To steal your fave easy dinner recipe (if you tell me please)

[Chocoholism]

Need ideas for dinners for me and DP as we kind of stuck in a rut eating same dinners every week. We have a young baby so simple ideas is best for me!

Pot Roast Guinea Fowl

Low fat and delicious beyond belief!

• 1 guinea fowl (wait for them to be on offer), tastes like really flavoursome chicken
• 300ml chicken stock
• 300ml orange juice
• 1 small onion/shallot chopped fine

1. pre-heat oven to maximum
2. wash guinea fowl then put on tray in oven for 15 mins to brown
3. fry off onion/shallot in a few ml of oil
4. turn oven down to 190 degrees and remove guinea fowl from oven
5. place guinea fowl in casserole dish add stock, orange juice, fried onion/shallot
6. place in oven and cook for 90 minutes (though you can leave it in the oven for another hour without it coming to any harm!)

Serve with baked potatoes/croquette potatoes/boiled potatoes/rice

Cook spaghetti
Fry chopped onion,chuck in either tinned toms or pasta sauce and simmer
Drain spaghetti and add to sauce
Put half spaghetti in oven proof dish, top with torn mozzarella
Add other half spaghetti
Top with more mozzarella
Bke in oven until topping browns.

Steam some greens (spinach or kale, spring greens, all fine), takes 2 mins. Put in dish. Put block of feta on top (the real cheapo stuff is fine). Put jar of tomato sauce (Loyd Grossman or similar), or can of tomatoes (I sometimes use the one with chillies already in, but probably not if kids are eating it) or your own recipe tomato sauce. Bake in oven for 25m or so and serve with French bread. Delicious and so easy.

I like that idea Jess - thank you!

We like Puff Pastry Pizza.

You need a pre-rolled puff pastry sheet. Or roll one out if you have an extra few mins!

If you have some leftover pasta sauce or red pesto or tomato puree, smear some over, leave an edge around the outside.

Chop random vegetables and scatter over. I like mushrooms, peppers and tomatoes. Add some ham if you want, or bits of cooked chicken.

Grate some cheese and scatter over. Different cheeses are nice, feta and mozzarella give a nice flavour. If your going Mediterranean a few capers are good too.

Throw on some herbs and season to taste.

Bake for 10-15 mins until it looks golden crispy enough for you.

Oh yes we make spaghetti carbonara too

Fry a pack of diced bacon with a squirt of garlic purée
Throw in cooked pasta

Mix up 2 eggs and 150ml cream with a bit of grated cheddar.

Throw your eggy creamy mixture into the pan and stir for a minute or so

Some of these sound lovely, some are a bit involved for the likes of me though I can't lie. I'm a seriously lazy cook, plus I'm skint and only cooking for one so joints of meat are out.

I stir fry a lot. Takes about 10 mins if that.

Whatever meat/vegetables/fish you have. (Usually whatever I've found on the whoops shelf or leftovers!)
In a pan/wok with oil, lazy garlic, lazy ginger & lazy chilli til almost cooked.
Then add some straight-to-wok noodles (which cook in 2 mins), fish sauce, coriander & lime juice.

If the leftovers are already cooked you can just put it all in together.

Told you I was lazy.
It's really nice though, honest!

Couple more!

Home made burgers: minced beef, tea spoon of Dijon mustard, finely chopped onion, mixed herbs, shape into burgers and grill (it's a good "messy play" thing to do with toddlers on a rainy afternoon!)

Salmon pasta.
Fry one finely chopped onion and one red pepper, plus 1/2 a red chilli (deseeded) if not making for dcs too. Add 2-3 spoonfuls of red pesto, single cream and smoked salmon cut up small. Serve with tagliatelle. (If making dc-friendly version, really nice with dried chilli flakes sprinkled on top for grown ups).

Virtually the same, swap red for green pepper, and green pesto and bacon lardons instead of salmon, throw in a few black olives at the end.

Oh I do pitta pizzas too. Just top with passata (sp?!) or tomato purée mixed with a dash of water, sugar and dried herbs then cheese and whatever you fancy. We like ham or chorizo with onion and peppers (out of the freezer)

Chop chorizo into coins. Fry. Meanwhile boil chopped or baby spuds until tender.

Drain spuds. Remove chorizo from pan. Fry mushrooms (chopped or baby) and sugar snap peas in the oil until just cooked. Put chorizo and potato back in and stir about until everything's coated.

Put in bowl and eat. Lovely.

Pasta in water to boil. Toast pine nuts in frying pan, take out. In same frying pan cook chopped onion and garlic.

Put a head of broccoli in with pasta for final 5 minutes.

In frying pan add grated lemon zest, drain pasta and broccoli. Chop broccoli, add to frying pan. Cook off for 2 minutes, add a teaspoon of chilli flakes. Put pasta in frying pan with olive oil, toasted pine nuts and juice of lemon! Lovely and very healthy!

Or

Toad In the hole! Can be done in 30 minutes.

Or

Mushroom soup and crusty bread. Punnet of mushrooms in a pan, lid on and sweat for 5 mins. Add onion, garlic, beef stock, parsley if you have any. Add pepper and half a teaspoon of mustard either English or Dijon. Cook for a further 5 mins. Blitz and add small amount of milk/cream/cream fresh or even 0% Greek Yogurt (optional). So nice! Very cheap and again really good for you.

Slice sausage of your choice and saute until browned. Add sliced cabbage and saute until cooked but still a little crisp. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with mashed potatoes.

BLT bagels, garlic mayo and salad. Super easy and very delicious.

Salmon and mushrooms with frozen garlic in pan, throw in white wine when half cooked along with peas. When done add a spoon of creme fraiche. Serve with pasta. My uber fussy 2 yo loves and we do gluten free pasta so we can all eat.

Sainsburys do pizza bases which we also make up regularly. Nicer than standard frozen, cheaper than take away and more control over salt in toppings.

We also do puller pork or brisket in slow cooker.

Leftovers of roast chicken, chop up. Lift frozen rice and peas out a few hours before, chicken and lazy garlic in pan, then add rice and peas, whack in whisked egg and voila chicken fried rice. Serve kids then season yours up with spy, pepper, chilli flakes.

My best cheat ingredients are frozen garlic, chilli and ginger, frozen rice. Used to love fresh pasta as it's quicker.

Would love to know others cheat ingredients...

Mediterranean veg and feta, frittata, chicken with potatoes and polenta sound gorgeous.

I tend to batch cook rather than trying to do it after work. Chili can also be eaten as enchiladas, tacos or over sausages in buns. I bake defrosted pasta sauce with cooked pasta and cheese.

Best quick meal is lamb kebabs - 1kg lamb mince with dried spices (oregano, paprika, s&p, mixed herbs, dried mint, etc). I make and bake two. I freeze one in slices and griddle - serve with pita, salad. Finger food friendly?

Marking place

I've thought of another one.

Boil potatoes. Drain and chop into slices about 1cm thick
Fry salami or chorizo and perhaps some veg if you've got it in a frying pan
Add the sliced potato
Whisk eggs - we use 6 eggs for two of us but are guzzle guts so others might need less - add salt and pepper and milk to the eggs.
Put eggs in frying pan with other stuff
Grate cheese on the top

Let it cook through

My emergency last minute meal is often salmon, baked in the oven for 10mins from frozen, with soya sauce. Served with rice and a few veg.

Or spaghetti carbonara - knocked up in no time.

Cook 200g dry spaghetti. Meanwhile chop some streaky bacon (quorn bacon works as well) fry in a pan with some oil and purée garlic from a tube until brown and crisp. Beat 4 eggs with 150g tub of double cream and 4 tablespoons of grated Parmesan cheese. Drain the spaghetti and stir the bacon and egg mixture. Serve your spaghetti carbonara with veg or salads

Easiest fast healthy meal I know- new potatoes and water in the bottom of the steamer, frozen salmon fillets in the next layer, green veg in top layer. Ignore for 10-15 minutes while sorting out kitchen/ washing up/ homework etc. Drain potatoes and wop onto plates with slice of lemon and chopped parsley/ bit of butter and black pepper etc.

Dc's favourite is pasta with fish sauce. We use anchovies sardines and tuna - just chuck a tin of each into some tomato sauce and boil for a few minutes.

Corgette pasta:
Grated courgette fried for 5 min in tiny bit of olive oil( one corgette per person)
Drain liquid off ( corgette is a bit watery) add lemon zest and juice , drizzle of olive oil and lots of Parmesan. Mix with pasta.
Optional extra of chorizo and or chilli flakes.
Lovely and fresh and quick

Chorizo & potato hash.

Roughly chop chorizo.

Par boil diced potato until tender.

Fry 1 onion and 1 clove of crushed garlic or 1 teaspoon of lazy garlic until onions are translucent.

Drain diced potato add to frying pan and cook until light brown.

Add chorizo and fry on medium heat for 5/10 mins.

Make 2 wells in the mix and crack in two eggs. Pop under the grill until egg is cooked but still soft.

Including prep this takes about 15-20 mins.

Place marking, will add a few when I get chance to read through thread.

Pesto pasta bake. Cooked pasta mixed with pesto sauce, cherry tomatoes, torn fresh basil. Wack in an ovenproof dish and top with grated cheese (cheddar/mozzarella mix is good) and breadcrumbs. Under a hot grill for 10 mins. Comfort food of champs.

I love chickpea curry, lentil curry or dahl. So quick, easy, tasty and healthy. Google for recipes - so many simple ones out there. Serve with warm chapati, mango chutney and raita (plain yoghurt, cucumber, bit of paprika) as alternative to rice.

Cheat's chicken tikka (mild version, kids love). Marinate diced chicken breast in a mixture of plain yoghurt and tikka paste for at least an hour (all day even better). Cook under the grill. Good with rice or naan bread and salad. Piece of piss.