What's your favourite (easy ish) recipe for a meal?

[TeaJunky]

Right then. I think it's time I got serious about feeding my family decent, home cooked food now that dc2 is on the way and dd is 3 and eating proper meals with us.

The only problem is I am USELESS at cooking - and just not very creative! I dont know if it's a confidence crisis in the kitchen or what but honestly, I'm just not one of those people that can knock up something nice in half an hour and I so would LOVE to be

So lovely mners, I need your easy meal recipes pleeease, nothing too fancy mind, as I'm rather clueless but I don't mind a decent challenge either we eat meat but not pork.

TA vair much

Try chicken, chopped into cubes, in a pan, pour over a tin of mushroom soup, simmer until the chicken is cooked, served with pasta. Brilliant and very easy.

I nicked this from another MNetter and it is my favourite thing to cook!

Fry sausages and put them in a casserole dish. Cover with carrots, onions, leeks, squash, pretty much anything you want really. Pour over stock (I use Bisto!) until it just covers the top layer of veg. Put the lid on the dish and pop in oven at and cook at 200 degrees for 1hr and 40mins (roughly).

Serve with mash.

Piece of piss and so tasty! DS is ridiculously fussy and won't touch vegetables ususally but he wolfs this.

Oh bugger you don't eat pork!!

Er, can you get non-pork sausages ?

You need Jamie Oliver's Ministry of Food.
Easy, doable meals, without spending too much, and all the ingredients are easily available.
I've taught myself to cook, starting when I had DD (she'll be 11 in August), and I started with browning meat and using jars and packets. Now, I'll try anything, I'm an adventurous cook, and we will both try anything, though I don't do fiddly.
Delia is great for the basics, and methods, but if you want meals, then Jamie is the one to buy.

Thanks modre but..whispers... I wanted proper recipes so sorry ..I already do things like that and it doesn't feel like real cooking? Maybe I'm over thinking this whole cooking thing ?!

I use an Annabel Karmel lasagne recipe believe it or not, it uses a tin condensed tomato soup plus if you are really short of time you can cheat with the cheese sauce.

feak sounds delish! And yes, you CAN buy other sausages!

How do you make stock? It's this thing I keep reading about in recipe
Books and it scares me

I am also pretty rubbish in the kitchen... but make an effort to provide the 3 ! Dcs with decent meals. Here's some of what we eat:

*spaghetti bolognaise / lasagne
*fish pie - easy to make - cook fish mix & prawns, make white sauce & add together. Top with mashed, potato & cheese & cook in oven
*salmon cooked in foil in the oven, served with roast potatoes, broccoli & carrots (or macaroni cheese & veg).

• chicken legs cooked in oven - served with potatoes & veg

We also use the bbc good food website for great recipe ideas.

Good luck!

good food website is great, so is the weightwatchers one, as is the Philladelphia chees one (mmmmm) you can buy any magazine these days and they'll be a recipe in there, just need to try them :)

I have literally just finished eating this:

pork (use chicken if you prefer) chopped into chunks
chorizo chopped into chunks
tin of chopped tomatoes (I used some that had chopped basil in)
tin of butterbeans
Mediterranean mixed herbs (I think its basil, oregano, garlic etc)
garlic
chili

put it in the oven for about an hour on 180 degrees, or as long as you want really, so long as it is all cooked!

Add veg if you can be bothered, swap butterbeans for any other kind (but probably not baked beans!), add seasoning, herbs andf chili to suit your tastes.

I have absolutely no idea how to make stock! I have a cupbaord full of various powders you just have to add water to!

You can do a mince mix - yes? So mince, onion, garlic, tomato, puree, herbs - bit of left over wine I wish or stock.

Then it can become....

lasagne - layer with pasta and top with cheese sauce and cheese.
Moussaka - layer with aubergine/courgette/potato top with cheese sauce/cheese.
Shepherds pie - top with mash
Spag bol - serve with pasta/garlic bread.
chilli - add beans (kidney or baked) and some chilli powder.
Meatballs - roll the mince and some chopped onions to small balls. then cook in tomato sauce.
Meatloaf - same as meatballs but cook in loaf tin. Line tin with bacon first if you want.

Soups are also a good, wholesome homecooked meal - just use whatever you have in the fridge - there are some great combinations out there.

Quiche.... very easy

Pastry in the flan tin - use shop bought if you don't want to do your own but shortcrust is super easy - 8oz flour, 4 oz butter and a small amount of water to bring together. Then use whatever fillings you fancy - cheese / tuna / salmon / veggies / bacon ect. Mix together a couple of eggs with some milk and pour over raw pastry and filling and bake till set - about 40 mins in oven. Serve with salad etc.

Cream sauces - use creme fraiche and add to fried onions/garlic/meat/veg and serve with rice - like a Stroganoff.

Experiment - have fun - it really wont go that wrong!!

Some very easy recipes of the topog my head. I usually use waitrose.com or bbc good food websites

Salmon en croute : salmon fillets topped with mixture of creme fraiche, horseradish and lemon juice, wrap in ready-made puff pastry and bake

Puff pastry square spread with pesto, topped with slices of mozzarella or goats cheese, baked

Salmon topped with cubes of feta cheese, lemon juice, butter and mint cooked in oven

Mushroom pasta- thinly sliced mushroom fried in butter with garlic and shallots for a few minutes, then add lots of black pepper, salt, double cream or cream fraiche, chopped parsley
Serve with tagliatelle or parpadelle. Add a grilled/pan fried chicken breast if hungry.

Seafood pasta: fry garlic, shallots and chopped red chili in lots of oil, when done add cooked prawns, lemon juice, chopped parsley and heat through. Serve with spaghetti.

Curries made with curry paste+coconut milk somehow feel more home cooked than a jar of sauce!

Do you have time to do a cooking course? I have been to a 1/2 day course at London Cookery School, was fantastic and well worth the £100. I think you can get a discount on mn academy?

Spinach and rocotta pasta with optional bacon.

Chop and fry onions and lots of garlic, add spinach and salt to taste-less if adding bacon. (I use frozen spinach)
Fry bacon separately until crispy, when cooled a little break into little bits
Boil appropriate amount of pasta
Combine spinach and pasta, mix in rocotta, serve and put bacon bits on top.

Takes about half hour. Yum. Unfortunately no one else in my house seems to like it.

ds's favourite is bacon pasta
Cook some pasta
Fry some bacon
Mix it together with a good dollop of wholegrain mustard
Have also added sweetcorn, carrots, onions, mushrooms - in fact most veg will work in it
Always have clean plates when this is served up

We have a small selection of dishes we rotate:
*Lasagne
*Bangers and Mash
*Sunday Roast
*Quesedillas
*Pasta Bake
*Prawn and Pesto Pasta
*Picky nibbles tea - ham, cheeses, breads etc

If you want 'how I cook them's, just say and ill list it (just didnt want to do a mammoth post for you to say "Well, I allready make that that and that")

www.eventbrite.com/event/3477644729?nomo=1

Here is the school I mentioned, this course looks good

what we call (imaginatively) chicken & bacon thing:

1 chicken breast per person
handful of cherry toms ditto
3 rashers of streaky bacon ditto
garlic
1 rosemary sprig per chicken breast
olive oil

spread chicken out in lasagne-type dish
put toms in the gaps in between
coil bacon on top of chicken if skinless, or on top of toms if chicken has skin on (which is nicer actually as you end up with lovely crunchy skin)
chop 3 or 4 garlic cloves & sprinkle over
strip leaves off rosemary, ditto
drizzle with olive oil
bake at c 200 degrees for 35-45 mins

dead easy & smells divine while cooking. I normally get the free-range breasts from aldi. we have it with oven chips & peas (dead classy, us)

Frittata , really easy to make , can put practically anything in it and serve it with salad . There are loads of recipes on the bbc food website , some are quite poncy and some are more basic .

CHILLI

1x large pack of mince
2x tins chopped tomatoes (can be value ones)
1x tin red kidney beans (can also be value ones)
2-3 carrots, finely grated
1x large onion, finely chopped
1x small jar of bolognaise sauce (we use a cheap but not value one)
Chilli powder

1. Fry mince & onion in a sprinkling of chilli powder and drain mince.
2. Add above, plus all other ingredients into either a pan or a slow cooker.
3. Stir & add more chilli powder to taste.

Cook on a low-medium heat on the hob for about an hour stirring every 15mins or so. Serve when the consistency is thick and not watery, and when the carrot has dissolved. Alternatively shove in a slow cooker.

You might need to adjust the amount of tomatoes and bolognaise sauce depending on how you cook this and also the amount of mince you use. You can also add small cubes of butternut squash in too.

Suitable for freezing :)

Chicken or veg stock is nice and easy:

We will have roast chicken, mash swede & chicken, cauli cheese, yorkie puds, stuffing, roasties & gravy tomorrow.

Whilst DH is washing up I will strip the chicken of any left over meat to make chicken & stuffing sandwiches for pack lunches the next day.

I then put the chicken, an onion, carrot peelings and some fresh herbs in to a pan of water and boil then simmer on low for a few hours.

Seive the juice and store in the fridge, you will need to scoop the fat of the top before you use it or skim the fat off once seived using some kitchen roll or an ice cube

It will look like mushed jelly when chilled and can be frozen in small portions to use in soup, gravy and a base for many more dishes.

I also batch cook a roasted veg red sauce that I use with pasta, shepherds pie, lasagne etc.

Tonight we had jacket potatoes wrapped in foil and cooked on low for a few hours. I then slowly fried a red onion, chucked in some chicken and a sliced red pepper. Added seasoning and paprika with a little bit of water (you could use creme fraiche) and poured it over my buttered jacket - yum! - you can also do this with strips of beef.

Jamies meals in minutes is a good book for home cooked but easy meals.

Keema Lamb with chick peas or frozen green peas.
Fry abut 450 gram lamb mince in a heavy pan with chopped onion and garlic, add curry spices or paste to taste, add a tin of chopped tomatoes and a tin of chick peas. Pour in about half a pint of water, cover and simmer until thick and reduced, about half an hour or so. Longer won't do it any harm at all. If using frozen peas add them 10 mins before the end of the cooking time. Serve with plain rice or nan bread or chapattis, a chopped tomato and onion sambal, plain yoghurt, or yoghurt and cucumber.

You can also add small chunks of potato -- they will take about 40 minutes to cook in the dish, or you can parboil them for 15 minutes first then add them for the last 15 minutes or so.

meant to add

• should serve 4.

Jacket potatoes with any toppings you feel like: cheese, butter, chives, tomatoes, tuna etc.

A favourite here, particularly with small child, is Spaghetti Marco Polo
Cook spaghetti, toss in olive oil and chopped spring onions once cooked. Serve the spaghetti out onto plates and have the following on the table for adding: tuna chunks (the 'in brine' ones are best), chopped walnuts, olives, grated emmenthal, or other nutty cheese.

Basic tomato sauce to go with pasta (serves 3 so you may need double quantities).
Empty the following into a pan:
tin of chopped tomatoes in own juice,
half an onion roughly diced,
couple of large garlic cloves (chopped)
Five-eight cubes frozen spinach (optional)
good sized dash of dried basil and oregano,
a small amount of grated nutmeg, salt & pepper to taste.
Put pan on heat until simmering. Leave to simmer for ten minutes. You can then eat straight away, but it is nicer if made the previous day and re-heated.

Roast chicken with new potatoes.
I use tarragon, pepper and lemon juice on the outside of the chicken and leave the squeezed lemons inside the chicken.
Instead of basting I use the 'Italian method' which basically is:
put chicken on raised rack in roasting tray (we use the one from our grill)
fill base with about 1" of water and chuck in a couple of bay leaves
cover with tin foil and leave
remove tin foil about half an hour before eating to brown the skin

Coriander mushrooms (this is an Elizabeth David one, serves 3 as a side, so again, up the portions for your family)
350g of white mushrooms, cleaned and stalks chopped off
cut into quarters
squeeze over half a fresh lemon
add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to a pan to warm.
keep the pan on a low heat
add one teaspoon crushed coriander seeds and some freshly ground pepper to the pan and leave them for about one minute
then add the mushrooms and 1-2 bay leaves and salt (if desired)
cover the pan and leave them for 5 - 10 mins
pour all into a bowl and serve at the table.
Goes brilliantly with fresh bread. Can also be eaten cold the next day

Wow, thanks to all who have posted with their lovely recipes!
I'd written out several replies yesterday but my bloody phone wouldn't let me post

Can someone please explain to me what sauté is? And Blanche?
And how does one make stock??