I have really enjoyed my day today, cooking for the freezer to eat at a later date is a very satisfying task, it means on busy or just lazy days I can just reach into the freezer and pull something out for dinner.
I like to keep a few cartons of bolognaise sauce and some portions of chilli to hand, all the ingredients were in store so I made a few cartons of each. The mince was on a great offer from Morrisons a while ago 675gm for £2.49 excellent buy, its extra lean steak too..
I nearly always have these in stock, they are a brilliant addition to many dishes and they are so much cheaper than using fresh, plus someone has chopped them up for you! I used about a quarter of the bag in the above meat, the half a green pepper went in too as it was starting to go soft.
Chilli...
I one pan I used half the meat with a chopped onion, peppers, garlic, 2 tins red beans, 2 cartons of tomatoes chilli powder to taste, salt and black pepper and a good squeeze of tomato paste. Simmer until cooked.
Bolognaise Sauce
The other half of the meat with a chopped onion, garlic, mushrooms, peppers, celery, 1 carton of chopped tomatoes and a jar of Ragu sauce ( i bought these from Morrisons buy 1 get 2 free ) mixed herbs, salt and pepper. Simmer until cooked. Slow cooking produces a much richer sauce, so cook as gentle as you can. Slow cookers are great especially if you are making a huge batch.
As you can see it has made 3 tubs of Bolognaise and 5 single portions of chilli, (my hubbys favourite) he might have this when I fancy something vegetarian or fishy!
Nothing has been used from this cooking today as we were invited to our son's house for a gorgeous meal of Pulled Pork with a chipotle sauce, cracklin, homemade sun dried tomato focaccia, and a nice healthy salad, it was delicious!! Another lovely evening spent round the table with our family.
I hope you are all keeping warm and dry, its a foul night here, with wind and rain....again!
Thank you for popping by,
Take care
Karen xxx
I bought some of that mince when it was on offer in Morrisons. I love chilli but the rest of the family don't, but you've just given me an idea. I often batch cook things like cottage pie or lasagne, so I think I'll do a batch of chilli just for me when I have my next cooking session. I like to have things I can just pull out of the freezer when I can't be bothered cooking.
ReplyDeleteLooking good x It's always nice to eat with others. Your sons menu sounds fantastic, has he inherited your cooking skills?
ReplyDeleteYou have been busy Karen, if you are not crafting you are cooking - or both sometimes!! I agree though it is good to make things ahead, I used to do that but don't have enough space to do that now; I still buy 'normal' or larger packs of meat, but freeze it in it's raw state as it takes up less space in the ice box - it really is surprising how much you can get in one! I think we really must pop round for a treat when we are out and about sometime!!
ReplyDeleteYummy, what time shall I pop round for my tea? xx
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