What lazy food/buy cheap/named you use

[Belledan1]

Have read the cooking from scratch thread and was wondering what lazy/cheap/branded food you will always get. I know some people have no choice re basic range and I have been there and do have to watch what I spend now. Interested in some convenience foods.

Lazy/convenient - mine is frozen mash but do make own sometimes. Also sliced / grated cheese - this more as teenager in family make toasties etc and less mess and sliced also good for calorie counting. Sometimes microwave rice, burgers and noodles again for teenager and have a variety different frozen veg. Yorkshire puddings.

Basic range - jam, garlic bread, yogurts. Mint sauce. Ham for omelettes etc. Eggs as I only eat the white.

Branded- always have daddies brown sauce, pg tips and nescafe but do tend to get when on offer.

Do try and stick to a budget and shop mainly aldi.

Lazy - microwave rice, pesto, supermarket pizzas, curry paste

Basics - biscuits, ketchup, butter, Garlic bread, mozerella,halloumi, feta, soya milk, fruit &veg, frozen peas

Branded - Yorkshire Tea, Cathedral City cheddar, Walker’s crisps, Colgate toothpaste, Vosene Kids shampoo.

Lazy: pesto, supermarket pizzas (but also make my own)

Basics: Nothing really. I mostly shop in Aldi anyway, but tend to buy their higher range stuff.

Branded: I'm not wedded to particular brands, but will buy more expensive versions of certain things (sometimes known brands, sometimes from independent shops or farm shops, often stuff from Booths, whose own brand stuff is often better than popular brands). Especially bread (e.g. local baker sourdough), loose leaf tea, coffee beans, mayonnaise, chutneys, peanut butter.

Ohh i forgot about lazy garlic and ginger. Also get the frozen one. Forgot about pizzas too.

Lazy(ish) — my butcher does pre-marinated chicken breasts in about 15 different flavours. (Stuff like sweet chilli, garlic and herb, Southern BBQ, etc.) I order a bulk lot of those and keep them in the freezer, and make wraps with them when I can’t be arsed cooking anything proper.

I also buy microwave rice and lentils pouches for a couple of recipes I do — saves about half an hour of cooking time.

Brands: almost always Harpic for the loos and Ariel powder. 3 Brujas (Spanish cleaning brand) glass cleaner and bathroom spray. There’s a local company here that makes lovely honey so I always buy from them. A Spanish marmalade brand whose name I can’t recall right now. Shortbread House of Edinburgh shortbread biscuits. Otherwise I tend to get supermarket’s own brand veg, fruit, bread and dairy, meat from my butcher and fish/seafood from the fishmonger.

I can only think about the lazy, which is : Weetabix instead of pasta or rice. I'd just have weetabix with veggies or any type of sauce I am making.

Lazy: loads! Chopped onions, leeks, garlic, herbs, ginger, chilli - anything that cuts down on the prep time for cooking from scratch. Also I usually have a couple of bags of those stir fry/paella type things from Iceland in the freezer for nights when I really cba to do anything much. I jazz them up with whatever works eg soy sauce, ginger, lime, saffron as appropriate, and they are fine.

Basics: milk, frozen veg, frozen fish/chicken fillets/portions for curries and stews, root veg, pulses, beans, dried pasta - no real difference in quality for these items ime.

Nice: tea, coffee, fresh meat, fresh fish, cheese. Not necessarily branded as I tend to go to butcher/fishmonger etc but when I buy non essential things like this I want them to be good quality. There's literally no point in drinking a nasty tasting cup of tea; it's just miserable.

You have weetabix with vegetables and pasta sauce? That sounds repulsive.

Lazy/convenient: milk delivery - more expensive but super handy! Likewise dishwasher & washing tabs, and loo roll - all eco brands, have them delivered.
Branded: Yorkshire Gold teabags, birds eye fishfingers, organic eggs, Colgate

Lazy - frozen cubes of garlic and ginger, frozen chopped chilli and other veg.

basics - anything tinned/dried staples so tomatoes, beans etc. squash, cereals that sort of thing.

nice - tea, Yorkshire only. Hotel chocolat hot chocolate and meat. Fussy about having decent meat.

Lazy/Convenient - yes, microwave-in-package rice! I like Tilda for range of combinations, but Tesco jasmine or basmathi is also decent and much cheaper. I will sometimes buy premade hummus, baba ghanoush, and guacamole even though I can easily make them at home. Also jarred chutney, relish, pesto, curry sauce, etc. Packaged granola. Frozen prawns, peas, corn, berries, mango. I travel a bit for work and am sometimes grateful for pot noodle or instant oatmeal or a packaged single-portion sandwich or salad. One thing that never works for me, though, is bagged lettuce mix/salad - it very often smells disgusting.

Basic Range - I'll try anything once, but I find sometimes it depends how I plan to use it. For example, I'd happily use ASDA brand "mature" cheddar for macaroni or their Swiss/Gruyére for a frittata/quiche - and their Wensleydale w/Cranberry for a snack - but might choose more expensive options for a cheese plate if hosting a dinner.

Branded - Philadelphia cream cheese. Cola - I don't mind supermarket brand ginger ale or bitter lemon or "lemonade", but off brand cola never gets it right; I stick to Diet Coke/Coke Light or in a pinch Diet Pepsi. Chocolate - various brands, but cheap stuff can be awful. Also alcohol - you can get lucky I suppose, but it's a risk.

Yay. I love it. Weetabix with tuna and mayo is one of my favourite. Honestly, the taste of weetabix is neutral, so it goes with everything I find. Last night I had weetabix with lentils. Niceee!

What??

Is the weetabix fry or wet?

*dry

Lazy - precooked salmon for lunches.

Branded - Yorkshire teabags (since Sainsbury's Red Label changed to tasting of dust and disappointment).

Expensive - olive oil, eggs, GF pasta, sushi rice.

Everything else is up for grabs.

Lazy - tortellini

The world has gone mad.

That sounds....interesting,

All very interesting thanks. Never heard of wheetabix though with savory.

Cheap tomato purée to make curry and spaghetti
cheapest eggs as I only eat the white
asda bags of sliced onions are 35p and as I am the only one who eats onions I buy them as it lasts a week with no waste.
chicken wings instead of breast
a gammon to boil rather than deli ham
brisket to roast as if cooked right it is tastier and cheaper than a roasting joint.

mine are all lazy ones haha!
Grated cheese
frozen diced onion & garlic
homerpride or aldi pasta bake sauces they tatse the same (the ones you add to fry pasta)

Lazy - So, so much. DH eats like a toddler and thinks chicken dippers with oven chips is a gourmet meal. So we have loads of crap like frozen pizzas, dippers, fish fingers etc. DS1 is also vegetarian so I have a stash of quorn freezer fodder for him. I buy frozen vegetables (mainly because they are ready chopped) and like the steam bags. Probably my laziest thing is I buy those little sachets with things like Bolognese and chilli seasoning mix. Because I've been caught out one too many times with no chilli power in the cupboard for a chilli. Oh yeh and I use instant gravy.

Basics - if I am buying ingredients to put into something I'll happily buy basics. I do buy stuff like basics pasta, rice, potatoes and porride oats. I now buy the shops own make of bread since we started getting through a loaf a day. I'm happy to buy shops own brand for most things. With a few exceptions.

Brands - Squash because no one else makes Vimto. Pop because knock off cola is rank. Soup and tinned stuff, including of course beans. I have almost divorced my husband for coming home with own brand beans.

Lazy/convenient

• crustless quiches and baked strata with extra cheese - I make two or three trays and keep the leftovers for snacks and cold lunches.


• baked chicken with pesto and cheese


• tray bakes


• shepherd’s pie with instant mash


• gazpacho


• jam, butter and marmalade


• eggs, beans and cheese


• garlic bread


• lentils, couscous, rice and pasta


• yoghurt


• canned chickpeas


• mustard and mayo

Branded
Usually buy a lot when on offer

• Weetabix


• PG Tips/Tetley/Lipton


• Nescafé


• Heinz ketchup


• Fairy Liquid

Jesus Christ.

Have you had a head injury?

Lazy - microwave rice, ready meals,

Basics - pasta/ couscous/ rice/ lentils etc, baked beans (as I always add hot sauce which becomes the dominant flavour), orange juice, teabags, porridge oats, chopped tomatoes, most fresh fruit & veg, shampoo,

Branded - Only a handful which I buy religiously even if they’re not on offer or cost a lot more than an alternative brand; Oatly whole milk, green giant tinned sweetcorn, Maepranom Thai Chilli Paste, Always sanitary towels,

I hope by "basic" eggs you don't mean from caged hens OP?