Reverse Meal Planning

Primrose

Lovely expression and how true!   I know somebody whose husband refuses point blank to eat lentils, being completely unaware of of the fact he,s been eating them in bolognese sauce for years,
It's like the teenagers or others who insist on expensive hair and shower shampoos, unaware that clever Mum has  been refilling those expensive containers with cheap own label stuff for years!

joedenise

EH - there's a recipe for sweet chilli sauce on the Pinch of Nom website - it's a diet one but of course you can use normal sugar rather then sweetener and cornflour rather than xanthum gum to thicken.

You need to watch it though as it thickens extremely quickly and disappears now to almost nothing - ask me how I know!

EssexHebridean

Primrose - lentils are indeed one of the magic bolognese ingredients!   

joedenise - thanks for that - I'll take a look! 

joedenise

EH - BBC Good Food also have what looks to be an easy recipe although I haven't tried that one.

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/sweet-chilli-sauce

EssexHebridean

The BBCGF website is always my default (I've pretty much never had a bad recipe off there!) so I had seen that one  - decided to see what else was out there though. I've also just remembered why I usually avoid Pinch of Nom too - soooo much diet rubbish to filter through before you get to the useful bit!  

I'm going to be tempted to try the Good Food one I think - then freeze the excess over what I'll use fairly quickly in an ice cube tray. Can't see why that wouldn't work. 

joedenise

Definitely worth freezing in an ice cube tray.  I've got mini muffin and muffin silicon trays and often use those for things which are bigger than ice cubes!  I use them for LO passata, coconut milk and that sort of thing.  Then once frozen put them into freezer bags so they're available to use again for cooking!

Mrs_Cheshire

Hi all, I've tried lentils in bolognese but don't enjoy the texture. I usually bulk mine out with grated courgette and carrot. I've been using bits from the freezer for the last few days. Need to have a dig around and meal plan the rest of the week's meals. 

Primrose

I do think you have to be a little careful about  he amount of lentils used in bolognese sauce .  It pays to err on the side of caution to avoid spoiling its texture.  Probably good to use grated carrot, celery or courgette if reducing the amount (and cost) of meat is your main objective without making it too obvious that you're on a cost cutting exercise. 

joedenise

I add loads of veg and red lentils to mince both to stretch it and to ensure extra veg in our diet but @Primrose is right don't overdo the lentils.   Red seems to work better than green or brown as they break down nicely.

Some of the LO gammon joint went into the slow cooker with some onion, celery, carrot & split peas plus the gammon stock and has been turned into 6 portions of pea and home soup.  4 portions in the freezer; 2 in the fridge for lunch today.

Still have some slices of gammon left with will be used for sandwiches over the week too.

Suffolk_lass

I'm with you on the red lentils @joedenise. Definitely the easiest and cook well from dry state without any messing about.

I've got to contact my egg delivery person as they also have lambs coming (we have watched them all year) and we would dearly like half a lamb but I want it butchered as half shoulders and half legs as we are normally just two of us. The biggest issue is making space for it in a freezer though, not the butchery. We have the usual issue with evidence of vermin in the Country and because he keeps livestock he is well positioned to provide effective treatment.