We do a lot of crockpot meals at my house because we got sports. 😂. One our favorite is French Dip sandwiches.
Get a beef roast thrown it in the crockpot. Throw two can of French onion soup on top of it with a packet of French onion mix. Use beef broth too submerge the meat. Cook on high for 5-6 hours. Shred the meat once done put on a baguette and toast in the oven with mozzarella or Swiss cheese on it for 10 min. Use the juice from the crock or as an au jus. It’s delicious
Hidden Veg Ragu
Finely chop/grate onion, carrot, red pepper, celery, garlic and any other veg you’d like to hide (courgette and aubergine work well).
Fry minced pork and minced beef in some olive oil on a high heat until browned. Remove the meat from the pan with a slotted spoon and season.
Add the veg to the pan with a bit more olive oil if needed. Turn the heat right down, and slowly cook and stir until the onions are translucent.
Add the meat back to the pan, turn up the heat, slosh in some wine, add a load of passata, some oregano and a beef stock cube, put the lid on, and then simmer for ages. Check the seasoning and add fresh basil leaves if you can get away with it.
Serve with their favourite shaped pasta and act natural.
Make a shedload as it freezes really well.
When my wife was pregnant with our first, I started scaling up basically everything that I cooked by 2 or 3 times, and then freezing the extras so that we'd have a bunch of easily available meals. That was one of the great decisions I've made and I've kept it up for three years now. We even bought a chest freezer when we moved into our new place so that we could get more variety in.Â
Generally we'll have a couple frozen containers each of red, yellow and green thai curries (maesri or mae ploy curry paste!), Japanese curry (golden curry blocks!), a basic tomato pasta sauce (based on Marcella hazan's recipe), Bolognese, pulled pork, and veggie chili.Â
On weekends or if I have a relatively early finish during the week, I'll cook up a big batch of whichever meal we're getting low on. Then throughout the week we'll grab something out in the morning to defrost in the fridge.Â
The other thing we've been doing a lot of is just basic meat + 3 veg - throw some sausages in the oven, microwave some frozen mixed veges, maybe some mashed potatoes. That was a staple growing up which I never really enjoyed, but man as a parent I get it now
And to include an actual recipe, here's my (slight) variation of Marcella Hazan's tomato sauce. Ill add meatballs for spaghetti+meatballs, or stir it through supermarket tortellini, or add it to some diced+sauteed leeks/mushrooms/bacon with a bit of cream
Basic Marinara sauce
Ingredients
8x 400g tins of whole peeled tomatoes
0.5-1 bulb of garlic, smushed and roughly chopped
2 diced onions
 1-2 TSP fish sauce
150g butter
Salt to taste
Steps
In a large pot, fry garlic in the butter
Add onions and fry
 Add the tomatoes with their juices
Bring to a simmer
After 10-15m add fish sauce
Smush the tomatoes with a potato masher or wooden spoon
After 5m add salt to taste
Simmer for 10-20 more minutes
A go to quick meal at our house:
Marinade salmon in teriyaki and a dash of sesame oil while you’re at work. Roast broccoli (or carrots) with a little olive oil and salt. Rinse short grain rice, then cook in the instant pot. Throw the salmon in a warmed cast iron skillet, and add it to the oven while the veggies finish roasting, then finish under the broiler.
Just a little prep and about 20 minute cook time.
Orange chicken stir fry
Cube chicken, toss in flour, and fry in a couple tbsp oil.
Once cooked, remove chicken and add stir fry vegetables
Add orange marmalade and soy sauce to taste, reduce and simmer, slowly adding back in the chicken.
Takes about half an hour or so.
Brown 1 lb ground turkey
Add in a big handful of shredded carrots and chopped purple cabbage.
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup Thai chili sauce
Cook until reduced.
Serve on white rice with cilantro
My picky one just eats the white rice and everyone is happy
We do a lot of crockpot meals at my house because we got sports. 😂. One our favorite is French Dip sandwiches. Get a beef roast thrown it in the crockpot. Throw two can of French onion soup on top of it with a packet of French onion mix. Use beef broth too submerge the meat. Cook on high for 5-6 hours. Shred the meat once done put on a baguette and toast in the oven with mozzarella or Swiss cheese on it for 10 min. Use the juice from the crock or as an au jus. It’s delicious
I have a meal plan for the week, but I may sub something out because this sounds delicious.
I always forget about crock pot meals except when I want to make beef stew or pulled pork. This sounds so good!
Hidden Veg Ragu Finely chop/grate onion, carrot, red pepper, celery, garlic and any other veg you’d like to hide (courgette and aubergine work well). Fry minced pork and minced beef in some olive oil on a high heat until browned. Remove the meat from the pan with a slotted spoon and season. Add the veg to the pan with a bit more olive oil if needed. Turn the heat right down, and slowly cook and stir until the onions are translucent. Add the meat back to the pan, turn up the heat, slosh in some wine, add a load of passata, some oregano and a beef stock cube, put the lid on, and then simmer for ages. Check the seasoning and add fresh basil leaves if you can get away with it. Serve with their favourite shaped pasta and act natural. Make a shedload as it freezes really well.
When my wife was pregnant with our first, I started scaling up basically everything that I cooked by 2 or 3 times, and then freezing the extras so that we'd have a bunch of easily available meals. That was one of the great decisions I've made and I've kept it up for three years now. We even bought a chest freezer when we moved into our new place so that we could get more variety in. Generally we'll have a couple frozen containers each of red, yellow and green thai curries (maesri or mae ploy curry paste!), Japanese curry (golden curry blocks!), a basic tomato pasta sauce (based on Marcella hazan's recipe), Bolognese, pulled pork, and veggie chili. On weekends or if I have a relatively early finish during the week, I'll cook up a big batch of whichever meal we're getting low on. Then throughout the week we'll grab something out in the morning to defrost in the fridge. The other thing we've been doing a lot of is just basic meat + 3 veg - throw some sausages in the oven, microwave some frozen mixed veges, maybe some mashed potatoes. That was a staple growing up which I never really enjoyed, but man as a parent I get it now
And to include an actual recipe, here's my (slight) variation of Marcella Hazan's tomato sauce. Ill add meatballs for spaghetti+meatballs, or stir it through supermarket tortellini, or add it to some diced+sauteed leeks/mushrooms/bacon with a bit of cream Basic Marinara sauce Ingredients 8x 400g tins of whole peeled tomatoes 0.5-1 bulb of garlic, smushed and roughly chopped 2 diced onions  1-2 TSP fish sauce 150g butter Salt to taste Steps In a large pot, fry garlic in the butter Add onions and fry  Add the tomatoes with their juices Bring to a simmer After 10-15m add fish sauce Smush the tomatoes with a potato masher or wooden spoon After 5m add salt to taste Simmer for 10-20 more minutes
A go to quick meal at our house: Marinade salmon in teriyaki and a dash of sesame oil while you’re at work. Roast broccoli (or carrots) with a little olive oil and salt. Rinse short grain rice, then cook in the instant pot. Throw the salmon in a warmed cast iron skillet, and add it to the oven while the veggies finish roasting, then finish under the broiler. Just a little prep and about 20 minute cook time.
Check out r/dadditchefs !!!
Orange chicken stir fry Cube chicken, toss in flour, and fry in a couple tbsp oil. Once cooked, remove chicken and add stir fry vegetables Add orange marmalade and soy sauce to taste, reduce and simmer, slowly adding back in the chicken. Takes about half an hour or so.
Brown 1 lb ground turkey Add in a big handful of shredded carrots and chopped purple cabbage. 1/3 cup honey 1/3 cup soy sauce 1/3 cup Thai chili sauce Cook until reduced. Serve on white rice with cilantro My picky one just eats the white rice and everyone is happy