Last Sunday I cooked for 16 (in my tiny oven it was a Crazy idea!). For the children (7 of them) we cooked a Spaghetti Bolognese. For the adults I did a big pot of Goulash and served it up with new potatoes, hot rolls and carrots.
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| The Goulash turned out yummy! |
The Goulash I cooked from scratch and spent ages perfecting the flavors, I used the BBC Good Food recipe and added extra everything, I amended the spices, herbs and peppers as I went along - to make the dish suit us. I enjoyed cooking it up and was I really thrilled when everyone had an empty plate.
Inspired by this experience and a new cook book I got for Christmas I intend to cook properly much more, waste less and teach the children as I learn too. This is going to be a lifestyle change for us - much more of the healthy goodness.
And we are doing all this on a budget - this is where the new book comes in, 'Save with Jamie' (by Jamie Oliver). It has been a real eye opener, made me believe it can be done without spending huge amounts of expensive meats and it has motivated me to make the change. I have read it from cover to cover already and I'm now armed with lots of tips to ensure we don't waste food any more.
I have created this blog to ensure we do all this - Now It is public we are committed -Committed to eating better, wasting less and enjoying food!
We also want to share our success, recipes and family fun along the way - and I say we as I am sure my two eldest will be guest blogging along the way.
I think this is a great idea! Less waste and eating better! One of the things I recently started doing was making chicken stock. It requires chicken, onion, carrots, celery, and some other spices. So, whenever I have fresh vegetable scraps (the tops of carrots,celery trimmings, etc.), I place them all into a freezer bag. Eventually, when I have enough "scrap" vegetable pieces, I add chicken to it (I also freeze trimmings and scrap pieces from chicken), add the spices, and simmer it all in a large pot for several hours until it turns into chicken stock. Then I freeze the chicken stock in one quart freezer containers and I have chicken stock ready for any recipe that calls for chicken broth. And I have made it from bits and pieces of vegetables and chicken that I would have thrown away.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to reading more of your blog. Best of luck!
Hello Cheryl, thanks for commenting and the tip. What a great idea - we were wondering what to do about all the little scraps, we will be following your lead. We are also going to make compost when the months are warmer too.
ReplyDeleteI got that book too but have yet to find time to read it properly. My Mum always makes stock when she has a roast that has bones. She puts tge off cuts from the veggies and the bones from the meat having gotten as much meat off as possible then leaves it all inthe slow ccooker over night. Fab stock that I regularly pinch :-)
ReplyDeleteGood luck Chrissi. Sounds like a plan. We try to do this as much as we can but still waste more than I'd like. So, there's another resolution to add to my list. The food's looking great…I do love a Goulash!
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year everyone....
ReplyDeletemummyQTkidztuff - read the book asap,it is brilliant! Soooo many fab ideas in there. Thanks for your tip too - I have a slow cooker tucked away in a cupboard somewhere. I will dig it out and give it a go.
Hello Rob, thank you for commenting. I love Goulash too - it is definitely on my to 'cook more of' list.
I know this is late and what not, but great first post and good luck on your blog! Also a late happy new years to you as well Chrissi!
ReplyDeleteHi Daniel, Sorry my reply is also late! Thanks for the luck - what do you think to the blogs new look? Happy New Year to you too!
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