Cooking up odds and ends

We've had some nice simple meals recently, using up the odds and ends in the fridge before going to waste.

One of Andy's favourites is pie and chips. He says it's all the different flavours that make it so tasty and it's handy to pop a slice in his pack up for work the next day.

I dry fried the bacon pieces in a pan (I always dry fry) then added onion to fry alongside.

 Lots of nice chunky mushrooms to balance the bacon flavours... smells good :)

 I used ready made puff pastry to make a shallow pie and filled it with the above, covering with lots of fresh red tomatoes and just a sprinkling of cheese.

 It was nice and easy to prepare in the afternoon, and then just pop in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes while the chips were cooking.

The chips are handcut - the best sort. As I've mentioned before, we cook our chips in an actifry, so I peeled and cut the potatoes in the afternoon and left them to drain (they taste better when they go into the actifry dry).

They take about 30 to 35 minutes with their one small spoon of oil.

They smell gorgeous, crisping nicely just like fried chips. The timer ticks down by the minute, beeping when they're ready.

Very yummy chips...

Yummy pie, enough for 6 servings. A very tasty and economical meal.

Another favourite here is chili pasta bake. We always have mince in the freezer and pasta in the cupboard, again something quick and easy. And yes... more tomatoes :)

I don't use beans of any type because as much as I wish that I liked them, I really just can't abide them!

Lots of peas and sweetcorn and chili to taste - we like quite a bit :)

A nice, warming dish as well as very filling.

Good with some Parmesan sprinkled over the top.

Take care
xxx