Last week in this house - help me with my food shop!

[AllIwantForChrismasIsAKitchenAidStandMixer]

I’m moving house on 26th October - next week will be busy with getting things ready so no time for lots of cooking and I’m trying not to move too much random food to the new house.

What should we have for dinner? I also need lunches for DH (I wfh so can forage) and a few breakfast bits/snacks.

I’m hoping to throw myself on my ILs mercy for dinner the night before when everything is packed away!

DH hates jacket potatoes otherwise that would probably be top of the list.

Crisps?

Just run down the stocks and shop daily for what you fancy.

Well you will want to wind down your current supplies which might result in some odd combos but for one week that doesn't matter. I would also treat myself to dinner out one evening as you probably have plenty to do.

What food do you have in? Eating that up would be a priority, surely, even if it's slightly strange combinations. Then try only to take things to the new house that you know you will use.

Otherwise, donate anything non perishable and in date, for everything else bin it.

Very little to be honest although there is lots of bread in the freezer of various types! Dried pasta, rice etc.

I mean that depends entirely on what you’ve got in the cupboards? Soup? Tinned tomatoes/kidney beans/dried chilli power= make a bean chilli. Opened pasta packets to finish off? Anything in the freezer to use up?
I would just eat what you already have, try not to buy much

Open cupboards/freezers
Find some food
Cook it.

Job done.

I don’t have very much food in at all that’s the problem - no protein at all and very few snacks. A few cans of soup and some dried carbohydrates

This. When my parents moved for the month before we put post-its on the freezer, cupboards and fridge with the aim of not taking anything to their new place except for coffee, tea and biscuits (we arranged a supermarket delivery at the other end). Chat GPT is good at suggesting ideas for odd combinations of ingredients, you just need to apply a bit of intelligence and imagination to make them fit your needs. We also did a food bank run to drop off anything we didn't think we would get through from the store cupboard. Worked like a charm. Mum went up a day early with the cat and bought sandwich stuff on the way. Dad and I went the day of the move and had dinner the night before in the local pub and then breakfast/brunch on the way up at a diner once the house was cleared.

Why do you need to sort your husband's lunch?

I don’t “need” to. But I am doing the food shop and we need food in the house so he can have things for lunch

Can you cook slightly bigger portions so DH can have leftovers the next day?
I'd go for sausage pasta bake, chilli and rice (sometimes we have wraps, guacamole, jalapeños, grated cheese rather than rice), curry, chicken stir fry. Buy ready made fish and oven chips for cooking at home.
Other lunch things I'd have oatcakes and nice cheese, or minimal stuff for sandwiches and have the same sandwich filling on repeat until it's finished.
Edit:
For breakfast, I'd just go for cereal, if that's what you usually have, but plan pastries or pancakes for the last couple of days.
My kids are into pretzels, Pringles and chocolate biscuits for snacks, DH loves dry roasted nuts. Probably wrapped biscuits like KitKats or Club are easier to transport if they're not finished this week than crushing crumbly biscuits.

Lots of bread in freezer = sandwiches for lunch this week

It’s not bread bread I should have been more specific - we get a wonky bread delivery and it’s a load of random wraps, pittas and flatbreads and some crumpets. I suppose he could do something with them it’s just going to be a weird eating week.

I think I can make a big cous cous salad that will do dinner for one night and a lunch or two.

Maybe an egg fried rice?

I’d go for things that don’t need “ingredients” and are quite low effort for what will be a busy week packing - fish cakes and veg, pie and veg etc - you don’t want to be stuck with half used tubes of tomato puree and cloves of garlic.

Sandwich week! Fish finger wraps, steak sandwich, soup and cheesy crumpets.

Buy a cooked chicken . Beans on toast . Eggs all ways . Tomato soup . Yogurts . Toasties ( in toaster bags )

I don’t know if they deliver everywhere but Gousto give great introductory discounts and next day delivery… you could get everything you need for how ever many meals (no other stocks needed apart from basics like oil etc) but could be a great solution for pre and post moving? You can also order stuff that works for lunches (salads etc but can also just add extra portions to cover lunches). Also if you want a referral code let me know 😝 - but genuinely just think it’s a good idea having moved this summer and not used it to cover any period when I probably should have done !!

Charlie Bingbong ready meals for suppers and subsequent leftovers.

Sandwich accoutrements for lunches.

Cereal for brekkie.

Soup and sandwiches it is then!

There's protein in pasta, rice and bread.

A little bit maybe but you know what I mean - no main ingredient. I think DH would file for divorce if I suggested a dinner without a proper protein.

I’d do grilled chicken and salad in a flatbread, fajitas/buritos/enchiladas, shakshuka with any variety of bread, fridge end soup or stew with bread for dinners to use a lot of that up

So where is he in all this? He seems to have a lot of preferences and expectations. What is he doing to turn the odds and ends of food in the house into edible meals?