simple healthy meals

arbroath_lass

mummyroysof3 wrote: »

thankyou, maybe ill feel brave enough one day to try it

Soup really is one of the easiest things to make in the world :j. You don't have to worry about measuring ingredients - just chuck in whatever you have. You've got a great recipe and there are plenty more on the internet. I bet you already cook things that are far more difficult!

Give it a go, no need to be brave .

valk_scot

mummyroysof3 wrote: »

thankyou, maybe ill feel brave enough one day to try it

Crikey, if you think you need to be brave to try my two basics, what other recipes are you using? If you can chop veg and open a stock cube wrapper you can make soup. it really IS that easy, belive me!

babyshoes

That veg soup recipe sounds good - can I just ask if the lentils you use are tinned or dried? Have never really used them before, but red lentils seem quite cheap in my local corner shop, so would love to try them!

Lippycow

You must try this it is delish and healthy http://www.goodtoknow.co.uk/recipes/429387/Easy-sausage-and-potato-casserole

Rainy-Days

Our food budget would struggle without Lidl (in the main) and Aldi. I buy our main shop from them and then anything else I get either from Tesco or Sainsburys'. Three weeks ago Sainsbury's sent me £12.00 off a £60.00 shop voucher so I used that, but stocked up on tinned and jar stuff, with things that I can freeze as well (along with a nice big box of half price Fairy washing powder - what a boon that was ).

I will be the first here to hold my hands up that at one time I looked down my nose at Lidl and Aldi then I got dragged into the shop by a good friend of mine and had my pre-conceived opinions turned on it's head. I still don't have their carrier bags and use my own so maybe, just maybe, a twinge of it still lurks there but to be honest Lidl has kept the wolf from the door many a time!

I also try and meal plan around what is on offer. There are also meal planners on the internet where you put in your contents and it will give you recipes.

ragz_2

valk_scot wrote: »

Yup, that's it in a nutshell.

The quick way to focus on this is to look at the plate as if it were a clock, divided into four. You should have 1/4 protein type foods, such as meat, 1/4 carb type foods such as pasta or potato,1/2 (2/4) veg. So if you're serving chilli or lasagne for example then it sound be served with an equal amount of vegetables, like a large salad. NOT an entire plate of lasagne btw plus a side salad, but both should fit on the same normal sized dining plate. (Even if you do actually serve them in seperate dishes.)

Meals should balance this way across the courses or indeed entire day btw..don't have a stodgy main course plus stodgy pud, for example, and half of what you eat should be fruit and veg based. It's absolutely astounding how many folk base their meals on an excessively large portion of meat/fish/protein plus the same of carbohydrate and just add a couple of spoonfuls of veg as a garnish.

If you think of meals like this then it doesn't actually matter what kind of food you prefer to cook ie spicey, no fish, only white food or whatever. as long as you set up the proportions right.

Fab post, I have quoted you on the Weight Loss thread, hope you don't mind

ajs88

ive got a blog which is pretty much about this with lots of cheap and healthy recipes and ideas

http://mrsbentsdiary.blogspot.com

my mantra is pretty much to base your meals around wholegrains and veg, lots of lentils for protein, tinned fish and small amounts of meat

valk_scot

babyshoes wrote: »

That veg soup recipe sounds good - can I just ask if the lentils you use are tinned or dried? Have never really used them before, but red lentils seem quite cheap in my local corner shop, so would love to try them!

Dried red lentils. They cook down to mush really quickly and help thicken up the soup nicely.

valk_scot

ragz wrote: »

Fab post, I have quoted you on the Weight Loss thread, hope you don't mind

Not at all. But it is rather funny, given the size of my lardy bum, lol! (Terrible weakness for chocolate and things in mayonnaise...)

1jim

valk_scot wrote: »

Basic veg soup. Dice up a selection of veg...onion, celery, carrot, leek are my basic ones, sweat down in a knob of butter or little bit of oil in a big pan for five minutes, add stock made from either some boiled up chicken bones or a good quality stock cube. Add a couple of ounces of red lentils and simmer for half an hour, then either blitz in blender if you like smooth soups or add a few peas if you like chunky soup. Check seasoning, serve. That's my basic recipe anyway.

Lentil, bacon & tomato soup. Dice three rashers of bacon, sweat in pan till crispy round edges, add 6oz red lentils, tin of chopped tomatoes, 2-3 tins worth of water, stock cube. (Or ham stock if you've boiled a joint.) Simmer for 30 minutes, check seasoning, serve. Sometimes I add a clove of chopped garlic to the bacon.

Love the sound of the lentil bacon and tomato soup---- will give that a go at the weekend with a batch of soda bread, thanks