Do you use "packet" sauces?

[kando]

Just wondered if anyone used "packet" sauces/mixes when cooking for their kids. By that I mean things like sausage casserole/ shepherds pie, or parsley sauce (eg in a fish pie).

I'm not a very good cook, and at the moment both dds ("veggie", but eat fish) are living on things like Quorn products (although only a couple of timesa week), fish fingers, tuna mayonnaise & pasta. I want to try and introduce more variety to their menu, and although I realise that starting from scratch and using fresh ingredients is the best, sometimes I just don't have the time or inclination to do that. I wondered how many of you use these types of sauces/mixes?

yeah, we use the colemans shepherds pie mix and the korma one. actually taste pretty good.

I do - but then I don't cook separately for ds (almost 3 years old) - he eats with us. So we'll have a variety of different types of food within the week.

I can also recommend browsing recipe sites such as Campbell Soup which has simple recipes using condensed soup as a base (a nice compromise between fresh/processed food, imo) and Best British Food which has basic recipes in which are very easy to follow.

The only thing I would say is, the shepherds pie packets aren't worth it - you don't really save any time making it with a packet as you do from scratch. Will post my "tried and true" cottage pie recipe (we use beef - you can sub lamb mince & stock to make a shepherds pie variety) - will just dig it out.

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
250g carrots, sliced
400g beef mince (best quality you can afford)
300ml fresh beef stock
800g floury potatoes (I prefer King Edwards for a really good mash)
butter and milk to help mash the tatties

Method

1. Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F Gas Mark 5)

2. Heat the oil and fry the onion and carrots for 6 minutes.

3. Add the mince and cook for 10 minutes.

4. Stir in the stock, reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes stirring occasionally.

5. Meanwhile, cook the potatoes until tender (takes around 15 mins) and mash well using the butter and milk as per your usual mashing preference.

6. Transfer the beef mixture to an oven dish and cover with the mashed potato. Use a fork to make wavy lines on the top of the mash.

7. Cook in the oven for 30 minutes.

Serves: 3-4. Best dished with some lightly steamed savoy cabbage (4-5 mins in steamer).

Notes on the cottage pie recipe:

Firstly, paying for the tubs of fresh beef stock is worth it - the flavour is far superior to just using gravy or a stock cube. It's just not a good idea to cut corners on this.

Secondly, I've only managed to get the right liquid/meat ratio using packs of ready minced beef. Ideally, it'd be nice to use left-over beef from a Sunday roast (not that we EVER manage to have leftovers from our Sunday roasts, but still...) - but I haven't managed to get the right moistness without being too soggy or too dry.

Thirdly, the quantities of mashed potato seem high, but the really crucial part of cottage pies is to always use one more potato than you think you need. Also, using a fork to make wavy lines on it isn't just for idle decoration, it helps to brown and crisp on the top.

Great, GeorginA, thanks for that I will give it a go, although will substitute the meat for Quorn mince. I also use the Campbells Condensed Mushroom Soup and add a tin of tuna, peas, sweetcorn and serve it up with pasta. I love it, and so do the kids! Will check out the websites and see what's what. Misdee, never tried the korma one - we always use the jars!!

yes i use them

DOH, yes just read the veggie qualifier Sorry about that No reason why Quorn/veg stock shouldn't do very well - let me know if you find that the liquid quantities need adjusting for quorn - would be interested to know

i have fussy dh and kids who wont touch onions and things so most of my cooking is done without onions. tho i always do some crispy onions if i'm having bangers and mash.

When I make cottage pie, I bung in extra carrots, courgettes and a can of chopped tinned tomoatoes to get more veg into DSs. I don't use stock but use herbs (whatever I have in the cupboard! I'm no expert) and some water - less than the recipe stated because of the tomato juice. I also add a bay leaf at Georgina's stage (4) because that's what the recipe on the mince label says!

I used to use loads of packet sauces but realised it's actually not too tricky to make most of them yourself. I used to make a large batch of cheese sauce for example and freeze it in portion sizes. I am not a great cook by any stretch of the imagination!

i do make my own white and cheese sauces, even tho i dont pacticually like them myself my kdis and hubby like them. i also make my own yorkshire puddings, which no-one seems to do much these days. tried the frozen ones again the other day and they were yukky.

i use bottled sauces like red and brown sauce

custy, you mean you cook? That's amazing. (Or is the sauce just for the chips from chippy?)

I make shepherd's pie with onions, mince, tinned toms and baked beans, it's lovely (ds2 doesn't like it but he doesn't like most things). Add Worcester sauce for a bit more flavour. You could do it with soy mince.

Also use somebody's chicken chasseur packets, do lob in a lot more veg than they suggest but starting from scratch is always nicer. Not sure it would work as well with fish fingers.

Yep I use packet sauces here. When DS1 was a baby I used to make all his meals from scratch and freeze in batches, but even then I used packet mixes for sauces such as lamb casserole etc (suppose technically I wasn't making meals from scratch then )

Our favourite one at the moment is Coleman's chicken casserole packet mix, it is absolutely gorgeous IMO, and if I remember correctly there's a recipe on the back for a vegetarian alternative

I used to use a lot of the packet mixes, but some of them contain MSG. I do still use them but only the ones I like the Ingredients list on the back. I find a lot of the jar sauces to be really good and don't contain anything bad. Most of the time if you have a few herbs in the cupboard you can add them instead of packet mixes. I always have tinned tomatos, herbs, garlic, pepper as basics in the cupboard. If you feel adventurous read the ingredients on the back of packets and stock up on the individual herbs and spices.

No, never use them. Love cooking so make my own.

If id din't we'd never eat

Think they taste foul, so never use them. Find them full of horrible chemical 'flavourings' (and I'm not at all a food snob and do eat my fair share of fishfinger sandwiches etc)