Once you learn how, cooking is easy enough. But day in, day out, thinking of something to cook, that your loved ones will eat...That can start to feel like some kind of drudgery.

 

This is a thread for sharing success and inspiration. I'd love to hear what gets you through the cooking week.

 

Menu planning is widely recommended. But it's only in the last year or so that we've landed upon a rudimentary method that works for us. In the course of the weekend you stop for five minutes and write a few ideas on the blackboard in the kitchen. Once it's on the list it's easy. Either you have the making, or you know what to shop for. And on the day you know what you're doing and you do it.

 

 

Tonight's recipe 'Pasta, peas & pig' is a recent discovery. You can cook it in as long as it takes to boil water and cook the pasta. Grown-ups feel like they're eating at an above par cafe and kids lap it up. If you're squeamish you can reduce the butter and add a little stock or white wine. I'm cheap and lazy so I use frozen peas and buy shank ends of prosciutto from the deli to have on hand. The recipe below is is transcribed direct from the source (Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers 2003, River Cafe Cook Book Easy, Random House, p.70).

 

Peas and spring onions

 

Spaghetti                 320g

Podded peas         400g

Spring onions        100g

Garlic cloves               1

Prosciutto              100g

Parsley leaves        2tbs

Parmesan               50g

Unsalted butter     100g

Ex.v.olive oil

 

Roughly chop the white part of the onions. Peel and finely chop the garlic and tear the prosciutto into pieces. Chop the parsley. Grate the Parmesan.

 

Melt the butter in a large frying pan. Add the onions and gently soften, then add the peas, salt and 3 tbs of hot water. Simmer gently until water evaporates.

 

Add the garlic and parsley to the peas plus 3 tbs of olive oil. Cover and cook over low heat for 15 minutes. Add the prosciutto. If more liquid is needed, add olive oil, not water. When the peas are soft and a dark green colour, remove from heat.

 

Cook the spaghetti in boiling salted water until al dente, them drain. dd to the peas, and serve with Parmesan.

Let me try this again.

Any menu suggestions? I'm running low on cooking mojo lately.

we have a few ideas for the coming week...

 

enchiladas either today or monday... chicken mince, avocado, tomates grated mozzarella, salsa, onion, capscicum, doritos all baked. 

 

Vietnamese rolls probably tuesday (we buy the rice paper, put a fry pan of warm water in the middle of the table. grab some bbq chicken, sliced cucumber, sliced carrot, pickled ginger, and make up some hoisin sauce mixed with crushed peanuts. sweet chilli sauce. mint leaves and Vietnamese basil leaves from the garden. kids like it as its make your own....

 

pumkin soup one of the other days

 

pasta (usually ravioli) or lasagne one of the other days...

 

friday nights we dont usually worry out...something or the other happens...

Just the Ms Grumpy and I and it's a pain in the arse trying to come up with dinner ideas every night.

Has been a little interesting lately though because we were given a late Xmas present of s set of those Flavorstone pans so it's all different cooking now. Must say that these new pans are fan bloody tastic to use.

couple of other staples of ours for a bit of fun now and then. is we buy some thin pizza bases from the local market and just matter of putting some toppings....basil, tomatoe...mozzarela. or ham, olive mushroom, mozarella..or just plain ham pineapple, mozzarella...

 

Tacos is a real easy meal too we do now and then...

 

both these dishes the kids like to put together as well. ie the pizzas with their toppings. and the Tacos were put your own together at the table. both good kids dinners

Pizza and nachos/tacos are staples at our place too.

For pizza we make the bases. The kids' favorite is ham, pineapple, capsicum and olives.

For nachos we do a vego red bean stew. I'm a bit sick of it but the kids love it so we have it pretty much weekly.

Rice paper rolls I'd a good idea. Haven't done that for a long time.

Easy!

 

Monday - Maccas

 

Tuesday - Red Rooter

 

Wednesday - Pizza Hut

 

Thursday - Taco Bell

 

Friday - Fish & Chips

 

Saturday - Hungry Jacks

 

Sunday - Eagle Boys

 

 

Now you can't say I'm not the epitome of good healthy living plus I get to spend time outdoors,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(spewing my guys up in the car park after every mouth watering meal)

I'll post a serious response a little later.

Edited March 23, 201411 yr by progladyte

I'm batching at the moment as the Handbrake is away at Harpies School doing a top up course, so I'm not cooking anything flash.

 

Firstly let me get this out of the way: I'm a good home cook.(I am, no point in false modesty)

 

 I cooked for the family for years and I did the majority of cooking during school weeks and of course Sunday roast dinner(cooking one for just me as I type) and I enjoyed it and I actually miss the kids now and the smiles on their faces when Dad plonks their fav food down on the table.

 

I learnt how to make fresh pasta long before Jamie or Nigella showed us how to make it and as a result of that I learnt the art of pasta sauce making(there is none...it's just common ingredients chuck in the pan and mixed in the pasta)

 

3 eggs,  a cup of AA flour+pinch of salt, a blender, a clothes rack, a pasta roller+cutter and your good to go; fettuccine ready to cook in under an hour and when you do boil it it takes about 4 or so minutes max for al dente. That will feed four easily.

 

I catch all our fish each week so I'm a bit luckier than most there but I also buy chicken drumsticks when they're on special at Coles or Woolies or the butcher and I skin them and bone them and freeze all the flesh ready for any type of Asian dish you care to name, I also make my own stock about every two weeks and freeze it(about 10L with no salt added). Long before the 'Slow Cooking' movement took off, we were doing stuff like this at home back in the 70's and still do it now: It's enjoyable, it's bloody cheap and it tastes great.

 

I do my own boning on all meat cuts and usually buy from my local butcher as I actually know a couple of the farmers that supply him and so know how their beasts are grown and treated, again most people can't access this in a city environment but you can ask about it at the butchers.

 

1 leg of lamb boned out and with excess fat removed  can be used for up to two possibly three meals at a table that seats two adults and two kids. You just need some good knives and the knowledge on how to keep them sharp and if you did a small part of it roasted with fresh veg and jus and say the next night cook up the rice you cooked the night before into a Moroccan style dish  with saffron and  raisins or sultanas and herbs + spices or a subcontinent style dish with rice, pappadoms fried in mustard oil(what else!) and side dishes of salad and a veg or two, third night do an Asian stir-fry or use your stock for a quick noodle(name your noodle style, Ramen,Hoikkin, Singapore ect ect) soup with miso and some Jap bonito soy(smokey)...

 

It's healthy and it's cheap and it's not processed rubbish out of a packet.

 

And if your saying your time poor then your just pulling yer pud ...make the time, it's not hard.

 

 

 

Edit: Just realised that this post might come across as a bit preachey, it's not meant to be and I'm sorry if it is. I'm assuming an awful lot here in that you actually like cooking and spending time in the kitchen and accessing your food in a way that requires some effort.

 

Obviously if you don't like being in the kitchen and working out where your food comes from ect ect, then you'll need to do research into other ways of easy cooking during the week nights.

Edited March 23, 201411 yr by Luc

Easy!

 

Monday - Maccas

 

Tuesday - Red Rooter

 

Wednesday - Pizza Hut

 

Thursday - Taco Bell

 

Friday - Fish & Chips

 

Saturday - Hungry Jacks

 

Sunday - Eagle Boys

 

 

Now you can't say I'm not the epitome of good healthy living plus I get to spend time outdoors,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(spewing my guys up in the car park after every mouth watering meal)

Glad to see that you have lost a little weight since I saw you last ; )

Edit: Just realised that this post might come across as a bit preachey, it's not meant to be and I'm sorry if it is. I'm assuming an awful lot here in that you actually like cooking and spending time in the kitchen and accessing your food in a way that requires some effort.

 

Obviously if you don't like being in the kitchen and working out where your food comes from ect ect, then you'll need to do research into other ways of easy cooking during the week nights.

 

No worries Luc. I enjoyed your post and you read me right the first time. I like cooking and I'm good at it. My thinking behind this thread was to share ideas to keep the inspiration and mojo up.

 

I reckon I bone a half leg of lamb maybe once a month. It's not pretty but I get the job done. This usually get's grilled on skewers or stewed in a curry or tagine. I love it and I'd do it more often but it's not a great winner with the kids. They're still going through an 'Eww, it's got fat in it phase'.

 

I've only made pasta a few times, not enough to do it on auto pilot on a school night. I could do it more often on my stay at home dad day though. The kids reckon the pasta machine is pretty cool.

I quite enjoy cooking but only if the war office stays out of the kitchen. I can't stand it if she is hovering around me trying to tell me what to do.

 

I make a decent spag bol (who can't) but prolly my best dish is a prawn Laksa. This might take a few hours to prepare all the ingredients but the result is usually pretty reasonable. I also make a decent butter chicken but my last effort at a SNA GTG was disappointing to say the least.

 

We really enjoy the odd nachos as we used to own a Mexican restaurant 20 years ago but don't miss things like bean burritos or enchiladas.

 

Roast dinners with either lamb / beef / duck / chicken and lots of baked vegies are really easy and deliver regularly good results. If you are making gravy, use plenty of flour to mix with the pan juices, add water / stock / plenty of Vegemite to give it a great colour and flavour and stir frequently to eliminate the lumps.

 

We often do a nice steamed fish on the BBQ with some fennel / butter / rock salt / ground pepper all wrapped up in alfoil. Constant winner. Salmon steaks from Aldi are very cheap and make a great meal if BBQ'ed on the Webber.

 

Chicken / Pork / Lamb / Beef Kebabs are hard to beat and if you make your own, you can add whatever extra vegies you want / onion / capsicums / etc. A nice tangy Satay sauce / chilli plum sauce is hard to beat.

 

When making Pizza's in the Webber we use a proper pizza stone, heat it up high and make a plethora of different toppings to suit whoever we might be entertaining. (I hope to build my own Pizza oven on the front patio deck area soon).

 

As I work at a tomato farm (not as a crop worker), I grab as many seconds as I want and make bulk quantities of Bolognaise / pasta / tomato sauce to store in the freezer until required. We normally make about 20Kgs at a time.

 

Mushrooms on toast is also a regular favourite as we probably have this at least once a fortnight.

 

We also enjoy straight corn on the cob and often make a weekend snack / lunch out of it if we're not overly hungry.

 

Asian stir fries are probably my favourite style of cooking as we use a variety of woks either inside the house on on the Weber and use all sorts of ingredients. Stock up on your traditional herbs / vegies / spices and sauces to ensure good results. (Sambal Olek / Sesame Oil / Rice Vinegar / Soy Sauce / garlic / ginger / coconut milk / tofu / noodles / bok choy / Garam Masala / Galangal / Hoisin Sauce / kaffir lime leaves / lemongrass / limes / lemons / shitake mushrooms / shrimp paste / oyster sauce / star anise / Tamarind / chillies / Tumeric / broccoli / carrots / onions / various meats. Throw it all in and keep stirring.

 

At work I have a Tuna salad almost every day unless I treat myself to some sandwiches.

 

The best idea about preparation is exactly as you have suggested which is having a handy list of what you want to cook and to be able to add those missing ingredients easily. Nothing worse that coming back from the shops only to find you've forgotten the most important ingredients - wine and beer.

Edited March 23, 201411 yr by progladyte

Glad to see that you have lost a little weight since I saw you last ; )

 

 

B I T C H !!!!

 

You know I'm so sensitive :lol:

A small point, but fresh pasta cannot be 'al dente'. Otherwise, enjoying the food ideas.