My new resolution is too from scratch more often. What do you regularly cook from scratch?

[WUME]

I do chilli, spag bol, curry, stew and lasagne from scratch.

The rest of my meals are made up of things like pesto pasta, fish fingers.

What do you cook on a weekly basis?

Pea and bacon puree for white fish

What a good idea! Nicked

I cook everything from scratch due to being vv poor and having dietary restrictions. My 'ready meal' is Scotch eggs which, fortunately, are cheap in Aldi. And oven chips! I'm a one-pot maestro, though sometimes push the boat out and cook the veg separately. I spend ridiculous amounts of time frying celery with leeks, as it makes a decent savoury base for most dishes (I've given up onions.)

Chicken in the slow cooker's invariably good, and effortless :)

I need a really quick meal to give dd1 and dd2

Ham, egg & chips
Omelette & chips or fritatta made with yesterday's rice
Corned beef hash (30 mins with real potatoes)
Multicoloured rice - add frozen veg just before rice is finished; chop ham or tinned fish into it before serving

Any good?

Fake mini-pizzas using crusty bread, or buy pizza bases
Mince & tatties
Burgers made by squashing mince, chips & beans optional
Stir fries

Lentil and vegetable soup with dumplings is popular here. It's a good one for busy days as it takes about 10 mins preparation time tops for the soup, and it will stand & be reheated whenever you need it. If you're not busy, then add dumplings. We'd usually have soup + dumplings as main meal one day, then the next have the rest of the soup + a baked potato so it does 2 meals.

Recipe:
Wash & chop 2 or 3 big leeks, 3 or 4 good sized carrots, a turnip and/or some swede, as they're chopped throw them into the pot to sweat in a bit of oil. Once all the veg is in, add 1/2 mug green or brown lentils, stir a bit. Then add a tin of chopped tomatoes, water to cover generously, a slug of olive oil if you want, and a veggy stock cube or tsp bouillon powder. If you have a pressure cooker, bring up to pressure, cook 20 mins. Otherwise simmer for maybe 40 mins.

If you want dumplings, 1/2 hour before you want to eat reheat soup if you've cooked it earlier, then when it is simmering:
4 oz s/r flour, 2 oz suet, pinch salt, mix to a soft dough with cold water. Put walnut sized pieces in the soup, cover, simmer 20 mins.

I often make noodle soup, with veg and chicken. Tasty, everyone loves it, you can tweak it for adults with coriander/chilli/ginger, and easy IMO.

Also stews, always make double so you can reheat a few days later.

Lasagna

pan fried fish, boiled veg or salad and boiled potatoes with hollandaise sauce. Hollandaise is easy to make really and such a treat.

I am not into low cal, as you can see

but with a baby maybe hollandaise is a bit ambitious

super quick fixes:

fry up yesterday's rice (cook extra) with a bit of soy sauce, egg and frozen peas= egg friend rice= meal kids can spoon in. Time: 10 mins or less

we mostly have veggie, although the kids eat some meat.

Most popular home made are

soups - usually lentil and vegetable or potato and vegetable
omelettes
chicken goujons (dead easy - pan fry)
quiche
puff pastry open pie type things - with tomatoes/veggies/cheese
chickpeas with tomato/ spinach
mushroom burgers (with portabello mushrooms)
garlic/creamy mushrooms on toast
egg (scrambled or boiled) with soldiers
chicken pie/veggie pie - not popular with kids thoug
risotto
bean burgers
stir fry
mash potato with something
roast veggies
fish - pan fry or bake

and couscous - life saver when you are really short of time. boil up with a veggie stock cube and serve with whatever - usually chicken or Ikea meatballs (really not home made)

when dds were small I found the easiest things were either things that could be made ahead and frozen (so a lot of soup) or that went in the oven and didn't require a lot of stirring.

Quickly healthy kids meals.

Gnocchi with veg and pesto- not home cooked but v healthy and welcomed by my 1 &3 year old

Shish kebabs, salsa, pitta, salad, couscous and yogurt
Carbonara
Veg lasagne
Soups- a millions varieties. My boys love any with crusty bread
Thai curry
Sausage casserole with beans- serve with mash
Frittata or omelette
Roast veg and roadt chicken
Pies- chicken and ham, beef and mushroom. My boys love them!

Rack of lamb,
Chicken fricasse
Lamb shank
Curry

I love food and cooking!

From my nana.

Roast dinner on Sunday. And make bread and rolls for the rest of the week, frozen as needed.

Leftover meat heated up with boiled potatoes and veg on Monday.

Tuesday, spag bol. With enough left over for a lunch the next day.

Wednesday, Chilli. With enough left over for a lunch the next day.

Thursday, Beef mince stew/meatloaf/chicken breast. Depends on the week. With enough left over for a lunch the next day.

Friday, any fish with home made batter, mashed potato or wedges.
Saturday, home made burgers or meatballs.

We ate, and eat a lot of mince. Total cost for a family of 5 adults is about £60, with extras like lunch.

I make this a lot - not super quick but requires little effort/attention as long you use a timer. It's lovely.

I literally do make everything I eat from scratch using raw ingredients. I have to as I have severe food intolerances. I have to know what is in my food and I don't want to risk it.

Mostly I do the same for family except for DCs I don't make their fish fingers from scratch, or sausages or baked beans or fruit juices or croissants.

Try and use the things you already make into two meals. For example, spag bol one night, lasagne a couple of days later. Just make extra sauce, or add more veg/tinned toms.

Chilli is good with rice or jacket potatoes, but it's also great spooned into a tortilla, folded over, sprinkled with grated cheese and then grilled for 5 mins until the cheese melts.

Definitely start make your own soups - they are so easy! Loads of veg, stock/ and or coconut milk, cheese, lentils etc. Makes a huge batch. Check out the Good Food website. Have one night with cheese toasties, then another night with paté and cheese. Two meals in one!

Sorry, thought of another good one that kids love - fried rice. Only uses one pan and uses up loads of leftovers. Kids love it too as it's 'Chinese'!

Make an omelette, remove from pan, set aside.
Fry veg (whatever you have, onion, peppers, leftover carrot etc) and leftover meat in the same pan (pork, chicken, sauage, whatever) until cooked through.
Add leftover rice.
Add soy sauce and seasoning.
Make sure all ingredients are mixed and heated thoroughly.
Slice omelette thinly, add to pan, heat through.
Can add coriander or garlic if your kids like it.

Always a hit with DH too!

Ah, just seen Chandon got there first : )

It IS a chore, isn't it?!

But it tastes so much nicer

I cook everything from scratch.

Once you master the basics its easy. I always make really big batches and freeze it.

There are so many additives and preservatives in food nowadays I want my children to grow up as I did, eating fresh homemade food.

I do use a few ready made products such as Panko breadcrumbs. I use these to make chicken or fish nuggets. I dip chicken strips in seasoned flour, I use paprika and turmeric, then in egg and then the panko and just fry. They are so yummy the kids love them.

I also use tin tomatoes to make pasta sauce. I fry onion and garlic, add some turmeric then tin tomatoes and puree and blend. I use this as a base for most of my cooking.

From scratch midweek (dd is veggie)
Pizza
Various soups
Rissoto
Stir fry
Veggie stew with cous cous
Curry (various)
Three bean wraps
Sausage and mash (not sure that counts)
Kedgeree
Fish pie

In the past have done mince dishes but tricky since dd turned veggie, my lot didn't like quorn at all.

Weekend more time consuming dishes:
Roast
Paella
Home made lentil burgers or meaty ones (tend to be summer) with home made wedges
Moule marinaire
Or anything else which requires more than 30 mins-1 hours labour.

Another recommendation for where to look for recipes. BBC Good Food. Most have been tried and tested and are fail safe, loads of quick and simple ideas, some with cheats, some from scratch and for ever occasion and diet. I use it for midweek inspiration, would look else where for dinner parties. They also have useful information on how to freeze so that you can batch cook when you have time and just re-heat on the quick days.

I'd get a few copies of good food magazine - they often have easy and quick recipes and you will hopefully get a few ideas.
Just seen Butterpuff also recommended...

Agree with Toffeeboffin about doubling up.

A good tip is to isolate one afternoon or part of a day when you regularly always do a lot of cooking as that way it becomes routine. (I always make veg soup on Thursday for example (we always eat vegetarian food on a Thursday so chop loads of veg in processor at same time) and either freeze it or we have it over the weekend in between extra curricular stuff). Always automatically buy a load of veg mid-week.

Other regular dishes:
roast on at least every other Sunday (have cold cuts and lots of veg or salad on Mondays)
slow-cooked pasta sauces (spag bol, proper tomato sauce)- used dried pasta though - for mid-week suppers
also risottos
and veggie burgers or corn fritters
home made baked beans
weekly or twice weekly batch of (healthy-ish) cakes for lunch boxes such as oat biscuits, home made fruit bars
in summer - lots of cous cous type dishes with veg stews
in winter - lots of dishes involving chicken thighs (ie roasted with squash, or cooked with rice and winter veg)
always fish on Friday ... either fish pie (cook two and freeze one) some sort of fresh fish dish (cod or salmon pieces) or fish cakes
baked spuds for 'in between' snack type meals

Keep recommending this website for good recipes; use it a fair bit www.notquitenigella.com/

Yes to carrying things over to another day. I made a gorgeous beef and red wine casserole with dumplings the other day. There was a decent amount left over, which went in the freezer and will be used for a tasty pie, with the addition of some shop bought puff pastry.

I have just this minute put last night's roast chicken carcass in a pot for stock. Big family favourite in a bastardised ancient Madhur Jaffrey Chicken Mulligatawny recipe which is basically dahl with chicken stock and leftover chicken.

I'm changing some stuff and just swapping some usual things over to be more home made is helping. I bought ready rolled pizza dough yesterday and we all made our own pizzas. Lovely and much cheaper than frozen ones, and DS was so impressed.

roast chicken - once a week
fried pork with veg
fresh salmon with veg
mixed sea food and veg
steak with veg
eggs in all kinds of ways
bacon
one of my sons has lots of baked potatoes he makes in the oven with his piece of either steak or tuna steak