Need very very quick & easy recipes

SnowyOwl_2

I've just downed half a scrumptous home made pizza, and will have the other half tomorrow for lunch at work. I used Arkonite Babe's recipe for yeastless base, and I note that she mentioned that it can be kneaded in a food processor. Perhaps, if you have a look through the recipes, you might find that a food processor could do some of the labour for you. TBH I have never had such an item myself, but I am sure other Old Stylers have, and could give advice on its usefulness, or uselessness as the case may be. Perhaps there are other gadgets which are genuinely labour saving and easy to wash but which you haven't heard of or seen before. (NB Santa is due fairly soon...but if you can't rely on him then perhaps the on-line Jan sales may be useful).

The pizza I had...the recipe said to knead the dough for 5-8 minutes. I did it for about 3 - and of course you could do the kneading sitting down, plus put the toppings on whilst seated.

It took about five minutes from measuring out the flour to bunging in the oven. I had no cheese, and used some of a big pan of tomato sauce I made yesterday then chucked on some ham I shredded straight from the packet, then it was in the oven for 15 minutes.

The tomato sauce is made from two chopped up onions, a chopped up stick of celery (just to use it up rather than throw it), & a couple of crushed cloves of garlic all boiled in water (instead of frying in fat!), then chuck in two tins of cheapo chopped tomatoes and a sprinkling of dried mixed herbs, plus some Marigold vegetable stock made up with about half a pint of water. Let simmer until it's well reduced. It freezes well, and can be used as a base for soup, for pizza, for pasta/lasagne dishes. Errr, I have assumed you haven't made this before, so apologies if I am telling you something you already know.

I hope I've managed to say something useful in the above ramblings.

apprentice_tycoon

Hi 8p - what about eggy bread and bacon/ham/beans/tinned spaghetti etc. You need one big egg, whisked and seasoned and 2 slices of bread dipped in. Fry in a little oil and add any of the above. Dead easy, really quick, cheap and not too junky.

or savoury mince hotpot? follow your usual mince and gravy recipe but add lots of veg like carrots, celery, onions, pearl barley, potato etc...it will take a little while to cook but the prep is really quick, you could do most of it in a chair.

or scrambled egg and bacon on toast? you could add mushroom and tomatoes.

ashmit

I'll come round and cook for you

I know it's hard, but the worse the food you eat, the worse you'll be, surely? It's a good argument for cooking when you're OK and freezing portions of nice healthy food for when you're not so good.
Omlette fillings - peas, potato, mushrooms, pepper, onion - even vegan cheese

I'm sure I have cheap simple recipes but I can't think of any right now will post when I think of them.

Bargain_Rzl

ashmit wrote:

I know it's hard, but the worse the food you eat, the worse you'll be, surely? It's a good argument for cooking when you're OK and freezing portions of nice healthy food for when you're not so good.

That's what Curry Queen does, and she manages to eat like a queen, or should that be a Curry Queen, for £24 a week for herself plus a teenage boy! Organic meat and everything!

Trow wrote:

I know you have pasta already, but pasta and pesto is really quick and tasty - cook pasta, drain, add pesto, stir till heated through. You can add whatever you like to it - some bacon or sausage, veggies, whatever.

I've posted this here before - perhaps even for you! - but this is one of my faves. Making 4 portions is actually easier than making 1, cos you just chuck a whole bag of pasta in and don't have to think about quantities! Cook all of a 500g bag of penne (10mins + boiling the water), drain, then mix in 1/2 tube tomato puree, 2 tbsps red pesto (or if you use green pesto, use extra tomato puree), 2 tins butterbeans (22p from Lidl), a dask of olive oil and some black pepper. Divide into portions and eat one (yum). Remaining portions are lovely reheated in the microwave but make sure the container is covered during cooking as butterbeans have a tendency to explode all over the inside of the microwave!

8pnoodles

I seem to be addicted to nutritionally pants food. I live on tinned hotdogs in rolls (tescos value mustard is NICE!) and things like 8p noodles.

Oooo and eggy bread is already one of my favourites.

Planning on omelette tonight. Thanks guys.

I do seem to be able to eat cheese on pizza as long as it's only a tiny bit and it's melted properly, I think the heat denatures the proteins in the cheese that I react badly to.

One thing I have trouble doing is finding food I actually want to eat, which is why I thought I'd ask here because I'm always running out of ideas. My appetite can shoot through the floor, so it's hard to find anything I want to eat.

squeaky

Perhaps a regular browse of our various Recipe Collections or the Cooking section of the MEGA Index will tempt you.

Remember that you can find them in my signature any time you see it or...

..you can use the Indexed Collections link in the Blue Bar at the top of every page which looks something like this:-

Chipps

what about jacket potatoes (extra quick if you have a microwave) with beans &/or cheese/ coleslaw/ tuna
cheese & potato pie: mash potatoes with grated cheese, layer in an ovenproof bowl or dish with baked beans, starting & ending with the mash mixture. More cheese on top, then bake for about 30 mins. Can add other layers eg fried onion, corned beef

DianaMattos

Ticklemouse wrote: »

If you want a 'proper' meal, then one of the easiest I know is 'Porky Potatoes'.

Put seasoned pork chops in the bottom of a casserole dish. Add sliced potatoes and chopped onins over the top. Add stock/gravy, bung in the oven for 1 1/2 hrs. You can reduce the cooking time by par boiling the spuds.

If you make lots of spuds and gravy, then leftovers are great heated up with a fried egg the next night.

What temp and how much stock? Otherwise, thanks very much for this!!

mmummy21

I have searched through the recipes on here but I can't find what I'm looking for.

With working the equivalent of full-time hours, a clingy toddler who's always poorly, pregnancy, a house to clean, pets to keep etc. I just don't have time to spend an hour cooking from scratch each night and don't have any time to prepare during the day either.

What I'm looking for are meals that take minimal preparation (i.e 15mins chopping a bit of veg, adding a few spices etc. adding the meat then sticking in the oven/hob for however long and serving with rice/poatoes etc.) But it seems that when I look for the cheap, unprocessed recipes they seem to compromise on time, preparation etc.!

I never really eat anything frozen as I think it tastes awful and tend to cycle through the same meals. I know I use quick cook pasta etc. but I always use fresh meat and lots of veggies and serve with healthy potatoes etc. -

Pasta bake (using a good quality, non processed sauce and quick cook pasta as I don't have time to make one from scratch)
Sausage casserole and potatoes (sausages, selection
Homemade pizzas (home made puree with chopped tomatoes, and onion, topped with cheese, veggies etc.)
Spag bol (mince, onion, dolmio jar left to cook for 30mins and quick cook pasta)
Spanish chicken (diced chicken, herbs, onion, pepperw, chopped tomatoes thrown on the hob for an hour and served with rice)

I don't mind using jarred sauces etc. as long as there are no preservatives or anything artificial. I know these are usually slightly more expensive than home cooking though.

I do have a slow cooker but struggle to find the time early enough in the day with doing breakfast, getting us all ready and taking the little one out walking or to groups for the morning then preparing lunch and squeezing in the housework while the little one sleeps for an hour if I'm lucky. By the time I'm done it's 2pm and there's no time for the slow cooker!

Is it impossible, do I need to find more time in my day? Over an hour everyday preparing food seems like such a waste of my time when I could be spending time with my daughter or catching up on the never ending piles of washing, ironing, dishes etc. and leaving myself some freetime in the evening!

rosie383

Forget the ironing unless it's really, really essential!

Try putting the ingredients in the SC the evening before. There are many recipes that you literally chuck in with little prep. Put it in the fridge overnight, then in the morning, take it out, put your crock pot on then. Sorted!