Old style ways for first house

Trixsie1989

Ooh I hadn't thought of that! Gonna have to look into that when we buy our fridge freezer. We're planning on only going food shopping once a month and then just topping up on milk and stuff throughout the month. Xxx

Baileys_Babe

Could you write us a list of the food you both like to eat and we will try and direct you to cheaper and or healthier versions and suggest other dishes you may also like. Are there any foods we should avoid because of health issues? What will you have to cook in/on as well as a slow cooker? microwave? toaster? oven? hob? kettle? steamer? pressure cooker?

I would love to be in your position of starting from scratch, sounds very exciting.

Trixsie1989

Baileys_Babe wrote: »

Could you write us a list of the food you both like to eat and we will try and direct you to cheaper and or healthier versions and suggest other dishes you may also like. Are there any foods we should avoid because of health issues? What will you have to cook in/on as well as a slow cooker? microwave? toaster? oven? hob? kettle? steamer? pressure cooker?

I would love to be in your position of starting from scratch, sounds very exciting.

Hi bailey, we will have the slow cooker, oven, hob, micro wave, kettle and toaster when we move. Oh and a George Foreman grill.
We like spag Bol, chilli, lasagne and that kind of thing. oh will eat anything if it's bad for him so trying to get more fruit and veg in him ATM which isn't easy but he will eat a roast dinner. Can anyone suggest ways to disguise the veg? Sounds like having to do it for a child but if he knows it's their he won't eat it. Xxx

ragz_2

I will share the meal planning method I use (when I can be bothered, used to be every week!) as it is simple and easy to adjust. It goes like this... I either base it around the structure of the meal or the meats I am using, depending on what I have in already and what needs shopping for.

One roast dinner
One meal using leftovers from the roast
One meal with rice
One meal with pasta
One meal with chips
One jacket potato meal
One soup meal
One Stew

OR

Two mince meals
One chicken meal
One pork meal
One meal from sausages
One or two meat free meals

Thinking like this helps you keep variety and gives you some direction. Hope it helps.

Veg wise With a roast I always do some veg in cheese sauce (leeks and broccoli work well, precook the brocolli lightly but slice leeks raw, place in dish, cover with cheese sauce and bake for 20-30 mins) as my hubby will eat it like that but wouldn't otherwise. I also found he is much happier with veg if it has more flavour added so I learned to add thigns like garlic or spices to green veg, when roasting veg add herbs, honey, spices, chili, it all makes a huge difference to the end flavour and has got my hubby eating a wide variety of veg.

krlyr

Chili etc. is good for hiding veg and things in. Bulking out chili with kidney beans is an example - and you could add more beans if you wanted, e.g. aduki etc.

Chucking in a handful of lentils or oats to chili or bolognese help bulk it out, makes it healthier, more filling and cheaper - result! Just a handful or so though, or it can affect the flavour/texture. A small amount will just melt in to the sauce and won't be noticable.

I also add some veg - initially just carrot, but my last batch had a bit of a mix of leftover frozen veggies, I chucked them in to the blender to make a veggie mush which I added to the mince. The only thing that I'd have changed was less/no peppers - the taste was a little overpowering and I had to add a bit more tomato puree and herbs/spices to tone it down.

Another good way I find of adding veg is when I do things like a stir fry, I will add things like cabbage, brocolli, carrot, etc. to the stir fried noodles. Egg fried rice, I'll add sweetcorn, peas, diced carrot. It all adopts the taste of the sauces you cook with, and being in small pieces it doesn't quite seem like you're eating veg, not like being served up a big pile of sprouts or anything!

boultdj

Grate the veg up and add it when your cooking and you can do chilli and bolonaise sauce in the slow cooker.hth

jackomdj

If you are on Facebook I am a member of a group called "slow cooker saddo's"! So many great ideas, I am making cinnamon swirls for pudding in the slow cooker today.

LondonDreamer

Trixsie1989 wrote: »

Ooh I hadn't thought of that! Gonna have to look into that when we buy our fridge freezer. We're planning on only going food shopping once a month and then just topping up on milk and stuff throughout the month. Xxx

Make sure to check the capacities of fresh vs frozen when you pick one out. Even some huge units come with tiny freezers and a massive fresh section. I keep so little fresh stuff on hand, usually just milk and a few days veg. Everything is in the cupboards or freezer so the bigger the freezer, the better!

Trixsie1989 wrote: »

Hi bailey, we will have the slow cooker, oven, hob, micro wave, kettle and toaster when we move. Oh and a George Foreman grill.
We like spag Bol, chilli, lasagne and that kind of thing. oh will eat anything if it's bad for him so trying to get more fruit and veg in him ATM which isn't easy but he will eat a roast dinner. Can anyone suggest ways to disguise the veg? Sounds like having to do it for a child but if he knows it's their he won't eat it. Xxx

Tomato based sauces are some of the easiest to hide veg in. My OH knows I do this, but our sauces always have a big handful of red lentils plus loads of mushrooms, carrots, celery, onion and of course, tinned tomatoes. OH doesn't like cooked peppers, otherwise they'd be in there too. My bolognese sauce is only about a quarter meat by the time I finish adding all the veg. :rotfl:

I never got on with a slow cooker, but always batch cook at least double everything if it's something that can be frozen - which is usually the case. A big saucepan (like a pasta pot) is a must. Cast iron pots are brilliant for slow hob/oven cooking, Aldi sometimes have these quite cheaply in their Sunday specials going into the colder months. Keep an eye out if you have one near you.

K9sandFelines

jackomdj wrote: »

If you are on Facebook I am a member of a group called "slow cooker saddo's"! So many great ideas, I am making cinnamon swirls for pudding in the slow cooker today.

I'm in that group. Must have missed that recipe though as i haven't logged into Facebook recently.

Trixsie1989

I was looking at huge pasta pots the other day but thought as we have the slow cooker we didn't need one lol but I guess I could get one and batch cook two different meals in one go to save on energy and fuel bills xxx