Whats your cheat ingredient or recipe you would be ashamed to reveal?

[notamumyetbutoneday]

Mine is pasta caronara- with the sauce bit made from adding any old grated cheese (usually cheddar ) to creme fraiche til it melts. Absolutely gorgeous, everyone loves it but I would be soo ashamed to reveal that my carbonara sauce contains cheddar cheese!

Whats your secret?!

senua, at gravy browning in xmas cake! Really? It actually made me laugh reading that one!

oxo lamb gravy with mint for the shepherds pie

condensed mushroom or chicken creamy type soups(usually campbells in our house)are great for bunging in the slow cooker with chicken or pork....I could probably start a new thread with shop bought sauces/cheats which work in the slow cooker but I'd bet it's been done somewhere before

This is such a good thread.... surprised it wasn't one of your's lucysmam

I always add a carrot to mash... a good way of getting extra veggies in (to us as well as children LOL) and it tastes delicious too.

Spanish Chicken Tonight sauce with quorn meatballs and frozen mixed peppers or green beans bunged in the oven for 40 minutes. If I'm really lazy busy this is accompanied by uncle ben's 2 minute rice.

to make a quick leek and potato soup finely chop leek sweat in butter add stock ( veg stock cube in hot water) and stir in some instant mash potato powder. Heat until the whole thing is simmering & thickened. Taste & season with pepper and some salt & sugar if needed. Have found a v.small amount of sugar used as a seasonong in savory dishes produces a more rounded flavour

subtlemouse there's not much subtle about adding custard powder into savoury dishes.

I do a version of philadelphia with pesto, peas and pasta. (first read it on here). Broccoli works well instead of peas. I cook it all in one pan. Boil the pasta for about 4 minutes,then add the veg and boil for 3-4 minutes ish. Then stir in the soft cheese and pesto. (aldi brand is fine, no need to go ott with "proper" brands btw)

I was excited today as Heinz beans were on special offer in Tesco we have been making do with own brand but they are not the same imo.

EPPM I added a sweet potato to our mash tonight - it was fine. (similar to your carrot version) dd1 was a bit as she claims to hate sweet potato and then I told her what she had eaten.

When I was a kid my mum used to make the best tasting casserole. I'd forgotten about it until about a year ago and asked for the recipe. Turns out it's 2 tins of Heinz Oxtail soup, 2 tins of Heinz vegetable soup and a few spoonfuls of bisto granules!! (obviously add meat or other vegetables)

The thing is I've since made it when people come for dinner and everyone loves it plus it has to be the laziest cooking ever, just opening 4 tins

You can also avoid peeling potatoes with a ricer - just chop, boil and bung through the ricer and the skins stay on the ricer!

lol EachPeach, nope. But I am sat here with my little book taking notes! I can't believe how much stuff I've got off MN in the past year, it's almost full & has fallen to bits.

Have never heard of instant mash in soup to thicken, will be trying that one out as well!

Afer years of failing to get my Yorkshires to rise, ive found the secret is 2 eggs, so use the previously posted recipe but add an extra egg.

tiptoes in - I like ready chopped garlic. sneaks out again

wow - what fab ideas here! Im not so ashamed of my white sauce granules now

Tin of apple slices, sprinkle of cinamon, drizzle of toffee sauce and top with Tesco luxury crumble mix.

Yummy!

I also add baked beans and worcester sauce to cottage pie plus tin of tomatoes, tastes scrummy and makes meat go further.

Also the philly cheese pasta sauce - DS's favourite meal is pasta boiled with peas tossed in philly cheese - takes about 10 mins to make.

I always use ready chopped garlic (and ginger, and chillies!)

Sorry the custard powder freaks you out - but basically it is just cornflour with a bit of colouring and vanilla flavour which you don't notice if it is a strongly-flavoured savoury dish (think casserole)...

I do try not to lose/run out of the cornflour though!

Agree about philly - it is great on pasta!

Crushed cornflakes on anything that requires rolling in breadcrumbs eg 'chicken nuggets' made with proper chicken breast, fishcakes etc . Works amazingly well if you do them in the oven rather than frying.

'Sicilian' pasta sauce - I tin chopped tomatoes, I tin sardines, 1 tin tuna, simmered for about five minutes with a teaspoon of fennel seeds if you've got them. No chopping involved, tastes v italian (much better than it sounds!) and is a hit with everyone I've tried it on.

Microwaved fairy cakes - I make an all-in-one chocolate cake mixture ( 1 egg and 50g of everything except 25g flour/25g cocoa - has to be chocolate or it tastes too 'eggy') and microwave in paper cases for 90 seconds. Good when you don't have anything exciting in the cupboard.

My cheat is from a friend who is a chef. When you're doing a roast (any roast) sprinkle liberally with soy sauce and dried herbs before putting in the oven. This makes a gorgeous herb crust. Also if it's chicken, then sprinkle with just soy and cover with rashers. Gorgeous!

Spaghetti marinara- packet of mixed seafood heated gently then add Lloyd Grossman jar of chilli and tomato pasta sauce.

Add to pasta, open chianti and imagine you're on Amalfi coast.

Heaven..

I'm not allowed jars of ready-chopped garlic, I would go through ones in days.

Mmm garlic.

I always seem to have a tiny bit of pesto left in a jar, mix it with a tin of tomatoes to make a pasta sauce.

Is it me or are lot of the cheats for Italian food?

Worcestershire sauce as a general cure-all for anything that doesn't taste quite as good as you thought it would (anything savoury, anyway -- have yet to try it on ice cream...)

I do the Philly pasta sauce a lot: d2's favourite is philly, bacon and peas. My favourite is philly, blanched asparagus and red onion.

Lloyd Grossman curry sauces are actually pretty good for an easy family dinner that dp can cook!

My favourite 'cheat dinner' for the girls is:
rice noodles - just pour boiling water over
soy beans - in the microwave;
mix the two together and add soy sauce, drop of honey and some cilli flakes.
You can add other stuff too if you can be bothered but even in this simple form the dds slurp it up.

White sauce - Cheats method.

This is like ginny's mum's method, but on the stove - I bung milk, flour and butter/marg into the pan together, then heat gradually, whisking as it heats. I keep on whisking as the fat melts and until it thickens to the consistency I want. If it doesn't thicken, or if it seems to be boiling up rather than thickening, I bung in a bit more flour and whisk vigorously until it does thicken. Then I add the flavouring - usually cheese or parsley.

I can't explain why it doesn't go lumpy, but it doesn't - and I used to be the Queen of lumpy white sauces when I tried to do them properly.

If we've had people round in the evening and there's any wine left in their glasses once they've left, I collect it all up and freeze it for bunging in casseroles/chilli/pasta sauces Is that gross?