Packets and tins - fallback meal

Lurkio

Hi all :hello:

As the name suggests, I spend most of my time lurking . I am very OS and cook all my meals from scratch, have BM and SC and worship Dr Stardrop :A (that should qualify me for OS status )

I flirted with the Flylady thread recently, but found that I really only had time for my dailies . Having looked at why, I have come to the conclusion that I spend a lot of time cooking, when I should be caustic soda-ing me plugholes (that isn't a euphemism!)

Soooo... in a very roundabout way, I'm after some ideas for quick-meals-when-you've-run-out-of-fresh-stuff(including bread, milk, and eggs!)-and-you've-eaten-all-the-stuff-you've-batched-and-frozen. Snappy title, I know.....:rolleyes:

A good reserve meal that can just sit in the cupboard forever until required (hence it would have to be in a packet or tin).

It may be the one you always cook the day before 'supermarket day'.



So over to you lovely people......




Cue Squeaky to point me at the appriopriate thread in the megaindex - sorry squeaky

Mrs_Flittersnoop

Pasta with a tin of tomatoes, a tin of tuna and a handful of frozen peas. My kids used to love this when they were little - it always used to annoy me as most of the time I spent hours in the kitchen slaving over the stove creating wonderful dishes - and this was their favourite, made in about 15 mins :rolleyes:

ubamother

my son's absolute favourite one-pot 'instant' meal - we use this when camping: chop an onion finely, put in a pan and boil with some pasta until pasta is nearly cooked. Drain and put back in pan, add condensed tomato soup, herbs, grated cheese and a tin of tuna. Stir around a bit until all hot and cheese melted. only fresh thing you need is the cheese.

Mrs_Flittersnoop

haha! snap! almost!

Lurkio

Thanks! We have loads of tuna for some reason

might have to try this (these) out on LOs

Keep 'em coming

Stephen_Leak

There seems to be a theme (or is it a tuna? :doh:) developing here.

ANCHOVY, TOMATO & TUNA PASTA

Serves 2

INGREDIENTS

2 cloves of garlic
2 onions
50g tin of anchovy fillets in olive oil
400g tin of plum tomatoes*
400g tin of tuna in brine
2 teaspoons of basil, oregano or mixed herbs
Ground pepper to taste
400ml of water
¼ of a teaspoon of salt
200g of conchigle** pasta

METHOD

Peel the garlic and chop it into tiny pieces. Peel the onions and chop them into tiny pieces. Open the tin of anchovies and put the oil into the frying pan on a moderate heat. Add the garlic and onion. Fry the garlic and onion for about 2 minutes. Stir them every half a minute or so.

Open the tin of tomatoes. Pour the juice into the frying pan. Chop the tomatoes while they are still in the can (it’s easier than chasing them around the pan). Pour the chopped tomatoes into the pan. Continue to cook, stirring as the mixture boils.

Chop the anchovies into small pieces. Open the tin of tuna and drain off the brine. Add the anchovies, tuna and herbs. Mix together gently, trying not to break up the tuna too much. Season with the pepper. Cook for another 5 minutes or until the sauce has reduced.

Put the water and salt into a saucepan and bring to the boil. Put the pasta into the water. Stir it to stop it sticking to the bottom of the pan. Bring back to the boil and continue to cook, stirring to stop it sticking.

Begin testing it about 2 minutes before the packet instructions say it should be done. The best way to judge if pasta is cooked is to bite it. This is tricky, because if you fish out a bit and stick in your mouth you may burn your mouth on the boiling water. Wait a bit and blow on it, then bite it. If it is hard it needs longer. If it is chewy (or al dente, Italian for "to the teeth") it is ready. If it is soft it is overcooked.

Drain the pasta in a sieve or colander. Season with the pepper.

Always "take the pasta to the sauce". Put the pasta in the pan with the sauce and stir until thoroughly coated.

* Plum tomatoes can be used either whole or chopped. It is difficult to stick chopped tomatoes back together again if you need to use them whole.

** Conchigle is the seashell-shaped pasta and appropriate for a fish dish.

PS. I reckon that you could probably get away with omitting the anchovies and frying off the onions and garlic in 2 tablespoons of olive oil. My local ASDA seems to have stopped selling the little 50g tins and now only has 100g jars. I might save my last tin for something special (mashed with a crushed garlic clove on slices of French bread and grilled :drool: ) and try this recipe without them next time.

catznine

Our favourite storecupboard tuna meal was a tin of condensed mushroom soup, cooked pasta, tin of tuna all mixed up in a casserole dish and then top with grated cheese if you have it ( I try to keep some of this in the freezer) and pop into the oven until heated through and cheese is bubbling. Lovely with some salad or any veg.

Another is Chaos Pie from the Pennypinchers John and Irma Mustoe - 1 tin of corned beef diced, 1 tin of potatoes (drained) and 1 tin of baked beans, mix into a casserole and pop into oven, again nice with some grated cheese on top.

champys

Here's one I do: parboil a few potatoes, slice them and layer in a dish with salmon from a tin (tuna would do too I guess) and some frozen peas. Pour over UHT cream from a packet, sprinkle some grated cheese on top and bake in oven. I tend to keep little packets of UHT cream and cheap tins of salmon in the store cupboard so I can make this any time.

ashlea170706

ok so what about tuna and sweetcorn pasta not very inventive but quick and easy to make! ash

Lurkio

catznine wrote: »

Another is Chaos Pie from the Pennypinchers John and Irma Mustoe - 1 tin of corned beef diced, 1 tin of potatoes (drained) and 1 tin of baked beans, mix into a casserole and pop into oven, again nice with some grated cheese on top.

Now THAT's the kind of thing :T :T :T :T

Three tins - one pot - job jobbed!!!

otterspasm

Hi there,
I love this as a stand-by meal...
Make up a sachet of sage and onion stuffing and allow to cool. Add equal quantities of cooked, drained and cooled red lentils. Mix together. You can add an egg at this point too if you have one but fine without.
Shape into burgers and dip in flour or flour/egg/breadcrumbs and fry off. Serve in bread rolls made with your BM!

This will make enough burgers for 8 hungry people! or you could freeze half of the batch before shaping into burgers. Freezes well and actually improves if frozen.
REALLY tasty veggie burgers.