The snow is thick on the ground, you can’t get the car out of the drive and your local shop has sold out of bread and milk… what are you going to serve up for supper? It’s time to rifle through your storecupboard.

My top three storecupboard essentials all come in tins. If you’ve got tomatoes, fish and pulses in the larder, you can curl up by the fire, safe in the knowledge that your family won’t go hungry!

1) Tinned tomatoes
Snow or no snow, it is impossible to starve if you have tinned tomatoes in the house. Make soup or pasta sauce, add to curries and casseroles, throw into omelettes, spread over pizza bases… the meals are endless.

2) Tinned fish
Fish takes very well to being canned and is wonderfully versatile. Flake into cooked rice and hardboiled eggs for a kedgeree, stir into cheese sauce to serve over pasta or mix into mayo for a quick jacket topping.

3) Tinned Pulses
Lentils, chickpeas, borlotti or cannellini beans – tinned pulses have a multitude of uses. They are great for bulking out a stew, adding texture to soups, or throwing into a chilli.

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My top 3 Snowproof Storecupboard Ingredients!

Until I came up with a few ideas to make their lunch boxes more exciting and encourage them to eat everything.

1. Surprise pots
   Add a small lidded plastic container with a surprise in every day. Some fruit salad – just chopped up fruit with a splash of juice. Or a pick’n’mix with dried fruit, nuts and seeds. Or a few chunks of cheese and veggie sticks.

 

2. Bite-size
   Keeping things bite-sized can help. Cut sandwiches into little triangles, add a handful of grapes or cherry tomatoes, some mini crackers. Smaller items are much more tempting to the kids.

 

3. Breads
   Sandwiches can be pretty dull, day after day, particularly if your child only likes one or two different fillings. Try varying the bread – rolls, pitta pockets, wraps, bagels, or croissants will help keep things interesting.

 

4. Yoghurt alternatives
   Instead of the obligatory yoghurt, try tempting your kids with mini fromage frais, fruit jellies or custard pots.

 

5. Involve the kids!
   While we all want our kids to have a nutritious lunch, there is zero point adding broccoli spears or coleslaw if your child won’t eat it. Get them involved – give them a few options to choose from and let them help you pack it up so they feel their lunch box is really their own!

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5 Top Tips for Child-friendly Lunchboxes (Without Leftovers!)

It’s the same story every January – the excesses of the Christmas period seem to drift on for another month. I rarely make New Year’s Resolutions. I’ve learnt from experience that they require will power, something that – when it comes to cake – I just don’t have.

However, all good things must come to an end and by the time February swings around, I am starting to look at my food habits. I don’t really hold with diets. I do worry about my weight but I try not to buy into that whole cultural obsession with a woman’s size and shape. So I try to avoid the scales (not least because I don’t want to break them!) When my jeans get too tight, I know I need to lay off the cheese and chocolate and take on board more fresh veggies and fruit. Or at least that’s the theory.

We start with really good intentions – the fridge is crammed with salad and healthy snacks and the fruit bowl is overflowing. But a week later, most of it has gone off and we end up chucking it all out and calling up a pizza.

I’ve found the most effective way to address my expanding waistline – or should that be waste-line? – is to tackle the healthy eating issue as a family. Instead of buying extra produce for me to eat on a lonely diet, (which relies on my non-existent will-power to prevent it going in the bin), I change the way I cook for the whole family. It doesn’t take too much doing and they don’t even notice. Eating fish & chicken more often and leaving out cream, butter & cheese. Grilling and baking, rather than frying. Instead of steamed puddings I’ll make bowls of fruit salad, instead of mash we’ll eat baked potatoes.

I’ve found that keeping an eye on portions not only helps save waste, it also helps save your waist! If you’ve cooked too much, you’ll either serve it up or throw it out. And because we’ve been taught to finish what’s on our plates, we tend to eat what’s put before us. Measuring things more accurately, especially carbs like pasta and rice, really helps to control portion sizes.

More than ever I plan ahead and stick to my list when shopping, so that I’m not tempted by naughty things in the supermarket. Otherwise I bring them home to be struck by a pang of dietary conscience, and end up throwing them out in order to remove the temptation. It’s not rocket science really, is it? 

So if I had to make a New Year Resolution it would be simple. Don’t buy it if you’re not going to eat it. And if you’re going to eat it, remember some things will just stick to your hips.

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Waste not, waist not!

Supermarket Savy!

Featuring Julia Falcon from Love Food Hate Waste! Julia gives some great advice on buying and storing fresh fruit and veg, meat, fish, and dairy products. She explains what those ‘best before’ and ‘use by’ dates really mean and how to use your freezer more effectively. She’s even got some good tips on buying ready meals and party food – perfect for Christmas entertaining.

Turkey Crumble, anyone?

Alison Gribble from the WI has some brilliant ideas for turning Christmas dinner leftovers into some delicious dishes. She shows us three recipes to use up what’s left of the turkey, stuffing, cooked veggies, potatoes and – even the gravy. She combines her well-stocked store cupboard with her imagination, to make sure her Christmas cooking goes on feeding her family into the New Year.

Christmas Leftover Recipes…

Turkey, Ham and Leek Pie
Christmas Pudding Strudel
Pear and Stilton Toasts
Cranberry Brownies

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Two Great Christmas Films… to help you save money!