I admit it. I'm inherently lazy. That's why I use gi-normous crochet hooks - things get done FASTER!! We like FASTER. I'm the same with cooking. I like making quick easy meals "from scratch" that are filling, delicious and look great and like A LOT of work has gone into them, but really....- tee hee! It's like sneaky devious cooking. I'm SO lazy I even have a list of what I call "default" meals - these are meals that I can whip up in about half an hour tops - ta da! I'm a magician!! So....in the weekend I went on a crazy whirlwind road trip to Christchurch with a dear dear friend and got to visit some other friends there. Whilst visiting with one of these said friends we got on to the subject of cooking meals. I probably confessed something along the lines about my inherrent laziness, my list of default meals and that I ONLY make things that are
quick and easy! I also more or less told her that she was putting herself through undue stress over meals and that it could be SO MUCH EASIER! Hence the reason for this blog...and probably others to follow....
The plan: I am going to photograph my meals during the week and blog about them so you can all relax a bit more and indulge in lazy domesticity just like me!
So here we go.....
Superduper fast and easy magic meal number UNO:
Kiri's Vege Lasagne: (from my good friend Kiri Brooks)
You need -
1 can of tomatoes (400gms-ish)*- chopped is more agreeable for kiddies especially those who don't fancy cooked toms, this way they get all mushed in with and hidden among the other veges and are not so readily distinguishable from them.
1 can Watties Pasta Sauce (400gms-ish)* ( I use original but there are
a bunch of flavours - if you're out of pasta sauce suitable substitutes are a can of condensed tomato soup or tomato puree - I have used both of these - you may want to liberally add some basil and oregano to the mix if using these subs)
Assorted veges including pumpkin!
I use and have used pumpkin, broccoli, capsicum (usually green but any colour is fine), zucchini,
silverbeet, cucumber, celery, whole green baby beans, cauliflower and mushrooms to name a
few.
1 pottle of cottage cheese (250gms)
Regular cheese - I use mild
Lasagne - wriggly bits of pasta or sheets - your preference
Decent sized oblong shaped dish
Grater
Soup Ladle
Large Spoon
Wooden Spatula
Can opener
A large pot
Step 1: Empty canned toms and pasta sauce into large pot with element
set to medium-ish heat - people using gas yours will cook faster - watch it doesn't burn! (I rinse the pasta sauce can out with cold water and tip that in the pot too to make sure I get ALL of the sauce)
Step 2: Chop/slice all your veges up however you like and chuck them in the pot
taking into consideration which will take the
longest to cook - so for instance I cut up my pumpkin first and cut the skin off too, then probably celery and capsicum and everything else - mushrooms and frozen vege last.
Step 3: Relax and wait for veges to cook - stirring every now and then. Maybe preheat the oven to about 180 (celsius - probably about 350 farenheit I think). Get otherstuff ready - grease your lasagne dish (I'm so lazy I use canola spray and then spread it around with a paper towel). Get other utensils out that you need for making the lasagne. Cover the bottom
of your dish with lasagne pieces. Do dishes and clear clutter!
Step 4: When the pumpkin is mush-able everything else will be cooked.
Using the ladle to get even distribution and cover the lasagne pieces/sheet remembering that you still need enough of the vege sauce mix for another layer.
Step 5: Open your pottle of cottage cheese and spread the whole
lot across the vege sauce mix - I use the back of a large spoon to do this - and I mean a LARGE spoon. To
make sure I don't have patchy
cottage cheese sometimes I even use
the spoon to place dollops of cottage cheese
around the dish and then I just smooth it all out and if I have any cottage cheese left I cover any spots that I missed!
Step 6: Another layer of Lasagne.
Step 7: Ladle on the rest of your vege sauce mix - make sure you cover everything well with
vege sauce/veges or your lasagne pieces will be crispy - my kids actually happen to like crispy bits of pasta though.
Step 8: We don't really need another full on layer of cheese on top
of that - just grate a little
sparingly over top and pop it in the oven for 40 mins - oh AND use the side of the grater with the
smaller holes = more grated cheese volume for a smaller amount of actual cheese grated. YUM.
I'm adding pictures with this (should be pix for all the steps).
What goes well with this? Salad - carrots, cucumber, gherkins, mushrooms with french dressing - maybe some sprouts sprinkled on top, maybe some toasted seeds. OR Potato salad - I chop my potatoes into salad size before I cook them to save time AND burnt fingers - add mayo, hardboiled eggs and gherkins - sprouts are nice with this TOO! - YUM! Or Roast some taters - that's easy! or Peel and slice some potatoes and boil them and THEN brown them up a little.
ENJOY everyone : )
....more to follow.....
*I put 400gms-ish because I'm not entirely sure of the EXACT gms and didn't want pedantic people (like me) hounding me saying they couldn't find the 400gms can of pasta sauce : P
PS - just so you all know my pictures were all sitting nicely the way they should and BLOGSPOT messed them up!
What is this you ask? Why it is some of last night's left over salad - match stick-ish slivers of carrot, cucumber and gherkin - side dish to an array of delicious roast chicken and roast vegetables (the standard - potatoes, kumara, pumpkin). 
