To those who cook!

[Snuggle]

I am shamefully going to admit that I hardly ever cook from scratch I really want to start cooking proper meals for all of us instead of using cooking sauces or packet foods. When those of you cook, when do you do it? As in what time of day? Maddison has a nap between 2:30-3:30pm for one hour which is when I do cleaning usually so dont have time to cook in that hour. Should I give her some toys to play with some time in the day and do it then or wait until she has gone to bed at night? (which if I'm honest is the less favourable option as I'm usually shattered by then)
Also, any chicken recipes that dont take hours will be much appreciated

 

[claire2711]

Lasagne's a good one that doesnt really take much hard work, you could try making a curry from scratch, with yogurt and spices?

Oooh get some chicken breasts (or anything) and wrap em up in bacon or ham, then top with cheese yummmmmmm

tortillas are great too, just cook ur chicken, heat up the wraps, then serve! people can help themselves...and great with melted cheese 8)

I've got a lovely chicken pasta one (ainsley's actually!) if you want it? xxx

 

[Melly+2]

you could make Homemade chicken kievs, we love them, just sit babs down with some toys for, say 15mins as they dont take long to prepare.

All you have to do is get your chicken fillets and wht i do i flatten them so they are near enough the same amount all the way across the fillet does that make seense?)

Mix some butter, garlic (puree or fresh) and some parsley (fresh or dried) all together in a bowl. Spoon this into the middle of the fillet and roll it all up making sure all of the butter is inside the fillet. Then what i do i mix some eggs together, flour the fillets then dip them in egg then into bread crumbs. Then they are ready to cook. I usually use some fry light spray on the top so they go crispy and put them in the oven till cooked

 

[Snuggle]

Great ideas there, thank you so much girls Would love that recipe please claire

 

[claire2711]

Ok I can't remember the actual amounts, but roughly....

chopped ckicken breast
one of the bigger tubs of double cream
a lemon
few garlic cloves
a few handfulls of cheese (however much ya like really)
pasta (its meant to be papardelle, but i use spirals )
oil


-in a bowl put chicken, grate(finely) on the lemon's zest,chopped garlic cloves, salt&pepper, and a "dash" of oil

-put this into frying pan until chicken is cooked. (start the pasta in a seperate pan around this time)

-pour the cream over the chicken, and to this add the grated cheese, and squeeze the juice out of the lemon into the pan too. leave to thicken.

-once pasta is cooked, mix the two together! and serve!

yum

enjoy

 

[valentine]

Hey Snuggle,

I'm a bit rubbish with remembering recipes offhand (always use books or internet), but there is absolutely nothing wrong with leaving your DD with a little while while you make the tea. We have a stairgate on our kitchen door, which she normally plays behind, banging things on it, saying 'hi' 94 times to me or zooming down the corridor with her wheelybug or push-along.

If you have any baby meal books (Annabel Karmel, Jools Oliver etc) there are quite good I find for recipes that feed the whole family.

I make macaroni cheese, homemade pizzas, salmon and veg, homemade fishcakes - totally gone off chilli and curry at the moment, but used to make these too.

I very rarely use a packet when making something for us now as DD always eats what we have. If you do, make sure you check all the additives and salt content.

Valentine Xxx

 

[mum2A&L]

Check out the BBC site. That usually has some good recipies.

 

[KirstyD]

Slow cookers are also great, you can do some quick prep, bung in all the ingredients then leave to cook for a few hours, there are low medium and high settings so you can leave for shorter or longer times depending on what you are doing that day! You can do loads in them too, i've got a slow cooker recipe book and was surprised by what you can make in them!

 

[Snuggle]

Thank you for that recipe claire, sounds yummy

Valentine, I have a stairgate in between livingroom and kitchen too so I could leave Maddison in livingroom with toys while I cook. I have just ordered a few recipe books and am going to cook every day from now on, there is no reason why I cant, I dont work I have only ever made cottage pie and chicken casseroles from scratch and Maddison loved them so this should be incentive enough to cook for her every day

Kirsty, will have a look at slow cookers because that would be handy when Maddison is having a bad day and not allowing me to be away from her

 

[rusks]

god luck snuggle let us know how you get on, theres nothing more rewarding then seeing them tuck into something you have spent time preparing, i always try to make more as most things can be freezed so you don't have to spend everyday cooking

 

[Snuggle]

Thanks hun, have been cooking for all of us and its been going down well until last couple of days but Maddison is poorly with molars coming through so doesnt want to eat anything solid really poor mite