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.

Totally with you here! I get through a bag a week!

Crispy fried onions. Life is better with them!!

Cubes of frozen ginger and garlic. Also the little sachets of frozen garlic as it’s a bit chunkier than the cubes.

Tubes of garlic puree

Frozen cubes of garlic and ginger (separately and combined) I have weak hands and peeling garlic is so fiddly

Definitely minced garlic in a jar, couldn't live without it now.

Also, chopped onions - fresh or frozen. I'm one of those people that start crying within 2 feet of a raw onion so these help me out massively!

Low salt, so you can use salt without guilt.

Rather than individual jars (pots?) of herbs, we go for the steak/chicken/bbq mixes. Makes food a lot more tasty.

Frozen cauliflower rice

Marigold bouillon
Mushroom ketchup
Taj Frozen blocks of garlic and ginger
Waitrose frozen chopped herbs in resealable bags
Potato flakes for thickening gluten free stews, casseroles, sauces

Cous cous / bulgar wheat.
Boil the kettle and leave to stand. Add what I fancy.

Don't you find the jars of garlic taste a bit weird? That's why I went for frozen.

Any spice blend from Seasoned Pioneers

Mutti tins of Polpa

Frozen mash for me too !!! Excellent on a cottage pie .

Wine!

Mutti Polpa tinned tomatoes

I buy all my veg sliced/prepped. I make a couple of batches of slow cooker meals a week and it means I literally just empty a few bags and some meat into the slow cooker, turn it on and I have a hot delicious meal a few hours later. No work, no mess, takes 1 minute effort and I get 4 portions of comforting goodness.

Crispy fried onions are amazing. I buy big bags.

Tubs of mixed spices and seasonings. My favourites are jerk seasoning and harrissa spice.
I mix them into yoghurt, crème fraiche or a tin of whizzed up beans to make dips.
Frozen mixed veg - Iceland do one with baby corn, baby carrots and sugar snaps which I like and are often on a multiply offer. Easier and less space than separate bags. Same with frozen berries.

Pre-cut onions - my eyes are super-sensitive, and always end up sore and streaming whenever I cut onions. The pre-cut bags are worth the price.
The jars of lazy garlic.

Fresh ready chopped onions
Very Lazy Garlic

Do you add any liquid? Or thicken with gravy granules etc ?

frozen mash is the best! Literally just potato, butter and milk as the ingredients. Also
very lazy garlic/ginger/chilli

my SIL and I sometimes cook together we like to experiment with a recipe but annoyingly she is so snobby about my garlic and ginger and won’t use them 🙄 I feel life is too short to be peeling garlic cloves and grating fresh ginger but hey ho

Soffrito. Great base for soups, sauces and stews. I made loads in the food processor every other weekend then bag it into portions and put it in the freezer.

Question about the cubes of garlic and ginger. How many cloves of garlic are in a cube and roughly how many cms of ginger in a block x

Frozen peppers, and diced ginger and garlic are my life saver's. Always have a lot of frozen veg in because the fresh stuff goes over before I get to use it up