A not very good cook needs your help

[BlackCatLookingForwardToSpring]

Hello, I can do basic stuff with potatoes: chips, mash, boil.
I know how to boil pasta.
As for other foods I tend to buy a lot of freezer stuff and tinned.

I would like to get better at cooking and so in an effort I have just been out and bought fresh:

Leeks
Portobello mushrooms (Thought I could maybe top with cheese)
peppers (orange, red and yellow)
real potatoes
tomatoes
cucumber
onions
ham
and I also have some cocktail sausages

In the cupboard I have tinned tomatoes.

I don't want to use them all at once, in one day as that would be silly! but Looking for ideas on recipes/ideas what to do with them all.

Please can you help!
Thanks in advance.

We also have eggs.

You would have the majority of the lasagne recipe I linked to yesterday on the flying thread there BlackCat.

Do you still have pasta? Pasta and a cheese sauce with peas/sweetcorn and bacon would also be nice.

Lots of Jamie's Ministry recipes are based on carrots, onion, celery and leeks so have a wee browse through it and see if anything takes your fancy there too. They are good recipes.

You could par boil some potatoes and chop them up into cubes then take a large frying pan and heat a little oil. Chop the onion up small and soften it in the oil. Chop half of each pepper into cubes and gently soften it in the oil too. Chop the bacon up small and cook it in the mix too. Once it is cooked, add the potato cubes but dont stir it a lot now as it will fall apart. Once there is a little browning on the potato add some peas or sweetcorn then pour over a few beaten eggs and let it cook on a low heat on the hob. Once the bottom is fully cooked put it under the grill and cook the top. Cut in slices like a cake. Works well in packed lunches cold too.

Hi Carrots, Will have a look at that Lasagne recipe.

Yes I have got pasta too it's just that the DC are fussy so I might have to make them something different while me and DH have what I make.

Will also take another look at the cook books.

I think I need to get better at organizing my time as like you I have to fit things in around school.

I know what you mean BlackCat. We are generally out for the evening after school so I either have to cook something that can just be heated up after school (eg soup), can go in the oven on low or slow cooker until we are in or can be made quickly once we get in. It is tricky. I will be trying to make it part of my morning routine to set it all up but it has all gone a bit wrong today already.

On the fussy kids front I don't cook separately for the dcs. I make what I am making and may adjust what i give a little bit (eg ds hates sausage in his pasta so I will serve his before I put the sausage in) but I also "push" a little for them to eat what they are given. It is a bit painful at first but they have expanded what they will eat enormously. I obviously don't cook anything so far from what they will eat though - babysteps I just creep slowly forward introducing new foods and new combinations.

Right, just having a look at Jamie's Ministry book and so far I like the look of:
Baked creamy leeks
baked french potatoes
stew? The only downside to the stew is he uses wine, ale ore cider. could I just use a vegetable stock in some boiling water ??????
I think I'd have to scrap stew for now as I don't think I have a casserole pan/dish.
could maybe do lasagne.

I'd best get of here now.

Hi black cat. Can I also recommend to you the good food series of books

They have fabulously easy and tasty one-pot dishes books that only cost a few quid.

here
And
here

I think Jamie Oliver is great, but doesn't have to do the washing up and he can use a lot of equipment. A lot of the one-pot dishes are minimal washing up too.

Thanks for that, I don't like washing up!

You can try a few of the recipes on the Good food site, see here

Well done for making a start Black Cat! I would say that you are better off spending half an hour planning meals for the week in advance and shopping accordingly rather than the other way around - you will waste far less. Is it possible for you to make double amounts and freeze some meals for another CBA day to save you from the Chip Shop? I get loads of foil containers from the pound shop and roughly one week a month we live out of the freezer and eat well and feel like we are saving money on the supermarket shop that week! Good Food Magazine is my mainstay for recipes - they are seldom complicated and always tasty.

Best of Luck - with a bit of forward planning I'm sure you will get in to the groove and you and your family will feel better for it I'm sure!

Hi BlackCat I have been having a look at the recipes that you mentioned. I haven't made the baked leeks or baked french potatoes but both look nice. Both are side dishes really though so would only really be part of a meal.

Of the stews I have made the chicken and white wine and it was good (went down very well with a meat eating friend even though I did it with quorn).

We tried the pork and cider but didn't like it although we obviously used quorn not pork and there is no pork equivalent with quorn so the flavours weren't really true iyswim.

You could do it on the cooker top on a low simmer if you don't have a casserole pot. It was simple and tasty (the chicken and white wine one). You can also buy small bottles of white wine in the supermarket which are great for cooking with if you don't drink often like me . They cost about £1.50 so not cheap but cheaper than a whole bottle. You could use stock instead and it would still be lovely as you have lots of good tastes in there anyway. I am talking about p180 in my book.

We had Smoked Haddock Florentine last night:
Piece of smoked haddock big enough to feed all
Bag of spinach
Cheese sauce (we use Bisto cheese granules if in a hurry)
Grated cheese (low fat)
Egg each

Wash spinach & put in ovenproof dish - don't wilt it.
Grill haddock till just under & place on top of spinach
Pour over cheese sauce & add grated cheese
Pop under the grill until cheese melts & goes a bit brown on top

Meanwhile, poach an egg each.

Take fish from under grill & serve with poached egg on top & something like baby new potatoes on side. Ver' nice.

The ones we have liked are:

Chicken fajitas
Classic tomato spaghetti
Broccoli and pesto tagliatelle
Macaroni cauliflower cheese bake
Mini shell pasta with a creamy smoked bacon and pea sauce
Cherry tomato sauce with cheat's fresh pasta
My sweet and sour pork
Chicken Korma
Leek and potato soup
Classic mince and onion pie
Chicken and white wine stew (I use the mince from this for a fab shepherds pie too just by topping it with mashed potatoes and baking it until a bit brown on top)

That is what we have tried so far and liked. Obviously we are more limited as we have to adapt the meat so there will be more that is good if you can eat meat. My friend has told me the burgers and meat balls are fab for example but they don't work with quorn.

I didn't like:

Pork and cider stew
Chicken and leek stroganoff

Is it right that if I made a vegetarian stew I wouldn't need to add the flour???

thanks for all your replies by the way.

I would add the flour as it will thicken up the stock. You will have to stir it more though as you won't have the fat that the meat would produce. If you don't have the flour then use less stock and just keep an eye on it incase it dries out. If you use too much without flour it will be too runny.

It might be nice with the baked french potatoes if you are feeling very adventurous

Am going to try and do a stew, just hope the DC behave while I do it.

black you could always make a soup with whatever veg you have left over. I often make soups in the evening & pop them in the freezer for a quick & easy meal another day

I have a good one for you:

you will need-

chickpeas
kidney beans
passata
random veg that you can fry up (anything you have in the cupboard!)
onion or leek!

cumin powder
chilli/paprika
random spices that you might like

boil in the bag rice
cheddar
sour cream/ creme fraiche

fry the vegetables until soft with the spices, add the passata then kidneybeans and chickpeas and leave to bubble and reduce for short period of time - should be soupy but thick like a stew!

Serve with rice/cheese/cream like a veg chilli - really good and spice is optional - use lots of garlic and stuff and it is super tasty

Sorry black are you veggie? I assumed you weren't because of the ham.

If not, you could my cheat's carbonara. Boil pasta. Meanwhile, finely chop an onion or leek and fry until soft. Add finely chopped bacon and continue cooking. Add chopped mushrooms and a clove of crushed garlic, and carry on going. When pasta is cooked, drain saving a little bit of the cooking water (not much, half a cup will do). Stir creme fraiche or single cream into the bacon pan, season with pepper and chopped basil (or dried herbs if that's what you have, just don't add salt as the bacon does that for you). Add a bit of the reserved cooking water if it looks a bit dry and give it a good stir. Serve.

This is a ten minute dish and is one of DH's favourites. You can mix it up by adding pesto, or peas, but it's simple and tasty and I love it because you can get the sauce done in the time it takes to boil the pasta. Kids usually like it too.

Not so much vegetarian but I don't eat a lot of meat either. fussy
In my younger days I was mostly veggie.

Meat I do eat is: chicken, sausages, bacon, ham and rarely minced beef.

Although tonight I made a vegetable stew/ chunky soup.

How did it turn out? Did you put any quorn in it? If not you could add chick peas or butter beans or similar for protein.

It was very nice, thanks Carrots.
Although it was probably more like a chunky soup than a stew.

That sounds like it is to do with the cooking off of the flour and simmering. If there is not meat you may need to add a little oil to bind with the flour and cook that through the veg for a minute or two then gradually stir in the stock so that it thickens up.

You could also try using cornflour.

Right I have onions, sweet potatoes, peas and potatoes.

All other basic stuff but only 1 egg. What can i make with that ladies?