Minceperation needed

[PlatinumBrunette]

I’m planning a batch cooking session for my elderly food-fussy mum and need some inspiration for lamb and beef mince dishes.

In recent years, she’s eating less and less, and due to a ton of medical, intolerance, and allergy issues, there’s a lot of ingredients she can’t eat. Thankfully, I’m aware of all these and having cooked for what seems like millennia, I’ve become adept at substitution.

A few months ago, I batch cooked some cottage pie, shepherds pie and chicken. She was over the moon! Aww. So it’s time to start again.

I need to do a shop before I start the cooking conveyor belt and wondered if anyone can give me some ideas on what to include so she gets a wide range of vitamins, minerals, protein and - what have I missed? All in one tiny meat dish. Hidden veg just like I did with my kid!

Nothing remotely spicy. No nuts. I won’t list all the things she can’t have, but if you’ve got any flavour ideas, please let me know.

Bolognese obvs, and meatballs. Moussaka?

When you say not spicy, do you mean not hot, or no spices at all? Because if she can have spice but not hot there’s lots more options. Keema is a great one for example (add peas for veg). Or we love this https://www.recipetineats.com/lamb-shawarma-chickpea-soup/ just leave out the cayenne.

Does the meat need to be mince? If not then there are lots of casserole options made with diced meat or meat on the bone (you can remove the bones once cooked).

Chicken cooked and cubed, in a white sauce, add mushrooms or leeks & peas or broccoli florets. Top with mashed potatoes as for shepherds pie.

Fish pie, add vegetables, carrots leeks peas spinach etc. Instead of a traditional white sauce, try using tinned lobster bisque for the sauce for a different flavour.

If she likes Mediterranean flavours, ratatouille with diced cooked chicken added and potato topped would be tasty.

For a change of texture you could top with thinly sliced potatoes instead of mash, so chicken or mince hotpot.

Salisbury steak
Cabbage roll soup
Swedish meatballs
Meatloaf
Some kind of pasties or pies?

Take a look at ready meals and freezer meals in the supermarket for inspiration.

Off hand I’m thinking,
shepherds pie, cottage pie, fish pie, savoury mince pie, chicken chasseur, alfredo if garlic is an option, soft beef stew (use a collagen rich cut and cook slowly for ages until it’s meltingly soft). All of those lend themselves to pie format and you can switch between mash and pastry lids,
lasagne
spaghetti bolognese (but maybe with a chunkier pasta like fusilli if it’s being reheated,
lentils and sausage cassoulet
soups with beans, chickpeas and lentils.
Roast dinner (freeze the sliced meat in sauce/gravy)
I used to make my elderly df a curry-less curry with coconut milk and pineapple and a chilli-less chilli with the bolognese ragu and kidney beans.

What’s her capability for cooking like? Is she just reheating or could she manage a dump bag for the slow cooker, or a tray bake for the oven?

Nigella How to Eat has a wonderful recipe for meatballs in tomato sauce, with a meatball variant that includes chicken livers which is brilliant for iron and other vitamins.

No spices at all, sadly. Herbs, yes. And yes, it has to be mince so she can eat it (misbehaving teeth!)

Moussaka could be a good call, thank you.

She didn’t want chicken this time around - red meat only as she’s a little anaemic. I made a fabulous chicken chasseur before.

Luckily she lives on fish from the ‘fish lady’. Good call on the soup as a sauce though, thank you.

i don’t need to do any accompaniments - just the mince. It will be frozen to transport.

Would finely chopped spinach work in a ‘stew’? I’d love to get some in there for her.

Lamb mince with gravy and tomato (usually red wine too) with a cheese & mustard scone cobbler topping.

It’s got to be just the ‘slop’, as I call it 😆 It’s the only way I can transport a couple of hundred miles. She then adds whatever she wants to the main mince.

You could add spirulina or leafy green powder to the dishes (note spirulina will likely change the colour). BTW 'minceperation' is 💯

Pies of the shepherd, and cottage variety are what she wants. With no potatoes.
if I tell you the pots I make them in are about the size of baby food pots, you can see it’s not possible to make a whole dish. And each pot gives her TWO meals! Appetite of a sparrow.
She just has an Aga and kind of lives as she did in the war.

Ooh, livers! Great idea, thank you. I know she also loves kidney, so I may need to learn how to cook them too.

Lamb mince and gravy, yep, no tomato or mustard.
its a tricky line to walk, but I’m used to her.

I still have an earlier version of Joceline Dimbleby’s Marvellous Meals with Mince
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Marvellous-Meals-Mince-Josceline-Dimbleby/dp/184949150X/ref=sr_1_1?adgrpid=164043817871&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.ETxwXaHXeEIU7ljPBl2PpSE4Ugs27VmwoU0fYjaCSzcyZ3y8AspS-ALJ1hV1HouKBOO7NbVnOXEaOE_kUY5xjzR17YxoTgeBtlI3VALCdFAEWrx2sGEXBxsiFpkDsx63.HmmRdtNw0G7_iuZ8lnNaN4Fq6hYYZzOzNv45mfK9WEQ&dib_tag=se&gad_source=1&hvadid=696774518155&hvdev=c&hvexpln=69&hvlocphy=9208671&hvnetw=g&hvocijid=11244651186968583858--&hvqmt=e&hvrand=11244651186968583858&hvtargid=kwd-314681157582&hydadcr=24434_2302347&keywords=marvellous+meals+with+mince&mcid=04e08eb78ccd37e3908b25dcd9420c32&qid=1749934596&sr=8-1
She did a series of books for Sainsbury’s all of which were very reliable, reasonably easy and she never shied away from flavour.

Google Tesco Korean beef bowl. It’s basically mince with grated carrots and teriyaki sauce (which just makes it taste a bit sweet, much nicer than it sounds and doesn’t taste ‘exotic’.)

You can up the carrots if you want more vitamins in there.

Why thank you <bows> I surprised myself with Minceperation 😂
think I’ll miss out the green stuff - who knows what it could do to her!

@PlatinumBrunette , yes spinach can be added to casseroles. To save yourself some work, look out for frozen chopped spinach. It comes in pellets or balls, and you can just throw three or four into whatever dish you're making.

The vegetables I listed, I would add one or two into the pie, not serve separately as accompaniments.

What a lovely daughter you are, so thoughtful!

Could you add some tinned green lentils to the mince mixture? Will add a bit more protein & fibre.

My mum & I used to make individual meat & potatoe pies for my grandma who lived 200+ miles away. We’d take a batch up every few months & put them in the freezer.

Lasagne? Stovies? Corned beef hash? Sloppy joes? Bobotie? Meatloaf?

Thank you, I’m trying to avoid buying yet another book - I have about 100 already and rarely use them any more. For savoury, I make it up as I go, but knowing Mum’s special diet, it’s a little more challenging.

Sadly, teriyaki = migraine. And, like a child, she doesn’t like carrots. She will get carrots, very finely grated, so won’t complain 😆

I’d do her more of what she already likes. Elderly people with low appetites and fussiness aren’t known for their experimental attitude to food.

Puy lentils go really well with beef and lamb mince dishes. Just add some, no need to adjust any other parts of the recipe.

Thank you, that’s very kind. It’s the least I can do for my amazing Mum.

Ive added spinach to my shopping basket now. Everything will be chopped into oblivion and hidden in the mince dish. She will eat well and not know it!

Got my tinned green lentils ready to go!