Found these recipes and thought if you are on a budget it's very helpful.
"Here are the ingredients I put in the last one. Please bear in mind that it's very flexible, according to what I have to hand. Also, sometimes I forget to chop the onion and garlic first, so they aren't sauteed. To be honest, I can never tell the difference in the final dish. I forgot this time, so I've posted it honestly"
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
1 unpeeled carrot
1 unpeeled courgette (zucchini)
1 unpeeled beetroot
1 large parsnip (peeled as old and tough)
Some sage and rosemary leaves
65g oats
4 seconds / speed 5
Bunch of cabbage leaves
1 pak choi
Added on top of other bits. 3 seconds / speed 5
Put into slow cooker with:
500g mince
1 very heaped tsp veg stock concentrate,
pepper
can chopped tomatoes
slosh red wine (sometimes use a dash of balsamic instead)
1 tbsp tomato puree
c 400 mls hot water
Stir it all through with wooden spoon, and cook.
If I had been planning to do all tomato dishes I would have put in another can of tomatoes, and slightly less water. As it happened, I did - spaghetti bolognaise, chilli, and nachos. But I had planned to do a shepherd's pie originally, so I kept it to a recipe which allowed me to add more tomatoes or gravy in the final dish.
So for the bolognaise I added more chopped tomatoes, thyme and oregano. For the chilli I added more chopped tomatoes, chilli and a little bit of cocoa powder, and kidney beans. For the nachos I added a jar of salsa (sorry, I know I should have made it from scratch!) then baked over nachos, sprinkled with grated cheese (grated in tmx) and served with salad and guacamole (which was made from scratch in the tmx )
Caroline also said
"The veggies and oats basically double to triple the amount of the mince, and I get several meals out of it. After the mixture has cooked I separate it out. Some has gravy and chutney added and is used as shepherds pie or similar. Some has salsa added to it and is used for nachos. Some is turned into Chilli con carne.
So we'll have one of these meals that day, one lot will be put in the fridge for later in the week (because I like the chilli to cook in the slow cooker for a while for the flavours to develop) and the other one goes into the freezer."
