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Help me 'jazz up' my menu!

11 replies

BOOareHaunting · 26/10/2011 14:59

So, like many I am feeling the rise in food costs and not in income!

I am therefore doing a lot more bulk cooking resulting in repeated meals and freezing. I work FT term-time so it's easier to have dinner at least mostly prepared by dinner-time!

So I'm trying to 'jazz up' my usual offerings. There is only 2 people (myself and DS (7)) so not too many tastes to cater for.

I have made the usual chicken casserole, beef stew and mince. Casserole and stew is full of veg as well. I have not added potatoes to these recipes as will do with mash, rice, pasta as takes the fancy.

I've made and frozen a batch of sweet potoato and have the frozen mash carrot/suede (aunt bessies!).

I have thought of making shepards pie using sweet potato? Or could I use mashed carrot/suede?

What other things are cheap to make? Filling, healthy (ish!) winter meals?

TIA

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4merlyknownasSHD · 26/10/2011 15:12

Meatballs. 1lb beef mince, 150gm crumbled bread (not bread crumbs), 150ml milk, 1 large onion chopped reasonably small, 1 tin of chopped tomatoes, 1/2 pint stock, and a sprinkling of herbs, salt, pepper (and a little cayenne pepper is nice).
Soak the bread in the milk for 30 mins then scrunch the mince, bread and seasoned mince with herbs into a goo-ey mass, then roll into meatballs about the size of a golf ball. Brown in a little oil in a pan/casserole then cover with stock and tinned chopped tomatoes (with all juices) and put in the oven on a medium heat for 30 minutes, covered.

This will make 16 to 18 meatballs (a serving of 3 per person) and help stretch the money further. You can have one portion each, then freeze the rest for later.

This goes down a treat in our family.

BOOareHaunting · 26/10/2011 15:52

Oh thanks! DS loves meatballs and that would do us 3 meals.

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CogitoErgoSometimes · 26/10/2011 18:04

One of our favourites is 'Sausage and Cannellini Bean Casserole'. Makes about 6 portions.

8 sausages, grilled and cut into pieces
1 can cannellini beans, drained
1 red pepper, chopped
400g passata or chopped tomatoes
1 onion, chopped
a little oil
chilli flakes (optional)
seasoning

  • Fry the onion and pepper in a little oil until softened and add to a casserole dish
  • Add the drained beans, sausage pieces and seasoning to the casserole
  • Pour over the passata or chopped tomatoes, stir briefly, put on a lid and bake in a moderate oven for about 40 minutes, or until the sauce is a little thickened and the vegetables are tender
BOOareHaunting · 26/10/2011 18:15

Sounds nice, I like the idea of the tomato and sausages. DS has a ketchup allergy but can have passata so that's ideal.

Really fussy! though - I don't like beans (baked, canillini, kidney etc!) is there an alternative to these? Or would some pasta/ potato work instead?

DS loves spicy food so will love the chilli in it.

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RiffRaffeta · 26/10/2011 18:21

Soup? So many different options with soup. Dhal? Have a fab recipe if you're interested.

BOOareHaunting · 26/10/2011 18:32

Oh yes please. I'm interested in anything. Soup is something else that can be used for a few days in a row and frozen so I'm in. Grin

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quietlyafraid · 26/10/2011 19:42

Only two of us - me and my 6'2" lump of a husband so we cook like this all the time. We do similar things, but also here are a few suggestions if you don't already to.

Aubergine bake
Its a vege option but it doesn't really feel like it as it is filling. Dead easy to make too. It can be added to as you wish with the odd extra ingredient to your taste - think mediterranean (onions, garlic, peppers, chillis, etc).

Not got exact quantities - it really depends on how big the dish you are using is. Layer thin slices of aubergine with tinned tomatoes. Go heavy on the tomatoes - you only need one/two layers of aubergine. You can put a layer of courgette in too if you wish. Drizzle a bit of balsamic over the top for extra flavour. Add herbs too in this way if you want (not necessary but it does help the taste). Put a thin layer of grated cheese on top and then cover with a layer of breadcrumbs.

Whack in the oven until top is golden brown and cooked throughout (bout 30mins but depends on size of the dish you used). You don't need to serve it with anything really as everything is in it, but salad or garlic bread is nice.

Pasta bake
Similar to the above but with pasta (tubes or spirals - no need to cook first - just make such decent amount of moisture in the mix.) instead of aubergine (though you can do with aubergine if you choose). You can throw in a small amount of meat too if you wish - you really don't need much as it is filling. Much easier than a lasagne to make.

Have you thought about 'jazzing up your casseroles' by turning them into pies? (or even a wellington - wrap meat and veg up in puff pastry). Generally means you don't need to serve anything on the side again as you have your carbs in the pastry.

If you are doing stews, I'd highly recommend using celery as a base. Finely chop up 3 or 4 sticks with one onion and fry up until onions are just browning. THEN add rest of your veg and meat. It adds a lot to the flavour and is v healthy. Pearl barley in stews is amazing - cheap and makes it go loads further.

How about something like a noodle broth - basically veg/meat in stock. Boil it up and let it reduce a little. Add noodles. You can do a chicken and sweetcorn broth (add chilli and ginger for extra zing). Or a beef version with cheap cut of beef, add a bunch of frozen veg straight from the bag.

We've done sweet potatoes for shepards pie and it works a treat. Sweet potatoes also make amazing wedges if you spice/season them up. If you do curries, sweet potato is brilliant to bulk it out, without loosing flavour and it makes it go further.

I like adding something like split peas as an alternative to beans. They aren't to everyones taste though. They are nuttier in flavour. Or lentils instead of meat.

We quite often will do a roast chicken on a weekend when we have a bit of time. Much cheaper than buying breasts or other cuts if you are smart about how you do it. We have to make it last to make it worthwhile. We like to do extra veg - butternut squash, peppers and onions are nice for a roast veg soup, but it can be anything - we then use the stock from the chicken and left over veg for soup. Rule of thumb is, if veg work together well on your plate then if you through in a pan and blend they make a great soup! No need to add anything else.

Whatever chicken we don't eat we either freeze in portion sizes amounts and deep freeze morning we eat or use in next couple of days with other things. Stir fries are easy to do with frozen veg, roast chicken and rice. Or you can use the chicken with tinned tomatoes, chopped onion, veg and pasta.

RiffRaffeta · 26/10/2011 19:46

Dhal

2 large onions, finely chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tspn turmeric
1 inch chopped ginger
1 chopped green or red chilli
1/4 pack butter, splash of olive oil
1 mug washed red lentils
salt to taste
1/2 mug soasked basmati rice
2 tbspn split peas
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1 heped tspn masala
big bunch fresh coriander
greek yoghurt to serve

Start by soaking lentils, split peas and rice (separately). 10 mins soaking will do, although the longer the soak the less they need cooking.
In a large saucepan, place half the butter and the oil. Add garlic and ginger and gently fry then add oniions, cook until soft. Add chiili cook 1 minute gently. Add turmeric cook 1 minute. Add salt and drained lentils and peas 1minute, keep stirring. Add hot water, enough to cover pulses by 2/3rds. Bring to boil then simmer, cover and cook for 20 mins. Check liquid during this time. Add water as necessary.

Add drained rice, cook 10 more minutes. Check liquid during this time, needs to be thick soup consistency, add liquid as necessary. Stir.

Add tomatoes.

Add rest of butter, cook further 10 minutes then add masala. Check liquid during this time, stir.

Add chopped coriander at end and swirl in a dollop of yoghurt to serve.

If reheating add more water, at least a cup.

fergoose · 26/10/2011 19:49

you could use chickpeas instead of beans. Also you could add a handful or 2 of red lentils, great for padding things out like a stew, soup or bolognese and very filling.

DamselInDisarray · 26/10/2011 19:51

This black bean chilli is really easy, cheap and makes loads. It's really delicious. You can serve it with rice once, then wrap it up in a tortilla as a burrito for another meal (also nice if you mix the leftover rice into the chilli first), or put the burrito in the oven and top with cheese/soured cream as enchiladas. Or you could serve it in a variety of other ways (topping for baked potato etc).

BOOareHaunting · 26/10/2011 20:21

These are brilliant thanks. I MNers would have great ideas.

I don't really have time during the week to try something 'new' so I am going to make something different each weekend and freeze leftovers for the future. I am C&P these and printing them for my future reference.

They all sound fairly simple to make (chop/peel etc) so DS (7) can help me out. Also a great activity for those cold winter days!

I have ordered Birdworld tickets off clubcard today (4x points so got enough for friend and her 2 aswell) I am going to offer to cook a warming meal for our return and look like Mrs Masterchef. Grin

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