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.

That's from where I got the idea of doing my own. It takes ten minutes at the weekend.

Just Spices mixes, especially their ones for eggs and avocado.

If I were doing it in the oven I would but in the slow cooker the liquid doesn’t evaporate off, so my basic ‘recipe’ is:

• 400g pack of meat - chicken breast, boneless thigh, pork shoulder, beef chunkS
• pack of sliced mushrooms
• pack of sliced red onion
• oack of frozen sliced peppers
• 2 sachets of whatever seasoning mix I fancy - chilli, Nando’s peri-peri, Carolina mustard bbq….

then just switch it on high for 3 hrs or low for 5-6 hrs. You end up with fall apart meat and loads of sauce from the liquid that comes out of the meat and veg. I usually stick it on the hob for 10 minutes to thicken up at the end. 4 portions, each portion is about 200 calories depending on which meat and I have it for lunch most days, I always put 1 or 2 in the freezer and that way I have a selection of different flavours and meat going all the time so it’s not just the exact same lunch 4 days in a row.

You can vary it up really easily by switching peppers for sliced leeks or carrots and using a pork/sausage casserole or Irish stew seasoning pack.

M&S frozen flavoured butters (waitrose do a garlic herb version too)
Littleseed pizza oil - it's a chilli, garlic and herb oil. Really nicely flavoured. Hard to get hold of now. Asda used to sell it then they did their own knock off of it but it's not as nice.
My biggie is the bags of frozen mediterranean veggies. ASDA £1.99 not as good as Morrisons which has increased in price to a point I don't buy them any more from there. Soups, tray bakes etc.

Frozen garlic, onions and mixed peppers for me! Also tinned chopped tomatoes and dried basil to have in for an easy bruchetta. I put rosemary on things too like omelettes, homemade chips (chop baby potatoes with skin on) and smashed avocado. Always having fajita and BBQ seasoning in is handy too for fajitas/chicken/BBQ salmon or chicken goujons!

Frozen croissants, with or without fillings, and pain au chocolat.
I do them in the air fryer (15 mins) for relaxed Sunday breakfasts.
Also Za’atar and Ras el Hanout spice blends.

They do the soffrito mix at Sainsbury's too, but it's called something like 'classic chopped vegetable base' and it's 2/3rds the price of waitrose 😂

Grape Tree the shop actually, too. Brilliant for nuts and seeds and dried fruit, crackers, herbs and spices, supplements, and so, so much cheaper than supermarkets.

I can't go in too often because I can't be trusted with crackers and nuts.

Frozen garlic and ginger

Loving the Crème Fraiche idea.

Chilli flakes. I don’t use fresh chillis often enough to get through a supermarket pack of them.

@IndiaAutumn can you recommend a good one?

Had to google that @PinkTonic and I’m now hungry and happy that I already make something similar as a base for soups and everything (without tomatoes) some online recipes use tomatoes and peppers. What’s the Waitrose one like and what do you use it for?

Silly question- do you just heat it up and add your grated cheese?

Pre prepped fresh veg, also freezes fine. I realise even with the price difference, it works out actually better! There is no waste, and it is so easy. I find the onions seems stronger too, so I don't need to use as much

You can just spread it into a lasagne or you can mix it with herbs and garlic etc.You can heat it too.Same goes for ricotta or mascarpone.

I freeze the fresh chilli pack. They are easy to chop after being out of the freezer for a minute or two. I also freeze fresh ginger and grate it into what I’m cooking( thanks Ainsley H for that one).

Jux freeze dried herbs and vegetables. They are brilliant.

Frozen soffrito and frozen mashed potato.

I keep seeing this on facebook. Do they still do broccoli and tomato powders or are they just out of stock? They’re always in ads but can’t find on their site.

Frozen mash.
Ginger puree
frozen chopped onions
Frozen Swedish meatballs. Cook in two mins, tons of uses for quick meals
frozen hash brown bites - cook quicker than any other form of frozen potato
frozen fruit is great for smoothies and reducing food waste.

Although I buy grated cheese occasionally, I don’t like the powdery coating they put on it to stop it clumping.

Two cloves of garlic per cube. I don’t use the ginger.
Where would I find the crispy onions, please?

Hi I get mine from Sainsbury's or Asian shops. I put a heaped , very heaped tablespoon per half an onion and blend with garlic tomatoes and ginger and and spices to taste for my curry base x

Brill. Thank you @Karmakamelion.

Knorr Aromat

I don't use those ones. I use the red onion, the garlic, the beetroot, the basil, the carrot and a couple of the others and they've never been out of stock of those.