I want to start ..........

[MagicMarkers]

Planning my meals to cut down on waste, and broaden my cookin horizons a bit, im not a bad cook but im no Delia, so i was wondering you girls could help me plan out my meals for the next 7 days
Heres what i was thinking.... nothing toooo complicated, nothing that takes more than 2 hours to prepare, nothing too expensive, other than that im willing to give anything a try, so if anyone wants to share their fav/ fall back recipes with me id love it

 

[lisa-marie]

I have a pasta one that usually makes it onto our menu every week!

Just boil your pasta as normal penne or fusilli which ever shape you fancy! Meanwhile brown some onions and then what ever veg you fancy or is on offer/in season such as courgettes, peppers, mushrooms add garlic and tinned chopped tomatoes, salt/pepper herbs to taste.

Place all in a lasgane/casserole dish.
In a bowl empty a pot of natural yogurt, salt/pepper, grated cheese and two eggs and grate a teaspoon of nutmeg into it and pour over pasta and bake in over for about 35/45 minutes.

I tend to make a big batch of this and then freeze it so I have an emergency meal if I really cant be bothered to cook. Great with garlic bread or some rustic bread and cheap too!

 

[MagicMarkers]

Mmm sounds yummy plus i already have everything but the natural yogurt for that one so itd be a great way to make sure we use up all our fresh veggies !! I usually just end up making a stew and dumplings !

 

[Tadpole]

Soups are always good to use up veggies. I have just made a tomato soup as I had loads of tomatoes because they were on offer.

Chop toms in half and place in roasting tay (I also added a chopped sweet pepper that was going soft), add some cloves of garlic in their skins and sprinkle with oil & basil.

Roast for an hour then remove skins (dead easy when toms are soft - just lift off with a fork)

Then whizz up the toms - you can leave some aside for a chunkier soup, pour into a pan with about 3/4 pint of stock. Simmer. Serve.

I also had some sausages left so I grilled them, chopped into thirds and added them. You can adjust the amount of garlic/basil according to taste.

(I also made up a paste using plain flour/water and added that to thicken it slightly. You can also thicken using a roux (sp) which is just butter melted and flour stirred in.)

For fruit that is going soft - I make banana cake or crumble. mmmm

 

[herbalhippie]

If you like Indian food, you could try dhal and rice...I could live off it and its super easy to make

I'm giving you quantities, but I cant remember the last time I measured, so they are pretty rough...

175g red lentils
2-3 inches ginger, grated / sliced
about half a garlic head (or less/more to taste)
pinch of turmeric
green chilli chopped
2 tsp mustard seeds
2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp corriander powder

basically throw everything into a pot, bring to the boil and simmer till the lentils are cooked 20 /30 mins, add more water if needed.
when its cooked add as much lemon as you like, and some fresh chopped corriander leaves. eat with rice (and I also eat it with yogurt because I'm addicted to it...)

you can add any veggies you want to the cooking too.

enjoy!

 

[MagicMarkers]

Im gunna try soup tomorrow, FIL keeps buying CRATES of fruit n veg from bootsales and then it goes off within a week so itd be nice to be able to do sumat with it all ! Gunna try soup 2morow !
And iv had a set of herbs in little pots all nicely set out in a rack that iv never actually checked what they are lol Hopefully theyre not dried dandelion in pots n il have some bits n bobs i can use for the dhal, give it a try on friday, we usually have a curry on friday ( naughty !) so i reckon il do that instead this week ! Love cannolini (s0?) beans aswell so might try throwing some of those in

Feeling ratherrr organised !

 

[Charlie:-)]

I just posted a soup recipe earlier in another thread within this sections though its roasted pumpkin soup and its yum!

How about homemade burgers, they're easy, quick and tasty.
I just use mince and whatever you want to put in. I usually put a chilli in and sometimes coriander. You could use schwartz steak seasoning or barbecue seasoning. Then just shape into rounds and grill, serve on a bread bun with salad and cheese.

I love Pasta arrabiata. Again quick and easy.
Chop 2 chilli's and finely chop 1 onion and 2 cloves of garlic, fry gently in a pan.
Add 1 carton/jar of passata and 198ml of stock bring to the boil and simmer for 15 mins.

Serve with any kind of pasta (preferably spaghetti, tagliatelle or twists) and parmesan.