Ingredient which has made your culinary life easier (lighthearted)

[Thomasina79]

I have just discovered frozen mash from Iceland. Five minutes in microwave! I have arthritic fingers which makes it hard to peel vegetables.

Frozen chopped onions have been a game changer for me.

Frozen blocks of chopped garlic. I used so much garlic in a week and not having to peel and chop several every day is great.

Ready chopped soffrito from Waitrose is great

Intermittent fasting ;)

Marks and Spencer mashed potato. No added ingredients just potato, butter and milk.

Agree with this it saves time and I use it for so many dishes.

Jars of minced ginger. I hate peeling and grating ginger.

Ready made ready rolled pastry.
Ambrosia luxury custard. (The one in a black tin/carton)

Pots of garlic ginger paste, and tubs of ghee.
I was always wanting to add garlic and ginger to stir fries and curries, and this just speeds it way up. Taste is excellent too and it just lives in the fridge and gets used up without going off or hanging out in there for months and getting lost.

Ghee is great because I like the taste of some things cooked in butter but of course it doesn’t burn like normal butter and is great for very high heat cooking.

I use those jars of minced garlic and ginger - we've used the frozen cube things for quite a while but we use alot and the jars are even more versatile!

I went to a world food shop at the weekend and got a bag of julienne chopped frozen ginger - I am looking forward to seeing how they pan out.

Frozen chopped onions, garlic, soffrito, butternut squash

Concentrated chicken stock jar from M&S

Ginger paste & lemongrass drops

Pre cooked rice pouches (good for stir fry)

Merchant Gourmet pouches of flavoured rice/grains etc - good easy meal with added veg/halloumi/fish

Kelly Loves Miso soup sachets plus rice vermicelli and frozen edamame, good emergency lunch for empty fridge days

Spice Tailor curry kits are good

Frozen chopped garlic, and ginger.
M&S frozen sourdough pizza base dough.

M&S Singapore sauce (jar) so handy for stir fry’s or noodle dishes.

Crème fraiche instead of béchamel for lasagnes, macaroni cheese and cauliflower cheese. I much prefer it now as the slight tang cuts through the richness.

Fried onions. I'm Indian and cook a lot of Indian food and these have changed my life

"Sourdough" pizza bases from Aldi, Lidl or Tesco when on offer. I did try making pizza dough myself but found it a pain in the arse and not worth the bother, especially as regards rolling it out.

Marigold Bouillon Powder for stock - I use the reduced salt unless I want something really,really salted then I use the Original.
I chop onions in the food processor then roast them and freeze in small tubs soo I've always got them to add.
Keep d
Some leftover roast potatoes for the soup maker -thickens and oil in one
Lazy Garlic in the jar

Sainsburys frozen mash (no added stuff) and their frozen chopped onions - red and white.

Absolutely! And sometimes I use the garlic one but only in an emergency!

I use both regularly, so the little jars of red chilli and ginger paste (Asda) are often on my list.

Would it go watery in the cooking? Just wondered as I think it's a great idea. I was toying with blending cottage cheese for the same purpose! But a tub of creme fraiche would be a lot easier.

As for my contribution, it has to be frozen berries. I used to buy tubs and tubs fresh, but they inevitably went off despite my best efforts. I could freeze the fresh fruit, but then I'd have to hull the strawberries. Too lazy for that! I use the fruit in a roughly blended mix with avocado to top my porridge in Winter, and Greek yogurt in Summer.

Lazy garlic
Frozen onions
Spice Taylor curry kits
Bouillon stock powder
Ready made pastry and crumble
Had to google Soffrito🤦‍♀️

Do you have online recipes you could recommend for these using creme fraiche? Especially the macaroni cheese

Do you mean the crispy fried onions, or have you found somewhere that sells ones that are already softened/caramelised- that would be amazing

No it doesn’t go watery. I always use full fat crème fraiche though.