Sunday 28 October 2012

Mix up and go


Helooooooooo

Been a while since I posted anything, life here has stepped up a notch and it takes all my time at the mo to keep on going. Think I have said I am a full time carer and toast coupled with re skilling decorating and making Christmas prezzies has made this frugal minded girl a tad tuckered out lol
Found in the reduced section 250g of minced lamb on offer £1.39 and as I am a lambaholic i decided it needed to come home with me.

 What I try and do of a Friday/ weekend is to see what I have in the freezer, fridge and cupboards and use it up. Was very proud of me this week managed to do the following

 Leftovers quiche

Lamb mix up

 Courgette bakes veggie mix for rice or pasta fab on its own too.

Banana cake 

Veggies sorted for a roast

Sweet potato mash

Blanched some veggies for the freezer.


 

Lamb mix up

 Take some onion and/or leftover leek sweat in the pan till soft and slightly caramelised
Add the lamb
Chop up some carrots finely and add a lamb sock cube if you have one
One dessertspoon of whole grain mustard (sounds a lot but you get flavour not fire)
About a 3rd of a small jar of baby beetroot drained and chopped into small pieces
Good squirt of tomato puree
Tin of tomatoes
Season well and as you go also add some herbs I used mixed and a couple of bay leaves. REMEBER you need half of dried to fresh as a rule.
Make sure the mince is cooked off before adding any of the wet ingredients mix well and when combined leave it on a low heat.
Take 2 fat courgettes and peal them slice them at an angle or not your choice J  pop them in the bottom of a baking dish and poor on the mince mix.
 You could cook it straight away but wonderful if you can leave it over night flavours mingle and pack a punch.
You could serve this with rice or if you have oodles of courgettes you could layer it and top off with some of the meat sauce finally adding a bread crumb and cheese mix to bubble and brown all tostie in the oven! J
What I also did with this mix and the courgettes in trimmed tie top and bottom off one left on the skin and scooped out the middle (adding it to the mix I would poor over the canoe shaped courgettes sprinkled some crumb and cheese topping on it and popped it in the oven, was lush had a bit of nana cake and a cuppa for desert!

 

Sweet potato mash
 
 Pealed and boiled about a kilo of spuds (saved back the water for soup)
Sweated off the spuds in some butter and onion in a frying pan. Used butter as it was for flavour as well, seasoned well and mashed it till they screamed lol. Popped it in the freezer for later
As the skins were ok from the veggies I used I retained them all apart from the sweet potato ones
Added some ordinary spuds and parsnip, Swede anything like that chop it up smallish and pop it in the pan add the onion and some seasoning sweat it off a little and add the retained water and a couple of stock cubes simmer for about 20 mins and blitz. This is great serves with either some leftover bits of bacon chicken or both added to it. If you have any bread over make croutons and fry it off in the pan you have used for other bits of cooking it will soak up the flavours and add to the mix.

 

 I also had some cauliflower so i chunked that up and added it as well mead for a good hearty and warming meal.
How’s things is your world what do you cook bake craft sew anything that makes you buzz?
Drop me aline and let me know would be wonderful toi hear from you 
take care for now 
Rachel

1 comment:

  1. Thanksfor the reminder about saving the cooking water to use in other ways. I forget to do that.

    ReplyDelete