I'm a crappy non cook. Please hit me with your easiest, foolproof win win dinners so I can use lockdown to practice!

[Iwonder777]

Ps. I have mastered soda bread 🥖

1 down. A million to go. Lol

What kind of things do you like to eat?

Start by telling us what you like to eat.

Anything 😁

Chicken and mince family dishes would be good

This has some good recipes: www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/collection/family-meal

Macaroni cheese
Toad in the hole

1, Go here : www.amazon.co.uk/?tag=mumsnetforu03-21

2, Buy this : www.amazon.co.uk/5-Ingredients-Quick-Easy-Food/dp/0718187725/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&crid=1EG6EFTGF4DO4&keywords=jamie+oliver&sprefix=Jamie+%2Caps%2C197&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&qid=1588107293&sr=8-3

3, Crack on

Get some pastas or chopped toms

Fry bacon cut small pieces in oil of choice
Add pasata/ toms in a frying pan

Put pasta on

Add pasta to sauce
Grate cheese 🧀 on top

Kids love it

Get Jamie’s Ministry of Food book.

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/oven-baked-risotto%3famp

Or this
www.amazon.co.uk/Neven-Maguires-Home-Economics-Life/dp/0717180794?tag=mumsnetforu03-21

Chilli con carne (mild if you want)

Chop onions and fry, add mince and keep frying, add tomato purée and keep frying. When it's all browned add cans of kidney beans in chilli sauce and canned Toms.

Season and leave to simmer for an hour or so.

Perfect.

The beans in chilli sauce are a fab cheat and Tesco do them

Meatballs and spaghetti

Flatbreads - equal quantities of plain foot and yoghurt in any proportion. Serve with grilled meats, hummus, salads etc

Pizza, 300g flour, 200ml water, 7g yeast. Toppings of choice.

Spaghetti bol
Chilli

Chicken surprise...

Put chicken thighs in a roasting tin - add garlic in its skin, sliced onions, bay leaf, salt and pepper and flavours of your choice. I like lemon, thyme, olives, or chorizo, peppers, olives and whole chilli. Toss the whole lot in olive oil. Shove in the oven at 170ish for 40 minutes. If you are as lazy as me cut potato wedges and add to the roasting tray.

Serve with a salad / random green vegetables on the side

Pasta and pesto
Topped with:
Courgette and chorizo fried with garlic and chilli (chopped fresh or dried flakes)
Prawn and chorizo
Prawn, chilli and cherry tomato and/or spinach
Cooked chicken, lightly fried with garlic, seasoning and tender stem broccoli
Tinned tuna fried with garlic, sun dried tomato, capers and olives
Chuck a load of fresh grated Parmesan and ground black pepper on the top

Fresh herbs like basil and coriander elevate any dish
Chilli, garlic and olive oil are your friends: they add flavour to anything. Dried chilli flakes and garlic purée are super quick to use and cheap

Quick stroganoff: pork or beef strips, chicken breast and/or mushrooms fried in a little olive oil with garlic and seasoning. Add paprika and a bit of chilli. When cooked, take off the heat and stir through creme fraiche and chopped fresh herbs eg parsley or basil if you have. Serve with rice or mash and any green veg or salad

Buy a pack of streaky bacon, a box of pasta shapes and a jar of pesto. A bag of salad leaves, an apple, a lemon and some parmesan (a chunk of the real stuff if you can afford it). I am assuming you have salt and pepper.

Use scissors to cut the bacon into little strips across the rasher (roughly 5mm wide)
Fry the bacon until crispy, then set on one side
Boil a big pot of water and put a tablespoon of salt in it
Add the pasta to the water, set a timer for 1 min less than the suggested cooking time
Put the salad leaves in a bowl, cut the apple up into small chunks and scatter on the salad.
Squeeze the lemon and use the juice to drizzle over the salad (Maybe about a tablespoon worth. Get a teaspoon or two of the bacon fat and drizzle that over the salad too. Then add some salt and pepper to salad and toss it until it is coated.
When the pasta timer dings, fish out a piece of pasta and see if you like how soft/hard it it. If it has a gritty middle, let it cook for another minute and test it again.
Drain the pasta, put it back in the saucepan and then add a generous scoop of pesto to it. Stir (a wooden spoon is better for this as it doesnt cut up the soft pasta) Until the pasta is coated. Taste it and add more pesto if you want

Put pasta in individual bowls, top with the bacon pieces and then Use a potato peeler to scrape parmesan slices off the chunk. Scatter over the salad and some more over the pasta

Pour wine, sit down and eat

It can take about 15 mins if you get good and multitask it.

My absolute foolproof, easy and quick dinner is this pasta. All you do is boil pasta in salted water (I sometimes use chicken or vegetable stock instead of salt). Fry some diced bacon(or ham) in a pan with a little bit of olive oil, then add frozen peas and let it fry together. I then add some black pepper, garlic powder and dried rosemary to taste and keep frying until the bacon and peas are all done. Once pasta is done, drain and serve with the bacon and peas mixture on top. I sometimes do cheese sauce to pour over the top or just grated cheese will do! So quick and yummy, everyone in our home loves this dinner.

Sweet potato pie - 1/3rd sweet potatoes 2/3rd potatoes boiled separately as sweet potatoes take less time them mashed together, large fried onion and lots of grated cheese all mixed together and put in an ovenproof dish in the oven until crispy

Serve with baked beans

Chicken and smashed potatoes

Get chicken breasts on the bone, baby potatoes and a veg of choice

Put chicken in roasting dish, smear with olive oil, a surprisingly large amount of salt and herbes de provence

Put in a hot oven 450f (sorry you will have to convert) for 15 mins and then turn down to 400.

Put baby potatoes on a plate in the microwave for 7 mins ish (til just soft)

Get another baking tray, cover with splash of oil. Add potatoes and salt and roll around in salty oil until all sides are covered. Use back of a fork to squash each potato so its flat but chunky and has raggedy edges.

Put in oven until crispy and yummy

Chicken is cooked when a meat thermometer says it is 165f or more (buy one on amazon and you never have to guess if meat is cooked again)

Cook veg

Eat with wine

Roast dinner is pretty straightforward, and it looks like you made an effort. I usually do roast chicken, then I have chicken salad the following day and a soup using chicken bones in the stock on the third day. So you only really have to cook once to get three nice meals. Sometimes I do roast beef, and then use the leftover beef in a stir fry or pasta sauce the next day.

I am not normally brilliant at meal planning, but lockdown has helped. Now on a Saturday morning I think about the whole week and what kinds of meals I want. I can balance meat or vegetarian meals, potato/rice/pasta, and things that work well as leftovers in a way that I would not normally. I am finding it quite satisfying and have less waste.

Mums net banana bread

www.recipetineats.com/one-pan-sausage-and-vegetable-bake-with-gravy/comment-page-3/#comment-207349

This is simple but yum!

What is Mumsnet banana bread?

The roast tikka chicken in the Jamie's 5 ingredients book is simple and delicious.

Chicken tray bake:

Splosh some olive oil in a baking tray

Add large chicken pieces - breasts or thigh fillets both work well

Add large chunks of veg of your choice - potatoes, courgettes, onions, fennel, aubergine, peppers are my favourites but you can use whatever you like

Add flavour - choose one or more of lemon juice, garlic, chilli, herbs and/or spices, splosh of wine

Jiggle it around a bit so the veg is coated with the flavoured oil

Cook in oven for 45 mins at 200 C, gas mark 5/6.

Doesn’t matter if you leave it in for longer, it’ll be fine, you just need to be sure that the chicken is cooked properly. Don’t have the oven on any higher or the veg will start to burn before the chicken is cooked through. A slight char on the veg is nice, but not essential.

Serve with salad and if you don’t have any potatoes in the baking tray, some crusty or garlic bread.

Once you’ve mastered the concept of tray bakes you can start experimenting with other meat or fish, veg and flavourings.

Pasta with meatballs.

Ingredients
1 pack of ready-made meatballs
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
1 jar of pasta sauce
1 red pepper
1 packet of pasta, whatever type you fancy.

Fry the meatballs for a few minutes until lightly browned all over. Set aside.
Chop the pepper into small pieces & fry in a little olive oil until soft. Add the tomatoes, sauce & meatballs to the pan, stir & let it simmer gently while you cook the pasta according to the instructions on the packet. Taste the sauce. Does it need a pinch of salt, a grind of pepper, a pinch of sugar? If so, add & taste again. When you’re happy, serve. Grate some Parmesan or other hard cheese over if you wish. Enjoy .