4 Meals in 1 Hour

Time is of the essence at the moment and I managed to squeeze in a shop at Morrisons between my sons hospital appointment and my youngest son's baby signing class.

Just recently, I've been wasting meat as I've either not had the time to cook it or have forgotten to freeze it.  So today, instead of cooking tonight and tomorrows evening meals, I cooked
Wednesday and Thursday's as well!  And I also doubled the portions to freeze some homemade ready meals as I can't see me getting any less busy anytime soon.

So - How to Cook 4 Meals in 1 hour

The meals are:

Potato Hash
Spaghetti Bolognaise
Steak and Kidney
Jacket Potatoes with Cheese, Beans and Coleslaw 

You Will Need:
1.4kg of Topside Beef
2.5kg of Potatoes
3 large onions
3 large carrots
2 tbsp Soy Sauce
8 beef stock cubes dissolved in 6 pints of boiling water
Salt and pepper 
Aromat Seasoning
500g Button Mushrooms
3x750g jars of pasta sauce
1.2kg of beef mince
4 tsp garlic
2 tbsp tomato puree
2x400g cans of chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp dried italian herb seasoning
3 kidneys (ox or lamb - ox is stronger flavour)
a mugfull of frozen peas
2 tbsp worcestershire sauce
4 Jacket potatoes
1x400g can of beans
200g grated cheese
Tub of coleslaw

How To Do It
You will be cooking all four meals at once.  Don't panic, just follow each instruction and keep stirring the pans so nothing sticks.

1. Put the oven on 180 degrees
2. Wrap the potatoes in foil and place in oven
3. Put three large pans/pots on the hob
4. Heat a tablespoon of vegetable oil in each pan on a medium heat
5. Cut the three onions and place one chopped onion in each pan
6. Stir the onions to coat in oil
7. Add the garlic to the spag bol pan
8. Dry fry the mince in batches and add to the onions in the spag bol pan as it is done, then fry the next batch.  I drain the fat off before adding to the spag bol pan.
9. Add 700g of topside to each of the Potato Hash and the Steak and Kidney Pan
10. Cut the Kidneys into the Steak and Kidney pan cutting out any gristle
11. Season the topside in both pans with salt, pepper and aromat seasoning
12. Cut the carrots and put 1 and a half in each of the potato hash and  steak and kidney pans
13. Make up the stock and pour half in the steak and kidney pan and half in the potato hash pan
14. Put 2 tbsp of worcester sauce in the Steak and Kidney Pan
15. Put 2 tbsp of soy sauce in the potato hash pan
16. Bring both to the boil, then turn down and slow cook on a simmer with a lid on
17. Add the tomato puree to the spag bol pan
18. Wash and quarter the button mushrooms
19. Add the mushrooms to the spag bol pan
20. Add the canned tomatoes to the spag bol pan
21. Add the  dried herbs to the spag bol pan
22. Stir it well and season with salt and pepper.
23. Bring to the boil
24. Cook all three pans for at least 2 hours, preferably 4 hours on a low heat.
25. Warm up the beans
26. Check the potatoes and serve with warm baked beans, grated cheese and coleslaw.
27. Put the peas in the steak and kidney before serving as you warm it through.

Once the meals are cooked, once they have cooled, freeze into portions.

Sounds easy?  It is when you get used to it.  I didn't get everything out of the cupboards before I started so was running around a bit but the satisfaction when all three were cooking away, knowing I had the weekdays catered for, was immense!

Do you cook like this?  Please post links in the comments as I think this is the way forward for me to improve my time management.