Staple Family Meals - share them with Lidl: chance to win £100 NOW CLOSED

[EllieMumsnet]

The team at Lidl would love to hear what your staple family meals are in your family What's on your repertoire of dishes everyone likes? Have you adapted any older family favourite recipes for new diets or likes/ dislikes? How do you dish up something everyone likes? What accompanies your favourite dishes? Is there a recipe you turn to time and time again?

Whatever your Staple Family Meals are, Lidl would love to hear them!

Please post your recipes on this thread and you will be entered into a prize draw where one winner will get £100 worth of Lidl vouchers (note the winner will be sent 4 x £25 vouchers, one voucher can be redeemed per transaction).

Thanks and good luck!
MNHQ

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I work full time so I need easy meals for when we all get home. My most often cooked meals are all slow cooker recipies:

1. • Chicken Wraps - chicken breasts in the slow cooker, cover with passata and sprinkle over a packet of fajita seasoning. 8+ hours on low. Get home from work, zap the tortilla wraps in the microwave, grate some cheese, quick stir fry onions and peppers and then shred the chicken with a fork. DS loves to do the creating himself so a win.
2. • Chicken curry - chicken breasts in the slow cooker. Pour over a jar of curry sauce. 8+ hours on low. Get home from work. Zapp mircowave rice, break up chicken into bite size peices. Open poppadoms.
3. • Chili Con Carne - brown mince in a frying pan, put in slowcooker and cover with a jar of chilli can carne sauce. 8+ hours on low. Home from work, zap rice in microwave, grate cheese, open dips

Yes these are all ready made sauces but I have so little time and these meals mean that I can spend precious time with my son after a long day at work for me and a long day at school and childcare for him.

Chick pea and chorizo stew:

Dry fry some thickly sliced chorizo in a heavy pan (le crueset type) until the oil has started to run. Remove with slotted spoon. Fry one finely chopped white onion in the chorizo oil in the pan and I usually do a sliced green pepper too. Add celery, other peppers, a few mushrooms if you have them in the fridge and they need using up. I would even add in a couple of slices of chopped bacon if they needed using too. Saute those for a good long time, until starting to soften properly. Add a couple of crushed cloves of garlic and fry for couple minutes.

Add a tin of chopped tomatoes plus rinse out the tin with half a can of water and add. Add a tin of drained and rinsed chick peas, 2 or 3 dried bayleaves, black pepper and a half tsp of sugar. You could add chilli flakes or paprika at this stage if you like them instead of bayleaves. Return the chorizo to the pan, cover and simmer for 45 minutes to an hour, until tomatoes have reduced and all the vegetables are soft. In the last two minutes of cooking add a small bag of washed baby spinach leaves, return lid and let them wilt on the top and then stir in. Add salt at the end to taste as chorizo and bacon can make the sauce salty. Serve with rice if liked, but otherwise this is a fairly substantial dish for the low carbers. It is especially nice with parmesan cheese grated over.

Our house would fail to function without bags of spag Bol, chilli and butter chicken curry in the freezer.
As you can guess, I’m a batch cooker. Take bag from freezer in morning. Come up with a random presentation by dinner time. Lasagne, cannelloni, baked spuds or Nan breads

Our staple go to meals are spaghetti bolognase, roast dinners, casserole and fajhitas.

Spag bol, cottage pie and mince 'stew' (mince, onions, potatoes and carrots with a big shake of dried thyme, 2 oxo cubes, a slosh of mushroom ketchup and a glob of tomato puree towards the end to thicken - serve with lots of bread to mop up all the gorgeous gravy!)

Also tuna pesto pasta - 1 tin of tuna, 1 jar of red pesto, stirred though cooked pasta and topped with cheese.

The family fave is chicken wrapped in bacon - chicken breast, wrapped in streaky bacon, a glob of Boursin stuffed into the middle of the breast for DH and me, cooked in the oven for 35 mins, lovely with just veggies or with roast potatoes for a Sunday lunch effect.

Easy Peasy Pasta. (I totally got the basic idea from a programme my DD likes, featuring a certain annoying bunny rabbit!)

Boil pasta with your choice of any vegetables that will cook in a similar time to the pasta. Our usual choices are broccoli, peas, green beans, or thinly sliced carrots.
When pasta & veg are ready, drain into a sieve, if possible cover with a pan lid to keep warm. Into the hot pan, put a large dollop of cream cheese (approx 50g per adult serving) & a little water, heat gently to make a creamy sauce. You can add some grated cheese, finely chopped garlic, herbs etc if you like. (Get these ready while the pasta & veg are still in the pan.) Season to taste, add the hot pasta & veg back into the oan. Swirl briefly to mix, then serve. Good on its own or with any choice of protein if you like.

I like this recipe - it can be made very mild for a toddler / weaning, & gradually add more flavours each time until it tastes like a reasonably grownup recipe. Takes about 20 minutes to prep & cook.

As a regular discount supermarket shopper I use chicken breast to make mummy chicken nuggets by coating strips of chicken breast with egg and breadcrumbs or stuffing mix ( my ds loves it) and oven cook until chicken is cooked through. For non meat days I whip up a spinach and chickpea curry, served with rice or naan.

Pasta is my quick 'go too' staple. While the water Is boiling for the pasta, chuck in some
Broccoli m, finely slice a chicken breast or cooking bacon/tuna/left over roast meat sauté with garlic and then tip in a carton of passata with salt/pepper/mixed herbs and pour over cooked pasta/broccoli.,

Veg/protein/carbs. Easy, cheap and filling and adaptable to whatever is in.

Chicken fahitas are a favourite, people can pick the bits they like to go in thier wrap.

Roast dinner is loved by all the family.

One of our go-to cheap and easy meals is pasta with a bacon leek and cheese sauce.
I chop up some leeks and saute in butter until soft, add chopped bacon (I use the Lidl cooking bacon) cook through, add some flour to make a roux, stir in milk and when it has thickened add the cheese. I serve it with pasta.
I also do a version where I add mushrooms to the bacon and leave out the cheese. It also works with chicken.

for us it is mince (turkey, beef or quorn either is fine) made into a veg packed cottage pie, (I add diced carrots onions and a tin of tomatoes to the mince) and on a Friday - it's fish pie friday !! yay ! I choose a pollock, add diced carrots, peas and add either a sweet potato or 'ordinary' mash. Its healthy comfort food which always leaves clean plates.

Family meals have to be quick to prepare.

We have "hulk" pasta a lot.
Basically while pasta is boiling in a separate pan boil a bag of kale or spinach and 3 garlic cloves. Once cooked drain and put in a blender. Blend garlic/ spinach mix with a good amount of grated cheese, a dash of lemon juice and a glug of oil. Some of the cooking water may be required as well depending on thickness of sauce.
Drain pasta, mix in sauce.
Serve.
Tell children it's The Hulk's favourite meal and reassure picky 4 year old again that there is absolutely no vegetables in it.
Watch them eat happily. Add large pinch of salt and pepper to own meal.

Bean bolognaise, love it and the whole family enjoys it to. Beans, chopped toms, tomato purée, onions, peppers, carrot, garlic, herbs and spices as well as a good glug of Henderson’s relish. Also add chilli for a variation. Nice and healthy and feels like comfort food.

Pasta bolagnaise or lasagne with garlic bread and salad.
Roast dinner all put out in separate dishes on table, everyone helps themselves to which bits they like.

Homemade lasagne is our family favourite. Not the quickest to make as I like make the bolognese and cheese sauce from scratch but it’s worth it when know my husband and two sons aged 1 and 3 will enjoy it and know what’s in it. I have to liquidise the onions and tomatoes so there’s no lumps (for the children of course, not me!). I always buy the cheapest lasagne sheets and canned tomatoes so not too expensive to make.

Scrambled cheesy eggs - one frying pan, limited washing up and 4 happy and full eaters!

Our best is a mash up of one I got from Mumsnet years ago. I have three year old twins, both with their own tastes!

In a large oven dish place at least a punnet of cherry tomatoes, 3 cloves of garlic(skin on but bashed with something heavy), add a couple of handfuls of olives if you like them, lots of olive oil and season. Slow roast in oven at 160 for 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Cook some pasta

Chop a couple of big handfuls of basil.

Chop either a mozzarella or half a packet of feta (whichever you prefer)

Take tons from oven and mash with back of spoon, remove garlic - tomato sauce!

Add cooked pasta, basil and cheese- mix

It is 😋

Haven’t got a recipe but we really like the Lidl veggie burgers, cauliflower burgers and spiced bean burgers. We are not vegetarian but just nice to have something different once a week other than meat all the time and we LOVE the potato with broccoli (can’t remember what they are called) in the freezer at Lidl (they do a cheese one too). Just so handy to have bits like that in the freezer for when you are rushing around and want to spend more family time together.

Family favourite is pork satay- cheap pork fillet marinated with peanut butter, soy, garlic and ginger and served with coconut rice and veggies. Yum!

Spaghetti bolognaise
& toad in the hole always winners in our house

Pasta... Pasta is our staple food! When ever we're not sure what to have, you can guarantee pasta will come to the rescue as you can throw just about anything in with it. We make our own sauce using diced onion, tinned tomatoes, crushed garlic,mixed herbs and a couple of tea spoons of tomato puree.

A new favourite as a result of a fit of trying healthy veggie dishes: sweet potato and black bean burritos, everyone seeems to get on with it and we have salad on the side which also helps

Ooh love these! Marking my place so I can have a proper look later!

Brilliant thread, I have got some really good ideas here.
We have 4 staples that everyone loves.

1. Lamb kofta kebabs, Mix Morrocan spices with lamb mince and form into little balls. Oven bake for 15 mins then pour over some sweet chilli sauce so the meatballs are just coated. Return to oven for another few mins until the koftas turn sticky and irresistible. serve in flatbreads with salad and yoghurt and mint dressing.

1. Butternut squash, sage and parmesan risotto. Sometimes with parmesan 'crisps' and rocket on top.

1. Salmon and courgette spaghetti. Cut courgettes into long batons. Pan fry salmon in butter and a bit of grated ginger until cooked (have to say Lidl salmon fillets are fantastic and the cheapest we have ever found!). Remove salmon from pan and keep warm, add the courgette batons to the pan the salmon was cooked in and cook with 4 cloves of grated garlic, salt and black pepper until nice and charred.

Mix the salmon and courgettes through cooked spaghetti and serve with a mountain of parmensan on top.

1. Soup and cheeseboard. Just heat up some soup and serve with crusty bread and a serving plate full of your favourite cheeses, chutneys and fruits.

Non of the above take more than 20mins!

Baked potatoes with following options:

Tuna & side of coleslaw
Chilli & side of broccoli
Cheese & beans
Left over casserole, bolognaise, roast etc

Chilli con carne with rice & mixed veg
Pasta with pesto & chopped frankfurters and peas mixed in
Lardon risotto with random veg thrown in
Slow cooker casseroles of many varieties
Pot roast lamb/pork/beef at some point over the weekend with roast potatoes, gravy, yorkshires and other veg.