Meals from shelf stable ingredients

[ThaneOfGlamis]

In the spirit of the current be prepared warnings, I am thinking about meals I could make if we don't have easy access to fresh food. So nothing from the fridge or freezer, but tins, packets and long life veg such as pumpkins and onions are in. I would like to get a few items in as a bit of a buffer, but simply buying tins of beans is not going to be particularly appetising. Also needs to be food we will still eat if there are no shortages, so spam and fray bentos are off the menu!

Sauces, herbs and spices make plain meals taste better more easily. I always have things like pesto in my cupboard. Jar sauces will help perk up basic meals.

Shelf stable gnocchi. Packet mash, couscous, noodles.

Long life milk for coffee, tea, hot chocolate. Squash can be drunk hot or cold.

Might be worth practicing baking different kinds of bread products and keeping a supply of spreads. I would imagine that bread would be a good item for bartering in an emergency

I’d imagine cooking oil would help in a food shortage. You could use or barter.

Tins of tuna - can be added to packets of pre cooked rice/beans/lentils that can be eaten cold if no way to heat up.
Tinned sweetcorn and other tinned veg like potatoes.
Tinned fruits.
We always have a good supply of soup, baked beans, instant noodles, dried pasta and pasta sauce - and have a camping stove do can heat up water / cook something if needed. Also have solar panels and have batteries and a cut off from grid mechanism, so should be able run solo from tbe grid for a little while if needed.

Keep a note of local spots where you can forage. Blackberries and apples are available within walking distance of me (obviously at a certain time of year) I’ve not actively looked but wild garlic and hazelnuts grow nearby too (I will fight the squirrels if necessary!)

Milk powder
rice
Dried products such as chickpeas, kidney beans, lentils

Oh gnocchi is a good idea. Nice warm hug of a meal!

Daal and rice
5 bean chilli
tuna pasta
pasta arabiata
potato and chickpea curry
Jacket potatoes with beans or tuna

Sorry they were meal ideas from the shelf stable items

Tinned toms
Passata
Olives
Capers
Pickled beetroot
Pickled onions
Beans
Lentils
Tinned potatoes
Eggs
Dried herbs and spices
Tuna
Anchovies
Cornichons
Ramen

This is exactly the sort of ideas I was hoping for. Love dal and could easily make flat bread to go with it. Chickpea and potato curry sounds delicious and filling.

Some good sounding things here to add flavour.

Ready fried onions, can be used in curries in a pinch, to dals and to omelettes to add a bit of flavour

Peanuts for a healthy snack

Dried fruit. - apricots, figs. raisins. lots of choice there

I know this is not in the spirit, but honestly as long as I have crackers, cheese, tins of tuna/salmon, some bread that might last a few days having defrosted, soya/uht milk, cereal and butter I'll survive.

But I don't have to cater for a family anymore, just me.

Spaghetti puttanesca (tomato, olives, capers, anchovies, chilli, garlic)

chorizo risotto or paella, possibly with sundried tomatoes or peppers and shelf stable Italian cheese.

Mexican street corn (sweetcorn, cumin, paprika, chilli, shelf stable Italian cheese)

Couscous with jif lemon, garlic, stock, olives, chickpeas, apricots etc

corned beef hash, tinned veg

tuna or tinned salmon fish cakes with mushy peas

pasta/ tortellini/ gnocchi and sauce

chorizo, tomato and butter bean stew with part baked bread

Chicken curry (tinned chicken in white sauce with spices and tinned vegetables added) and rice

West African peanut and root vegetable stew (root vegetables/ peanut butter/ tomato puree/ stock/ spices, peanuts to top)

Jack Monroe had a cookbook based on using tinned food.

Her peach and chickpea curry is basically all tinned goods with spices and garlic (could use jarlic?). It is delicious and not as odd as it sounds.

I’ma huge fan of just a decent quality passata . All you need is some pasta , Tom puree, garlic, Italian herbs and chilli flakes and it’s a fantastic simple meal. Kids like it with hot dogs chucked in.

my DH loves instant mash so that’s a staple in my house, I often mix it with sage and onion stuffing and roll in bread crumbs to make savoury cakes. I also keep plenty of tinned coconut milk and curry paste so I can whip up a decent chick pea/lentil curry.

I actually prefer cornflakes without milk, then they don't go soggy 😀

This is a great list, thank you!

This sounds delicious. Will definitely try making that soon.

Veggie chilli with various beans - I like the Cookie and Kate recipe as it has a better texture.

Lentil bolognese - assuming carrots are a long life vegetable using a jar of cheese sauce.

Butterbean curry with tin of coconut milk.

To I keep my kitchen daily well stocked, so would usually have enough food for a week anyway, but cover us for just a few extra days, after we’ve used up all the fresh food, I’ve planned knowing I keep my kitchen fairly well stocked but that power cuts may be likely. Yesterday I bought a couple of pizza bases and passata (we always have cheese), UHT milk and flour for pancakes or Yorkshire’s (we always have eggs), a pack of spaghetti, a jar of pesto and a box of cereal. We always have beans or soup in the cupboard and bread in the freezer. I also have some larger bottles of water.

https://www.noracooks.com/marry-me-chickpeas/

Tinned: beans, tomatoes, carrots, peas, green beans, sweetcorn, curries, lentils, chickpeas, ratatouille, minced beef and onions, (not great, but passable in things) chicken in white sauce, tomato puree, pasta., tuna, sardines, soup, custard, rice pudding, potatoes,

Dried beans, split peas, chick peas, lentils.

Dried rice, microwave rice, wholemeal pasta, noodles, instant noodles, flour, chick pea flour, cous cous , oats, crackers

Oil, sesame oil,,

Soy sauce, spices, balsamic vinegar, cider vinegar etc salt, pepper, herbs.

Dried milk powder, coconut milk,

Potatos, root veg, in a clamp.

Onions hung in net in a cool out house

Butternut squash cool dark place.

Pickled veg, jarred veg

Dried fruit, sultanas, raisins, apricots, dates, figs, cranberries. (Add to curries, porridge, etc)

Jams, syrup, treacle, honey,

Tinned fruit, including pineapple (for sweet and sour sauce)

Dried custard powder/instant custard powder. Sponge puddings. Christmas pudding. Christmas cake.

Egg replacer. (For pancakes)

Make curries, bolognaise, pasta sauces, pasta bakes, white sauces (flour, oil , milk powder, water) soups, stews. Porridge,

Instant mash, with sufficient milk in the liquid mix (and sufficient liquid) a good knob of butter, and possibly a teaspoon of grainy mustard, is actually very good.

Long life shelf-stable milk is really handy (most milk sold here is like that, has about 4 months life normally so I usually have a couple of cartons in for when I cannot find proper fresh milk…I’m not in UK).

Nasi goreng - basically cold cooked rice fried up with a tin of tuna, tin of corn, garlic, onion, some mild curry powder - in normal times, we add mushrooms, peppers, frozen peas and frozen prawns but the storecupboard version is fine for something hot and tasty.

Paella type rice dish using stock, rice, saffron, onion, garlic, some tomato concentrate, tin of mussels, olives from a jar, roasted peppers from a jar….

Tinned clams with pasta, garlic, dash olive oil and squeeze of lemon.

Confit duck from a tin with potatoes roasted in the duck fat.

I can also get cassoulet in a tin here, and ratatouille in jars. And shelf-stable chorizo and other salamis. Jars of sun-dried tomatoes can add some flavour too. Jars or tins of both green and black olives. And tinned veggies like French beans, asparagus, mushrooms or the normal different varieties of beans and lentils and chickpeas. Or the Chinese style cans of veggies like water chestnuts, baby corn, bamboo shoots and bean sprouts. Don’t forget root veg like carrots, parsnips, swede, and brassicas like cabbage and Brussels sprouts which generally last a good while without refrigeration.

If you look carefully, there are lots of things you can find in a regular supermarket, or a few bits and pieces from delis that can be really useful, that may not get a lot of regular use but could be really helpful if the power was gone once you’ve used up the “likely to go off quickly” items from the fridge.

I also have a pack of pastaria “pasta carbonara” and “pasta 4 fromaggi” that just need water and a knob of butter, and a couple of risotto mixes which already have the seasonings added (for me, both as a power out situation and a “I can’t face cooking tonight” option as I hate instant noodles). And a tub of mashed potato and bacon (Knorr).

But I also have lots of dried mushrooms that I use for making mushroom risottos all the time, not just when there’s a problem.