I didn’t get around to taking photos or playing with any recipes. Instead I thought I would share some of my easy go to meals that the kids love.
Cheats Lasagne
Ingredients
Bolognese sauce (use half for this meal and either use the other half another night or freeze for a later meal)
500g Pasta
Bechamel Sauce
Cheese for topping
Cook up a Bolognese sauce, while the bolognese sauce is cooking cook enough pasta for your family these days with a teenager we need a full 500g packet of dry pasta.
Cheesey Bechamel Sauce
50g cornflour
30g butter
500g milk
tub ricotta
1 cup grated cheese (extra for toping)
Thermomix instructions
all ingredients into jug on 90Deg/speed 2/7mins
add tub ricotta & grated cheese speed 5/10secs
Stove top
Melt butter, add flour mix until combined, add milk ensure it is all combined (I use a whisk to do this) then stir continuously until mixture thickens, once thick add ricotta & cheese stir through until combined.
Assembly
Pour in approx 1/2 Bolognese into the base of greased lasagne dish, put all the cooked pasta in on top of the mince, pour béchamel sauce over the pasta, lastly top with some more grated cheese.
Bake on 180C for approx 20min until cheese is melted and browned.
Baked potatoes with bolognese sauce
Potatoes
Bolognese Sauce
Butter
Sour Cream
Grated Cheese
Bake as many whole, clean, skin on potatoes as needed for your family on approx 180C for 45mins-1hr depending on size of potatoes test with a skewer put in when this goes in and out easily potatoes are ready.
Using left over bolognese sauce add tin of drained kidney beans heat through thoroughly.
To serve
Place cooked potato into bowl cut up slightly add some butter to the potato top with good helping of bolognese sauce mix onto potato, garnish with sour cream and cheese.
Another recipe using the bolognese base
Kid friendly Chilli Con Carne
Bolognese
tin red kidney beans (drained)
pkt taco mince (instead of chilli)
1 cup rice (uncooked)
Sour Cream for garnish
Add kidney beans and pkt taco seasoning into the bolognese stew for approx 30mins
Cook rice (however you cook your rice successfully I am the worst rice cooker so I am not going tell you how to cook rice.
Serve Bolognese mix with rice garnish with sour cream
Tuna Pasta
400g Tin Tuna in Brine (drained)
1 red onion chopped into large chunks
250g mushrooms sliced (if you like mushrooms)
30g butter
300g sour cream
sweet chilli sauce to taste
500g dry pasta (cook to packet instructions)
In a pan melt butter, saute onion when onion soft add sliced mushrooms when mushrooms are starting to soften add tuna then add sour cream and sweet chilli sauce simmer on very low heat for approx 20mins. While tuna mix is simmering cook pasta to packet directions.
When pasta is cooked and drained add creamy tuna sauce to pasta and serve.
Sausages & Onion Gravy
1kg sausages
1-2 onions (depending on your family mine doesn’t like onion) cut in half slice into thin strips
1 cup water
2-3 dessert spoons gravy
cook up sausages when sausages are cooked remove from pan, using the same pan cook onion until soft add 1 cup water and gravy mix add cooked sausages back into the gravy
serve with mashed potato and steamed veggies.
These are just a few of my family’s go to meals. As they are on high rotation they are also great meals to get the kids involved in helping to cook up or cooking from start to finish. I think that all three of our kids can cook most of these including the thermomix béchamel sauce.
Bon Appetit!
I never think to put bolognese sauce in a baked potato but I love this sort of meal. Yum. Also going to have to try your kid’s friendly chilli con carne and tuna pasta. I have a tuna bake recipe but yours sounds better. Thanks for sharing.
Just spotted my name in your ‘writer’s I love’ list! Made my day. Thank you. Just hope I live up to your expectations. Hehe.
We turn bolognese into chilli too. I love it because there are just so many ways with bolognese! We usually make the tuna pasta from the Thermomix Everyday Cookbook but I might have to give your version a go because… Sour Cream! How yummy!
Oh I’m going to have to try out your tuna pasta – I do one that’s sort of like a bolognese so love the sound of yours for a mid week meal. thanks for sharing.
Yes! I was just thinking about stuffed potatoes today!
I love stuffed potatoes! What do you put in yours?
Some great ideas Kit! I like the sound of your tuna pasta – my little one would love it!
It is so easy and quick and the biggest bonus is my teenage son can make it!
I’ve just started introducing stuffed potatoes, very unsuccessfully. Will try yours instead.
I’ll be honest I’ve tried and tried and tried it’s only in recent times they will eat them. Having a breakdown and getting meals delivered has meant that our kids became a lot less fussy.
There is a positive in the darkest of times x
Yes there is and blessings of food meant I didn’t have to do it last year when I really couldn’t!
How old are yours Kooky mine are 14 & 11 (twins) and honestly I think I’ve been trying since the girls were 5!!! So don’t give up xoxox
Almost 15, 13 and 11. I’m in the middle of hell at the moment with tween and teenagers 😉
I feel your tween and teen hell! Our son is 15 in Nov and has spent the weekend in a grump I am sure because he had no physical activity! He normally does but between his age group not playing and the rain there has been a lot of playstation time I thought I may have required surgical excision of the controller! A grump that got to go to the footy last night and watch his favourite team play (and win) from a corporate box! But seriously you would have thought he was being taken to a funeral not a league game! And don’t get restarted on the tweens whom I had the pleasure of escorting to 2hrs os Disney on Ice Hell (I mean sheer delight … I am sure I meant sheer delight!)
Oh I hear you loud and clear. We are on the cusp of the party stage. The pick ups are going to kill me as we are in a rural area so the party could be anywhere from 45 minutes away. Not looking forward to it at all. But then it’s what happens so I will just have to suck it up, with a little bit of complaining, a lot more likely or I will drink early so Mr Smarts has to go get her. Actually that’s my plan.
Thank God our eldest is a boy and he goes to a boys school and they don’t seem to “party”! Unfortunately instead they sit on the playstation with a headset having one sided conversations and laughing it would seem to themselves! I am not sure what is worse, parties out late with kids I don’t know and behaviour I can’t control or shoot and kill games over the internet with ppl I can’t see lol! Can we turn back time and keep them wrapped in their cots safe and warm?!
I know, how lovely were they back then. Always happy to see you, jumping into bed in the morning, cute little things yes with attitude but not attitude like NOW! Now I can understand why my parents used to get together with their friends on a Friday and Saturday night for a drink or three. We do the same haha
So totally!