since when do we need to prepare "dishes" for dinner?

[Kazbah]

So tonight I made a scratch meal - onion, mince, tinned tomatoes, worchestshire sauce, beef cube, water, mixed veg and served with potato mash. Yummy as.

Yet somehow I feel guilty, as dinner didn't have a name. It's just food. Like my grandma / nanna made. No fancy ingredients, no fancy name. Took around 20 mins from conception to table. No recipe base, recipe book.

Since when did we need to do fancy meals for weekdays? Apricot chicken with mushroom souffle?

Just a ramble I guess - what simple meals are a staple in your household?

[Traveller]

you cooked mince and tatties! At least that's what we call it in our house. Sounds delish

[LimeSlice]

That is pretty much savoury mince here!

Oh, if you capitalise it, it is a "dish"

[Mrs Jak]

Yep, I was thinking 'savoury mince' too

We are totally basic and simple here with our dinner choices...

Spaghetti, steak and veg, sausage and veg, baked risotto, cheap Tuesday take-away pizza, sometimes a 'stir-fry' and anything else easy that involves mince!

[Swoop]

My DH always says 'what is this called?' when I make something random. If I can be bothered I make up a name, if not i just say dinner, then he usually asks 'what genre is it?' My answer, every time, fusion!

[ss_storm]

I rarely make anything 'fancy', or only when I'm getting sick of having the same old stuff and struggle to think of something to cook for dinner! We all need a little inspiration sometimes...lol.

Meat & three veg are regulars, spag bol, cottage pie. I love mince because it's so cheap and pretty versatile!

[PumpkinZulu]

That is pretty much savoury mince here!



Oh, if you capitalise it, it is a "dish"

[Sopdet]

mince and noodles was a staple growing up - not done with a tomato sauce like spag bol but almost like a savory mince with noodles in it

[deletedit]

We have those arguments regularly when we invent something tasty that doesn't come out of a book. Sometimes we just get her to do a MasterChef and identify all the ingredients but since she's one of those kids that literally cannot tell beef from chicken that kinda thing never gets far. This is more fun:

"What is dinner called?"
"Fred"
"No, what is it caaaaaaaaalled"
"Fred"
"Noooooo what's the NAME of the dinner!!!"
"Told you, its Fred"

hehehehehehehe

[Swoop]

We have those arguments regularly when we invent something tasty that doesn't come out of a book. Sometimes we just get her to do a MasterChef and identify all the ingredients but since she's one of those kids that literally cannot tell beef from chicken that kinda thing never gets far. This is more fun:

"What is dinner called?"
"Fred"
"No, what is it caaaaaaaaalled"
"Fred"
"Noooooo what's the NAME of the dinner!!!"
"Told you, its Fred"

hehehehehehehe

I'm going to do that to DH next time

[Liviam]

Rissoles, spag bol, chick tonight, steak/fish with veg as a regulars here. I am not a good cook at all. I also like slow cooker meals where I can throw some cheap meat in with some stock. Pasta bake is another goodie and quickie here too.

[OceanPrincess]

I do spaghetti bol every week or so... Risottos are staples, because I can bung it in the micro and it basically cooks itself...

I've just started getting into the slow cooking... Require recipes at the moment! Except for my lamb shanks, mum told me how to do them and I make then without a recipe!

Kaz, that "scratch meal" actually sounds really yummo - I couldn't make that without a recipe, I'm not that good a cook to know what goes with what.

I think masterchef has a lot to answer for!!!!

[OceanPrincess]

"What is dinner called?"
"Fred"
"No, what is it caaaaaaaaalled"
"Fred"
"Noooooo what's the NAME of the dinner!!!"
"Told you, its Fred"

hehehehehehehe

[OceanPrincess]

I wonder how much is being lost from our kids' future? I do roast lamb/beef every week cause it's dead easy, yet to my husband it's a special high-effort meal.

So true. Though in our house, it is DH who had to tell me that roasts are dead easy. Always seemed special to me too!

I think you're spot on about losing some basic "life skills" like cooking. I'm determined to send my kids out into the world knowing some basic cooking techniques!

Oh and if it helps, I make chow mein with mince, onion, cabbage, carrot, celery, rice, a packet of chicken noodle soup, curry powder and a splash of water

[Ca Plane Pour Moi]

I like to go round the shops, look at the luxury meals, then figure out how to bake them myself! It's fun.

I agree we are living in a lazy age. Sis' fiance wanted to call in the decorators... to paint the downstairs loo! She had to teach him how to paint. Everything is "convenient", from decorating to food to basic car maintainance. Pay someone to do it rather than use your own hands. I hate it - but then I cook from scratch 95% of the time, we grow our own veg and DH can not only decorate but do the plumbing etc too.

My mother cooked "ifit" - "if it goes round you'll get a bit". Oh, how I longed for the day I wouldn't get a bit! I hate mince meals.

I tend to follow recipes - but every time I cook I change the recipe a bit depending on what we have in and what I actually fancy eating.

[dusty]

So tonight I made a scratch meal - onion, mince, tinned tomatoes, worchestshire sauce, beef cube, water, mixed veg and served with potato mash. Yummy as.

Replace the mince with kidney beans and in our house its called 'Bean ****' a reliable, easy and yummy staple. Not an elegant name but a familiar fun one