Cooking Fresh Food - breaking the jar/can/bottle habit...

[Sair]

I can't say I have heard of those. I am lucky that Noah enjoys his veggies, maybe not the asparagus in last nights dinner but he likes other green veg. It probably won't last though and I will need those resources Actually come to think of it he didn't eat the eggplant or hot chips either :S I thought it looked pretty good myself and ate nearly the whole lot. I put photos in my blog.

[Sair]

mumstheword, I just made a quick stovetop mac and cheese from the taste website that was delish. Here's the recipe.

Best-ever Macaroni Cheese

Preparation Time

10 minutes
Cooking Time

20 minutes
Ingredients (serves 4)

* 400g macaroni
* 1 1/2 cups (300ml) cream
* 3/4 cup (185ml) milk
* 1 1/4 cup grated tasty cheese
* 1/2 cup grated parmesan
* salt and ground black pepper
* 1/3 cup dried breadcrumbs
* extra 1/2 cup grated tasty cheese
* ground paprika, to serve

Method

1. Preheat grill to high and grease a large baking dish. Cook the pasta in a large saucepan of salted boiling water according to packet instructions or until al dente. Drain and keep warm.
2. In the same saucepan, place the cream and milk over medium heat. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat, then stir in the cheeses and add a generous sprinkling of salt and pepper. Stir over medium-low heat until cheese has melted, then return the pasta to the pan.
3. Toss to coat the pasta in the sauce, then transfer to the greased baking dish. Sprinkle the pasta with breadcrumbs, extra cheese and a sprinkle of paprika. Place under the hot grill and cook for 2 minutes or until topping is golden and crispy.

[Netix]

So who is still trying to break the habit? I reckon this thread should be a sticky. And it needs a little bit of updating too...

I am after a couple of recipes....

The Maggi 'Cook in the Pot' Chow Mein Mince and Mediterranean Meatballs.

Basically, what seasonings do you put in your home made chow mein, and any suggestions on creating a similar sauce to the one for the meatballs. For the meatball sauce (for the packet), you add a tin of tomatoes, water and onion. But the sauce thickens a bit, and I would have a bit of trouble copying it. None of my recipes are very similar.

Since our budget is tighter now, I am using mince a lot more, but don't want to be limited to bolognese type things (which is as far as my mince knowledge goes without raiding my books, and they don't seem to have anything comparable). That, and the two boys love chow mein and the meatballs, so I need to make them yummy! Thank you!!!

[Olive]

i use mince to make stir fry with!! tastes yummy!

[briggsy's girl]

my bro makes an awesome mince stirfry with noodles and veg - no idea what he puts in it though! DH makes fantastic chow mein - but again, no idea what he uses! i love that the men in my life enjoy cooking!

[alioops]

Netix - Cornflour is good for thickening sauces, try that

I use heaps of mince too, I often make them into hamburgers and bolognese is a staple food here - we eat it at least twice a week

[Netix]

I'll try the cornflour... Thanks.

I don't think I have ever thought of using mince in stir fry.. I make a pretty good stir fry, but it just seems so different to 'chow mein'. Maybe its just me...

Something else I'm going to have to get out of using from a jar, is mayonnaise. Since the Man is now taking his sandwiches to work, we use it a lot more than we used to, so at least homemade stuff without all the preservatives of the bought stuff won't go off before I get the chance to use it. Pretty sure I have a recipe for that, or at least I have seen on BB too.