This recipe is quick and makes enough for a family meal today and one for the freezer. Simply omit the mushrooms if your children dislike them. Can be served with cooked broccoli, scattered with pumpkin seeds.
Serves 8-10
- 900g minced beef
- 8 tablespoons tomato puree
- 2 teaspoons dried mixed herbs or a sprig of fresh thyme or rosemary
- 3 onions, peeled and finely chopped
- 4 carrots, peeled and finely chopped
- 1.2 litres of water or homemade stock
- 3 red peppers, cored and finely chopped
- 350g button mushrooms sliced
- 300g spaghetti
- Leftover hard cheese
Instructions
- Dry fry the mince in a large saucepan until brown. Add the tomato puree and herbs.
- Cook over a medium heat for 1-2 minutes, then add the onion and carrot, water or stock and simmer until the meat is almost cooked, about 20-30 minutes.
- Add the peppers and mushrooms and cook for a further 10 minutes. Season well.
- Meanwhile, cook the spaghetti in boiling water for about 15 minutes, drain and add the spaghetti to the meat sauce which stops it from going sticky, mix well together.
- Serve the spaghetti in bowls topped with grated cheese.
This fruity salsa is a good recipe for using up any fruits such as peaches, oranges, apples, mangoes that are past their best. Just cut off and compost any bruised pieces of fruit. Serve with jacket potatoes, braised cabbage and cooked carrots.
- 600g ripe fruit, peeled and roughly chopped
- 4 spring onions
- 225g over-ripe tomatoes, core removed and finely chopped
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon chutney
- 2-3 tablespoons coriander, roughly chopped
- 2 x adult portion 140g loin pork chops
- 2 x childs portion 100g loin pork chops
- Black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F) mark 5. Mix the chopped fruit with the spring onions, tomatoes, olive oil, chutney and chopped coriander.
- To cook the chops, drizzle with olive oil and a little black pepper. Leaving them to sit all day in the fridge until you need to cook them is fine.
- Heat a frying pan until very hot, and then cook the chops in batches, on both sides, until golden.
- Pop them onto a baking sheet, top with the fruit salsa and cook for another 5-10 minutes or until cooked through and piping hot. Serve with a jacket potato, braised red cabbage and carrots.
This is a great recipe for using any leftover vegetables that you have in the fridge. If they have been cooked before they won’t need roasting in the oven, simply add them with the rice at step 3. The pilaff can be moulded into little balls, coated in egg and bread crumbs, shallow fried until golden brown and served with a crisp salad. You can make this a meat recipe by adding 8 boned chicken thighs. Pop them onto the rice, season, drizzle with a little olive oil, cover and cook in the oven at stage 2.
Serves 4
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 onion, peeled and roughly chopped
- 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
- Salt
- Ground black peppercorns
- 250g mixed vegetables such as red or green peppers, cored and roughly chopped, carrots, peeled and roughly chopped, butternut squash, peeled and roughly chopped
- A little chopped thyme
- 500ml chicken or vegetable stock
- 75g grated hard cheese
- A little chopped parsley
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) mark 4. Heat the olive oil in a medium ovenproof saucepan or casserole dish and cook the onion and garlic for a few minutes until soft and a little golden. Season with salt and pepper, add the peppers, carrots and butternut squash.
- Cook in the oven for 15-20 minutes until golden and tender. Remove from the oven and add the rice, chopped thyme and stock, bring to the boil and season to taste.
- Cover with the lid and place in the preheated oven and cook for 15-20 minutes, or until the rice is just cooked and all the liquid has been absorbed. Stir in the grated cheese and chopped parsley just before serving.
This recipe is the ideal easy supper for families, children especially like the simple flavours. It’s a great standby to have on your list of dishes to do when you have nothing in the fridge as all the ingredients can be found in your storecupboard or freezer. Use any pasta that you have in the storecupboard but bows, penne or macaroni work best.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 160°C(325°F) mark 3. In a frying pan stir fry the onions for 1-2 minutes in a little oil. Drain the tuna well, and flake into a bowl. Cook the pasta in a pan of boiling water for about 10 minutes or until just cooked. Add the frozen peas and sweetcorn to the pan 5 minutes before the end of cooking.
- To make the sauce, place milk, flour and butter in a small saucepan and whisk continuously over medium heat until the sauce begins to boil and thicken. Turn down the heat to its lowest and let the sauce cook for 2 minutes. Add the grated cheese and mustard, keeping a little cheese back for the topping. Season with a little lemon juice.
- Mix the pasta with the vegetables, spring onion, tuna and cheese sauce and pour into a lightly oiled ovenproof dish. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese and bake in a preheated oven until golden on top, about 25 minutes. Serve with steamed green beans or broccoli.
Use frozen strips of chicken breasts, you can add them to this recipe straight from the freezer. Make sure they are well cooked through and piping hot. This recipe is a hit with the children as they love the sweet and sour flavours. Accompany this dish with broccoli and rice.
You can also use leftover chicken in this recipe – see Cook Once Eat Twice Family Roast.
Serves 4
- 2 tablespoons sunflower oil
- 1 onion, peeled and roughly chopped
- 1 red pepper, cut into strips
- 1×200g can pineapple chunks in juice
- 1 1/2 tablespoons caster sugar
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 4 tablespoons tomato puree
- 1 teaspoon mustard
- 125g beansprouts
- 150g mange tout, thickly sliced on the diagonal
- 1½ tablespoons cornflour
Instructions
- In a large frying pan, fry the chicken in half the oil in batches until brown then remove from the pan.
- Fry the onion and pepper in the remaining oil then return the chicken to the pan with the pineapple juice along with the sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, tomato puree and mustard. Simmer for 10 minutes, or until the chicken is tender and piping hot.
- Add the beansprouts, mange tout and pineapple pieces.
- Blend the cornflour with a little water, add to the mixture. Stir over the heat until the sauce thickens and the pineapple is warm. Serve with boiled rice.
The carrots and red Leicester cheese are added to this topping to make a lovely golden potato topping. If you have fussy children this is a great recipe for getting them to eat vegetables without them noticing. This recipe will feed 8-10 people so make in two dishes and freeze the second dish, or freeze in individual portion containers.
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large frying pan and cook onion until golden brown. Add the meat and cook for a further 5-10 minutes. Add the tomato puree, herbs, Marmite, Worcestershire sauce and flour. Cook over the heat for 2-3 minutes. Transfer to a saucepan and add the chopped tomatoes, water or meat stock, cover and allow to bubble gently for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Meanwhile, cook or steam the potatoes in a pan of water for 20-25 minutes or until soft. Add the chopped carrots to the potatoes for the last 10 minutes of cooking. Drain well and return to the pan. Mash the potatoes with the carrots and add the warm milk and the butter, and beat until fluffy and smooth.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) mark 4. Put the meat mixture into an ovenproof dish or individual freezer dishes. Top with the potato and carrot mixture and sprinkle with the Red Leicester cheese, decorate with a sprig of rosemary. Cook for 35-40 minutes or until golden and bubbling.
The Sunday or mid-week roast is the customary meal when children and teenagers sit down to eat with their families. Here are some simple recipes for a basic family chicken roast, followed by quick and delicious ways of using up the leftover chicken. You may wish to buy a slightly bigger joint if you like the look of the ‘eat twice’ recipes and know your family will devour the roast in its first outing.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F) mark 5. Take the chicken out of the fridge an hour before cooking, which will help speed up the cooking process. Put the chicken in a roasting tin and add the lemon, garlic, butter and herbs to the body cavity. Season the chicken all over with freshly ground black pepper and drizzle with olive oil.
- Transfer to the oven and cook for 45 minutes-1 hour or until the juice run clear when the chicken is pierced with a skewer and it is completely cooked through. Remove from the oven and allow to rest in a warm place for a few minutes before serving. Put a wooden spoon into the body cavity and, using a spatula to hold the breast end, tip the chicken and let all the buttery juices and slices of lemon pour out onto the roasting tin, transfer the chicken to a board and cover with foil for 20 minutes.
- Place the tin over a direct heat, add the chicken stock, take the garlic bulb out of the chicken cavity and squeeze out the soft flesh from the skin into the roasting tin and let the mixture bubble for a few minutes, taste and season. Now add a few sprigs of extra herbs.
- Carve the chicken on to warm plates and add any juices to the sauce. Spoon over the sauce and serve.