I have to say i am absolutely loving Meat Free Monday as its really challenging me to come up with new ideas and this one worked a treat perfect for the weekend when you fancy something naughty.
You will see in the video i have given an alternative to the Tesco meat free chicken i used as i think it was really high in syns but it did taste amazing and had a good texture to it, but use whichever chicken product you like.
This feature follows on from the one i did with a whole chicken but this time i used 1kg joint of unsmoked gammon costing £3.19. I buy unsmoked as i think the flavour of the smoked one can be too strong and sometimes too salty – you can always soak a gammon joint overnight in cold water before you use it if you are worried about it tasting salty.
I always cook my gammon in the slow cooker as it comes out so tender, this joint i cooked in diet orange with a couple of black peppercorns as i didn’t want to over flavour the meat as im using the leftovers in other meals therefore i needed to be careful with the flavours. The end result was a subtle flavour perfectly balance and wasn’t overpowering.
Once the gammon was cooked i cut off a chunk and shredded it with 2 forks and used that in our Sunday Dinner so this is meal 1. The other piece i left whole to use cubed or sliced.
MEAL 1 – SUNDAY DINNER – PULLED GAMMON
MEAL 2 – HOMEMADE FLATBREAD PIZZA
This is my flatbread recipe sized up to create a pizza base and if you are a pizza lover but dont like the calories then this is for you!
I used 60g of flour and approx 2.5 heaped tablespoons of fat free Greek yogurt made up the dough cooked it in a scorching hot frying pan – once cooked add the toppings. The ham used on the pizza leftover from Sunday dinner so i still haven’t used the piece of gammon that was left whole. Here is the link to the flatbread method i used https://julesthelazycook.co.uk/2019/07/11/flatbreads/
Top the cooked flatbread base with tomato puree and Italian Herbs. The herbs i use are from https://www.spicentice.com/use discount code JULES20 for 20% off any order (affiliate)Add Shredded ham and anything else you like i added peppers & spring onions – basically anything i could find in the fridge.Top with cheese of your choice then place under grill to melt the cheese and soften the vegetables
Another successful vegetarian meal i have wanted to try Tofu for ages but i will admit was totally scared of how to use it as there are so many varying reports about it being difficult to work with and tasteless.
If you are going to try this recipe here are a couple of top tips – buy Firm or Extra Firm tofu as this has less liquid in it, also you must “press” the tofu this is to get as much liquid out as possible which then firms it up and makes it easier to handle. Pressing it basically means placing it under weights to get the liquid out – i used tins of soup to weight down a dish this works really well.
Also once the tofu is pressed it allows it to take on flavour and in this recipe it really took on the full flavour of the sauce.
This is the first recipe I’ve created for a vegetarian meal and i have to say it was absolutely delicious. Moving forward im hoping to cook a meat free meal every Monday without always using meat substitutes such as quorn i want to be able to use all the other fantastic ingredients that i love such as beans and pulses.
With this recipe you can add your favourite sausages but if they are meat based then you need to add them at the beginning of the cooking, the one thing i noticed with vegetarian sausages if that they dont have the “firmness” of a meat based sausage. However the vegetarian sausages i used in the recipe were really good and i would definitely buy them again.
NOTE Once cooked taste the sauce if its too “tomatoey” sorry bad word but you get what i mean then add a couple of splashes of Worcester Sauce or the Vegetarian equivalent you could even add a dash of brown sauce basically you need to add some sugar / sweetness to calm the acidity of the tomatoes down.
I set this target as part of my Smarter Food Shopping Feature to see if i could spend this small amount on food shopping for the week, did i do it??? its all the in video below.
If i had shopped in Aldi or Lidl then maybe i could have saved even more money but here is the reason i didn’t go there, these are not my normal food shops. I know if i had done my shopping here i would have been tempted to buy foods that i had seen on Facebook and Instagram “to try out” and lets face it this temptation is what im trying to get away from – buying unnecessary foods!
For me this has been an invaluable exercise and one i wont forget in a hurry and its definitely something im going to carry on into the future when meal planning and food shopping.
Ohhhh yes this is the real deal and totally worth every calorie, syn or points whichever diet you are following.
You can easily reduce the amount of pastry you need by using a smaller pie dish or individual casserole dishes or even just pop a pastry heart on top, when i plated up the pie served 3 portions.
I used Tesco light puff pastry from the chilled section it worked just as well as other branded products and a fraction of the cost, leftover pastry was placed in the freezer for another day.
This recipe is designed to use up leftover chicken from Sunday dinner and to use any vegetables in the fridge that are looking a little sad – the recipe below is just a guide the bottom line is use whatever you have that needs using up.
You can find this recipe in my Cookbook My Fakeaway & Evening Meals which is available on Amazon in Paperback and Kindle press here https://amzn.eu/d/8iJRPY1
As the year moves on into autumn and winter im more determined to look at the money i am spending on food and questioning every purchase and when i went shopping this week i bought a whole chicken which was £2.59 and weighed 1.38kg. This chicken is the perfect size for two people and my aim is to make 4 different meals from it which will also serve 2 people, 8 plates of food (and a couple more in places) 32p approx per person per plate!!!
First step was to cook the chicken and as always i cooked mine in the slow cooker (i will link how i do this below). Once it was cooked i let it cool and stripped it from the carcass divided it into 4 portions and planned my meals.
Chicken portioned from the whole chicken cook previously
2 x carrots
1 x vegetable stock pot or cube
1 x nest of dried noodles
1 x leek
Finely chop leek and fry off in pan on high heat, dice carrots and add them, add vegetable stock, cover with water to approx 25mm over contents you may need to add more water depending on how thick/thin you like your soups, bring to the boil then reduce to simmer
After approx 10mins of cooking add the cooked chicken and dried noodles the stock will cook them, once the noodles separate cut them into smaller lengths with a pair of scissors. The key is to get the carrots partly cooked so try and keep the dice small and they will cook quicker – cook for a further 5 to 10mins check seasoning and your done! This recipe made 3 big portions.
Meal 2 – Creamy Pesto Chicken Pasta
Use cooked chicken
Cooked pasta
2 x tablespoons of light pesto
dollop of cream cheese (any you like) i used primula
reserve some pasta water to help make the sauce
add any vegetables you like – i used the ones that were lurking in the bottom of my fridge
This is a really easy one but makes a fantastic quick filling meal – here is what i did, softened half a red onion, added some mushrooms cooked for approx 3 more mins added the cooked chicken and some tomatoes, add a splash of pasta water stops the chicken burning and ensures it heats through properly. I then added the cooked pasta, 2 tablespoons of pesto and a dollop of cream cheese together with a small amount of pasta water this will help the pesto and cream cheese create a silky smooth sauce. Once cooked this actually made 3 big portions, i weigh out my dry pasta and as a rule of thumb pasta cooked is double the weight of dry pasta.
Meal 3 – Spicentice Chinese Chicken Curry
This is one of my favourites and its so easy to make and now we are using cooked chicken its going to make the cooking even easier – the key for this meal is to reduce the sauce the get a thick ish covering over the chicken and vegetables. Video below of how i cooked it without using flour.
This meal can also be made in the slow cooker but i would only use this method if you are making 4 portions – its linked her if you want to give it a try.
Ohhhh yes this is the real deal and totally worth every calorie, syn or points whichever diet you are following.
You can easily reduce the amount of pastry you need by using a smaller pie dish or indiviual casserole dishes or even just pop a pastry heart on top, when i plated up the pie served 3 portions.
I used Tesco light puff pastry from the chilled section it worked just as well as other branded products and a fraction of the cost, leftover pastry was placed in the freezer for another day.
I hope you have enjoyed this feature and in the future i will be making more money saving videos even i have found this a useful exercise and questioning why am i buying food i dont need when i have cupboards and freezers full of food!
Linked here are a couple of extra videos that also fit in with this topic
I have wanted to make this type of baked oats for ages but never really found a chocolate spread i liked. That all changed when i bought the Sweet Freedom Choc Pot spread which i absolutely love – gooey chocolate recipes coming up lol.
These little pots really hit the spot when you need something sweet to eat, fantastic at breakfast time or as an after dinner pudding.
Jules The Lazy Cook 