10 Meals from A jar of Red Pesto

This keeps in the fridge for a month in a jar and is a staple to have in if you want to add tastiness to your meals.It's also really cheap to make and can really be spun out.

I usually make a batch of this for my Slow Cooked Italian Roast beef and then use it up over the next couple of weeks in various ways.

The recipe for the pesto is on the Slow Cooked Italian Roast Beef Post.

So here's 10 ways I get 10 meals from this cheap to make pesto.

1. Baked Cod with Red Pesto Crust

2. Garlic Bread With Tomato

3. Baked Gnocchi

4. Bruchetta topping

5. Calzone

6. Minestrone Soup

7. Italian Style Quesidillas

8. Slow cooked Pork Casserole

9. Crispy Chicken Strips

10. Slow Cooked Italian Roast Beef

I also use the pesto to add oomph to spag Bol sauce and to spice up shepherds pie mince.

So what do you use pesto for? Please leave a comment and share your ideas

This post is linked up with Creative K Kids Tasty Tuesday

One Pot Steak Dinner (Gluten free)

I’m all for easy cooking and this is the ultimate.   Just chop a few veg and bung it in the slow cooker.  This recipe is also gluten free.

Ingredients:

4 peices of steak for each person

Small new potatoes

Green beans

Carrotts

Onions (I use frozen – No Tears!)

2 Knorr Marco Pierre White Beef Stock Pots

1 Knorr Marco Pierre White Vegetable Stock Pot

Method

Chop the carrots and place in the base of the slow cooker with the green beans and the onions.

Wash and quarter the small potatoes, I leave the skin on, it’s up to your personal choice.

Place the steak on the vegetables.

Mix up the stock and leave to cool.  The stock needs to cool so it doesn’t start cooking the steak when you pour it in.  It’s not essential to let it cool, it will turn out ok – i’ve thrown it in boiling hot when I’ve been in a rush.

Put in enough stock to cover the ingredients.

Switch the slow cooker on 4 hours on high or 6-7 hours on low.

The steak should be fall apart soft when done.

Enjoy!

Meal Planning Monday - The Gluten Free Week

Little known fact that one of us in the house is intolerant to gluten.  It's not been diagnosed as full on Coelliac disease but a gluten free diet certainly helps.

So every so often I go all out to try and cook gluten free meals for a week.

If you've tried Gluten free meals, you will understand how a) difficult and b) monotonous this is.  Gluten free food is typically dry and the processed food often tastes metalllic.  Don't get me wrong there are wonderful gluten free foods out there such as Warburtons new Gluten Free Bread Range and the Tesco Free From Range is very good.  But it really is trial and error in finding the good stuff.

So this week, we will be eating:

Monday:
Slow Cooked Gluten Free Hot Pot

Tuesday:
Chicken and Mushroom Pie with Mash Topping

Wednesday:
Roast Dinner
(No great skill required on this one - just use gluten free gravy mix)

Thursday:
Gluten Free Chillli Con Carne with Rice

Friday:
Tesco Free From Fish Fingers, chips and home made mushy peas (why? cos the tinned ones can have gluten in)

Saturday:
It'll all go Pete Tong with a Takeaway!!

Gluten Free Slow Cooker Hotpot

This really is a no brainer of a meal.  As long as you remember not to use a stock cube with gluten in that is.

So haul out your slow cooker and throw all this in to serve about 6 people.  My slow cooker is a large 6-8 person one so if yours is smaller, you will need less.

Ingredients:
3lb potaotes, peeled and sliced
4 large carrots
2 large onions
350g cubed topside (you can use casserole beef, rump steak, even mince)
2 Kallo Vegetable Bouillon stock cubes (mixed up and left to go cold)
2 Knorr Rich Beef Stock Pots (again, mixed and left to go cold)

Method:
1. Layer potatoes, then carrots, then onion, then meat and keep going until your slow cooker is full

2. Pour over the cold stock until all the ingredients are covered

3.  Cook for at least 6 hours

4.  Serve with Red Cabbage and/or Beetroot.

As this is Gluten free, I make this without a crust.  We tend to have it with gluten free toast as an alternative just to fill us up a bit more.