Simplifying Food: simple no fuss meals

ThriftyRose

I'm not a massive fan of cooking. Seems a lot of faff just to fuel the body. Plus all that washing up after! 

My favourite meals seem to be simple, English traditional stuff. Cottage pie, roasts, casserole etc.

With the crazy cost of food, I'm looking to find some simple, no fuss tasty lunches and dinner. Probably around 10 recipes that I can make regularly with a small amount of ingredients.

I have an allotment so I want to use as much homegrown veg as possible.

So far I have.

Dinner 1: Homemade flatbread pizza
Dinner 2: Sausage casserole 
Dinner 3:
Dinner 4:
Dinner 5: etc

Lunch 1: Potato and onion soup
Lunch 2: English breakfast 
Lunch 3: etc

Ideas anyone? 

Brie

I save prep time with vegetables and freeze them.  They can then be used in casseroles or soup or simply chucked in the oven to roast.  Normally this is based on me buying family sized packs of things like peppers knowing full well that I won't be able to use them all quickly enough before they go off so I use what I need immediately and then freeze the rest. 

My mixed packs include - peppers, mushrooms, squash, onions, cherry tomatoes, courgette, beet root, carrots, potatoes.  

First step is to peel/tidy/deseed/whatever and then cut everything in to relatively similar sizes.  Then simply chuck them in a bag making sure they are not overly damp and lay the bag flat in the freezer.  Any chunks that stick together can be separated with just a shake.  You could bag things up separately but I put them all in together and then pick out what I need for anything.

Then it's a simple case of a pork chop or bit of chicken to be cooked while the veg roast for about 30 minutes at 160.  A bit of olive oil and herbs on top make them extra nice.  

Another easy thing for soup is to use squash or pumpkin.  Just cut out the stem bit, cut in half and get rid of the seeds (though if you could be fussed they are nice if you clean them up and roast them).  Then cut the squash into quarters (depending on size - a butternut squash cooks nicely in quarters).  Roast about 25 minutes max at 160.  Then you can just scrape the "meat" of the squash out into a pot where you've cooked an onion, maybe a carrot  and/or potato and a couple of stock cubes.  Blend it all and pop into microwaveable containers.  Freezes nicely. 

annieb64

There are only two of us now so I still cook four or even six portions of a lot of meals then freeze the extra portions. It was something I did when we were first married and I was working long hours.At the moment we have chilli, lasagne, steak pie,curry sauce,  tomato sauce and the base for shepherds pie in the freezer. We also have sausages- in packs of four , mince in flattened 250 gram packs and individually wrapped pork chops and chicken breasts.I like to know that if I am tired I can get a meal quickly and easily. We also have frozen veg both home grown and shop bought. Lately I've started buying frozen chopped red onions which are useful for  onion gravy with sausages.

singhini

Ive started focusing on fibre and so for the last few months ive been eating raw veg & fruit for breakfast (roughly 600g). Any combination of things like raw Spinach, Lettuce, Carrots, Sweet Corn. Cabbage, Kale, Cucumber, Tomatoes, Cauliflower, Broccoli, Peas, Bananas, Apples, Oranges, Pears, Grapes, Watermelon, etc.........

I'm trying to reduce my intake of UPF, so lunch will usually be homemade stew or soup. Supper is porridge oats with banana and a pinch of cinnamon. 

For the last 4 days ive been eating Carrot and Potato soup with home made bread rolls (ive got the same tomorrow).

If i do eat meat, it is usually fish or chicken and no more than 250g in weight which gives about 62g - 75g of protein.

Also no more of things like cake, biscuits, chocolates, ice cream, Crips (waste of money, no nutrition). 

Do you eat lentils and legumes? (Small amount of oil in a pan, add crushed garlic and fresh thyme, then add beans (kidney beans or ballotti beans, Broad beans, Butter beans ect.....) and a cup of water  (you can add meat if you wish). 

Have you heard of Open Food Facts?
world.openfoodfacts.org
It helped me understand the NOVA food classification and identify UPF 

Edit: apologies, think ive gone off on a bit of a tangent. 

Myci85

One of my winter staples is vegetable and lentil stew (I'm a fan of one pot batch cooking as likewise I find it time consuming so like meals that reduce effort and mess!).

Choose a variety of veg - I tend to do potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, parsnips and leeks, but you can add whatever you like. Fry off some garlic in a large pan, then add the chopped potatoes and cover with water. Add a good amount of red and/or green lentils and stock cubes and simmer. Then chop and add the rest of the veg according to which take longest to cook. It's ready once all the veg is very tender and the lentils cooked through. 

We will eat that for a few days, and freeze the leftovers in portions. 

Other favourites are lentil and spinach daal (I add paneer) and mixed bean chilli. 

BridgetTheCat

I like cauliflower cheese soup 😀. Made the same way as potato and onion but use a whole head of cauliflower (cut into florets) instead of potatoes, and throw in a handful of grated extra strong cheddar at the end. If you want a thicker version, keep one potato alongside the cauliflower.

Edit: serves 4-6, can be batch cooked and frozen 

Brie

Love lentils!!  A good add to almost any soup or stew!!

JIL

Heres my fuss free pasta dish.

Past their best tomatoes. Or a jar of aldi chilli pasta sauce.
Bag of frozen prawns or seafood defrosted 
Handful of frozen peas. 
pasta. 

Put the pasta on to boil

Chop the tomatoes and put in a large frying pan. Add olive oil, dried herbs and chilli powder. Bubble away, add the prawns, peas, cooked pasta.

Serve.

JIL

Roasted veg tray bake. 
Chuck a load of veg into a baking tin, add oil, balsamic and chorizo.  Add chicken thighs and bake.

Leftover veg can be mixed with couscous and topped with feta for lunch or another dinner.

Flat bread kebabs.
Loved this one, get a pack of mince, add grated onion and spices. Squish it up together. Pack it flat onto a flat baking tin.  Not too thick, bake it. Then turn it out and cut into long strips, top with onions, tomato, salad and sauce in a flat bread. 

Like this Juicy Oven-baked Kebabs - Simple Home Edit https://share.google/UC1A5FzqxlsV3vapA

I discovered this (I think Australian) lady on Instagram, I'm not easily impressed, but there are some fantastic easy recipes on her website (hope the link works)

https://simplehomeedit.com