Ho to cheat at cooking?

[AreYouOkayHun]

I love cooking...when I have time to plan and shop ahead, then potter all afternoon with a glass of wine and make many heavenly dishes.

What I don't enjoy about cooking is trying to come up with ideas week after week, compromising to everyone's preferences and coming in after a day at work and thinking about what to cook.

I have a busy few weeks coming up, so would like some ideas for easy, delicious, comforting dishes.

So what are you favourite ready made sauces, dishes, or easy to bung together dinners?

No soup please

How obviously

Quick, Easy & Tasty!
Pasta
Passata
Some Olive oil
Some Cream
Garlic & onion finely chopped
Herbs & spices to taste
Cheese.
Cherry Tomatoes

Boil pasta, half the tomatoes, mix other ingredients in a baking dish (except cheese), add the pasta & tomatoes mix well & sprinkle with the cheese.

Bake in oven for 20- 30 minutes.
Serve with garlic bread / salad.

As for amounts, I just guess but usually use about 2 tablespoon of oil and 100ml cream to t pack passata and pasta.

An other family favourite for the Slow cooker: veggie curry with lentils and chickpeas.
1 bag frozen vegetables (400-600g)
1 can chickpeas (drained)
1 can / pouch Coconut milk
1 cup lentils
1 of these curry spice pots
Small amount of water or vegetable stock
Literally chuck it all into the slow cooker, you might have to add some water or stock to cover the food. Cook on low for 5-6 hours. Serve with naan bread!

Jars of curry sauce are usually absolutely fine, and also Thai style curry pastes and a tin on coconut milk.

Then just add some combination of chick peas, a cut up cauliflower. Quorn pieces, tofu, cashew nuts, frozen spinach, sweet potato, small new potatoes or anything else.

Tonight's dinner was a jar of curry sauce, Quorn lumps and fresh spinach. Pouch of rice microwaved and some samosas in the oven.

Surprisingly really good.

Have you got a day to spare before the busy period to cook for the freezer? Mumsnet hates this for some reason, but I love devoting an afternoon to it. And they are a million times nicer than convenience stuff.

@Ylvamoon do you mean a jar of curry paste? What sort of frozen veg do you use?

Buy the big trays of pork loin steaks and chicken breasts. Separate into ziplock bags, as many as you need in each bag for a meal.

Then add different flavours in each bag.

• red wine
• honey and mustard
• lime, honey and coriander
• bbq sauce
• garlic, lemon and oregano
• balsamic vinegar, garlic, cherry tomatoes chopped in half

Freeze them.

In the morning take out a bag and leave in the fridge, in the evening put on a baking tray 20-30 minutes in the oven on gas 6. Serve with:

• microwave rice
• tenderstem broccoli and asparagus drizzled with Oil and roasted same time and temp as the meat.
• pasta in tomato sauce
• macaroni and cheese
• potato - wedges/roasted/mash/boiled
• shredded and in a wrap with grated cheese and salsa

I usually use the patak's curry paste pots.
(Or make my own and freeze in ice cube trays)
I just use bog standard vegetable mix with peas carrots sweetcorn & co. You can also use fresh vegetables or just peppers - it's really up to you.

I agree @BertrandRussell but have limited freezer space and trying to use what I've got so I can start preparing for Christmas in a few weeks.

I have used pataks pastes for 20 years and the quality isn't what it used to be - trying to keep cost down I guess.

Sometimes I get in and am inspired to cook wonderful dishes, but days like today I just can't be bothered. So hard to plan.

Fair enough!

I use a ready made fish pie sauce quite often with a fish pie fish mix. Par boil potatoes and slice them for the top instead of mash speeds things up. Same with a cottage pie- Schwartz spice/herb mix is very nice.
Tinned cannelini beans make a fantastic carbohydrate element to go with most things-if you add a chicken stock pot and let them cook for 10 minutes or so they are delicious. Don’t drain or rinse them- just chuck them in a pan. Bit of butter if nobody’s looking!

Butter makes everything better. French butter is best.

I use eatyourbooks.com for inspiration. There's a free version, but I think it's worth paying an annual sub.