Topic: Home Made Ready Meals

[cambourne7]

HI Guys,

I am intrested in doing a batch of cooking on monday so there are some healthy meals to hand.

I have picked up some foil containers and planned on making
a couple of family sized lasagna
a family sized home made chicken pie and a couple of smaller ones
a sheppards pie

Any other ideas (exclude fish)

Cambourne7

[northener]

This saves well. We call it 20 minute gallop(because my mam did). Grill or fry 10 rashers of bacon till welldone. Slice 4or5 potatoes and boil for 15 mins slice a large onoin into rings and boil in same pan for 5-6 mins. Large caserole dish and layer the Potatoes bacon and onion. Make gravy out of potato/onion water and pour over the lot almost to the top and pop in the oven for 15 mins. This serves 2/3 people so just double it. Serve with peas and carrots.Yum

[cambourne7]

sounds like something my parents have :) keep the ideas comming !

[Melbourne12]

We used to do a lot of this sort of cooking when my mum was alive.  We'd fill her freezer with home made "ready meals", with the meat'n'gravy (or fish'n'sauce) in one small disposable plastic container, and the accompanying veg in another.  A healthy meal could be thawed and heated in the microwave in a few minutes.

Apart from fish, the established favourites were:

• Any pot roast with gravy. We'd typically cook topside, or shoulder of pork, or leg of lamb in a slow cooker (or could be pot roasted in the oven on a low heat). Carve while warm, make a gravy with the juices, and pack the slices in gravy in containers.
• Similar approach to gammon with parsley sauce.
• Lambs liver casserole, with or without bacon to taste.
• Lambs kidneys in sauce.  Add a little sherry to be posh. Serve with rice.
• Simple Indian or Thai curries.  They're a bit of a fiddle, so it makes sense to make a lot and put some in the freezer.
• Chicken breasts with mushroom sauce, or marengo style, or with braised celery
• Moussaka
• Ratatouille (not an ideal time of year for this, though)
• Swedish meatballs in sauce

[Rosyred]

A tomato sauce - freeze and either use for pasta or pizza topping when you have more time or just as a sauce for chicken etc.

Chilli con carne

macaroni cheese

pork casserole - cubed pork, onions, carrots, celery in a gravy or sometimes I do cubed pork, can chick peas, onion, carrots in a tomato sauce but haven't frozen that one.

[bupster]

Irish stew! Improves with age...

[rosebud]

A nice steak & kidney pie,  A mince & onion pie, sheperds pie. ;D

[dtw]

To make the chilli con carne go further, add a tin of chick peas (or fresh ones), peas and sweetcorn.
That'll make a couple of extra portions for not much money.  :D

[cambourne7]

Going to do a shopping list tonight and go out monday and pick everything up and get cooking thanks for the advice guys.