Any hoo....today I thought I'd share a "what we had for dinner" post with you. I think I've said on here before that I soooooo much prefer baking to cooking actual meals. I do like the fam to eat healthy though so am always on the look out for quick, tasty, EASY and child-friendly meals (meaning my children will eat it without any probs. Well....minimal fuss anyway...) I love sharing recipes but am usually alot more confident on the baking side of the fence so I prefer to not call these posts "recipes" as such but treat them more like we are all just sitting around having a cuppa and discussing what we had/are having for dinner.
Soooo.....what did we have for dinner????
A simple, basic Minestrone Soup........
I have no idea if this is traditional, I'd say adding a carton of Safeway chicken stock to it probably isn't, but it is quick, healthy and the whole family loves it. Every time. And that is the most important thing to me. Oh yeah, and it's tasty!!
Minestrone Soup
1 onion, diced
4 or 5 bacon rashers, chopped into smallish squares ?
2 carrots, diced
1 zuchini, diced
1 potatoe, diced
garlic - 1 teaspn minced (please use fresh if you have?!)
Italian mixed herbs
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can 5 bean mix, rinse and drain first
1 large carton chicken (or any type you have laying about) stock
1/2 cup pasta
Splash of red wine (if you have)
Parmesan cheese
And maybe cheddar too
Okay.......
Heat a little olive oil in a large saucepan and throw in your bacon and onion. Cook for a few mins until brownish.
Add the rest of your vegies (I will add here...please use any vegies you wish to) and the garlic. Fry off for a few more minutes. I sometimes add a drop or two of water at this stage if it's all starting to stick to the bottom of the pan.
Now throw in the tomatoes and beans. Probs a good time to sprinkle in your herbs now too. And your wine. If you haven't drunk it all by now.
Lastly toss in the pasta and tip out the whole carton of chicken stock. You may or may not need to add extra water later. Just keep checking.
Bring all this to the boil and then I cover it (with the lid slightly tilted) and let it simmer until the pasta is cooked. I do admit to often forgetting about it so I'm not exactly sure of how long.....maybe 15-20 minutes?
When you're ready to eat it throw a good amount of the parmesan cheese on top. This really makes it I think. For the kids I often just use our 'normal' cheddar cheese and they love it.
Always serve with some type of delicious crusty bread!! Although this time I just threw a pack of supermarket dinner rolls in the trolley and heated them up. Win!!!
I do hope this has all made sense!! I tend to just throw in whatever and however much ingredients we happen to have on hand at the time but I think that can often be the best way to cook for one's fam yes?!?
I would love to hear of anyone else's everyday quick easy healthy family-meal recipes. I love getting new ideas....things can get a tad tedious after eating the same meals week in week out!! After looking through some oldish cooking mags the other day I came across a few other yummy tasting recipes. We tried one out this week and it seemed to pass the family test!! So I will hopefully get that one to you next week.....
In the meantime have a fab Friday and an even 'fabber' weekend!!!
Enjoy!!!........
Janelle xx
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