Now you have all helped me become organised in the mronings please can you help me be more organised with my dinners

[Blossomhill]

Just find it so hard to find insipration for dinners for the family that we will all like. Regularly cook ready meals as I have no inspiration. Remember I am so scatty and can't help that as I've always been that way. Just feel we spend so much on food that isn't very healthy. I go into the supermarket looking for inspiration but always find it easier to pick up a packet or a jar. Help me please xxx
I just need to plan ahead but don't know how!!!

[PuffTheMagicDragon]

Blossom, I got some great ideas given to me on a thread the other day - look under the "Food" topic - I asked about menu planning I think.

[Blossomhill]

Thanks Puff

[weightwatchingwaterwitch]

was it this one?

[PuffTheMagicDragon]

That's it. Thanks www

[weightwatchingwaterwitch]

Loads of recipes on this thread, custardo's plea to change her life

[Blossomhill]

Thanks www, that's very helpful!

[miggy]

this seems like really good idea, if you have the energy for the initial chart!
here

[miam]

Blossom, pasta or rice dishes are always easy - stir-fry lots of veg (mushrooms/pepper/courgettes or anything else you fancy) with garlic in olive oil, add some herbs, tomato (tinned tomato is handy), oregano or basil etc. plus a little salt and pepper and add to wholewheat pasta. Gorgeous. Or stirfry the same veg or whatever you prefer and add to wholewheat rice (I love sweetcorn and soya sauce) - very quick and full of nutrients. Easy, quick and good for you. Ofcourse, you can always add in chicken if you prefer. You can chop and change these to suit yourself.

[Blossomhill]

www - now that is exactly what I am looking for. Only nightmare is is that my printer has run out of ink so will have to write them all out my hand!!!!! Thanks again

[moondog]

Blossom, these are my staples:

Pasta with tomato sauce (make a huge batch one day, with black olives in it for a bit more 'meat')Keep a hunk of real Parmesan in the fridge and you can't go wrong.

Baked spare ribs (dead easy-marinade in ginger,garlic,soy,mustard and honey, then roast,grill)

Chick pea&spinach curry

Meat curry (for this and above, you need a good quality paste in oil, such as Patak's, NOT a cook-in sauce.Yuck!! Taste horrid!)

Chicken in soy (fry pieces with ginger,onion,garlic and 5 spice, add sherry and soy and simmer)

Omelette (with spinach and/or courgettes,red peppers,potatoes,fetta)

Pasta with smoked salmon,capers,lemon and cream

Vegetable curry (eg potatoes,pumpkin,squash and chickpeas) in coconut milk

Grilled sardines and salad or a piece of nice fish simply sauteed.

Nigel Slater has a great little book called Real Fast Food' which has lots of ideas for quick and easy meals. I love to cook, but am (or rather was..) short of time but I never went the ready made route as it was so dispiriting. made me feel worse about everything.
As I've got older, my cooking has got simpler.
Great bread, a good salad and some nice cheese or a piece of good ham with a glass of wine can't be beaten.
Make your own salad dressing as well-takes minutes,and makes the bottled stuff taste like toilet water.

Sorry, have said all of this somewhere before, but am really passionate about food and proper cooking. Just can't understand why some people find it hard (not judging, ok, just observing!)

[PuffTheMagicDragon]

moondog, I like the sound of the chickpea & spinach curry as I LOVE both. Can you reveal your recipe please?

[moondog]

Well, not really a recipe kind of gal but something along these lines...

Fry up a couple of onions, knob of ginger and clove or two of garlic until brown, adding a generous tablespoon or two of curry paste.
Add a tin of chickpeas (or add some dried ones that you have first soaked a boiled-tinned much easier. I never remember to soak the night before)

Give that a good stir, then add a tin of tomatoes.

Allow to bubble for maybe 15 mins then add spinach-bag of fresh, tinned or frozen.However much or little you want.

Season to taste (secret with curries and pasta sauces is to add a teaspoon or so of sugar-mellow them out. Marmalade also good in pasta tomato sauce.)

Serve on its own or with rice. I have it with some very thick plain yoghurt into which I've stirred chopped mint, onion and grated cucumber (which I've squeezed as it is very watery.)
If you can't be arsed with that, jusyt add a spoonful of mint sauce to yoghurt. That's what they do in Indian restaurants.

Can also do the same thing with red lentils (minus chick peas and spinach0 which don't need soaking, but will need to have water added at regular intervals as they swell alarmingly.

Could live on those two quite happily.

NB Don't let your garlic burn! Tastes very nasty.

[moondog]

Sorry, forgot to say cook it for maybe 10-15 more minutes after you've added the spinach-gives it all time top blend.

As with all curries/stews, tastes even better the next day.

[PuffTheMagicDragon]

Yum. I also have 4 tins of chickpeas in the cupboard. Thanks .

[bongobum]

one of the easier ones I know which has everyone begging for more and the recipe which I never disclose as it's too embarrassingly easy is basil and toasted pinenut pasta.

Toast pine nuts in a dry frying pan till lightly browned
Boil pasta
drain
add half a jar of pesto to the pasta
add half a tub of single cream to the pasta
add the toasted pine nuts
add squeeze of lemon juice and cracked pepper
serve with parmasan cheese over the top
easy peesy!

[moondog]

Puff, also put chickpeas in a salad with roasted red peppers, crumbled fetta and coriander. That is really really nice.(Remember that home made vinaigrette though-don't wreck it with some shite-in-a-bottle full of weird thickeners!

[Blossomhill]

Just ordered Nigel Slaters Real Fast Food book. Looks like just what I need to be honest. Thanks
As I was in a spending mood I also popped into Ebay and bid and won 2 gameboy advance games shark tale and donkey kong. Got both for £11.00 each & that includes p&p!!!

[moondog]

I luuuuurve Nigel Slater.
I do I do I do!!!!!!!

(Alawys wondered who the 'we' was he refers to in his Observer column. I mean I know he's gay (has to be!) but he says he lives alone. Can't mean the cats can he? If he does, then I've gone riiiiiight off him.

[PuffTheMagicDragon]

I love Nigel's grub too, I also enjoyed his autobiog "Toast".

[moondog]

Yes!Laughed like a drain at that bit about arranging the banana splits in increasingly obscene ways and serving them to unsuspecting guests!

Sorry, completely off topic but reminded me of a friend who used to be a beautician on cruise ships. She said that all the masseuses used to play a game which involving seeing how many of the client's clothes you could get on, then go to the curtain and wave to a colleague WITHOUT the client (massee??!!) suspecting.
Isn't that outrageous!!

[PuffTheMagicDragon]

[frogs]

Puff, have just posted pumpkin risotto recipe on the other thread! (sorry to lower the tone)...