I have a secret
Are you ready?
I take shortcuts in my cooking !!!!!!
Ha ha I bet you were wondering what I was going to confess then, didnt you?
My point is, that I have always cooked from scratch. I learned to cook in my early teens by watching my Mum, and I guess having a natural love of cooking and wanting to cook meals for those I care and love. However, although I can make my own mash potato, my own cauliflower cheese and my own buttercream (as I often use the Betty Crocker ready made one on my cakes), I also think there is nothing wrong with taking shortcuts especially when time is short or maybe you just want to save time.
In my time I have, and indeed still do, buy frozen mash potato, frozen swede and carrot mash, yorkshire puddings, roast potatoes, honey glazed parsnips aswell as cauliflower cheese and peas!! I often have a bag of mixed frozen veg in my freezer which is perfect to make a speedy soup with or add to my cottage pie base. I like to keep some frozen veg in my freezer because there is less wastage involved because I can just take out what I need, when I need it. Plus frozen (fruit and) vegetables still contain all their vitamins and nutrients, so they are just as good for you as their fresh counterparts.
I was recently asked by The British Frozen Food Federation and Cool Cookery to have another look at the frozen aisles in my usual supermarket, and see what there is on offer. I have to be honest that I had NO idea that you can now buy frozen noodles, frozen rissotto and even minced beef with a low fat content!
I was the asked to devise a meal using frozen products and because I am so impressed with the variety, quality and the price, of frozen fish and fish fillets available in my supermarket, that I decided to make a fish pie purely made from items you can buy from the frozen section. Making this meal tasty yet cheap, nutritious and quick to make. Sounds perfect to me!!
- 1 x 400g bag of frozen Fish Pie Mix
- 1 x 650g bag of frozen Tesco Cauliflower Cheese Bake
- 2 sachets of Tesco Micro Peas Broccoli Spinach And Sweetcorn
- 25g frozen diced onions
- 1 x 650g bag of frozen Mash Potato
- Pre heat the oven to 180oC / 160oC (fan)
- place the onions in a microwave proof dish and cook for 2 mins and then drain
- lightly grease an oven dish that feeds 4 people
- place all of the fish along the bottom
- top with the onions and micro peas, broccoli ,spinach and sweetcorn
- then add the cauliflower cheese bake and ensure it covers all of the ingredients underneath
- cook in the oven for 15 minutes
- remove and then top with the mash potato
- return to the oven and cook for a further 25 minutes
- Serve with your choice of sides - I used some frozen summer veg
This was really yummy! I loved the fact that because I used all frozen ingredients, aside from opening the bags, and cooking the onions, there was no preperation at all! How easy is that? Perfect for when you need a nutritious family meal straight from the freezer and ready in next to no time. Plus it only cost £1.68 per portion, which I think is good value, seeing as though an individual ready made fish pie starts at £2.30!!!
It just makes good sense to me 🙂
I am with BritMums and Coolcookery.co.uk highlighting the versatility, economy and nutritional benefits of cooking with frozen food. All opinions are and my own. For recipes and ideas visit http://bit.ly/coolcookery
thanks for introducing me to frozen mash – we now enjoy cottage pie regularly! It seems that asda potato pellets are larger than Tesco – and I like to arrange them in concentric circles in my pan & once they’ve softened I fork them up!
Looks so very tasty and comforting too. Commenting for myself and on behalf of BritMums and thanking you for taking part
Oh that is really good and I do love frozen products.
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