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I'm not, I don't really care what others do, suit yourself, just giving the op some advice.
😆
GolfChick, the only person who gets to decide for you which is better - a jar of sauce or a home made sauce - is you, and the answer will depend on your taste preferences and on what is most practical for you, and the same is true for the rest of us: everbody's taste and personal circumstances are particular to them.
I agree with molgrips that the good quality jarred sauces are likely to be comparable to the home made sauces many of us will make, and the main advantage of home made is likely to be cost and/or the ability to tweak the recipe to personal preference.
The trick with all processed foodstuffs is to identify the good stuff. Industrial cooking technology and economies/efficiencies of scale will enable commercial food manufacturers to make some things as well or better than at home. What I want to avoid are those products where the 'food scientists' have cut corners and costs in the process and/or quality of ingredients, so like welshfarmer I will look for an ingredients list that is the same or very similar to what would be used at home.
I've not tried the LLoyd Grossman sauces, but I found the [url= https://www.m-s.gr/product/olive-tomato-sauce-2/ ]M&S version of puttanesca[/url] to be absolutely vile. I suspect the reason might be that the olives need to be added at the end of the cooking, and M&S (or rather its supplier) is putting the olives in with all the other ingredients in the cooking vessel. In contrast I found the cheaper [url= https://www.m-s.gr/product/red-pesto-3/ ]M&S Red Pesto[/url] to be quite OK (I guess it might be even be possible to turn that or a similar plainer jarred tomato sauce into something like puttanesca by adding anchovies or anchovy paste, capers and olives). There's no harm in trying different products and experimenting.
GolfChick, I note what you say about limited freezer space. A standard 400g tin of plum tomatoes will typically produce 4 servings of most pasta sauces, so if there are two of you, there would be two servings left over. FYI sauces like puttanesca can be stored in the fridge for 3 days. Another option would be to use [url= https://www.google.co.uk/search?source=hp&ei=p3NeWtqcJIrbgAaOhoWgAg&q=lakeland+soup+and+sauce+bags&oq=lakeland+soup&gs_l=psy-ab.1.7.0l10.1103.7467.0.11499.13.8.0.3.3.0.202.1001.1j6j1.8.0....0...1c.1.64.psy-ab..2.11.1063...0i131k1j0i131i46k1j46i131k1.0.Mjx71Lw9tx8 ]Lakeland soup and sauce freezer bags[/url] to minimise the space they would take in the freezer.
Aye, pesto definitely an exception, I prefer shop bought stuff!.
Well I’ve spent the last 5 minutes looking up what chia seeds are and whether I should start to incorporate them into my overnight oats recipes!? What on earth has become of me!
A smoothie is quick and easy for breakfast: A small banana, some blueberries (or whatever takes your fancy), some oats and as much spinach, kale or salad as you can stuff in the blender (trust me on this one) with milk or water with greek yoghurt.
It should keep you going until lunch or beyond . no need to spend a fortune on a blender; I have used a £20 Kenwood job every day for the last three years and it's still going strong.
Roasting veg transforms the taste; Roasted carrots, snips, squash, sprouts, shallots, garlic, peppers and Jerusalem Artichokes really are foods of the gods!
Eat that lot and you will fart like a Rhino, but your guts will get healthier.
If you want to “tart up” your oats ([i]s****...s****...fnarr-fnarr)[/i] toast some almonds then chop and add to your oats, if you wish to add a bit of sweetness then a chopped medjool date (chewy caramel goodness) will turn a bland dish into something rather nice
Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C).
Spread almonds in a single layer on cookie sheet.
Bake for 3-4 minutes.
Check almonds, shake pan to stir almonds.
Check every minute
Remove from oven and immediately pour onto a plate or platter where they can cool in a single layer
A smoothie is quick and easy for breakfast
Watch the sugar though. Fruit is sugary. And kale.. well, that takes balls frankly.
I agree with earlier posts though, no jarred sauce is ever as good as home made.
Depends who's making it 🙂
Yes it takes effort, but I enjoy cooking, others don't
Well that's the crux of it isn't it. Like most of these things - it's not a chore if you like it. I do like cooking, but only when I am in the mood to do it. And I'm often not.
Re homemade vs jars - I sometimes like to make pasta with fresh tomatoes. No idea if this is authentic or not but I once had it in a restaurant and it was nice, and I recreated it. Tastes fresh and tomatoey which of course you can't get from a jar.
But we digress from helping the OP somewhat...!
I sometimes like to make pasta with fresh tomatoes. No idea if this is authentic or not but I once had it in a restaurant and it was nice, and I recreated it. Tastes fresh and tomatoey which of course you can't get from a jar.
Totally authentic. I've lost count of the times when I've read a recipe by the 'big hitters' of italian cookery books where they suggest using fresh tomatoes instead for some pasta recipes or pizza, rather than tinned, but it's always subject to the proviso that they are very, very good fresh tomatoes, which sadly I'm not sure it's possible to buy easily in the UK from any of the supermarkets even in the height of summer - maybe the answer is growing your own. I did read that Giorgio Locatelli flies in the [url= https://www.finedininglovers.com/stories/pachino-tomatoes/ ]pachino tomatoes[/url] for his restaurant from Sciliy.
Watch the sugar though. Fruit is sugary. And kale.. well, that takes balls frankly.
Trust me, it ain't half bad...
Welsh farmer :
It may be odd but it is a starting point if someone really wants to eat more healthily. Lecithin may be available in Holland and Barret but would you recognise it as a cooking ingredient? And why use a synthesised product which is essentially nothing more than egg yolk, when egg yolks are readily available?As for sugar, I would agree, although most sugar-rich foods these days have had the sugar content replaced by glucose syrup anyway. Part 2 of my healthy eating plan would be to not buy anything containing sugar (or at least containing a significant amount??). But then it is up to the individual how far your take any of this.
BTW I cannot give up my baked beans despite them containing sugar and modified maize starch
What makes you think lecithin is synthesised? Is it not just “purified” from whatever raw ingredient they have used? I’ve actually got some as a weird cooking ingredient (along with xanthun gum - but I accept it’s not a normal home cook ingredient) but it’s usually added as an emulsifier to stabilise stuff so sauces etc don’t split when the jar is on the shelf. You don’t need it when you make to order but it’s doesnt follow that it is inherently unhealthy. You could use egg yolks instead for some applications but then some folk are allergic to egg or prefer not to eat egg...
The issue with excluding sugar is as you say it really depends whether it’s a tea spoon in a big jar of something or three heaped table spoons in a small tub - but even then it might not matter if you only have a teaspoon of that as a garnish/condiment/dressing...
My point was your rigid rules (which even you don’t follow) aren’t a recipe for healthiness although they might be for believing you are being healthier.
Just a quick idea as this is now a 3 page nutrition exam how about moving the specific and technical stuff off into a seperate thread on the relative benefits of cooking your Kebab with rarified elephant leg 😉
Kebab with rarified elephant leg
Indian or African elephant?
A smoothie is quick and easy for breakfast: A small banana, some blueberries (or whatever takes your fancy), some oats and as much spinach, kale or salad as you can stuff in the blender (trust me on this one) with milk or water with greek yoghurt.
+1 sounds good.
I make a simple and quick booster smoothie from kale and ginger. It's refreshing but worth refrigerating as the high juice content makes it more suitable for shots.
1 x Banana
1/4 inch fresh ginger
Stuff blender with prepared kale
Add about half a pint of apple juice
Blend
Add more juice until right consistency.
I'm almost tempted to take a photo of the size of our kitchen just so everyone can appreciate just how small it is. I sorted through the cupboards last night to get rid of out of date stuff I've not used in ages and I still can't fit a blender in there no chance!
I bought some carrots on Monday actually with the thought of trying roasting them along with the sweet potatoes. I've tried them roasted before and they were super nice but it's just making the effort to do them.
Farting like a rhino is not a good idea for me so I may resist that one though! Somafunk how long will those roasted almonds last then? Could they be sort of jarred and used over a week or two say for example? Just the idea of overnight oats is ease, so I don't fancy having to do that each evening I fancy them! Going to be a bit of vareity tomorrow and I'm going to have a piece of multigrain toast with a boiled egg.
Sauce and freezer bags may be a good option actually, we have a small freezer tray in the fridge that i could maybe slot some into.
Once the complicated posts come, discussing the ethics of this and that I just move on to the next post because they completely put me off the idea of trying this whole healthy kick. Get bogged down in too much debate etc.
I bought some carrots on Monday actually with the thought of trying roasting them along with the sweet potatoes. I've tried them roasted before and they were super nice but it's just making the effort to do them
Roasting carrots is an effort ?
It can seem like it if you aren't used to it, but like so many 15 minute recipes and so on, you have to do it first to see that really it isn't.
But to make it easier, albeit more expensive, most supermarkets do prepped veg now, carrots, butternut squash, whatever. Get some of that, spray of oil (get a pump sprayer from eg: lakeland, then you can cover the veg with much less than drizzling) and slam in the oven for 30 mins. You don't have to stand and watch it BTW, it's 2 mins prep assuming you buy prepared stuff, 2 mins to give it a jiggle midway so it colours evenly and then 30s to turf it out onto plates.
Piece of salmon each in the same oven at the midway point, perfect.
Cooking doesn't always mean standing over a pot, and if that doesn't excite you seek out specifically oven and potroast stuff that takes a bit of prep and then mainly doing other stuff while it cooks.
Once the complicated posts come, discussing the ethics of this and that I just move on to the next post because they completely put me off the idea of trying this whole healthy kick. Get bogged down in too much debate etc.
Aye, you soon get to know the nutritional gods, and avoid them.
so I don't fancy having to do that each evening I fancy them!
This is the crux of it for you tbh, once you start doing it nightly, it becomes part of a routine and you just do it. I don't fancy making dinner/kids lunches/loading dishwasher every night, but it's something that needs done....
There's the old story that if you stop watching one soap opera a night, you could write a novel ever 3 months or something like that. Alternatively, in half an hour you can prepare a ridiculous amount of healthy foods.
I think as well your tastes start to change, you begin to recognise what is 'good' and that its worth the effort. It doesn't have to be all the time, you can change to healthier food 2, 3 days a week, but before you know it i'm certain you'll look at your old diet and be amazed at what you used to enjoy. Good luck golfchick!
I remind you of my post earlier - look at Annabel Karmel recipes - aimed at children so simple flavours for fussy eaters. And they are all (generally) very easy to prepare as they are aimed at busy parents.
I tried the carbonara recipe of hers on my kids at the weekend at it was lovely (apart from one of the kids being determined to believe she 'doesn't like bacon' despite liking ham and gammon). But the flavour was spot on (and just a handful of ingredients needed).
[url= https://www.annabelkarmel.com/recipes/spaghetti-carbonara/ ]Spaghetti carbonara by Annabel Karmel[/url]
I just used ordinary bacon and I don't see why you couldn't use ham or even chicken (but I would season more if using chicken as it doesn't have the saltiness of bacon).
looks good, although I'm not sure that's healthier 😀
I agree with earlier posts though, no jarred sauce is ever as good as home made
Some of my attempts would convince you otherwise.
although I'm not sure that's healthier
Possibly not but it's opening up different foods/textures which will help the OP start to explore more foods and not be scared to try things.
yep agree totally johndoh, just yanking ya chain
Well not so much effort, more not procrastinating really. It's tricky to get home from a day of work, walk the dog for hour and half, then turbo for another hour, shower and then not want it as simple as turn oven on, open door, put in, sit down, eat!
May help if the boyfriend was inclined at all to help with this but nope that is asking a bit too much. So last night I had the side salad etc and he just had a bowl of pasta. I asked if he was sitting at the tablet and nope he sat on the sofa while I sat at the table.
walk the dog for hour and half, then turbo for another hour,
You could prepare something before and oven cook on a low heat (or get a slow cooker if you can find room) so it's ready for when you finish.
There really is a whole word's worth of ideas for cooking out there – you just need to start experimenting a bit. Fair enough it might not always work at first but when it does, it's really satisfying.
this sort of thing then
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2875673/potroast-beef-with-french-onion-gravy
15 mins prep and then 2 hours in the oven
May help if the boyfriend was inclined at all to help with this but nope that is asking a bit too much. So last night I had the side salad etc and he just had a bowl of pasta. I asked if he was sitting at the tablet and nope he sat on the sofa while I sat at the table.
Tell him to pull his bloody finger out
but it's just making the effort to do them.
eh?
Cut the veg ( spuds, sweeet spuds, squash, snips and carrots etc) into 2" chunks along with a few shallots and a couple of garlic bulbs, chuck it in a roasting tin, with some meat if you must, splash with rape seed oil, salt and pepper and chuck in the oven for an hour and a half at 150C.
That will take you 5 minutes. You won't even need to wash the pan. just scrape the yummy burnt bits off and wipe with a kleenex ready for next time.
May help if the boyfriend was inclined at all to help with this but nope that is asking a bit too much. So last night I had the side salad etc and he just had a bowl of pasta. I asked if he was sitting at the tablet and nope he sat on the sofa while I sat at the table.
Aha! A stealth relationship counselling thread! Bin the lazy bastard! 
[I]somafunk - Member
Tell him to pull his bloody finger out
[/I]
Nooooo! Think of the mess!
Sounds like you both have a very dodgy relationship with food, especially if roasting carrots is an effort (EDIT: Now i understand, apologies ignore the above!)
Tell the other half to get off his rear and help, cooking shouldn't be a chore at all, it can and should be fun 🙂
A few thoughts:
- For me it's not about healthy food, but rather good food which tastes great. Knowing that what I am going to eat will taste really nice (to me), is what motivates me to put even the most basic effort in when required to make something (as opposed to always using something pre-prepared in a packet or a jar).
- Many pasta sauce recipes can be cooked in little more - or even less - time than it takes to cook the pasta. This is an advantage of [i]not[/i] batch cooking something like a tomato sauce, since the quantity of tomatoes in a serving for one or two will cook much more quickly than a large batch which may require half an hour or more to reduce. This means if you have a reasonable repertoire of pasta dishes and store cupboard ingredients, that you can be very spontaneous and decide at the last minute what to have that evening (including deciding some evenings that you can't be bothered and getting out a frozen pizza).
- I recommended the Diana Henry books 'Cook Simple' and 'Simple' above. She wrote these because when she had a baby and then young children, she found that she just did not have much time to spend preparing and cooking. I've only tried a few of the recipes, but I think she strikes a good balance between quick/easy to make and very nice. Lunch today for me will be [url= http://nationalpost.com/life/food/spicy-cheap-and-easy-huevos-rotos-is-what-you-want-in-mid-week-fare ]huevos rotos[/url], which is basically just potatoes and an egg or two. If you google you should be able to find other of her recipes from those books, e.g. [url= http://www.telegraph.co.uk/food-and-drink/recipes/linguine-with-walnuts-and-anchovies/ ]linguine all'amalfitana[/url].
May help if the boyfriend was inclined at all to help with this but nope that is asking a bit too much. So last night I had the side salad etc and he just had a bowl of pasta. I asked if he was sitting at the tablet and nope he sat on the sofa while I sat at the table.
You've just decided to take up a new hobby and you are a bit obsessed with it (like many of us are when we get into anything new, whether it be a sport, a hobby or anything else). Although eating more healthily will benefit him as well, you cannot expect him to be as interested in the subject and as enthusiastic as you. Sometimes people who talk about healthy eating can be very tedious, and some of the food writers can be the worst. Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's 'Veg Every Day!' for example has a marked evangelical, proselytising 'worthy' tone, and it's counter-productive. If someone were to try to make me eat healthily, I would not simply fall in line, and eventually would react against it and instead have a ready meal, chips or a take-away just to be contrary.
You catch more flies with honey than vinegar, so think - and especially talk - less about eating healthily, and more about eating really nice food. Food and drink are something to be enjoyed, not agonised over or the source of domestic friction, and eating [i]together[/i] and [i]at the table[/i] should be a relaxed, leisurely and [i]pleasurable[/i] ritual. Have a glass of wine with the meal, and a starter (it doesn't need to be anything fancy - some nuts [salted even!] or some olives etc. One of Diana Henry's suggested starters is simply some fresh french radishes: eat spread with a bit of unsalted butter, a pinch of sea salt and a piece of baguette), and have a dessert or something to finish like a piece of fruit or some cheese and biscuits. All this will help to make eating good food at the table a pleasurable ritual.
And to state the obvious: no TV, tablets or phones at the table.
I don't mind either way if he gets onboard or not really, he doesn't cycle at all and I manage to keep that going independently. He's a champion snacker and only he will reaise his waist line is getting bigger and bigger haha!
Again I know its not difficult but its procrastination!!! I'm aware and that's part of the thing I'm trying to change 😉 See don't forget I also then need to go and buy a roasting tin and find somewhere to store it when not in use, dont make me take photos of the already full cupboards too! Maybe my job for tonight while it's cooking is to go through the pans etc to see if we can slim down and check what we definitely have.
Tactic for tonight is I'm going to prepare the sweet potatos so that OH can have the oven on and those in while I'm finishing off on the turbo then once I'm out the shower I'll take over finishing off the rest. I dunno how people with kids cope with all this juggling!
Keep the roasting tin in the oven
dont make me take photos of the already full cupboards too!
Go on... Dare you!
How many cupboards do you have?
find somewhere to store it when not in use,
The oven! If you are not cooking in the oven then the things that you use in the oven can be stored there! I have even been known to store beer in an oven when running out of space.
And it isn't 'juggling' - there is no reason to panic about this stuff. Have a go, get yourself some new staples (ie, ones you like and are easy to do) then expand your repertoire little by little.
We have kids, both my wife and I work full time, we go to the gym/pilates/classes etc, my wife volunteers, we ferry kids around etc but only very rarely do we do convenience food (my wife has a soft spot for pizzas) so she sometimes has a frozen one if I am batch cooking something else for myself (like a really hot curry). However we normally make pizzas from scratch too.
If you are storing pans in cupboards, I would suggest you consider whether you could install a wall or ceiling mounted rack made by the likes of [url= https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=hahn+pan+rack&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi5__Tijt_YAhXlL8AKHTy4D9EQ_AUICygC&biw=1366&bih=652 ]Hahn[/url] or [url= https://www.google.co.uk/search?biw=1366&bih=617&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=M1FfWvzZKofEgAbOk4OABA&q=masterclass+pan+rack&oq=masterclass+pan+rack&gs_l=psy-ab.3...285915.288207.0.289068.11.11.0.0.0.0.292.1218.4j5j1.10.0....0...1c.1.64.psy-ab..2.0.0....0.1Bxs_HFkQUs ]Masterclass[/url]. Being able to reach up and grab the pan you need is much better than having to rummage around in a cupboard, and with extra hooks you can hang other things from the rack like utensils, colander, grater etc., all of which will free up valuable space in your cupboards.
As for juggling, the more you do it, the more efficient and quicker you will find yourself becoming, including how you organise things in your kitchen. It will also include making your own choices about short cuts, e.g. the recipe says finely chop half an onion - you decide you are going to use frozen chopped onions instead.
OP here's a great resource, they do a fantastic job of helping others learn about cooking and planning meals from economical and healthy ingredients
http://www.youcancook.org.uk/news/category/you-can-cook-recipes/
Thats it, standby for pictures of the kitchen and cupboard selection later so that everyone can appreciate it. When the house was chosen by my OH the priority was it had a garage. He only ever cooks an oven pizza or pasta and sauce, he's branched out since I've been with him and now can master a pasta bake!
The oven! If you are not cooking in the oven then the things that you use in the oven can be stored there! I have even been known to store beer in an oven when running out of space.
If you do start storing stuff in the oven, make sure they are the things you can use in the oven! At some point you [b]will[/b] switch it on without checking first!
Caught my MiL storing plastic stuff in my oven, fortunately noticed in time...
May help if the boyfriend was inclined at all to help with this but nope that is asking a bit too much.
Just start cooking only for yourself.
At some point you will switch it on without checking first!
true - I'd put a load of pizza dough balls in there out of the way to prove for some Uuni pizzas we were making later on that day for my daughter's party.
Wife decided to roast a chicken that needed using up, and turned the oven on.
We had an unexpected batch of supersized dough balls, and had to switch suddenly to flammkuechen base.
Pics of the kitchen! We want pics