Ideas for using up those things at the back of the cupboard

[Wafflefudge]

Anyone else thinking of trying to use up all the odds and sods in the back of the cupboard?
Thought might help keep costs down a little, stop me letting things go out of date and so to waste and keep the house tidier.
So made pineapple upside down cake on Saturday to use tinned pineapple in danger of going off.
Looking for inspiration for the many boxes of organic puffed rice I bought in bulk, they aren't very crispy making them less appealing. So any ideas would be much appreciated.
Anyone fancy joining in and sharing ideas

I used this recipe and it was lovely
www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/pineapple_upside-down_75534

Could you crush up the rice and use it as a coating for fish fingers/chicken nuggets/fish cake/bubble and squeak etc?

That's a great suggestion, will try it out. Fingers crossed its a success as I have multiple boxes to use up.

You could make something like this, the rice doesn’t need to be really crispy for a bar -although if you don’t already have the rest of the ingredients in it sort of defeats the objective.
www.healthymummy.com/recipe/cranberry-coconut-puffed-rice-muesli-bars/

you could use a recipe finder for ideas
realfood.tesco.com/what-can-i-make-with.html

Thank you @TwocksAway that is a great bar recipe for me because I have everything except the cranberries but can easily substitute for raisins will just be a bit sweeter.
I need to keep the sweet treats to once a week or so though as trying to watch my weight. So will try them at the weekend.

Don't worry about tinned food going off, it's got a "Best Before" date, not "Use By". At worst, the texture might suffer after a few years, but it will still be safe.
When DM died, I cleared the cupboards of tins that DF wouldn't eat. (She had dementia, & kept buying stuff.)
I ate all sorts of tinned goods that were years past the BBE.

Good to know that the tins will last.

Good idea for a thread: I’m doing the same.

Soups/stews/bakes of all sorts mainly. I also have some evaporated & condensed milk so will make some desserts with it over coming weeks

I used up some breadcrumbs in a homemade nut loaf today, & have lots of flour so making scones (cheese ones might go well with this weeks soups) & also planning to make focaccia

Motivation is definitely keeping costs down but also have a bit more time right now & think it’s a good idea to clear cupboards esp of dried foods: I had pantry moths in a previous house (over ten years ago) - flour & grains was the culprit so keen to use them all up in a reasonable timeframe

@Wafflefudge : re the crisped rice, if it’s still hanging around either rice crispy cakes for a sweet option, or it’s often used as a base for an Indian snack (bhel Puri) which is the rice puffs, then onions, tomatoes, sometimes boiled potatoes or chickpeas, and chutney

You don’t need sev or Papdi (these are crispy semolina sticks & crumbled pappodoms) but any crispy item would amp it up (eg nuts/crisps/pretzels).

A simple sauce to have on it is mint sauce & yogurt mixed together, maybe a squeeze of lemon juice

Here is a recipe as a start point

www.thespruceeats.com/bhel-puri-puffed-rice-snack-1958033

My challenge is several boxes of dry vegetarian burger mix - I’m planning to grate in courgette/mushrooms/other veg & make ‘veggie meatloaf’ with it - adding Tom purée and Year extract for a bit of flavour

I really, really recommend the Supercook app. It's free, you add in a list of all the ingredients that you have (pantry, fresh, fridge, freezer, spices, everything really!). The app then searched the internet for every recipe that you could make, using any possible combination of your ingredients. You can search by main ingredient.
It'll also make suggestions for lots of other recipes where you're only missing one ingredient.

@Vebrithien : thanks for this suggestion

You're welcome @BeanStew22

Another Mumsnetter recommended it on a thread in the summer, and I've been using it ever since. My only slight criticism is that you need to also know the American names for some ingredients

Made the bars twocksaway they were lovely as well so will definitely make again. Will help use up some of the baking ingredients too, always end up with loads in danger of going out of date.
Beanstew Ihave 3 boxes of the puffed rice and they are too soft for crispie cakes but worked well in the bars maybe because they are cooked. I will definitely try the snack recipe you linked sounds really good. Scones sound like a good plan for your flour etc.
DH managed to make a lovely crumble as well with a couple of bought cooking apples topped up with tinned berries from back of cupboard and blackberries from garden.

vebrithien that app sounds great will definitely give it a go

This is a great idea.

I’ll start using up my random things. I bought a few extra bits when it was brexit and Covid season. But will use things up now.
Got two big bags of flour to use up.

I'm the same. Using up sauces and sachets. It's great to be seeing the backs and bottoms of some cupboards and drawers

We've made using this once mixed: a rice or barley medley mix.
Crumbled into a Mac and cheese
Crumbled to make child or spag bol
Stuffed enchiladas type wraps.
A keema curry

If you want a delicious and easy recipe for condensed milk, I make this one for a treat and it’s great! You can put other things in it apart from malteasers, so other chocolates, smarties, marshmallows etc. it’s very sweet but good for a treat!

www.tamingtwins.com/malteser-fudge-recipe/

For flour just trying :
to make naans for bread.
wraps etc.which work with curry.pizza and enchiladas or tortilla layer cake
Crumbled
Fish cake
Yorkshire puddings
Pie
Batter for chicken or fish
Breadcrumbs
Cake of course
Savoury and sweet pancakes.

For condensed milk also look up magic bars!

If the rice puffs are a bit soft then just lightly toast them in a dry frying pan to crisp them up again.

@kateandme Oo they look good too, thanks!

@kateandme and @Roundthebend45

thanks for these great recipe suggestions, will definitely give some of these a go!

I use up cereal in All Bran Loaf. Any cereal works in my experience. The basic recipe is 1 mug cereal, 1 mug milk, 1 mug sugar, 1 mug dried fruit. Stir that together well and let it stand - anything from an hour or two up to a day or two. Then stir in 1 mug of SR flour, scrape into a lined 2lb loaf tin and bake on a medium heat for 40mins to an hour.
I never now use a whole mug of sugar - half seems to be plenty. And with cereal like puffed rice I reckon you could add more of it. During lockdown I subbed the sugar for jam and marmalade and had great results.

I've got a silly amount of bottles of salad dressing in the fridge. I'm going to try them as marinades for chicken.

Any ideas for ketchup? I buy a bottle once every two years when family come to stay and then it festers in the fridge!