please help me salvage my spag bol!!

emlou2009

i made 8 portions of spag bol using a pack of beef mince which i stretched out the good old fashioned OS way with lentils, oats, a grated carrot and a grated courgette, plus all the other usual spag bol ingredients. i had a carton of passata which i used instead of one of the tins of chopped toms as well which i didnt do last time.
i thought it tasted fine and more or less exactly the same as the last batch i made, but OH said it was vile and wouldnt eat it, and i'm now stuck with the remaining 6 frozen portions!! i am loathe to throw it out as OH wants me to.
being a typical man he couldnt offer any constructive critisism on what exactly was wrong with it, but i suspect it may have been the courgette that was troubling him as it was a whole one i put in, and grated, as opposed to the half a one finely chopped last time. i also think i didnt put quite enough onion in it.

my question is, how on earth can i salvage it? i was thinking i could make up another batch without the added veg and mix them together, but then the frozen stuff would end up being thawed and heated twice which i dont think is wise? or is it ok if everything is very thoroughly cooked? i was also thinking i could try and disguise some as chilli? help!

zippychick

Vile? I know what I would be telling him to do, and it ends with "off"

Hmmm hard to know without knowing what the problem is. I wouldnt mix it with another batch personally

When you are serving it (have you froze it already?), i would try a couple of portions worth - start with frying onion and garlic, add your vile stuff, plus some new tinned toms and maybe some chopped veg? He may not have liked the thicker texture if you hid the veg? or do above, throw in some kidney beans and chilli powder .

And i would seriously have a word with OH ! It's one thing to not like food someone serves you, but to be so darn rude and unhelpful is just disrespectful to the chef IMO! :mad:

TrixieB

Just whack in some chilli flakes or sweet chilli dipping sauce, it'll be fine.

Do you think maybe your OH is getting a cold and his tastebuds ahve gone a bit weird or something , as it can't be "vile" if you thought it was fine?

mrbrightside842

Could you make up another batch minus the veg, and mix it together as you use it, rather than mis them together and refreezing?

tessie_bear

hi...im not sure what could have been wrong with it...did u try it ? perhaps u should defroe=st some and eat it your self....u could perhaps make a pasta bake with it...heat up a portion mix it with a cup of cooked pasta and sprinkle with some cheese...bake until cheese bubbles and browns....u could also turn it in to a chilli hth

Miss_Piggy_2

Can't be that bad surely?? (although I'm not keen on oats myself!!)

How about "hiding" it in a cottage pie or lasagne? Just say you threw the old lot away and this is a new lot??;)

Bogof_Babe

Make a batch of something different for him and eat the spag bol yourself, defrosting a portion of each as you need them?

I know that's pandering to him, but if it avoids waste I'd do it.

emlou2009

zippy to be fair to him its the first time he's ever turned his nose up at anything i've ever cooked him, and he was sick after as well so whatever was wrong with it literally did turn his stomach i honestly thought it tasted fine though lol!

its already frozen in 3 batches of two portions so i cant really "dilute" it as such unless i reheat it again after

Miss_Piggy_2

emlou2009 wrote: »

zippy to be fair to him its the first time he's ever turned his nose up at anything i've ever cooked him, and he was sick after as well so whatever was wrong with it literally did turn his stomach i honestly thought it tasted fine though lol!

its already frozen in 3 batches of two portions so i cant really "dilute" it as such unless i reheat it again after

Sounds like its a slight stomach upset rather than your food to me. Don't give up. Leave it in the freezer a few weeks then try again.

tandraig

hmmm nothing in there to cause tummy upset i would say. but why put oats in? i would freeze it in small portions and add it to next batch. if no probs keep adding a little to batches!

valk_scot

If he was sick and you weren't, and he normally eats everything, then I would say he's getting ill with something. It would explain the temper tantrum too, no?

My suggestion would be to leave it in the freezer till he gets better then turn it into lasagne. Incidentally while yes, it's good to stretch out food with oats and lentils it's possibly best to stick to small quantities of one or the other till you really get used to cooking and eating this sort of meal. Me? I'd rather have smaller portions or make a straightforwards lentil dish of some kind every third meal rather than put either in my bolognaise. My preference only though!