I’ve got the tins. Now what the hell do I do with them

[luggageandbags]

DH persuaded me to go out and buy some tinned food just in case. The shelves in my local supermarket were depleted so I grabbed what I could find. Now chickpeas, lentils and beans I know what to do with, as well as tuna chunks. But how do hell do you use sliced mandarine oranges? Plum halves in grape water? Whole strawberries in syrup?

I was a child in former Yugoslavia when it was all falling apart and I remember prolonged periods living without fresh fruit and veg, we would get packets of essentials through humanitarian aid and people would do best they could with them. I remember something called UNPROFOR cakes and once my mum even attempted to make a home made Nutella (it was vile). May be time to brush up on those tips and recipes... anyone cares to share?

Have you looked at Jack Monroe’s book Tin Can Cook?

No I haven’t. I have A Girl Called Jack though.

I would just eat the oranges as a snack or pudding, they are really nice.

I've no idea what I would do with tinned strawberries, they are not nice. Maybe add to yogurt?

trust me, if you're hungry you'll figure it out. I'm getting in extra instant custard and tins of rice pudding for just such occasions as plums. Strawberries in syrup might go as a topping for pancakes.

People seem to be buying things like tinned potatoes and tinned peas but I think they’ll taste awful. Apart from tuna pasta sweet corn I don’t know what else to stock up on 😂. May get a Tim or two of fruit but again it doesn’t really appeal. Think we will just go hungry if it comes to it 😂

Take strawberries back. Nasty things.
Go to Iceland instead and buy some bits to make meals

I feel for the people who rely on food banks.

Bloody love tinned potatoes fried with cabbage bacon and scrambled eggs it's yummy. Can also be mashed with sliced onions and curry spices then baked for bhajis.
Tinned fruit if not eaten straight out of the tin can be mashed and added to Chia seeds or oats makes a lovely pudding/breakfast.
It's good that you're thinking like this there no point in a store cupboard full of stuff no one will eat!

Have you got a slow cooker? Everything lobbed in one with lots of herbs always tastes lovely I find.

Tinned potatoes, sliced, in a frying pan with butter until crispy.

Really nice

We love tinned fruit and veg! The veg is very soft but kids love it. And tinned potatoes are great in curries.

I'd whizz up the strawberries and use in milkshakes or plain yoghurt - a nice treat if you've been inside and not had fresh fruit for a while. The plum halves would be good with sponge mixture poured over and baked, served with custard.

Go back and get some jelly and then you can bung the tinned fruit in and experience my 1960s childhood. Slices of bread and butter with it were compulsory.

Some old dears would have loved the tins of fruit. Why did you buy them?

Tin Can Cook.
Highly recommend the corned beef chilli.
Better having veg in tins than frozen veg clogging up precious space in the freezer.
No one said self isolation was going to be lovely and just Netflix and Chill (apart from idiots who did ). Surely it's better to have fairly familiar meals rather than spaghetti and frozen sweetcorn for breakfast, dinner and tea because that's all you have.

Overnight oats with a dollop of tinned fruit. Yogurt and tinned fruit. Tinned fruit and a crumble topping.

Not sure how nutritious tinned fruit is, but you can just eat it - back when I was a kid in the 60s/70s and fresh fruit was properly seasonal, we'd have it in jelly, or with custard (from Birds custard powder), or evaporated milk.

'People seem to be buying things like tinned potatoes and tinned peas but I think they’ll taste awful'

Tinned peas are lush!

Tinned mandarins

• on meringue nests with squirty cream
• in a bowl with a bit of evaporated milk or cream
• in a fruit salad
• made into a sauce for rich games meats
• added to jelly

Tinned plums

• warmed up with custard
• put in a cake tin with sponge mix over the top and bake
• make a flapjack recipe, half the mix on the bottom of the tray, plums in the middle technetium the other half of the flapjack on top

Tinned strawberries

• summer fruit pudding
• in jelly
• on the base of a sponge as above

Oops techniciam should be 'then the other half'. No idea what autocorrect was thinking there

trust me, if you're hungry you'll figure it out
Good point.

Good question also why did I buy it. I guess I panicked seeing how the shelves with tinned fruit were sparse so I grabbed what I could (not that I cleaned them all up, I only picked up a tin or two of each).

We do have a slow cooker, thanks for the reminder I’m stocking up the freezer with bacon, sausages and chicken legs and thighs so we can make casseroles and soups. Peas I only have frozen too. We have packets of berries but that’s our usual breakfast item, eaten with porridge, yogurt and nuts.

I guess I’m trying to have familiar food but also meals that we grab easily if we do get ill.

I haven’t got tinned potatoes, I figure they and other root veg will keep for a while if stored at a cool dark place. Surely Britain can’t run out of potatoes?

Evaporated milk! I’ve not had that for possibly 20 years, going to add to my Tesco order.

It's not about running out of stuff it's about not being able to get to the shops for stuff. Or having limited choice when you do because queues are long (see Italy) or supplies are patchy.

Do you have a freezer? Frozen blueberries and frozen banana slices (freeze separately on the tray on baking paper first for 4 hours so they don't stick, then put in a bag together) are nicer than canned stuff if you ask me. But I guess you can use them in some kind of smoothie for breakfast.

Tinned fruit - trifles!
Plums - plums in batter like Toad in the Hole, plum crumble or pie

I love tinned veg- something my grans always used to have, tinned carrots yum! Tins of new potatoes yum! They used to have ‘cream’ otherwise known as Carnation’s sterilised stuff, lovely over tinned peaches 😉 Of course these days most of us can afford fresh and the tinned goods are a walk down nostalgia lane.

I’ve got about 30 tins of tuna simply because they were on offer several weeks ago and I have a tin most days. Also several tins of chickpeas and bags of lentils - we’ll be farting this virus away with any luck!!!

People seem to be buying things like tinned potatoes and tinned peas but I think they’ll taste awful

They really don't. Don't assume!