I'm sure I could've done better than cocopops for emergency dinner - what can I feed the DCs when we have 'nothing in the house'?

[cuddlymanatee]

Really really tight this month. DD is ill so a pretty housebound day (am on my own with 3DCs while DH works away).

Dinner was late anyway, at nearly 7pm, and it was ham and cheese on toast with baked beans for those who wanted. Lasts bit of bread (used the 'heels'), ham and cheese. Some carrots, grapes and yogurts in the fridge. Lunch was tuna pasta with our last tuna and pasta. You get the idea.

Could've gone to the supermarket with a credit card during the day but hadn't as knew we had the makings of an acceptable dinner.

DS2 knocked his drink all over his plate. I tried to make it not a huge deal but was thinking oh shit, I don't know what else to give him.

In the end he ate a bowlful of baked beans (the water had got in them but was easily poured off), and DD shared her toast with him and we had coco pops for 'pudding'. I'd hidden the box in the cupboard for a 'special occasion' but hey.

The DCs seemed cheerful enough with it and I am going to drag them to the supermarket tomorrow no matter what, but I was thinking, I should've been able to pull something 'better' out of the situation.

I've scoured the cupboards and we have stuff like baked beans, tinned tomatoes, chicken stock. If I'd had more time/warning I could've made pancakes perhaps but we were so late to eat already. I thought about scrambled egg but we only had the one egg and I wasn't trying to make a big drama for the DCs.

I wondered if anyone had any suggestions for really quick 'emergency food' - bread in the freezer would've made more toast in short order, for example.

Next time you have some bread rolls in, make yourselves some 'Daddy pizzas' - what dh makes the children for tea, just tomato puree and any herbs and a bit of cheese on a slice of bread and then whack it under the grill. I prefer a bread roll sliced in half as it's a bit more robust and you can add some chopped veg - like your artichoke hearts and red peppers in oil!

I got to be more relaxed about meals when ds2 turned out to be v picky (when ds1 had just eaten anything he saw) and I had to work out whether he'd eaten a decent amount over the course of a few days, when on one day he might have eaten a couple of apples and a bit of cheese. He's a robust 8 year old now!

lovesbeing I had a box of Krave hidden just for me

Oh yes, that's the other thing I do - I bought Cookie Crisp when it was £1 a box on offer in Tesco and hid it. Then I make a sort of homespun Muller Corner for pudding: ramekin (how very MN), dollop of yogurt from a big economy tub, handful of Cookie Crisp sprinkled on top.

Don't beat yourself up.

But as far as emergency rations go:

• bread in the freezer can be toasted from frozen
• ditto 'American style' pancakes or sweetcorn fritters.
• tins of value sweetcorn - my dc will always Hoover them up, hot or cold

Btw my mother gave us cereal as a complete meal, with yogurt for afters. So she could have time to beautify herself before going out on a Saturday night. Regularly. Ooo if my 8 yo self knew what I knew now! I would have hoiked my mini judgey pants over my ears. :)

Exactly, Ruby

OP, your kids had today:

fish
fruit
veg
dairy
pulses
meat
lots of vitamins in cocopops

Seriously, it's all good.

Btw, things to keep in larder/fridge are, imo:

flour
baking powder
sugar
pasta
rice
tinned tomatoes
tinned chickpeas
tinned white beans
garlic
eggs
frozen veg
some sort of meat/fish in the freezer
lemons or lemon juice
tahini
soy sauce etc
herbs and spices

Pancakes, cakes, pizza base, dumplings (for stew or meat filled), tomato soup, tomato pasta/pizza sauces, hummous,meat/fish pies, bean& garlic soup, garlic and chilli flakes spaghetti etc etc.

Do I have the only children who don't like sweetcorn?

It is very annoying, as I love it, and it's such a good tinned staple

Beans on toast is a great dinner.

I love coco pops. They aren't particularly good for you but it's far better to eat them after a healthy beans on toast meal than for breakfast

I always keep a packet of spaghetti hidden at the back of the cupboard. I know you said you finished your pasta but if you had that, you can put the Artichoke hearts in oil through it for example!

Don't beat yourself up, my quick dinner is always toast and omelette, you could easily add the artichokes and peppers to the omelette orthey'd be great on a toasted muffin with tomato purée as a fake pizza with a bit of cheddar.

The thing I remember most about my childhood is the portions, we would eat between my parents and 2 other siblings the same as DP And I would eat on our own now. We always ate fairly good food but not much of it, I used to melt butter and use 1 piece of bread to mop it up

Lentils - cooked with some stock and herbs until they go "fluffy" and left to set, makes a tasty lentil pate.
Cook some up with stock and mix with a box of value stuffing and shape into patty shapes and you have a lot of veggie burgers.

Also, value beans, kidney beans and lentils mixed with tinned tomatoes and it's a chilli.

Eggs are great too - omelettes are so handy for using up whatever odds and ends are knocking around, but aren't enough to be a dinner by themselves.

Tinned tuna and a big potato shredded - mix them together and fry to make a tuna rosti.

Surely I am not the only one thinking 7 isn't that late, my DC eat at seven or just before quite often, even the baby

What you did was fine BTW.

I don't know... 7pm for DC's dinner in our house would be pretty late and the cracks would be starting to show . My DC are almost-6, 7 & 8 btw.

Depends on age of DC, how long they'd been up, what time they had their lunch, what time is normal bedtime, etc etc.

I always keep in some pudding rice - for emergencies it's the really thin grainy stuff just add milk and microwave! Jam/syrup etc and voila.

Angel delight another emergency one! As is semolina.

I always try to keep a bread mix in the cupboard, eggs, flours and margarine etc for anything so pancakes, Yorkshire puds, cakes etc. easy stuff to store.

Not the healthiest but I keep in instant noodles too. Handy for when seriously rushed/out of things.

Macaroni is good to have then you can whip up mac cheese quickly.

All the basic dried stuff really...tuna too.

Depends what you like of course. We live a good 20 mins drive from any shop of any description so I like to have an emergency stockpile!

Oh soy sauce is a godsend. Sometimes I do (very cheap) rice with soy sauce and peas! It's really lovely Can throw anything in that you have really, chicken, meat, veg, scrambled egg...simple cheap and fast

Mine are 11, 7 and 14 months. Older two are very patient, clearly used to having a slattern for a mother, when they offer to set the table or get the drinks for dinner I know they are getting hungry!
Youngest, providing he has had his 4 o'clock beaker of milk and a snack he is fine.

Tinned soup is always useful to have at home. My children love cream of tomato soup and toast with butter for dinner sometimes. Tinned Chunky Veg soup also goes down well.

Your children's meal doesn't sound bad at all. Mine had McD's happy meal which I think is less healthy for them than cocopops. That's daddy catering for you!

Coco pops are probably fortified with vitamins so probably more healthy than a slice of cake or most other puddings I would think. So hey - you may be onto a healthyish pudding (assuming fresh fruit is not classed as a pussing in your house).

My emergency cupboard has supernoodles, pasta n sauce, tinned tuna/salmon, tin of corned beef and baked beans. I try and always have eggs in and in the freezer I have some fishfingers - which before now have helped create Fishfinger sandwiches.

Another empty cupboard dish is pasta, grate cheese or melted(by mising uit inti hot pasta) cheese triangle with some sweetcorn or any other spare veg. I have also done bananas on toast and DD created Banana with peanut butter/chocolate spread on toast when I was last ill and she was left to her own devices one lunch time.

Sound liek you have done OK.

Apologies for my typos - no excuse - just crap typing. Sorry

Hope you understood what I meant anyway.

Our backup cupboard/fridge/freezer items are...

Fraybentos pies
Tinned spam (for frying!)
Pasta
Tinned and packet soups
Packet noodles
Tomato purée
Baked beans / spaghetti hoops
Angel delight
Peanut butter
Tuna
Tinned fruit
Corned beef
Porridge oats
Fish bites
Beef burgers
Jelly mix
Mini milk lollies (DS's favourite!)

Once, near the end of term at uni so not wanting to go shopping for food (nearest supermarket 20 mins away) I made a great pasta dish with pasta twists, baked beans, a large squirt of tomato ketchup and some chopped up beef burger - was actually not to bad!
Also, if we are running late to get DS to Nursary we have a stock of cereal bars and belvita biscuits to give him and he has been known to have one of them for pudding in the past so coco pops sounds fine to me!

Artichoke hearts in a tin gives you basically a pasta sauce main ingredient! - think of them along mushroom lines. They're yum.

Are you a baker? I make batches of small pasty pies for DD - filling is potato, cheese, carrots, peas, red onion (or any onion), seasoning, held together with a bit of creme fraiche though you could get away without that. I do them in the same tin I do mince pies in, and freeze. Sounds v involved but is a FAB and CHEAP way to have an easy emergency snack or two on a plate with beans would be a filling nutritious meal. Basically pastry is cheap to make and the filling can be what you want it to be mixed with potato and cheese. DD loves them and I use them as a way to get non-loved veg into her, but a big part if the attraction is the cost.

Hi there, we've moved this into Food.