cosywolf Posted January 25, 2007 Share Posted January 25, 2007 Right, inspired by Nataliesheff's thread about ideas for feeding toddlers...post your cheap and cheerful, family-friendly, easy to cook recipes here! Most of us have at least one 'quick fix' family meal, and if we all share ours, we'll all have several at our fingertips, hoorah! I also have some recipes the 5 a Day team have handed me I could pass on. So anything useful like that, and hints and tips for feeding those pesky people in your house with the least fuss possible, always welcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ginger_Kitty Posted January 25, 2007 Share Posted January 25, 2007 This isnt necessarily a 'quick fix' recipe, but something that my mum taught me; in order to make a pack of mince last longer and go further mix it with an equal amount of cooked red lentils when you cook it. the lentils take on the flavour and texture of the mince, the mince goes twice as far and its a great way to get the littleuns to eat lentils if they are fussy its also lots cheaper than buying twice as much meat it works for pies, shepherds pie, bolognaise etcetcetc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cosywolf Posted January 25, 2007 Author Share Posted January 25, 2007 Vegetable Soup - Veggie and Carnivore varieties Ingredients: Stock, veggie or meat (I use cubes and add no further salt) Bacon, smoked or unsmoked (optional) Onions Vegetables - to personal taste (or in my house, whatever's going off): Carrots Leeks Potatoes Parsnip etc I cut up all the vegetables (except the onion) into easily eatable chunks for a toddler (if you're going to food process it, it doesn't matter) and dump them into a large pot. Then I chop up the onion and bacon (if using) and brown them in a frying pan before adding them (two to three bacon rashers for a flavour base, or more to make it a nice bacon and veggie soup). Then in with the stock - the more you use the runnier it will be. I like it chunky so I only cover the veggies one third to halfway...they will add their own juices. Cook on a medium heat for 30-45 minutes (I like to let it go a while so all the potatoes are starting to break down and it's all thick and lovely. It's twice as good reheated the next day! I like this because it's easy enough to abandon preparation when a rampant toddler comes rushing in with a desperate need to play/have nappy changed/be comforted...you can always come back to it later. Also it cooks itself once it's all in the pot, so again, kids rule. I often do it on a weekend while waiting for the Daddywolf to get up and cosycub is playing with his toys, using all the vegetables I bought with good intentions that are starting to go off Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
babychickens Posted January 25, 2007 Share Posted January 25, 2007 i'll edit to add the details when i've got them in front of me, but babybabychickens loves her minestrone soup, and somewhat surprisingly, i found that when i ate her un-pureed leftovers, it was some of the nicest and most fulfilling food i've eaten for ages. took a bit of preparation, but freezes well, and uses up all those lurking vegs at the bottom of the fridge. soooo much nicer than the bought version, too. chicken and mushroom gratin is pretty good, too - cook some chicken, mix in a dish with some mushrooms/onions/perhaps a little garlic that has all been browned and then had milk added until runny, then put breadcrumbs on the top, followed by grated cheese. bake in oven. yum yum yum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cosywolf Posted January 25, 2007 Author Share Posted January 25, 2007 Tuna Casserole One of my Mum's standbys...am cooking it right now. It's all tins, lol. Ingredients: one tin condensed Cream of Mushroom soup One tin chopped tomatoes One tin sliced mushrooms One tin sliced green beans One tin sliced carrots Two tins tuna Pasta Cheese Pack cheese and onion crisps Cook the pasta (about 3-4 handsful). Fill a casserole dish with the contents of the tins (drained), season to taste. Add cooked pasta. Stir. Cover with grated cheese and/or crisps. Heat oven to 200 degrees and cook covered or uncovered for 30-35 minutes. Quick and easy, and once again one you can leave to deal with errant child/husband. You could also replace the tinned with fresh ingredients...but this is one I have my cupboard stocked for in those days when nothing much else is left except tins. It's yummy, too. I have actually fed it to guests... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longshanks Posted January 27, 2007 Share Posted January 27, 2007 Carrot and almond soup Boil 5-6 chopped carrots, one sweet potato, 2 celery stalks, 2 onions and garlic for 25 mins in veg stock or water, blend and add 100g ground almonds. Delicious!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cosywolf Posted January 27, 2007 Author Share Posted January 27, 2007 Thank you, Longshanks! I'm only capable of remembering where one thread is at a time, lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hennypenny Posted January 27, 2007 Share Posted January 27, 2007 Our quick and cheerful standby is corned beef hash 1 tin corned beef 1 tin tomatoes 1 tin baked beans 1 onion 1 piece garlic 4 potatoes 1 stock cube Peel and chop onion, chop garlic, peel and cube potatoes, fry together gently in a small amount of oil until starting to soften, add tomatoes, beans, stock and corned beef, cook for a while further until all potato is soft. serve with crusty bread - yummy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discodown Posted January 28, 2007 Share Posted January 28, 2007 excellent thats how we make corned beef hash! heres one we use and its a belter INGREDIENTS 1lb sausages (you don't need to use really really good quality ones, but don't use cheap crappy ones either!) onion mushrooms tin baked beans tin chopped tomatoes dried sage hp sauce seasoning to taste (no salt!) METHOD slice the onions and mushrooms on a low heat brown the sausages with the sage, once they are brown remove them from the pan in the fat fry the onions and mushrooms until they have good colour, return the sausages and heat them through add the tomatoes and beans and a good slug of hp sauce gently bubble it through for about 45 minutes serve with mash Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discodown Posted January 29, 2007 Share Posted January 29, 2007 pepperonata is a sort of thick pepper sauce/stew our little one loves it. heres the recipe INGREDIENTS equal amounts of red and yellow peppers (don't use green they lose their colour and go a bit slimy) 1 large onion 1/3rd of a standard chilli pepper 3/4s pint of chicken/veggie stock saffron rosemary garlic olive oil pepper sea salt METHOD finely chop the onion, rosemary and garlic deseed the chilli pepper and very finely chop slice the peppers into even strips heat some olive oil (about a tablespoon) gently in a pan and add the onion, sweat the onion until it releases its juices add the garlic, rosemary and saffron, season and continue to cook gently for a minute add the peppers and stir well coating the peppers in the onion mix add the chilli and the stock at this point give it a taste, it won't taste of too much but you'll get the idea bubble for at least an hour, uncovered and reduce the stock away. once you're left with a sort of thick chunky sauce stew, turn off the heat and leave it for at least an hour before you serve it. its actually even better if you leave it overnight this is also superb with fish! enjoy it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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