Storecupboard Essentials

janb5

Hiya,

What about borrowing a few books that you like the look of from the library or even from your friends. Ask your friends which books they wouldnt be without as a general cookbook. Maybe have a look in charity shops for some to inspire you - I personally like Delia Smith`s complete cookery course.

You could build up some recipes gradually from magazines and build up you own personal repertoire. Maybe you feel nervous initially but honestly it will taste a million times better than anything in jars.

Good luck

Jan

newlywed

I like the good food books. I've got the Good Food 101 one pot meals and the 101 cheap eats.

One recipe a page and each recipe broken into 3 simple steps. Nice an easy - just the way I like instructions!

meerkatgirl

The book Grub on a Grant is also very good - the recipes are meant for students so they're easy to make as well as cheap

Fivenations

I am never without...

Pasta - lots of it, being Italian. I could eat pasta for two weeks and never have the same one twice!
Rice - Long grain, Basmati and Risotto
Bulghur
Couscous
Flour - all kinds
Polenta
Stock cubes
Tinned toms/PAssata
Italian Tuna in Olive oil - expensive but bursting with flavour
Parmesan cheese - makes a meal out of 50p of pasta so it's OS to me!
Extra Virgin Olive oil - as above!
Garlic, Ginger, Onions, Carrots. Celery
Soy sauce and sesame oil
Tins of pulses - plus frozen home cooked
Eggs
Mince in the freezer
Dried herbs and spices - Oregano, cumin, coriander, paprika, chilli, turmeric, cardamom, garam Masala, mustard seeds, peppercorns.
Red wine vinegar
Baking powder
Vanilla Essence
Cinnamon
Castor sugar

Ken68

Caviar and onions.

lemonade_money

A great thread, really useful. I'm in month 2 food budgeting OS. February we only went over by about £40 (that included a take away tut tut) so was pretty pleased with that but March has been awful. We have managed to spend a hideous amount but it's definitely a learning curve and the 5 week month has thrown me (poor excuse really)! April will be the winning month hopefully!

Can only repeat other threads - tinned tomatoes, flour (SR, P and bread), yeast, value butter, milk, cheese, tinned tuna, italian seasoning, peppers, onions, mushrooms potatoes, pasta, oil, garlic, baking powder, bicarb of soda, squash, rice, mince, eggs, mayo, stock cubes, tin spaghetti are always in our cupboard/fridge/freezer.

angchris

my basic store cupboard ingredients are:-
potatoes
carrots
onions
mushrooms
red pepper
tinned:-
sweetcorn
tuna in brine
corned beef
baked beans
spagetti
tomatoes
fridge:-
cheese
ham
eggs
butter/marg
milk
freezer:-
mince
frozen reduced to clear items
boxes and boxes of walls ice cream bought in bulk direct from mr walls staff shop :money:
cleaning:-
bulk washing up liq on offer 1/2 price (enough to last me 2 years or so )
bottle of stardrops - this cleans just about everything in your house
huge industrial size boxes of washing powder (mr walls staff shop..enough to last me till 2030 :rotfl:)
cupboards:-
flour sr/plain
baking powder
oxo cubes
icing sugar
cornflour
gravy granules
dried pasta/spagetti
rice
sugar
teabags
coffee
i always make sure i have these items in my house as they are the basics to any meal and you will always be able to rustle up something quick if you have nothing else available :j

Gingham_Ribbon

Your store cupboard will grow as you get the ingredients for the new dishes you learn to cook.

DON'T be tempted to buy it all at once based on what the rest of us have in our store cupboards. And DON'T be tempted to cook from scratch at every meal straight away. That's the sure way to crash and burn.

Take it a week at a time. My advice would be to learn one new dish a week. It doesn't sound like much but someone gave me that advice when I first joined the site. In a year you'll have 52 different things you can cook - and a store cupboard stocked for any eventuality.

DawnW

immoral_angeluk wrote: »

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!

I don't think I could cook when I was 21 - if i could remember that far back:)

lil_me

GR is right, if you just buy what others do you'll end up with more stuff going out of date. Choose a recipe you want to try and buy what you need to go with it, whats left when comes to herbs etc will eventually build up a store cupboard of usable ingredients. One recipe a week, now that sounds like a great idea.

Slow cooker I only bought since using this board, never looked back, I make a massive tomato and mince sauce, basically bolognese sauce, then pot it up, adding chilli for mexican dishes and adding to pasta, lasagne etc. Makes cooking much easier.