like to have to hand is red lentils - good for bulking out meat dishes like shepherd's pie or curry, but there's loads of things you can do with them on their own - dhal, soup, bakes, pate... And they're fantasically cheap!

organic_wanabe

Perhaps you should think about a slowcooker. Tesco Deal of the Day has one for 60% off at £13.97 ("You Are What You Eat" slowcooker).

Pink.

Hi imoral angel,

These older threads might help:

Help!! Basic shopping list needed

Your fully comprehensive storecupboard

Pink

immoral_angeluk

I would have no idea how to use a slowcooker..

DawnW

tins of tomatoes as before, tomato puree, soy sauce, worcestershire sauce, flour (if you keep it in a sealed plastic container it won't get thingies in it), margarine and/or butter, stock cubes, eggs, tins tuna (for sandwiches, jacket potato fillings, pasta sauce), tins of anchovies, lots of fresh veg, garlic, depends on what you want to make really. Don't feel you need to buy lots of stuff all at once that you might not use, look at the meal planning threads on here, and have a go at that. This way, you buy only what you need. Otherwise you end up having to do regular 'store cupboard challenges' and 'use up months' like the rest of us!

Well done on the toad in the hole. If you can cook that, you can do lots of other things as well. Check out some of the recipes on here, or look for good recipe books in charity shops or ebay, or ask for one for a birthday or Christmas present. Delia, Jamie Oliver, Nigel Slater and Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall are the ones I like, and their recipes always work, but others may have different preferences.

Oh, and welcome to the OS board!!

immoral_angeluk

What would you use stock cubes for then? Have never used them but heard bits about them... I always just use gravy in cottage pies etc?

Sorry just realised how completely rubbish I sound... I'm 21 for gods sake and should be able to cook by now! Argh!

liz105

...Angel, thank you so much, for making me laugh for the first time today....an image of a grown man infested with Wombles! That is the best thing I've read on the internet for ages! :j :rotfl: