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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! ;)
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- My sons in their twenties will still avoid veges and just go for the meats. I do a pasta thing, big pot of pasta spirals, toss in a bag of frozen veg, add any sort of meats (diced bacon, raw or cooked diced sausages, any diced meat really). Bring to the boil, turn it off and leave it sit 10 mins or so to work its magic. Drain, stir in pasta sauce bottle (yeah the whole thing). While its all still fairly hot, stir thru grated cheese. Wash up is 4 plates, a saucepan, a grater and cutlery. Very easy, everyone's full as and very little nibbling later.
At xmas time we got an air fryer. Not sure why they call it a fryer as its really only a mini fan forced oven but whatever. I have been cutting up pumpkin and choko small and throwing that in the fryer for about 20 mins. (veg seem to take longer than meats). It comes out like oven roasted and I didn't need to waste 15 minutes preheating to cook. No turning, just wait for the timer alarm and its ready. It even turns itself off which is great for chemo brainers like me. - @piccme My Mum's scones were always high and fluffy, too. I've never been able to replicate them (of course, I was too cool to learn how to make them) but she always used a knife as well. And the prep was so quick - seemed to take longer to clean the flour off the table than it did to get the scones in the oven.
- Easy Peasy Chicken Curry
1 bbq chicken , cut up into small pieces ,bones removed
1 tablespoon curry powder
1onion sliced
1 tin Campbell's condensed chicken soup
1 cup milk
1 tin pineapple pieces drained
Fry onions in butter until transparent
Add curry powder , stir for a few minutes
Add chicken soup , milk , chicken & pineapple
simmer for a short while , serve with rice & papadams - @arpie and @Piccme Thankyou both for your help .Will let you know how we get on.My kids @ arpie don’t like red meat and at times I feel if I eat much more chicken I will cluck. We manage meat/fish only when they are out basically.Next year when year 12 is over it is time they made their own meals.
- Hi @Romla, I definitely don’t profess to be an expert but irrelevant of which recipe you use my mum (who was a fabulous cook) always made great fluffy, high rising scones. Her secrets, bring the dough together but make sure not to over work it or they won’t rise as well or be as fluffy. Next, when mixing the liquid into the crumbly mixture use a knife, not sure why but her mother taught her this step and it always seemed to work. My own step, I don’t use anything fancy like lemonade or buttermilk, just plain simple water but I make sure it’s ice cold. I live in the tropics and find this makes a lighter scone??? Final hint my mum gave me was to place the scones as close to each other, they need to be touching on the baking tray and lightly brushed with milk. So many recipes these days don’t have the old fashioned hints with them that our mums passed on from their mums. Don’t know if any of this will help but wish you the best of luck. We’ll wait for photos of your success. :) Sophie
- No worries, @Romla - looking forward to see a pic of the results! ;) If you use an empty tin (both ends cut off) just make sure it is bone dry & you also dip it into flour before cutting the scones. There is a bit of 'throw away' with that method tho - cutting them into squares works just as well with no throw outs! ;)
With the Lamb shanks, with the meat falling off the bone - you could strip the meat off the bones & just make it into a casserole instead if it is the 'look of it' that could put the kids off - or do they not like casseroles at all? The flavour is just lovely!! - Thankyou so much @arpie this recipe is exactly what we’ve been looking for -let you know how we get on.Only wish my kids were more adventurous as those lamb shanks looked wonderful.
- Here you go, @Romla
Spot the error ..... (or they may 'stick' to the blue.)...
should have been .....(or they may 'stick' to the BLADE.) Duh.
haha - almost the same as my directions! LOL (I used to be a demonstrator at the Gas Company AGL back in the 70s!!) - Thanks @arpie will try again tomorrow - we thought it would be simple to recreate a favourite from our childhood but is an art it seems just like spongemaking - we have the latter down perfect now and so easy if you now how.
- There is a famous recipe using cream & lemonade - supposed to be the lightest ever!! But I have to go out for dinner just now ..... will look it up when I get back!!
The trick if making them the 'old way' (cut the butter into the flour until resembling breadcrumbs) is to use 2 x knives (if you have hot hands, your fingers can melt the butter & it gets 'gooey'.) Or you can put it in a processor (much easier!)When you add the milk to the dry ingredients - use the knife/fork to 'mix it in' - and only mix it 'lightly' (don't stir & stir & stir), then turn it out onto a well floured bench (even if still a tad 'wet') and Turn it over once or twice on the bench in the flour to make it 'not wet' and use your hands to flatten it.
Most people over mix it & makes tough scones.
Use a BIG carving knife to cut them into squares (press the knife down in one movement - don't 'slice' them) and dust the blade with flour for each cut (or they may 'stick' to the blue.)
Put them 'close together' on the tray to cook (not separated.) This way, they use each other to 'push up'!!
Make sure the oven is nice & hot ...... and don't overcook them!
