Forum Discussion
What are your easiest, tastiest meals - quick to prepare when you can't think of anything!!
Hi guys
I have a few 'standard' easy meals that I always have the ingredients handy, in case I seriously can't be bothered cooking a 'fancy' meal ....... feel free to add your own 'Favs'! ;)
Last night, we had our winter favourite 'comfort food' - Lamb Shanks!! I cheat, and buy the Aldi FROZEN Lamb Shanks (2 for $12 already cooked - they usually cost that 'RAW'!!) - that way you can always have a couple in the freezer. I often take them with me when I am camping too - SO easy to just cook in the microwave with some sweet potato 'on the trot'!
Take them out of the box and they are even easier to store in the Freezer. If you decide to cook them up later in the day - just pop them in the sink (or big container) with cold/lukewarm water & they'll thaw out pretty quickly. Change the water if you want them to defrost quicker. They come in 'individual Vac Pacs' - and because they are already Pre Cooked - when you open them, the 'cooked fat' is already 'in solid form' and you just pull it out - so they are healthier for you too!!
There are 2 flavours - one with Mint in the gravy & the other one based on a red wine gravy. Both are LOVELY! This is how I prepare them for 2 people .......
In a BIG casserole pot, add 1 tin of diced tomato & 1 drained tin of Chickpeas. Add 1 x Cubed Potato, 1 x cubed small Sweet Potato, 1 x chopped/cubed Carrot. Mix them into the tomato/chickpeas sauce. Remove any 'solid fat' from both of the Shanks and add them to the casserole pot along with all the gravy in each pack. Mix the gravy well with the tomato mix. Cover the pot & cook at 180 degrees Celsius oven for 2-3hrs ..... stir every hour. The meat will just fall off the bone and I bet you enjoy them!
BONUS: After serving up with the gravy and veggies (and cabbage or your choice of greens...) whilst the remaining gravy & veg are still hot - use a Bamix (or similar) to pulverise it all ..... this will make a wonderful soup for the next day or so! I usually water it down a bit as it can be quite thick. Lovely with some toast for lunch.
One of my other favs is the 'Vac Pac'd' 'FLAT CHICKEN' .... once again, Aldi do a lovely one - with yoghurt & garlic with NO BONES - so you just cut up the chicken in slices when cooked. Just do a BIG ROAST - I do it in 2 dishes - the chicken in one (with alfoil under the chicken on a cake rack to reduce the cleaning!) and all the potato, sweet potato, pumpkin, carrot & onion in another tray, all into the oven at the same time as the chicken - and it takes a bit less than 1hr to cook at 170 degrees Celsius. Turn the chicken & veg around after 1/2 hr. Cook greens in the microwave 5 mins before serving time. This gives us 2 full sized meals for 2 for 2 nights. Once again - keep one of the chickens in the freezer - as they are 'flat' they store really easily & don't take long to defrost in the sink in cold/lukewarm water - great for when unexpected guests turn up, too.
When my Grandmother first went into secure living (with her own kitchen) I suggested that she cut up a whole chicken (for numerous meals) and put it into a casserole dish with a packet of Chicken Noodle Soup & the required amount of liquid, as well as a chopped onion & sliced red capsicum ..... cook it for about an hour - and it was YUMMY - and gives lots of meals too - served with salad. (Whole frozen chickens are VERY reasonably priced ......)
Here's the 'after pic' of my lamb shanks last night ....... just as well we don't have a dog .... nothing much left! ;)
I have a few 'standard' easy meals that I always have the ingredients handy, in case I seriously can't be bothered cooking a 'fancy' meal ....... feel free to add your own 'Favs'! ;)
Last night, we had our winter favourite 'comfort food' - Lamb Shanks!! I cheat, and buy the Aldi FROZEN Lamb Shanks (2 for $12 already cooked - they usually cost that 'RAW'!!) - that way you can always have a couple in the freezer. I often take them with me when I am camping too - SO easy to just cook in the microwave with some sweet potato 'on the trot'!
Take them out of the box and they are even easier to store in the Freezer. If you decide to cook them up later in the day - just pop them in the sink (or big container) with cold/lukewarm water & they'll thaw out pretty quickly. Change the water if you want them to defrost quicker. They come in 'individual Vac Pacs' - and because they are already Pre Cooked - when you open them, the 'cooked fat' is already 'in solid form' and you just pull it out - so they are healthier for you too!!
There are 2 flavours - one with Mint in the gravy & the other one based on a red wine gravy. Both are LOVELY! This is how I prepare them for 2 people .......
In a BIG casserole pot, add 1 tin of diced tomato & 1 drained tin of Chickpeas. Add 1 x Cubed Potato, 1 x cubed small Sweet Potato, 1 x chopped/cubed Carrot. Mix them into the tomato/chickpeas sauce. Remove any 'solid fat' from both of the Shanks and add them to the casserole pot along with all the gravy in each pack. Mix the gravy well with the tomato mix. Cover the pot & cook at 180 degrees Celsius oven for 2-3hrs ..... stir every hour. The meat will just fall off the bone and I bet you enjoy them!
BONUS: After serving up with the gravy and veggies (and cabbage or your choice of greens...) whilst the remaining gravy & veg are still hot - use a Bamix (or similar) to pulverise it all ..... this will make a wonderful soup for the next day or so! I usually water it down a bit as it can be quite thick. Lovely with some toast for lunch.
One of my other favs is the 'Vac Pac'd' 'FLAT CHICKEN' .... once again, Aldi do a lovely one - with yoghurt & garlic with NO BONES - so you just cut up the chicken in slices when cooked. Just do a BIG ROAST - I do it in 2 dishes - the chicken in one (with alfoil under the chicken on a cake rack to reduce the cleaning!) and all the potato, sweet potato, pumpkin, carrot & onion in another tray, all into the oven at the same time as the chicken - and it takes a bit less than 1hr to cook at 170 degrees Celsius. Turn the chicken & veg around after 1/2 hr. Cook greens in the microwave 5 mins before serving time. This gives us 2 full sized meals for 2 for 2 nights. Once again - keep one of the chickens in the freezer - as they are 'flat' they store really easily & don't take long to defrost in the sink in cold/lukewarm water - great for when unexpected guests turn up, too.
When my Grandmother first went into secure living (with her own kitchen) I suggested that she cut up a whole chicken (for numerous meals) and put it into a casserole dish with a packet of Chicken Noodle Soup & the required amount of liquid, as well as a chopped onion & sliced red capsicum ..... cook it for about an hour - and it was YUMMY - and gives lots of meals too - served with salad. (Whole frozen chickens are VERY reasonably priced ......)
Here's the 'after pic' of my lamb shanks last night ....... just as well we don't have a dog .... nothing much left! ;)
338 Replies
- Latest quick meal is a pork chop with Coles Asian Salad. The salad is $5 and we look for chops on special picked up a park of 4 for $7 this week so froze 2 chops for another day.
We had a fire in our firepit the other night so we cooked jacket potatoes in foil in the pit and then served it with some taco mince on top with a bit of smashed avocado. A bit of butter on the potato made it all pretty yummy. - ooooh - I bought some Golden Mayan Potatoes last week on special (never having tried them before) and they were GLORIOUS in the air fryer!! Quite a crumbly texture - but that lovely 'old fashioned' potato flavour!
If you spot them, give them a go!! ;) - This one sounds interesting ....
Ingredients- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter melted and cooled
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 3/4 cup vanilla yogurt
- 2 eggs beaten
- 3 very ripe bananas mashed well
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup diced strawberries
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and spray a 9 by 5 inch bread pan with cooking spray.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
- In a large bowl whisk together the butter and sugar. Then whisk in the yogurt, eggs, bananas, and vanilla.
- Gently add the flour mixture to the liquid ingredients, folding them together until just combined.
- Be careful not to over mix.
- Gently stir in the strawberries. The batter will be very thick.
- Pour the batter into the bread pan and bake for 60 to 65 minutes (mine took 63 minutes) or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the bread comes out clean or with a few crumbs.
- Let the bread cool for 10 minutes in the pan. Remove and transfer to a cooling rack for an hour before slicing.
- Because of the fresh strawberries, this recipe won't last as long as a traditional banana bread.
- You want to store this in an air tight clear container and eat within two to three days.
- Ooooh, thank you @iserbrown I LOVE ratatouille! Haven't made it for a while!! And I LOVE meatballs ......
In my cupboard 'somewhere' I have almost a complete set of the NSW Gas Company's set of Recipes from the 1970s - could be worth looking at again!! ..... I used to work there & even did cooking demonstrations at the Burwood Branch in Sydney! What a hoot they were!!
Here's a nice sounding Chicken recipe for Air Fryer ..... I hope to try it soon - sounds YUM!!Mediterranean Air Fryer Chicken Ingredients
- 4 chicken quarters bone-in skin on
- juice of a lemon or 2 tablespoons vinegar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- freshly cracked black pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon ground coriander
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1 tablespoon sumac (optional - gives good colour)
- 1 tablespoon granulated/powdered garlic or a teaspoon of freshly grated garlic
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, (optional)
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
Instructions
Wash the chicken quarters and pat them completely dry.
Cut 3-4 slits into the chicken and place them in a tray.
Drizzle with lemon juice or vinegar and toss to coat.
Season the chicken with salt, herbs and spices and then with the flour.
Toss the chicken together.
Place the seasoned chicken quarters in the air fryer basket and set the temperature to 400 °F.
Cook for 20 minutes then, flip the chicken and cook for 8 minutes more until crispy.
Serve with salad and tzatziki. Enjoy!
- Chicken and mushroom crepes - the best use of chicken leftovers! Possibly with less stock powder and cornflour though.......
Can buy crepes in the fridge at Aldi- Going through old mags and found this
- Thanks @SoldierCrab and @AllyJay ... but he likes them crisp! :( Yes, I think he thought his brother had it ‘easier’ the next year as it was the ‘down’ run for him! It was his major regret in life that he didn’t finish. These days, everyone has helpers on the road and he probably would have been given a massage or bandaged up ... back then, there was just no ‘back up’ :(
- @arpie...They have to be dunked as SoldierCrab says. Generally in coffee, but also tea and rooibos tea. There's an art to how deep in the drink they are dipped...too far down the rusk and so either it will fall off into the cup, or more often, land in your lap as you lift it from the cup, then turn it horizontal to put into your mouth. Just dip enough and for long enough to soften to a lovely squishy texture and they are yummy. When my kids were little, I sometimes used to put two in a bowl and cover with hot milk and a bit of brown sugar. It made a quick hot porridge which they both loved. Great story about the Comrades run. i remember there was always debate whether the up run was better than the down run. Going up you had Field's Hill to slog up, but running down was a killer on the joints with the jarring of running downhill.
- dunk them in tea .....
