Stock cupboard/tin meals

[DD7Superstar]

In September I will be completely income-less for approx 5-6 weeks. I want to start preparing by stocking up my cupboards as much as possible so we can live off the tins/jars/long life and I just need to sell some things to get a fresh top up fund.

Other than pasta and sauce, are there any worthwhile meals that could fit this criteria?

Take a look at Jack Monroe's book 'Tin Can Cook'
She's brilliant at making tinned food tasty!
And using things in imaginative ways.
If you're not in a position to buy or borrow the book, I've just found a few of the recipes via a quick Google.
Have a look at the Preppers board on here to. You may find it useful.
All the best!

Tins of beans (kidney, canellini etc), chickpeas, tin tomatoes, passata, herbs. You can make a spag bol or chilli in the exact same way as 'normal' just using beans instead of meat.

Also porridge oats and powdered milk. Powdered milk on its own or over cereal isn't great but in tea or coffee or porridge I can't even tell the difference. We always have powdered milk here for emergencies because it's just so handy/minimal space.

You can get lentils, mix with tinned mix veg and top with instant mash for a veggie cottage pie.
flour and yeast or bread mixes
long life naan breads
dhal
tuna and cannelinni beans go well together - get a jif lemon to spritz on it

Have you got a freezer so that you can stock up on frozen vegetables, fish fingers, etc? That would extend the range of meals you could make, for example rice and stock powder from your store cupboard plus frozen vegetables to make risotto, or sausages from the freezer plus store cupboard flour, long life milk & eggs for toad in the hole.

Eggs & cheese, onions potatoes and carrots have a natural long shelf life, so will add some variety for you.

Have you got a pressure cooker? What about fridge, freezer?

Dried pulses are good.
Dahl, refried beans, bean chilli.
Couscous (dried fruit and stock cube), risotto (with stock cube, nuts and peas).

Don't forget the humble baked bean. Try and stock up on eggs and cheese in the last month you are paid. They'll keep well in the fridge and brighten the rest of the food.

Porridge with UHT milk, or skimmed milk powder.
With oats, sugar and oil you can make a decent flapjack. With tinned fruit, a crumble.

Veg like cabbage, onions, swede and squash keep well if you have space.

I grow carrot/parsnip tops, the end of the celery, and lettuce bottoms to get some greens.
You can sprout pulses as well. Urid beans work well.

I did a no shop lent once, to see if we could manage on store cupboard stuff. It was fine.

“Take a look at Jack Monroe's book 'Tin Can Cook'

She's brilliant at making tinned food tasty!”

please don’t. Or at least read it in a library first. I bought it and got rid of it the same week. There are bizarre recipes, whacko combinations and the couple I made didn’t work out.
there are some great recommendations above but this isn’t one of them.

Jack Monroe's recipes are all available free on her website, 'Cooking on a bootstrap'. Many of them are great. All of them are cheap.

If you’re looking at stocking up I guess you have (a little bit of) money to use towards this? Could some of this money be budgeted towards eg a pack of mince a week, or a whole chicken, during that period? I’m assuming you aren’t vegetarians. And do you have a freezer?

If not I’d be buying in pasta, sauces, stock cubes, spices, lentils, porridge and things like biscuits, custard or rice pudding to keep you going.

some Might be but approach with caution cos many don’t work. The lasagne white sauce is fine but needs to be multiples by multiples to make it saucy otherwise it is bone dry.
aldi and Lidl are doing meal plans and full time meals by time kerridge have some easy quick ones lots of which use storecupboard stuff (not all those as this isn’t the main aim)

Rice for various risotto, paella, pilaf, kedgeree dishes

Used tinned/frozen fish, veg etc. soup mixed into rice for cheat's risotto

Gnocchi

Part baked bread

Preppers board mightr be helpful for you too

I'd use any spare cash you have between now and the autumn to stock up on oil, salt, pepper and good basic selection of herbs and spices as well as tins, jars, packets and bottles. That way you can add a range of different flavours.

Tomato puree, tinned tomatoes, stock cubes, rice are all useful.

Tea and coffee? This may be a sign of addiction on my part, but I manage a lot better if I can have my hot drinks of choice.

I think she wrote the book in part to support people who were getting tins of things from foodbanks which they might not know what to do with. Hence the odd combinations.

@picklemewalnuts suggestion is probably better

Tinned corned beef and Smash hash (add some chilli beans for a one pot meal)
Tinned tuna and pasta
Pot Noodle on rice (poor man's Chinese takeaway, we call it)
Tinned hot dog sausages cut up into pasta (again, add some tinned seasoned beans) or a tin of tomatoes and cook it up a bit.
If no freezer, jars of peas/carrots/corn always seem more palatable somehow.
You can get large boxes of Lost the Pot Noodles on Amazon, and if you shopped at yellow sticker time, probably some fresh veggies to turn it into a stir fry.
Also, rice covered with stock then sealed with foil into a roasting tin, cook low for 45 mins, is very cheap and filling. You could throw veg in as well, maybe some chilli or curry powder for the biryani effect.
Tinned meatballs and spaghetti.
Got any allotments or keen gardeners nearby who might want to get rid of their surplus veg?

Do you like fish? I recently discovered tinned mackerel, I think a tin is 60p in my Lidl. A little goes a long way. I love it in with a salad of tinned mixed beans and tinned sweetcorn, some black pepper and a dash of lemon juice or vinegar, and a side of toast.

My stock cupboard always has cheap tinned tomatoes and chickpeas, lentils, plenty of herbs and spices. The Asian aisle of the supermarket is great for jars of garlic and ginger puree. Look out for stickered vegetables so you can make dhal, chickpea curries, tomato and lentil soup, vegetable soup etc. These are fantastic if you have a slow cooker, as very cheap to cook and being vegetarian will last brilliantly so you can make enough for dinner for the whole week.

Some more ideas..
Fish cakes made with tinned tuna (or salmon) and mashed potatoes would be easy & quick.
Sausages from the freezer plus tinned beans or chickpeas, tinned tomatoes or passata to make a casserole.
Packs of wraps usually have a long shelf life, fill with omelette or tinned mixed bean salad. You might try making flat bread?

Whether you have a freezer and the size of it is kind of crucial. Don't dismiss tinned new potatoes (horrible as they are but sliced and fried with garlic they're yum), cream of mushroom soup (over used by Americans but you can use to make a decent sauce for chicken/quorn), packet tortellini (fresh) keeps for a few weeks in the fridge, ditto gnocchi with a stir in jarred sauce. Who do you have to feed and what type of meals do you all like?

Mentioned above, tinned new potatoes are great sliced as an ingredient for frittata, or used whole to make a casserole go further, or try frying them!

Look out for tinned ratatouille, lots of uses, in casseroles, pasta bakes, pies, or as the base for a cheats paella or Mediterranean style fish soup. Epicure is a reliable brand, their mixed bean salad is good too.

If you have some frozen pastry or store cupboard pastry mix available you can ring the changes with a home made pie, or use plain scone mix for a cobbler topping to make a casserole go further.

Sardine pasta is a good standby with few ingredients required.

If you can afford it over the coming weeks, try to collect things like pickles, salad dressing, gherkins, mustard etc, as they will give plain dishes a bit of a flavour lift and make them more interesting.

Could you give any more details. How many are you cooking for? How many meals a day? Any dietary requirements. Any major dislikes. What cooking and food storage facilities do you have? Slow cooker? Freezer? Also when you talk of a budget for fresh top ups, how much is that likely to be? Useful to know if that is literally bread, milk a couple of salad bits or enough to buy any meat, cheese, eggs etc.

Also, when you are in this period of low income will you have time and ability to spend longer in the kitchen baking and cooking or do you need low effort, low time.