Kickin Vegetable Shepherds Pie

If you're wanting to cut the calories on the Christmas run up, this is a fab way of doing it, by replacing meat with vegetables.  Although this does have a kick as I make it with a portion of my Batch Cooked Vegetable Chilli 

It's also a fab timesaver dish.  Defrost a batch of Vegetable Chilli, make some mash and top it.  Bung it in the oven for an hour and your done!

Its so easy, I don't need to even write the recipe!

Great when you're short of time or money.  I reckon two pounds of spuds will cover it, so on a tight budget week, it's ideal.  Or put what you have saved in your savings pot!

Vegetable Lasagne

This vegetable lasagne has a kick as it's made from a portion from batch cooking Vegetable Chilli.  I'm also a fan of actual flavour so the bechamel sauce usually found in a lasagne is replaced with cheese sauce.

If you've just made your batch of Vegetable Chilli, you can always construct this and freeze it, although I let it all go cold and construct it with undercooked pasta so it doesn't all absorb into a gooey mess when it's defrosted.  It's also best cooked from frozen.

So how to...

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 batch of defrosted (or fresh) Vegetable Chilli
Milk
Butter
Plain Flour
Cheese
Salt
Lasagne sheets (Fresh or Dried)

Method:

1.  Melt two tablespoons of butter in a small saucepan

2.  Using a wooden spoon (yes, vital!) sprinkle over a tablespoon of flour and mix into the butter.  Keep doing this until you have a tight ball resembling play-doh

3. Pour a little milk in a bit at a time and stir in to loosen the roux (or play-doh as I just referred to it!!).  Stir really well and get rid of the lumps.  Keep going at this until you have a consistency where it coats the back of the wooden spoon but still runs off.

4.  Take of the heat and grate in the cheese.  I use medium strength cheese.  Mix well until its melted in.  Keep tasting until you get the cheesiness you desire.  Take off the heat and put to one side.

5.  Now to construct the lasagne.  In an oven proof dish, place a layer of chilli, top with a layer of pasta, place a layer of cheese sauce.  Repeat and end with a cheese sauce layer with a pasta layer on top.  Grate cheese on top.

6.  Cook in the oven for about an hour until the pasta has softened up.

7.  Serve with an italian salad of beef tomatoes and mozzarella - Yum!

Meal Planning Monday - 10th September 2012

I'm quite astonished that I cooked all week last week! I got quite carried away on the lunch boxes (see how long that lasts!) and even made minestrone soup to avoid leftovers.

So in my new found Domestic Goddess role, here's what I'm planning for this week. As usual, there's batch cooking and defrosting involved.

Monday: Fish Pie

Tuesday: Vegetable Chilli Pasta Bake

Wednesday: Potato Hash

Thursday: Roast Chicken Dinner

Friday: Cowboy Casserole

Saturday: Hey, Hey it's Takeaway!!

Sunday: Steak & Kidney with Leeky Mash

There's loads more meal plans over at At Home With Mrs M.

Hope you have a fab week!

Claire

I Will Prepare!! The Big Christmas Hamper Project

There's nothing better than getting a big, heavy box and not knowing what's in it, is there?

This year, in line with my money saving project (and the fact I probably will be the size of a small bungalow by December) I will be making hampers full of home made goodies for Christmas gifts.

So if you're likely to get a gift off me, it's probably best to stop reading or you'll spoil the surprise!

Have you gone?

Go!

So, what's the plan?

A small Christmas cake
A jar of strawberry curd
A bottle of Winter Liqueur
A jar of body scrub
Some bath melts
Some chocolate truffles

And it will all be handmade. The Christmas cakes need making first so they can be fed and I've got most of the ingredients in.

I'll be posting our family recipe later in the week.

What do you think to this idea? Would you rather have a box of handmade items or a gift off the shelf?

Batch Cooking: 10 Ways With Vegetable Chilli

Batch cooking not only saves you time but money and it really need not be a case of dragging the same thing out of the freezer and eating an monotonous menu.

Here's what you can do with Vegetarian Chilli

1. Eat it as it comes with Rice.

Vegetable Chilli with Rice

2. Wrap in in a fajita wrap and have it for lunch or dinner (it tastes just as good cold)

Vegetable Chilli Wrap

3. Use it as a filling for Vegetarian Lasagne.

4. Defrost some filo pastry and make samosas

5. Serve with polenta or over a jacket potato (ooh! thats 2 options!!)

6. Fill taco shells with it

7. Top with mash for vegetarian shepherds pie

8. Add extra passatta and do a vegetable pasta bake

9. Use smaller portions as a spicy ratatouille accompaniment

10. Mix with rice and coat to make rissoles.

As you can see one basic recipe can be extremely versatile and save you time and money.

So...if you need a recipe for Vegetable Chilli, click through here

Enjoy and just think of the time you save by just grabbing it out of the freezer!

Lunchbox Ideas: Vegetable Chilli Wrap

I've got quite carried away with lunchboxes recently.  It's taken six years but now I'm feeling the guilt of sending the kids to school with a box of saturated fat and e-numbers and I'm finding myself actually wanting to eat better. 

For those days when you run out of sandwich filling or just fancy something different, why not try a vegetable chilli wrap.  It's far cheaper than buying a £2.50 wrap from the supermarket and much more filling.

I tend to construct this the night before, wrap in tin foil and leave in the fridge.  That way the filling is more solid and the wrap doesn't fall apart.

Serves One

Ingredients:

Defrosted Vegetable Chilli
1 fajita wrap
2 dessert spoonfulls of cooked rice

Method:

1. Mix the defrosted (already cooked) Vegetable Chilli with the cold rice

2. Place on a peice of tin foil

3. Fold opposite sides of the fajta in about an inch

4. Turn 90 degrees and roll tightly.

5.  Cut in half with a sharp knife and put next to each other

6. Wrap in tin foil and place in fridge until ready to eat.

Vegetable Chilli Wrap

Yum!

Hope you enjoy!

Claire

Fuel Saving Opportunity

To be concise, Morrisons are offering 1p per litre off fuel for every £10 gift card you buy.

On the face of it this doesn't sound too great but there's several ways to play this one.

So...if you're planning on spending, say £50, at Next, buy a £50 gift card from Morrisons and receive a 5p off per litre voucher.

Or...if you're doing Christmas shopping at Toys R Us, Boots or Debenhams (or maybe even a bike from Halfords) buy the gift cards now and reduce your fuel bill now. It's also a great way of ensuring you don't go over budget.

** This isn't a sponsored post. Morrisons haven't approached me at all to write this post. I just think its a fab way to stay on budget & save on fuel.