Hooray for multi-talented, multi-purpose food. But did you know how much further our weekly shop can stretch beyond just being the ingredients or accompaniments for a meal? Here are some handy examples of other things you can do with 10 versatile cupboard items.
Mayonnaise
Eat it: inside a classic British sandwich or in a potato salad.
Use it: as a piano polisher to achieve a brilliant bleach-white shine on all the instrument's keys. Mayonnaise - doused with added water - is also the agent that best tackles hard-to-remove adhesive sticker marks on backs of cars and windows, etc. Also works well as a hair conditioner: add it to some olive oil, yoghurt and egg yolk for the ultimate leave-in hair mask.
Yoghurt
Eat it: as a cooling accompaniment to a fiery chicken curry, like the one Valentine Warner has cooked for us.
Use it: as a powerfully effective sunburn reliever. A smooth smattering of yoghurt over sunburn - or any skin experiencing a rash of some sort - is generally advised due to the product’s cooling powers. Yoghurt is often used for beauty, too. Enjoy facials? It's meant to even out skin tone and cleanse pores.
Honey
Eat it: as a glaze atop a roast chicken. Gordon Ramsay has cooked one for us here. Or why not try it as part of a hot toddy?
Use it: can there be a better sore throat remedy? Honey, particularly manuka honey, which originates from New Zealand, is the tried and tested method to remove scratchy, uncomfortable throat passages when in the throes of a cold/flu.
Chicken
Eat it: in a slow roast chicken recipe.
Use it: as a medicinal remedy. What did mother always say when you were poorly? A bowl of chicken soup would sort it all out. Was she right? Well, while doctors might argue there isn't much 'medicinal' about a portion of warmed-up stock, vegetables and chunks of immersed boiled/roasted/reheated chicken, there's much to be said for the comfort factor that a portion of it brings.
Lemon
Enjoy it: in a gin and tonic or as a filling in a luscious lemon swiss roll.
Use it: as an air-freshener. Why bother with fiddly 'aromatic plugs' or smelly candles? Cut open a lemon, give it a squeeze and let it do the rest. What could be nicer than the smell of a real lemon, as opposed to all those phoney deodorisers attempting to recreate its inimitable odour? Said also to prevent indigestion, cancer and is perfect as a worktop sanitiser.
Sugar
Eat it: as part of a hot toddy or in the recipe for these addictive macaroon bars.
Use it: as relief for an irritating burnt tongue. Sprinkle sugar over the affected area and press hard against the palate for a few seconds.
Salt
Eat it: in a traditional English breakfast, or just sprinkled atop a plate of chips.
Use it: as a stain remover or a quick-fire remedy to a bee’s sting.
White wine
Pour it: in as a main ingredient to an excellent moules mariniere or watch how Dermot O’Leary makes it work wonders inside his crab linguini.
Use it: on red wine stains. Pour over the mark and blot it lightly with a towel. Be sure never to wipe the stain too much but, otherwise, enough blotting and pouring will help the white eliminate the red.
Beer
Drink it: with a curry or have fun with a glass of lager when you’re cooking this boozy onion and three cheese toastie.
Use it: as the ultimate homemade hair conditioner. Don’t fear a bad smell, as the water and general aromas from the shower will easily wash this away. Pour lukewarm lager over your hair once your scalp has been shampooed, and the result will be a shiny, bouncy head of hair. It’s a dab hand at removing stains, too.
Olive oil
Eat it: as the ultimate Italian seasoning, namely as the most powerful ingredient in a 'spaghettata'.
Use it: as an excellent body moisturiser. Some swear by dripping droplets of it into a steaming hot bath; otherwise, the rubbing of it on damp skin will eliminate dry skin for good.
Do you have any resourceful tips of your own? Share them in the Comments box below.
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