adult dinners

[jembelina]

hi guys,

DF and i are bored with our current dinner repetoire! could you guys please share your family favourites so we can try some different things.. thanks

[razzle]

We have two favourites that I always do (besides spag bog!)

Apricot chicken - so easy. Put about 10 chicken thighs (about 1.5kg) in a baking dish, sprinkle with a packet of french onion soup, pour over a can of apricot nectar. Bake in a moderate oven for about 2 hours. This does us for 2 meals and lunches. You can also use chicken breasts cut in half for a less fatty option - thighs are quite juicy! Or you can use maryland pieces, drumsticks, whatever. Serve on a bed of rice.

The other one we do is with chicken thighs (again)! 1.5kg in a baking dish, cut up potato x 8ish (or sweet potato x 3). Cover with 2 cans of chopped tomatoes, a chopped onion, chopped bacon. Wack it in the oven. The longer you cook it the better because the thighs go really soft and the tomato, bacon & onion get more flavour and thicken. I tend to slow cook it for about 3 hours. Serve with steamed greens.

Eloise loves both of these too - the next day I chop everything up really finely and she has it for dinner.

I'm all for the "wack it in the oven and forget about it" meals! I love cooking but just don't have the energy to cook a fiddly meal at the end of the day.

[jamb]

Since bub I have become a huge fan of slow cookers. Once bub is asleep I can throw everything in it so its ready to put on the next morning. Give it 8 hours and dinner is ready. I do everything from beef bourgnion (sp??), lamb shanks, legs of lamb, chicken cacciatorie (sp?). You can use el cheapo cuts of meat but it is guaranteed to come out tender.

We also have variations on the old hamburger, lamb with huumos/ fish/chicken burgers with garlic mayo. I always soak a slice of bread in an egg and little bit of milk and makes it soft patties. We use turkish bread as our rolls.

Love kebabs (lamb or beef), marinated for a bit then chuck on some leb bread as a wrap. Also love meatballs in a little home made tomato sauce (onions/garlic/tom paste/tin tomato) with grated cheese, mustard and whatever salad- homemade healthy meatball subs from subway.

Another one is homemade pizza's, homemade dough tastes great, then top with whatever- prosciuto, salami, basil, mozzarella, mushrooms, capsicum, bocconcini etc

DH does a jamie oliver vegetable bake which is yummo, put your fave veg's (potato, pumpkin, sweet potato, red onion, capsicum, eggplant, mushrooms, zucchini's etc) cut up chunky with a slurp of olive oil, peeled cloves of garlic and season salt/pepper. Toss and slow roast till everything goes all golden and gooey- great with steak or chicken.

Can't think of anymore at the moment, good luck!

[Peaceangels]

WHILE we are on the subject, any ideas on LUNCHES for adults, I'm sick of toasted sandwiches!!!!!!!!!!)
I'm all into no fuss, easy to prepare and cook dinners (time being the major factor on that one!)...............
Here are some of our favourites:
* Chicken and mushroom risotto (cooked in the rice cooker) - add all ingredients to the rice cooker ie-chicken (4 thigh fillets), mushrooms, 2 cups water, 1 cup aborio rice, season with herbs, salt & pepper and TURN IT ON and it cooks it for you!
(the rice cooker is well worth the investment if you dont have one and the risotto ingredients can of course be varied).
* Ham and Spinach Quiche (or ham & cheese pie as our two yr old calls it - subsequently the only way to get him to eat a vegetable of any sort).
In a pie dish lay a sheet of shortcrust pastry, then add chopped ham and precooked spinch (which must be drained, otherwise quiche will not set). Then mix together 4 eggs, 1/2cup cream & 1/2cup of milk, 1 tspn garlic, 1 cup grated cheese, 4 tsp plain flour and pour over pastry/ham/spinach and cook in moderate oven for 30-40mins or until set.
* Tuna Tortilla (another fave for the kids) - 3 slices of bread made into breadcrumbs ( i use the food processor), 1 onion added to food processor, then put these into a bowl and add 185G can tuna, 2 eggs, salt & pepper & 1cup cheese, mix together then roll into 3 patties and fry to your liking. We add salad or veges to this.
I have found some really easy and tasty recipes in the Super Food ideas magazine (from Coles).
ENJOY!!!!!!!!!!

[Miss_Vicki]

Honey mustard chicken , MMm simple an quick

i get 2 jars or honey mustard sauce (casue i like Extra sauce) an then jsut cook some diced up chicken till its cooked , add in the sauces an put on low for 15-20 mins an then serve with steamed jazmine rice Yum!

or just follow the recipes from the jar , Or you can do it semi from scratch with the packet mixes

[ThomasMum]

Since we have Thomas, simple cooking is the way to go. And Quiche is the easiest and simplest food to make! You need fresh silverbeets/spinach par boiled them. You can add ham/bacon if you like. 4 eggs. Grated cheese as much as you like or as little as you wish. Simply sauté all the ingredients together, whisks the eggs, mix them all up, put in the quiche dish. Low moderate oven for 20 mins. Serve with green salads. Bon appetite

Oh like mummajack, the Jamie Oliver’s baked veggies is also fave here! You can have it with Roast Chicken with pesto! Mmmm *drool*

[Ky]

Find an oven dish, grate enough veges to fill it (carrot, zuchinni, potato, chopped onion, sweet potato, chopped capsicum) add a little chopped bacon, par cook in the microwave with just enough water for steming and a little (and I mean a little!) butter for taste. Whip together an egg custard type of thing ... I use 4-6 eggs (depends on dish) some milk, a few tablespoons of flour and seasoning ... grate some cheese and mix through veges in oven dish ... pour eggy mix over it ... put in moderate over (180 - 190degC) and bake until a skewer comes out clean.

This is a great quick dish for everyone in the family and even the kids come back for second helpings ... serve hot or cold, with or without your favorite sauce and a salad on the side.

We are fans of sausage casseroles .. you can basically put any veges with any type of soup, put them in the oven covered for about 3/4 of an hour and serve with rice and veges!

Meatballs made with 500g sausage meat, finely chopped onion, garlic, tsp curry powder, 2 tblsp tomato sauce, ½ cup grated cheese, pepper and salt, 1 egg ... shape into little balls, cook in a large frying pan, add tomato pasta sauce (homemade or bought!) and after simmering for 10 minutes or so, add cooked angelhair spaghetti, warm through and serve topped with cheese. Having this here tonight - yum!

As you can see, these are all cheap and easy meals ... we have a very tight budget, but neither dh or I can complain about the tastiness of food that can be prepared even with a little amount of money!

I have heaps of herbs (mainly dried) and spices in my cupboard and tend to buy a new type of sauce/relish/chutney once a week so that I have ended up with so many flavourings that make even the most basic of meals taste yummy!

We also love wraps! I buy tortillas and warm them for a minute in the microwave (entire pack, not individually!) and then we fill them with salad (lettuce, tomato, gherkin, onion (spring or red), grated carrot, chopped capsicum, grated cheese, pineapple pieces, beetroot etc) and chicken breast (you don't need much as it chopped into little pieces and too much will make the wrap too bulky!) cooked in either butter chicken sauce (only a couple of tblspns as it doesn't need to be runny, just flavoured) or honey bbq sauce, sour cream, "kids chilli sauce" (masterfoods honey chilli sauce) and mayo. The kids love making thier own wraps and have been eating these from 12mo onwards! They are great because you can alter the ingredients to the age of the eater! The kids will be happy to eat a heap of healthy salad and all at very little cost. This is a great standby for when unexpected guests turn up ... I even have people requesting that we do it when they are over for tea, it is sooooo popular!

Pizza's made on a lebanese bread base. You can customise them to the individual (ie for kids, tinned spaghetti with onion, cheese and herbs, for adults ... all of the yummy things we like!). Put them in a hot oven straight onto the rack and they will cook in no time and have a deliciously crunchy base.

Must go ... just a few thoughts

hth

[Tea Lady]

My latest favourite lunch-

frozen winter veges - mirowave till thawed
add a couple of tablespoons creamed corn and a broken up piece of cheese (I used the frighteningly processed cheese slices) and ham
microwave a bit more and stir
It goes all creamy from the cheese and corn and is really tasty (and pretty healthy).

Lucy

PS you might want to drain the veges before adding the corn etc - they're pretty watery

[lucyp]

Originally Posted by boomtish

I'm all for the "wack it in the oven and forget about it" meals! I love cooking but just don't have the energy to cook a fiddly meal at the end of the day.

I LOVE that concept = was not a big one for it before bub was born - but easy to prepare and let it rip! Will be trying the chicky thighs tonight ....yummy!!

[talon]

this is so easy and yummy:

1 chopped onion
a chopped clove of garlic
some chopped bacon (optional)

Throw it all in a big saucepan and cook. Add 1 cup risotto rice, stir around for a minute. Add 4 cups of water and 3 beef stock cubes and 1 tin of chopped tomatoes. Stir it around. Add spices - we add mixed herbs and some salt and pepper.

Basically cook - somewhere between simmer and boil - until the rice is done and it has thickened up a bit. Need to stir every now and again as the rice tends to stick after awhile.

i serve with a bit of grated cheese mixed through. Yummy!

The great thing about this recipe is you can add anything you want to it. I usually throw in some shallots and capsicum if i have some lying around.