Cupboard inspiration

[foodiemama26]

I am on a mission to 'spring clean' my kitchen food cupboard...I've decided to try and use up some of the foods each week. Next weeks choices are the million packets of noodles (stir fry for two nights should make a dent in them) and tinned tuna and sweetcorn being used for tuna pasta salad for packed lunches. Wondering if people would share their store cupboard go to recipes for a bit of inspiration for my next lot of meal planning?!

How about doing a noodle soup one day? It makes a nice lunch or lighter dinner - and you could use some of your sweetcorn in it too

In terms of other favourites - tinned fish (tuna, salmon) goes into fishcakes or pasta bake

Packets of pasta or rice with piddly little amounts left get used up in a minestrone type soup with whatever tins of beans I have in the cupboard and want rid of

What else do you have to get rid of?

Make Quesadillas with the tuna.

Put a flour tortilla into a dry frying pan on a medium heat - top it with flaked tuna, plenty of grated cheese, blobs of salsa.....pop a second tortilla on top.

After a few minutes, flip the whole thing over (you may need to up-end onto a plate and slide it back into the pan), cook for a few minutes on the other side.

Cut into wedges and serve with guacamole and/or sour cream.

Tins of beans and tinned tomatoes go into a veggie chilli with cupboard spices and whatever veg we have loitering in the bottom of the fridge.

Timed sweetcorn I mix up with an egg, milk, flour and make sweetcorn fritters. Good with baked beans and a fried egg on top for lunch. You can add pesto and spices into the fritter batter for flavour.

You could make a noodle cake by cooking them, then pressing the cooked noodles into a frying pan with a bit of oil and then flipping, so it's crunchy on the outside, like a thick noodle pancake. Nice with bok choi and some sort of marinated meat/tofu.

Coconut milk in curries?

What else have you got to use up?

Much more inspiring ideas than I started with...thanks! I've got a huge jar of marmite, 2 jars of English mustard, a huge jar of sauerkraut, a jar of pickled onions, butter beans and chick peas that I still need to make a plan for.

Add marmite to the fat when roasting potatoes

I've done this spicy BNS, chickpea & butterbean stew. It's really good (we added more chilli) and really simple, just serve with garlic bread.

Maybe bratwurst with the sauerkraut in a hot dog roll.

With the mustard I would slather it over a joint of beef before roasting - get enough so that you have leftovers and it will be really nice in a salad with the sauerkraut

You could also use the mustard in salad dressings (e.g. honey mustard) - in fact honey mustard chicken might be one worth having a look at

I'm pretty sure Nigella did a pasta dish one that used Marmite in the sauce - maybe have a Google?

Chickpeas either roast in a hot oven with spices and oil until they're crunchy and yummy, or blitz into hummus. They're good chucked into curries and soup too.

The marmite would go quickly on buttery toast in this house but for extra umami put a tsp of it into stews and casseroles.

Mustard we use up in macaroni cheese, with toad in the hole etc.

No idea what to do with lots of pickled onions, I hate them!!

Mustard in anything cheesy, cheese sauce, cheese on toast etc. Also mixed with butter and spread thinly on slices of french bread and baked then serve with beef casserole. Use in ham sandwiches.

Pickled onions go well with fish and chips, surprisingly also with beef mince dishes such as cottage pie, then there's Ploughman's lunch. You can also use them in cheese toasties.

Marmite for roast potatoes you say monday? So just put a blob in the oil while heating and it melts in and coats them, or is there more to it?

No that's it, try it! I think Nigella' marmite pasta recipe was similar in its simplicity, when I do marmite pasta I just put a good knob of butter and a teaspoon of marmite in a mug, microwave to melt the butter, give it a stir, add a splash of the pasta water then pour over cooked pasta. Top with grated cheese.

Mustard is great in cheese scones. Also like to add to mash.
I had a pickled onion glut after Xmas. I drained them then sprinkled with sugar and roasted in the oven. They were fine.

Sauerkraut with smoked sausage like Mattesons. Mustard might be good on it too, depending on the kind.

Mustard is good in cheese sauce, on pork chops with a little brown sugar before you roast them.

Pickled onions can be chopped and added to grated cheese or tuna for a sandwich filling.

Marmite can go in gravy, but I just have it on toast. MMmm.

Chickpeas are great in a curry with spinach.

Butter beans are great in a sausage casserole, or a lamb casserole. Or a chorizo casserole!

Chickpeas also yum in a salad, I buy one in a plastic pot that has chilli, olive oil, peppers etc but I swear would be easy to make.

This thread has definitely given me a kick to get these things used up...roasted chickpeas are on the agenda for tomorrow! thanks for the suggestions everyone...any ideas for tinned mackerel in tomato sauce?!

Put it on toast and grill it.

Put the mackeral straight in the bin. Or the cat/dog...

Tinned mackerel in tomato sauce is nice stirred through cooked pasta - I tend to add some chilli and garlic and a couple of spoons of chopped tomatoes or tomato pasta sauce to make it more saucy - you can do the same with cooked rice