staples

[nextqueen]

what are the staple foods you buy on a weekly basis? im trying to cut back, economise, make easy cheap meals and attempt to use up leftovers with a bit of imagination. after watching scrimpers last week i aim to not throw anything away. just wondered what i would need to 'scrimp' in effect but that would not include chips, mash or mince!

[classylady60]

rice, pasta, veg, fruit, flour, marg, etc, stuff for making stews and soups, salad with rice and pasta....all I can think of at this hour but I'm sure many will put you on the right road.

[Buenchico]

Asda Value Cooking Bacon frequently appears on my shopping list. 75p for 500g! It's probably intended for use in casseroles, etc but I find that it's good for chucking in a frying pan, with some pasta sauce, and throwing over some cheap pasta.

Which reminds me . . .
. . . all of the big supermarkets offer a 'value' pasta sauce (which might be called 'Bolognese sauce'). It's usually around 36p per jar. (Morrison's do a nice one with mushrooms in it). Those sauces make a great base for knocking up a quick Italian-style dish, or a chilli con carne. (Just add a bit of black pepper, cayenne, chilli or whatever takes your fancy, to jazz it up a bit). They're just as good as the expensive 'cook-in' sauces.

'Value' pasta and rice are worth buying as well.

Chris

[pastafreak]

As a single person,I don't usually have leftovers as such. Instead I have one or two cooking weekends where I have several sessions with the slowcooker....I do a huge chicken and parcel it into 6 meals. I'll also do slow cooked pork belly-a very economical cut-a few quids worth will give me 4 meals. I look for other cheap cuts on sale,and will often have 2 weeks worth of meals in the freezer. Then-during the week, I get my fruit and veg,cheese,eggs,cream,milk, yoghurt, tinned and fresh fish.

[Meg888]

My staple foods are pasta, rice, noodles, flour, potatoes, eggs, cheese, tinned toms and an assortment of herbs & spices. Any leftovers from Sunday lunch are turned into bubble & squeak on Mon's using all the veg & gravy. Leftovers from pasta & rice dishes are re-used as my bate the following day or turned into some other concoction for tea the following night. Veg that's past it's best but not off is good used in a soup or stew. I also keep tins of corned beef, ham & tuna - these are easily used to make hearty meals cheaply.

[ayabrea38]

I invented a cupboard chow mien,everything except the chicken(which was frozen)came out of the cupboard.Have a root around and see what you have lurking at the back,I don't worry about best before dates,after all it is well sealed in a can.
I find a supply of jacket spuds help use up a lot of things cos you can just pop them in the spud with butter and they seem to taste great!

[tiggerblue10]

My staples at the moment are bags of salad, bags of stir fry veg, fruit salad pots, ready cooked chicken pieces, roasted salmon and small loaf of wholemeal bread.