Have you ever decided that you will eat every last thing from your kitchen cupboards before buying more?

[moondog]

It's strangely addictive althoguh some of the meals have been a bit grim. The chestnut puree soup yesterday was like what you'd find in a septic tank.
I've had nettle and parmesan omelette for lunch and am now pondering what to make with a tin of corned beef, membrillo and a tin of condensed milk.

Good luck with that!

God no never

Your cupboards sound classy if that's what you had left.

I had some appallingly healthy and minging soups from all the pulses that were lurking.

Condensed milk - drink it. I had one and this is what I did until I decided I'd had enough.
Corned beef - mix it with some nicer meat if you make a spag bol or cottage pie.
membrillo - have it with some cheese or a ploughman's type thing? Or bin it!

I am thinking of the tin of condesned milk sans accompaniments...
I looooooove condensed milk and can't be trusted anywhere near it.

As I was opening this I was thinking it couldn't be done here because we have chesnuts and condensed milk in the cupboard.

I would end up eating a lot of tomatoes and pasta/couscous/rice as we seem to have shelves full of them

I like the idea of chestnuts but in reality...
There's actually another tin of chestnut puree in there, the sweetened stuff. I had a fancy to make Mont Blanc is it (?) once about 4 years ago.
I had a run on marrons glaces once every Christmas. Also nasty.

Chestnuts as in the vacuum packed ones, not the puree:

Fry some onions and mushrooms and garlic. Make up a packet of stuffing. Stir the vege in plus chopped chestnuts and chopped spinach. Put into a greased dish and top with grated smoked cheese. Bake until golden. Lovely with roast vege, cabbage and gravy.

I do this, usually when we have a holiday coming up, or I just think we've far too much sat there and I'm not buying anything other than milk, bread, fruit and veg till it's all used up.
I'm quite a smart shopper and cook so it's not really a hardship to craft things out of what I've already bought.
My best strategy yet was going on holiday and saying to my nephew who was housesitting: "Eat EVERYTHING in the freezer and then defrost it." Likewise the fridge and cupboards.
Bargain.

I'm not sure about packet stuffing but can see that that would be nice.
Yy to fridge/freezer emptying also.
Nowt in there bar some peas, phyllo pastry, reindeer steaks (Lidl special-v nice) and bit of Ben & Jerr's/u

Yes it's really fun!

Ooh I love packet stuffing! But I suppose you could use breadcrumbs and or sausage meat or whatever it is that 'real' stuffing is made of.

I regularly do the freezer and also the fridge partic jars of eg curry sauce/BBQ sauce etc which fester away for months. Less so the cupboards but I prob should have a go given I am on mat leave and have a bit of time. I do allw myself to buy oneor two bits if needed to make a complete meal out of something that's in the store cupboard, rather than trying tuna and condensed milk pasta bake!!

Reindeer with peppercorn, cream and brandy sauce was interesting.

You haven't thought this through at all. You've eaten the stockpile - what will happen come the Apocalypse?

Condensed milk - you need to chill the tin, and then eat it in a hot bath with a teaspoon.

I did something like this pre DC trying to not hoard food. I'd been reading a book about JIT (Just In Time - its a stock balancing/ rotation thing for manufacturing environments). I decided to keep my cupboards down to a couple of meals worth of food for two people and didn't have a freezer. Then the blooming petrol strikes happened, the supermarket shelves were stripped. You couldn't even get baked beans. Fortunately, i was on a good wage and the local takeaways/ restaurants were still open.

Its fun restocking with all the things you fancy you might use, then don't until you clear the cupboards again.

Condensed milk makes great coconut ice - 400g dessicated coconut, 400g icing sugar, tin of condensed milk, mix together, press half into a baking tray lined with cling film, add a couple of drops of food colouring to the other half, mix it through and press onto the white. Fridge for an hour or two, cut into small cubes. FABULOUS.

We had to through necessity and ended up eating the stuff at the back of the cupboard which was kept for 'best' - tinned salmon and champagne.

Sounds dangerous 21!
Effie, yes, I have some Cointreau, a foie gras and a christmas pud.

I'm staggered that any food store down to its dregs still has any Ben and Jerry's left. I'd have eaten the carton in came in before starting on any reindeer steaks.

I've been cooking waaaay past its sell by date brown rice and polenta. Both were delicious. Especially the rice. Far better than fresh brown rice. I think I'll resell it for colossal amounts as vintage rice.