I need to learn to cook !!!

babyshoes

I want to echo what others are saying about the amount of mince you are using. I used to use a small pack of mince to do one spag bol meal for the two of us, with very little if any left over! I then started adding 2 tins of tomato instead of 1, and it would do a couple of packed lunches too. Now I add at least 3, sometimes 4 tins of value tomatoes, plus extra onion and some peppers if we have any, and it does supper, plus another main meal and a couple of lunches... I often dish out a meal's worth into a tub to freeze before dishing up the main meal. That way we aren't tempted to eat it all in one sitting! You will be amazed how much extra stuff you can add to bolognese sauce to stretch out the meat, even if it is just more of a cheaper ingredient that you are already using - I am a bit dubious about adding oats, lentils etc but quite like having a tomatoey sauce, so that's what I add more of! I have a friend who adds a tin of baked beans to all such sauces, but my OH won't eat them so I don't.

I really like cooking an extra main meal's worth of sauces, curries, stews etc to freeze for days when I just don't have the energy or motivation to cook. Of course, being lazy I often neglect to lable these, and one tomato based sauce looks a lot like another, so we occasionally have a 'mystery meal' - I only know what's for supper once I get home in the evening and it has had time to defrost! I always have to hope I have appropriate extras such as rice or pasta to go with it...

Even if you are using a jar of sauce as a base, try adding a tin of chopped tomatoes or some passata, cook it up and taste it, then add a few herbs, a bit of sugar, pepper etc if it needs it. I do the same for a curry sauce too if I can't be bothered to do a curry from scratch - start with a jar and stretch it with tinned tomatoes and a few spices.

The main thing is not to be afraid, if you think something will taste good then throw it in - what's the worst that could happen? It goes in the bin and you get a take away or instant meal that night... So what? You will learn from that mistake and it will work out better next time, or it may even turn out to be really nice. Some of our regular meals started as experiments, and they are tasty enough to have often.

Good luck, and try to enjoy the experimenting

Ballerinacaz

Your OH probably only didn't like it because he's not used to fresher food not processed stuff
The way I do white sauce is quite simple
You take 1 oz (25g) of SR flour, 1 oz (25g) of butter/marg, and a pint of milk. Pop them all in a pan on a medium heat and stir pretty much continuously and it will thicken after a few minutes.
You can also get 'thickening granules' which you just add to boiled milk, but I find they often go lumpy and its easily to do the method above.
Hope this helps
PS sorry if someone already posted this method, I didn't get quite to the end of the thread :P

doelani

Just wanted to update and say I made it :rotfl: I guess the proff will be later when we have it for dinner.

Used...
Mince
Onions
Red Pepper
garlic paste
tinned tomatoes
tomatoe paste
italian herb seasoning
bolognasise seasoning .

My very good neigbour who cooks for a living helped me out .........but..........she then gave me a little wine to add, until that point it smelt lovely, now not so sure lol I am not a red winer lover but oh well will wait and see. :rotfl:


I am not going to tell anyone it is differnet tonight ans see how many notice .

lala1974

Good luck Doelani!

I'm the same as you, I've just started to learn from scratch and did Spag Bol. My daughter is very fussy and I was sure she'd spot the difference between my version and D0lmi0.

I use:

Onion - finely chopped
2 x tins of value chopped toms
Squirt of Tom Puree
Squirt of Tom Ketchup
1 x Beef stock cube

As everyone else does really - I brown mince and onion then drain the fat. Throw in everything else and let it simmer.

Can't believe my daughter didn't notice the difference - not a single comment. When she was half way through I asked her if it was ok and she said it was lovely! Such a very simple recipe and sooo cheap!

Lala

slig

Takana wrote: »

I sometimes use a tin of chopped toms and some tom puree if I've run out of sauce and forgot to buy some, but OH is not as keen. I don't mind, but it does taste rather bitter doing it this way. I've read somewhere that adding a tiny bit of sugar to the tin toms can help take away the bitterness but I have yet to try it.

I use tinned plum tomatoes for my sauce and it never tastes bitter, I've never needed to add sugar to it. I think the trick is to cook them for a long time - mine simmers for about an hour. The recipe is Jamie Oliver's, can't remember which book it was in though. It's basically:

Put a blob of olive oil, a bit of oregano, a pinch of dried chilli seeds, and some fresh chopped garlic in a saucepan. Cook for a minute or so.

Add can(s) of plum tomatoes. Stir ocasionally. Simmer for 45mins-1hour. Add basil and blitz with stick blender. Serve.


Hope the food goes down well tonight. It might take them a couple of goes to get used to the changes, so please don't be disheartened if they prefer the old version. They'll soon like your's best I'm sure.

oneeyedandgreen

Stuff like meat can get really expensive but there is so often a special offer. £6 for mince seems like loads. I got 1kg for £5 of fresh, lean mince in Sainsburys today which will make around 6 meals for me. You can often get cheaper offers if you have other supermarkets near by.

RachelW1987

I always buy meat from the butchers as I find it cheaper and a better quality than the supermarkets, might be worth a look in your local butchers.

Own brand sauces taste about the same to me as Ragu etc, I look for things on offer or just make my own sauce which works out cheaper.

I suppose its all about looking for better deals

Good luck

zippychick

Well done Doelani - fingers crossed for you!x

doelani

Well the Lasagne turned out ok , I was only one who did not eat it all as I had been picking at the filling while it was cooking lol

Hubby said it tasted no different to normal. So will definetly make it again, thanks everyone for your help

zippychick

That's brilliant news! Well done you!:j:beer: