Is it possible? Food shop

[TheLimeQuail]

Is it possible to buy easy foods that don’t take a lot of time or preparation, 10 mins max prep, still healthy but doesn’t cost a fortune over all? Could do with ideas.

Yuka is a pretty useless app, doesn't tell you much more than just reading the label. If you're looking at upf type stuff you need the Open Food app.

As for quick meals, boiled egg, pasta and peas, ticks all boxes, ready in 10 minutes. Add fruit for pudding. Or fry garlic in a couple of tbsp oil, add chopped chili, few handfuls of spinach and cook until wilted. Add cooked spaghetti, served with parmesan

Thanks, I'll look into that.

What about the bloatedness?
Perhaps there should be something similar to the Beaufort Scale for that.

Pasta and pesto. Cheap, fast, healthy enough, especially if you add frozen veg like peas, sweetcorn, broad beans.

If you have an hour or so, I'd Batch cook. I do mine on a Sunday. Yesterday I made minced beef 2 ways - 1 with beans were as a chilli, one without as a bolognese. I fried off grated carrots, onions, Celery, leek, garlic added mince yo brown. Added a tin of lentils. Split into two pans. One had tinned tomatoes, Tom puree, Italian herbs, red pepper, beef stock added.
The other had some tom puree, a can of taco beans, chilli spice, sweetcorn, small amount if red pepper, beef stock. Froze 2 portions and 4 portions from both. Had chilli beef with wraps, salad, cheese and sweet potato wedges tonight. Whilst I was cooking that I also threw loads of last weeks veg in a pan, fried off, added stock. Blended so now we have about 10 portions of soup. Great for lunches, post school snacks, an easy tea.
And I made breaded chicken with a green salad, new potatoes for last kighta dinner, salad and potatoes left iver for lunch today. Plus I've got chicken marinating for curry tomorrow. Shove in oven, bake some rice. Left overs for lunches.

Yes, it's a lot, but took about 1 hour 30 max. Means we have lots of healthy food to grab from freezer and no waste.

I’ve always fancied batch cooking, but worry about the food safety side of it (Just because I’ve never done it). Do you have to defrost the food from frozen before reheating, or do you cook it from frozen? How long does it keep in the freezer after you have batch cooked?

I tend to get stuff out the night before and defrost in the fridge.

And it keeps for months in the freezer.

As above, just pull it from the freezer the night before.
I think the important thing is to cool it quickly and get it in the fridge/freezer.

If you're not sure where to start why not just make extra when you cook? Double up when you make dinner, freeze half. Its easy.

@murasaki and @Seaside3 Thank you.
I will give it a go.

Go for it. I freeze things like lasagna and cottage pie in those metal trays with the card lids, 1 portion per tray, or you can buy larger ones, as they can go straight in the oven from defrosted without the lid. Soups go in freezer bags inside a tupperware and knotted, when frozen you can remove the tupperware and stack the frozen soup rectangles to save space. Things like stew just go in freezer bags as I'd reheat them on the hob. Pasta sauces also in bags, so you could make a big tomato sauce, freeze in portions and use where needed.

@murasaki Thank you for all of the tips!

Stir fry - bag of frozen stir fry veg and some ready to wok noodles + a stir fry sauce although we sometimes just like it with soy sauce and ginger.

Special fried rice - microwave rice, in a wok or frying pan, make enough room to add a couple of whisked eggs once they start cooking, scrambled them up with your rice, turn constantly, add whatever veg, chicken, prawns etc you like and a slash of soy.

Jacket potatoes - baked these off in advance then whack in the microwave, serve with whatever toppings you like. Serve with a salad.

Sausages can be cooked in advance, microwaved for a min or so then banged on a frying pan to brown off - many cafes and restaurants do this! Serve with mash you prepared or frozen mash and whatever veg of your choice.

Poached egg on a toasted breakfast muffin or normal toast. With the muffin add some smoked salmon or streaky bacon and a splash of holendaise sauce and you have yourself a eggs royale or eggs Benedict!

Tuna pasta salad, or cheese/chicken pasta salad loaded with chopped cucumber tomatoes onions maybe some olives.

Soup and a bread roll or crackers.

Beans on toast.

Panini's - I do these on a George foreman grill and sometimes in the air fryer. Fill with whatever you like. Serve with crisps and salad.

Tik tok pasta, however I don't use tik tok but this is what I know it as. In a oven dish add feta or cream cheese (I use garlic and herb or Aldi do a lovely cheese roulade) add two bags of cherry toms and bake till squashable. Its lovely done with salmon fillets just add those all at the same time, same with white fish fillets too. Boil pasta, once sauce is done mash together - with fish too if your using fish, mix boiled pasta in. I sometimes add a few handfuls of spinach too!

LadyKenya
do you put the fish in a special steamer? Or is it in a normal veg steamer? Like in tiers? Thanks !

LadyKenya
do you put the fish in a special steamer? Or is it in a normal veg steamer? Like in tiers? Thanks !

Anything stew- like takes a bit of chopping and then throw it in one pan and leave it alone

if they are based on seasonal veg and lentils or beans for the protein aspect the cost will be low
As long as the veg is washed it should not need peeling

so veg chillli
coconut milk based curry
many kind of thick soup ( leek and potatoe, carrot and corriander )
split pea and turnip stew

after that - anything with salad should be quick - jacket potatoes and cheese or tuna and salad , halomi burgers with salad

pasta sauce - add tinned tomatoes chopped onion and garlic and a dash of cayenne or pepper and let bubble for a while , add frozen spinach and stir some goats cheese through at the last minute

indeed frozen veg are also great ( pea and pesto soup I think will cook in 10 and takes as long as it takes to empty a bag of peas into the pan)

ao the cooking time might be quite long but the prep time can be short

As a bonus it will reduce the cost of running your fridge while it is in there defrosting. Every little helps!

If you mean 10 mind prep & cook time....

• Smoked mackerel cream pasta with brocolli.
• Cold meat & salad.
• Ploughmans
• Jacket potatoes (8 min microwave) with assorted fillings
• Various omelettes

Much easier if you prep things in advance.

I work full time so my whole food plan is based on buying a week's food at the weekend, freezing it and then moving one item from freezer to fridge each morning, so it is defrosted by the time I get home.

The same with batch cooking, split into portions, freeze and then move what you need from freezer to fridge before you leave for work in the morning.

It's worked for 30 years, no tummy upsets yet.

I build left overs in to my cooking so if I'm making a baked potato I will actually make 3. One I eat and the others are made in to gnocchi the follow day.

To make gnocchi just mix equal quantities of potato (mash it up without the skin) and flour. roll into balls and then squash a bit with a fork. Add them to boiling water and when they float they are ready.

Things on toast, beans, beans and cheese, cheese, egg, bacon and cheese...

@Flippityflops I do veg and fish sometimes too, in a steamer you can just wrap it in foil, add any herbs and seasonings to the foil parcel.

It works with chicken as well.

There is a really old fashioned method I was taught at school were you put potatoes on to boil, then put a metal plate on top, put the fish on the plate and put the lid over the fish and it will steam without and water.

Really easy pasta sauce. Cook the pasta in water and then switch off but do not drain. get a frying pan and dollop some ream cheese in to it, as it heats it will melt, put a couple of tablespoons of the pasta water in to it. Add salt and pepper and herbs if you like.

Drain the pasta and then put in to the frying pan to coat the pasta.

If you like you can fry mushrooms, or onions, or garlic, or bacon before adding the cream cheese.

I'm another fan of tray bakes. Chicken or salmon are my favourites, slice an onion, some mushrooms, peppers, and I might put a slice of lemon on top of the chicken. Season, spray with that one spray oil and bake for 20-30 mins.

I have two slow cookers in the small one I put pork (usually ribs) a jar / packet of passatta a tin of cannellini beans (drained) and chopped chorizo, salt and pepper switch on and leave. Serve with crusty bread.

Op, try asking ChatGPT for a specific menu plan.

Sounds lovely! When you say whizz, do you mean in the food processor?

@sashh when you mash the baked potato’s for gnocchi then give yourself a real treat, slice the skins up, add oil and seasoning then air fry till crispy. I love doing this with all potato peelings. Great for past their best bagels as well, slice into coins oil, season and air fry for a delicious snack. Onion salt, garlic powder and paprika makes for a really tasty mix.

There are lots of things you can do with pasta - while eg linguine is cooking you can cook some aubergines/courgettes/peppers/tomatoes etc on the griddle then add to the pasta with EV olive oil, fresh herbs and lemon juice. I like to scatter with toasted pine nuts and grated parmesan. Delicious and takes 10 mins.

I don't spend a lot of time cooking these days, due to Teen DDs not being around much and DH working shifts.

I love quick easy meals and use some cheats like frozen mash or frozen cauliflower cheese. I use a multi cooker and just picked up a small air fryer too to quickly cook meat or chips.

My meals tend to be:

• Salmon and cauliflower cheese. Both frozen, in multi cooker: cauliflower cheese in first, salmon on top and steam/ airfry for 20m. No prep involved.
• sausages and mash. Sausages take 15m in the airfryer from frozen, mash microwaved for 4m and some peas and gravy.

• Spaghetti- stir through with fried smoked salmon, grated Parmesan, sliced sun blush tomatoes, fresh basil and pine nuts. Delicious, easy and quite cheap as you only need small bits of each.
• Precook pork loin. To prep, chop with peppers and onion, serve with pita bread and tzatziki.
• Butterbeans ( rinsed) cook with onion, sliced tomatoes, Italian seasoning , yellow pepper. Serve with rice or stem broccoli or green beans.

I'm going to do that.

OP Do you have a slow cooker? A chicken or a joint of meat cook really well in one. Don't add anything (well you can season it) with the warm weather just serve with salad.