amounts

double_mummy

yeah he eats my dinners quite often and he enjoys all of them that he has tried so far he is rather adventurous with his food and will give anything a try

ciderwithrosie_2

Ahh, that's good then, was going by my own relations.
The in-laws don't like sauces or anything spicy. Own parents would eat most things but find their digestive systems protest these days. Even they find it difficult when my auntie visits as she's strict meat, potatoes and two veg!

How about...

Fish pie (mash topping)
Chicken/steak and mushroom pie (ready made puff pastry top)
Chicken, leek and bacon pie
Risotto
Paella
Beef Stroganoff
Jamaican Rice
Liver, bacon and onions
Macaroni cheese
Chicken Chasseur
Sausage casserole

Sorry, you were wanting quantities rather than suggestions. I use an 800gm pack of mince for 5 adults. A kilo bag of frozen chicken breasts if making a curry/sweet and sour. A kilo of braising steak if making a beef stew.

kerrypn

cider, have you got a recipe for liver bacon and onions please? I adore liver and am always tempted to buy it, do you use lamb liver?

double_mummy

ciderwithrosie wrote: »

Ahh, that's good then, was going by my own relations.
The in-laws don't like sauces or anything spicy. Own parents would eat most things but find their digestive systems protest these days. Even they find it difficult when my auntie visits as she's strict meat, potatoes and two veg!lol his wife has recently changed to being a vegetarian and wont cook meat and he cant cook so i help him out as a fellow carnivore. i think because hes always eaten a bit of everything that he actually loves new things and i dont make an of my dishes especially spicy hubby has IBS and my son doesnt like spice (daughter eats chillis like sweets if you let her) so they are all nicely flavored rather than being hot


Risotto
Paella
Jamaican Rice
.

sounds good - i didnt think i could freeze rice though

ciderwithrosie_2

kerrypn wrote: »

cider, have you got a recipe for liver bacon and onions please? I adore liver and am always tempted to buy it, do you use lamb liver?

Yep, only ever eaten lamb's liver. My mum put me off pig's or ox's liver saying it was really strong flavoured.

I'm not great with specific quantities as I tend to do things by eye, this makes a big amount ...

Chop and fry a couple of large onions in a casserole pan, add a pack of smoked streaky bacon cut into 2inch pieces (doesn't have to be exact!) and fry that for a bit. Add the liver, I use about 500gm and cut into chunks (I hated it fried in big pieces as a kid so my mum started doing this casserole), discard any sinewy, inedible looking bits. Once the liver is browned, pour in some beef or lamb stock (I'd make up about a pint and a half with 2 stock cubes). Normally also put in some bovril, pinch of mixed herbs, tablespoon of ketchup, same of worcester sauce, some black pepper (should be salty enough from the bacon and stock). bring to the boil.

Add some carrot rings, put the lid on and turn down to a simmer until they are cooked, then chuck in some frozen peas (cook for a couple of minutes more). Put a heaped tablespoon of cornflour in a cup and mix with some cold water to make a mix as thick as single cream. Pour slowly into the casserole, whilst stirring until the gravy thickens - you may not need it all. Serve with mash potato and a green veg if wanted.

Hope this is OK

regards Rosie

ciderwithrosie_2

double_mummy wrote: »

sounds good - i didnt think i could freeze rice though

Oh, I'm not sure, I usually freeze any leftovers to take to work to reheat for my lunch, they always seem OK. Mind you, most things probably taste better than my other option - a hospital canteen sandwich!

craigywv

PIGPEN....................i take my hat off to you, your amazing!!! i have 1 child and a oh and sometimes get stressed out lol never again!!!

krlyr

double_mummy wrote: »

sounds good - i didnt think i could freeze rice though

With rice, the issue is with it sitting around warm - this is the best temperature the toxins multiply at, the nasties that cause the food poisoning.

The trick is to cool it down very quickly - so with plain rice, I simply put in a seive/collander and run cold water over it, voila, cold rice. If it's 'flavoured' rice, e.g. Spanish style with passatta, stock etc. then I don't want to rinse that away - so I use big baking trays or large chopping boards to spread the rice over, the larger surface area lets it cool much quicker (I may pop in the fridge to help it along too)

Reheat quickly too - so don't ping it for a minute to defrost it, let it sit for 20 mins while you cook the rest, etc. - I wait until everything's nearly done, then put it in a microwave safe bowl, cover the bowl with a slightly damp piece of kitchen towel (stops the rice drying out) and heat until piping hot. If I'm using the rice for something like egg fried rice, I'll microwave to warm and then fry straight away until it's hot.

I batchcook quite similar meals to your plan - bolognese, chili, etc. and I agree that it can get quite boring to eat too many of them in a week/month. Mince can be a bit of a heavier meal too - perhaps slightly more ideal now the temperature has dropped, but generally I've got in the habit of trying to do at least 2-3 chicken meals as that's a bit lighter, maybe 2 mince meals max (but not every week), a meal that's low on meat (so an omelette or similar - if you want to freeze then a quiche could be good, or a part-baked jacket potato to heat through, a vegetable curry, etc.), then we'll have maybe a meal with pork (pulled pork is lovely and can be frozen) or similar.

If you have freezer space for yourself you could batch cook the bolognese etc. but keep half for yourself. So cook 4 meals worth and they can have it once a fortnight, and so can you. Allows you to get a bit more variety but still get the benefit of bulk cooking and making it a bit cheaper and easier. Not to mention if you're cooking so many meals for this family, you might get fed up and not want to cook for yourself - voila, plenty of ready-cooked meals in the freezer!


For amounts, we buy 750g packs of mince and I will try to stretch this to at least 4-5 meals (for two people). Bolognese etc. is bulked out - lentils, oats, grated veg (carrots etc.), passatta and tomatoes all bulk out the quantity, so less meat is needed.
With chicken meals, I try to make one large breast feed both of us. This is easier with meals like fajitas etc. where we can bulk it out with salad - but for stuff like curry you could add mushrooms to add chunks/volume (I can't stand mushroom so don't do it myself!)
Pulled pork and similar - the sauce does add volume and the act of shredding the meat seems to make it go further too. Popped in a bun with coleslaw too, a little meat goes a long way.

kerrypn

ciderwithrosie wrote: »

Yep, only ever eaten lamb's liver. My mum put me off pig's or ox's liver saying it was really strong flavoured.

I'm not great with specific quantities as I tend to do things by eye, this makes a big amount ...

Chop and fry a couple of large onions in a casserole pan, add a pack of smoked streaky bacon cut into 2inch pieces (doesn't have to be exact!) and fry that for a bit. Add the liver, I use about 500gm and cut into chunks (I hated it fried in big pieces as a kid so my mum started doing this casserole), discard any sinewy, inedible looking bits. Once the liver is browned, pour in some beef or lamb stock (I'd make up about a pint and a half with 2 stock cubes). Normally also put in some bovril, pinch of mixed herbs, tablespoon of ketchup, same of worcester sauce, some black pepper (should be salty enough from the bacon and stock). bring to the boil.

Add some carrot rings, put the lid on and turn down to a simmer until they are cooked, then chuck in some frozen peas (cook for a couple of minutes more). Put a heaped tablespoon of cornflour in a cup and mix with some cold water to make a mix as thick as single cream. Pour slowly into the casserole, whilst stirring until the gravy thickens - you may not need it all. Serve with mash potato and a green veg if wanted.

Hope this is OK

regards Rosie

That sounds lovely, thank you so much, will get some liver next time I am at the market instead of just eyeing it longingly!