recipes

What better way to get over those winter blues than with some delicious, low cost winter warmer recipes? For me, winter food conjures up thoughts of warming stews and casserole type dishes. Let’s take a look at a few recipe ideas…

Beef or Sausage Casserole

A traditional hearty recipe, use sausages as a fun twist for children! It’s flexible as you can use whichever vegetables you have at home! Serves 4!

Ingredients:

450g braising steak or 1 pack of sausages
1 onion
1 clove garlic
1 heaped tbsp flour
225 g (approx) root vegetables such as carrot, parsnip, potato, sweet potato
570ml beef stock
1 tbsp tomato puree
dried herbs

Method:

1. Cut your beef or sausages into chunks and slice up your vegetables – always the most tedious part of a recipe and I really hate cutting up onions! My auntie read somewhere that holding a teaspoon between your teeth helps?!
2. Use a casserole dish suitable for putting on the hob or just a saucepan if that’s easier and fry the onion first in some oil.
3. Put your onion to one side and fry the steak/sausage chunks, keep doing this until the outside is brown.
4. Add your onion back in and garlic, then add the heaped tablespoon of plain flour and mix it up!
5. Add 300ml of beef stock and add in all of your vegetables – just use whatever you’ve got around or even left over from Christmas.
6. Stir it all together and bring to the boil.
7. Add a tablespoon of tomato puree and some dried herbs for flavour.
8. Add more hot stock to make sure everything is covered and pop it in the oven at 180*C/gas mark 4, uncovered for 15 mins then cover for the rest of cooking.
9. Cook for about 90 mins for the steak casserole and 60 mins for the sausage one. This is a rough time scale; don’t forget to keep checking how the vegetables are cooking, obviously harder vegetables take longer as do larger chunks!
10. 10.  Go and have a bath and relax with a glass of wine! Or of course carry on with the chores of the day if you are preparing this in the morning!

Shepherds Pie

A popular choice, a nice warming family meal for a cold January night and cheap to make, serves 4!

Ingredients:

500g minced beef or lamb
1 onion
4 carrots
2 garlic cloves
200ml stock
200g tin of tomatoes
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp mixed herbs
750 g potatoes
25g butter

Method:

1. Put your meat in a large frying pan and heat gently – keep stirring frequently until it starts to brown.
2. Vegetable chopping time again! Chop your onions, carrots and crush the garlic.
3. Add to the pan and keep cooking for 10 mins then stir in the stock and tomatoes and bring it to the boil.
4. Add the Worcestershire sauce and herbs cover the pan and simmer for about 25mins giving it a stir every now and again!
5. Chop up and cook your potatoes in boiling water until tender enough to mash.
6. Pop your meat /vegetable mix into an ovenproof dish and add the mashed potato on top.
7. Cook at 200*C/gas mark 6 for about 30 mins.

You can use different vegetables according to your tastes and of course what you have in the cupboard! You could try using sweet potato instead of normal ones for a really nice flavour or my personal favorite is to add grated cheese on top during the last bit of cooking so that it goes all melted and crisp!

Sausage Pasta

This is one of my favourite recipes, it’s really easy but filling and tasty and cheap to make. It will serve 4 people.

Ingredients:

about 500g pasta
8 sausages
1 courgette
2 peppers
2 red onions
1 jar red pesto

Method:

1. Cook your pasta according to the pack instructions.
2. Cut the sausages into chunks and start frying until browned, this will take about 10 mins.
3. Slice the courgette, peppers and onions and add to pan.
4. Continue frying for about 8 mins.
5. Drain your pasta and mix it into the pan, add the jar of pesto and keep mixing!
6. Heat over the hob until piping hot.

There you go, a simpler choice for when perhaps you’re busy! I also enjoy using green pesto and chicken as an alternative that gives a really nice flavour! A tasty side to the pasta is garlic bread – either make your own or take the easy choice and buy a ready made one!

Slow Cooking

This is not technically a recipe I know, but a method of cooking that I feel has to be mentioned! Busy with young children and the endless list of household chores… don’t panic!

If you don’t want to spend too long cooking but still want to make nice home cooked family meals then the answer to your prayers is a slow cooker or crock pot. You can make stews, casseroles, curries, soups and you can even cook cakes and whole chickens! The slow cooker can save you money as it uses less energy than a normal oven and you can use cheaper cuts of meat as it makes them more tender.

The good thing is you can put it on and leave it so your meal is ready when your ready, if you have children coming back at different times then it will keep the food warm… all in all brilliant! Search online for lots of slow cooker recipes and ideas, there are loads out there!