In this blog post, I help you to make the most out of your store cupboard and freezer contents to make some 5 ingredient meals and for everyday cooking. There have been some trying times during the pandemic, and with limited opportunities to shop – maybe only once a fortnight – then smart cooks know how to buy and cook with ingredients that are canned or frozen. In addition to this clever cooks always keep a well-stocked pantry with herbs, spices, beans, pulses, and general ingredients such as flour, sugar, and condiments.
What you need to think of when you can only shop once a fortnight or so, is which ingredients can be bought canned and frozen. Some food works well frozen and some not so much.
Vegetables To Buy
Vegetables that are good frozen include peas, sweetcorn, spinach, green beans, broccoli, Brussel sprouts, carrots, and cauliflower. Other fresh vegetables such as onions will last a full 2 weeks and potatoes will last a week. Once you run out of fresh potatoes, consider substituting pumpkins which last for up to 2-3 months if not cut. Peppers are not great frozen, but they will last 1-2 weeks in the refrigerator.
Frozen Fruit
But what about fruit? Fruit can become soft and lose its freshness if canned. But you can buy some fruit frozen, which is great for snacking, frozen smoothies and other recipes. Fresh fruit that will last longer than 2 weeks include apples and oranges.
Pears will last around 5-12 days in your refrigerator and freeze your bananas for smoothies.
5 Ingredient Meals
Make sure you stock up on frozen meat for a fortnight and you are good to go. Here are some of my favourite Sally Cooks blog posts for 5 ingredient meals with your frozen and store cupboard ingredients.
- Ten Minute Tandoori Chicken
- Blackened Sirloin With Pickled Onion And Bell Pepper
- Sesame Chicken With Green Beans
- Pasta and Beef Al Forno
Get Baking
There’s certainly no reason to go without even if you have to stay in. If you have to stay indoors then it’s the perfect opportunity to get cooking and baking with the rest of the family. A store-bought cake never tasted as good as a home-baked one. Get creative decorating your creations if you have time to kill. And check out my cakes and chocolate section for inspo!
