Basic B Dinners

For every elaborate long lunch, there's a whole lotta basic b weeknight breakfasts/lunches/dinners that happen in between. It. is. so. exhausting. to think about what we're having for dinner every single night - and that's coming from me- self confessed food tragic.

While on maternity leave, my new title has become 'snack bitch' and my role entails cooking and providing nutritious meals 3 x daily, snacks 50 x daily. It's no surprise that approximately 1/4 are half eaten, 1/4 are thrown on the floor or found in strange hidey holes, 1/4 are refused and become gourmet fare for the chickens or dogs and the 1/4 left is eaten as scraps off the plate by yours truly. On the odd occasion I find something the boys devour, I will batch cook and freeze, try to recreate the exact same meal only to find they no longer like it because it's a Tuesday or the wind is blowing in the wrong direction or mercury is in retrograde.

We don't do the whole rotate regular meals, say weekly, because I get bored but my stance on that needs to be reconsidered because it causes me so much chaos. Do I really need to add extra stress to the time a friend refers to (un)fondly as 'fuck o clock' when I've already got two wee mouths to feed, bathe and put to bed?

There's only a few special recipes we cook in the exact same format again and again and again. Chinese fillet steak from the Chinese Women's Weekly cook book made sometime in the 80s is a winner, as is osso bucco milanese from the Meat Cookbook by Libby Travers and Anthony Puharich. Even our lasagne and meatball recipes change most times we cook them- depending on what is growing in the garden and how much time or not I have to lovingly simmer ingredients.

Although I'm a 'hard no' to pasta sauce in a jar and other such abominations, it's easy to see, especially if you're in the trenches of motherhood or working long hours or both, how convenience foods become quite appealing.

Let me set the scene for you so that you understand how I came to be making what is for me, a rather unusual purchase.

I'm walking through Aldi, fluorescent lighting temporarily sending my brain into an abyss of fog, and wandering, what the heckers we're going to have for dinner. It is then I spy, with my tired eyes, a lone box staring up at me labelled 'tex mex burger kit'. Usually I'd walk straight past, but in the moment, I'm intrigued by anything that is easy and doesn't require too much thought. And it's the only one left. Hot property?

45 minutes cook time is an instant turnoff - I need something along the lines of 15, but once I peruse the instructions, much of that time is because the chips - made from actual potatoes- need some time in the oven. Also, it's only $15- So in it goes.

Chip - who usually grinds his own meat to make burger patties (another gadget I forget to mention in my gadget post) is outwardly appalled and cannot believe what is happening. He's usually away when I make these kinds of decisions but I rationalise and tell him I could 'make a blog post out of it' so he reluctantly agrees, or just kind of understands it's happening with or without his consent. He's sceptical that it will be edible - particularly with the tex mex label conjuring up comparisons to the horrific fake spice tacos of years past.

Weirdly, I'm excited to get home and open my novelty dinner option. Obviously I'm a little starved for fun....

I unpack and find that the kit includes everything you need including rosemary salt (aside from oil) and also includes some dubious options for the sauces, but everything else seems, well, pretty reasonable. Potato buns are the bun of choice for burger connoisseurs (controversial but we shall chat about the brioche vs all other burger buns another time) and helped seal the deal, so I'm excited to see them included.

I'm not going to run through the instructions- basically chop the things, mix the things, cook the things and viola!

The burger patty is not horrendous. It's fatty enough to be juicy and the tex mex spice isn't overpowering. The burger bun is good, potato chips -good. Tomato and slaw with ranch are ok additions. Potions sizes very adequate. Would have loved a pickle or two - and of course we could have added that in, but I wanted to judge only what was included.

Had the cheese sauce been replaced with monterey or american burger cheese, it would have taken the rating up an extra point for a solid 7/10. As is, 6/10 is pretty damned reasonable for what Aldi are calling their 'Ready Set Cook Kits'. Chip agrees with the rating too - so that in itself is a feat.

Good news first: There are a number of kits being released in the Ready Set Cook range. They are available weekly until the end of July.

The bad news: I ate this weeks ago- so the good kits- like the burgers- sold out quickly and won't be replenished. You're just going to have to believe me when I tell you they were A' Ok. Sorry for writing about something you can't purchase... Hindsight and all that.

Encouraged by the relative success (or should we say lack of absolute failure), I was spurred on to try the chicken alfredo pasta kit.

You win some, you lose some.

Best described as a grey steaming pile of slop - it should be relegated to the stodgy, tasteless, never to be eaten again pile. Purchase other kits at your own risk but let me know how you go.

In Australia, we are far behind in the 'convenience foods' offerings available elsewhere. The options have come a long way from Lean Cuisine and tasteless packet lasagne, but we haven't really seen that on a grand commercial scale yet.

I'm often jealous when I see friends posting cool options from Waitrose or Wholefoods or EreWhon who all seem to have really healthy and lovely options for midweek meals- or whenever you can't be bothered to cook.

And that, can only be a good thing, because let's face it- there a lot of meals in a lifetime, not all of them can be grand and in the Western world, very few of them can be decent streetfood but I'm at least hopeful that most of them can be at least a little bit yum.

Drop me a comment below with some of your fave midweek meals.