Who is up for a challenge?

[Finedon.Dandy]

Who can give me a plan for a meal I can easily do on a Thursday? Its for two adults (one of which will need to reheat when he gets home) and two children (5 and 2 1/2). Preparation needs to be done in the morning as I only have 1/2 hour to cook between coming home from school and going out to dancing. It must be as healthy as possible and you need to bear in mind that my children are fussy with vegetables and I am trying to improve this. I am also on a fairly tight budget so no good suggesting caviar or the like! I do own a slow cooker, food processor and most other gadgets - you can always ask if it requires specialist equipment and I will see what Ive got.

I will choose the best out of the suggestions and over the course of the next few weeks will road test them on my family. The winner as judged by kids and hubby will be awarded either a £5 garden voucher or a pm of thanks, whichever they would find more uplifting (I know which I would pick!) If you think this is a daft idea then let me know and If enough people agree I will scrap it.

Tammy

[shirlthegirl43]

Hi Tammy. Try this one for the slow-cooker. Bung veggies of your choice in with the chook if you like, or microwave/steam whatever in your half hour. Instead of spuds, I would recommend couscous - add a stock cube to the water when making and it is delish. My boys always yell for more.

http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...cken_9683.html

[janeyo]

Pasta bake! Precook the pasta and whatever veggies to mix in in the morning - mushrooms onion leek peper, bung on some ready made pasta bake or your own tomato concoction, sprinkle some cheese..... then bake for about 20 mins in the evening. Serve with salad (homegrown of course ) or garlic bread.

You can add ham or cooked bacon or chicken to it too but I am veggie so we always have ours meat free with the meat on the side for the boys.

janeyo

[areia]

ok easy one i do when i cant really be bothered

one med onion white chopped
two garlic cloves (pending on preferance)
one pack of bacon chopped
2 tins of chopped tommies or plum chopped up (cheaper can )
good handfull of mushrooms chopped

fry all cept tommies in olive oil if you have it if not just normal oil, till bacon is crispy add tomatoes lower heat and simmer til reduced approx 20 mins add basil (fresh is better but dried is fine)
(if you have any whole grain mustard in the cupboard half a spoon of that is nice in it )
season to taste
later when you want to eat boil your pasta drain add you reheated better flavoured sauce

n.b. when i cook this it takes the time to boil pasta so 20 mins really, simmer it down to reduce the watery look, leave aside, cover, boil pasta reheat sauce as needed, mix together, sprinkle cheese and basil on top done

[Flummery]

Sheherd's pie! With veg de jour.

[kernowyon]

i have tried the Jamie Oliver 'feed your family for a fiver' meatballs and pasta, the kids love them and you can pre make and cook the meatballs and sauce, then cook pasta later, warm through the sauce/balls and jobs a good 'un. and no I don't work for Sainsburys.

[Novice Gardener]

I'd forgotten about the Jamie Oliver ads and I was gonna suggest turkey meatballs rather than beef ones with a homemade tomato sauce and either spaghetti or pasta twirls. For the meatballs grate an onion into a bowl, add sprinkling of oregano & basil and a pinch of salt and pepper. Mix in the turkey mince (you can always bulk it out with some homemade breadcrumbs too) Make the mixture into small meatballs and dry fry in batches in a frypan so the outsides are browned. For the tomato sauce finely chop an onion, a clove of garlic and gently fry in a little olive oil. Add a couple of tins of tomatoes, a grated carrot (optional but it gives the sauce a sweet taste), a sprinkling of basil or oregano or both. Add a splash of red wine vinegar and a tsp of sugar. Bring to boil and as each batch of the meatballs is browned add them to the sauce mixture. When all the meatballs are browned, make sure the sauce is simmering, then turn the whole lot into the slow cooker and leaver in there for the rest of the day so the meatballs cook through. Then when you get home alls you've got to do is cook the pasta If I'm feeling flush, I sometimes break up a ball of mozzerella cheese and add it to the mix in the slow cooker

[thecornflake]

How about a Risotto? You can cook it mostly and then finish it off later, although it only takes about 20mins anyway. You could cut up some vegetables really fine so the kids don't notice them.

[shirlthegirl43]

Home made burgers are another easy one. Buy beef, pork or turkey mince and then grate veggies into the mix along with breadcrumbs and an egg (to help it hold together). Shape into patties and leave in the fridge (separated by cling film or greaseproof paper) then fry or grill and serve with beans or whatever.

[areia]

noooooooo meat balls are soo much nicer made with mince pork honest i tried it for the first time couple of weeks ago not a rich as beef or lamb

[HeyWayne]

For fast food you'd be hard pressed to beat the good old stir fry.

[shirlthegirl43]

For fast food you'd be hard pressed to beat the good old stir fry.

Agreed Wayne, but a tricky one if the sprogs are not keen veggie-scoffers.

General tip - for a lighter version of spag-bol, use what the Dutch term 'half and half' mince (half beef, half pork). Makes a nice change.

[HeyWayne]

Agreed Wayne, but a tricky one if the sprogs are not keen veggie-scoffers.

Ah there is that. Quite a few of our friends have found that veg "in" something is turned down less often than veg "with" something. Worth a punt?

General tip - for a lighter version of spag-bol, use what the Dutch term 'half and half' mince (half beef, half pork). Makes a nice change.

Are you suggesting they eat berk?

[shirlthegirl43]

Are you suggesting they eat berk?

Deffo sounds better than poef

[Topaz]

Ok what about this one

Half a dozen leeks six slices of ham and a quantity of cheese sauce, wrap the ham around the part cooked leeks lay in a oven proof dish and pour over cheese sauce then bake in a pre heated oven for 20 mins can be prepared earlier in the day and heated lateryou can even sprinkle grated cheese on top for addred flavour