People are more interested than ever in how to come up with your very own meal dump recipes — recipes which only require you to dump a few ingredients into a pot, pressure cooker or crock-pot and then cook those ingredients to make a tasty, healthy meal.
Steps.
1. Select ingredients that will be cooked after the same amount of time after they are cut up in appropriate sizes. For example, raw chicken thighs, sliced celery, sliced carrots and peas, and a starch like diced potatoes or pasta with a sauce added, such as a can of condensed cream of chicken soup, would make a great dump recipe.
Remember to add additional liquid if you are including pasta in your recipe.
2. Follow the general approach to choosing your ingredients. Here's how you should go about this process:
Select the central ingredient, whether it be meat or fish or a vegan equivalent.
Select the vegetables and other ingredients, such as pasta, to go with it.
Decide on the size each ingredient will be to put in the cooker.
3. Search for relevant dump recipes online. In fact, by searching for dump recipes, you may just come up with the ideal recipe you want and not have to create one yourself.
4. Select a cooking time which is appropriate to the container you are using. Here's what you need to know:
Stove cooking recipes containing chicken should take about 1/2 hour if at the boil.
A pressure cooker will take less time - perhaps 10 minutes on pressure.
A crockpot will take many hours - 4 hours on high and 6-8 hours on low.
5. Don't forget to write down your recipe with cooking instructions. This can help you repeat the delicious recipe at a later date, or to share it with friends. And who knows, you may come up with a Dump Meal Recipe Book of your very own. Currently, there are very few books like this available, and you could start a trend!
Tips
Depending on the cooking method you may need to add liquid like milk or water or stock. For example, cooking in a pot on a stove requires additional liquid because of evaporation. Using a pressure cooker should use little or no extra liquid. Also remember that additions like pasta will require additional cooking liquid(s). It is better to have a little more liquid than necessary than not enough.
Use an instant read thermometer to check meat temperature - as long as the meat exceeds 175F you should be safe.
One-pot and casserole recipes are candidates for dump recipes.
If you size the recipe large enough, you will have leftovers which can serve as another meal or so...
Some recipes you can portion out the ingredients into several containers or plastic food bags and freeze them... just remove the container(s)/bag(s) you want and dump them into your cooking pot and cook until done.
Warnings.
Using raw or frozen meat(s) in a recipe can pose health dangers if the recipe is not cooked long enough.
Certain recipes require stirring the pot if cooking on a stove top. Examples are recipes which include dairy and other ingredients which may tend to stick to the bottom of the pot.
When should I skip creating a dump recipe? Typically, recipes containing ingredients which may have widely differing cook times.
Who can resist a piece of delicious, rich cake or fudgy brownies? For avid bakers, making tasty desserts that everyone raves over is a badge of honor -- that's why bake offs have become so popular. A bake off can be a fun activity among friends or a great way to raise money for a good cause. Hosting the event can be challenging, but with some careful planning, you can pull off a successful -- and delicious! -- bake off.
Part 1 Designing the Bake Off.
1. Choose a theme for the bake off. To make it easier to settle on recipes, it helps to have a theme for the bake off. You might choose a specific type of baked goods, such as cookies, cakes, pies, or brownies, or a specific event to bake for, such as desserts for a holiday, birthday, or wedding. A specific ingredients, such as apples or pumpkin, can also be a good theme.
A seasonal theme can work well too. For example, ask for summer desserts or fall-inspired treats.
A movie or book can be a fun theme as well. For example, request Harry Potter-inspired baked goods.
You can even use a color for the bake off's theme. For example, ask for baked goods that feature red ingredients.
2. Decide on the rules for the bake off. A bake off can be arranged in several different ways. You can give the participants the general theme and let them choose their own recipes or you might choose a single recipe and have all of the participants make the same thing.
It’s also important to decide if participants will bake their entry at the venue or bring a finished product to the event. Having participants bake on site is very exciting, but it can be more difficult to find a venue with the proper kitchen facilities so having bakers bring finished entries may be more convenient.
Write down a set of formal rules for the bake off once you settle on them. Participants will want to know all of the guidelines before they agree to take part.
You should also decide if you will charge an entry fee. If you’re holding the event to raise money, having participants pay a small fee makes sense. Anywhere from $5 to $20 may be appropriate, depending on the event.
3. Settle on prizes for the bake off. To give people incentive to participate, it helps to have some type of prize for the winner(s) of the bake off. If the event is sponsored by a local business, it might be a cash prize. You can also hand out a trophy, ribbon, or certificate.
The bake-off prize can be worth any amount, but typically, $25 to $100 is a good range.
You may decide that only the first-place winner receives a prize, but you can also have smaller prizes for the second and third-place winners if you like.
If you’re holding the bake off for fun, you just might purchase small items to use as prizes, such as an apron or pot holders.
A bake off can also function as a fundraiser. Even if you give the winner a small prize, you can then sell off all of the baked goods afterward to raise money for your cause.
4. Set a date and time for the bake off. Once you’ve settled on the basic guidelines for the bake off, you’ll need to find a day and time to hold it. It may depend on when you can secure a venue, but it’s usually best to hold it on a weekend when people typically have more free time.
If you're using a holiday or other special occasion as a theme for the bake off, you'll want to time the event to appropriately. In most cases, you'll want to hold the contest within a two to three weeks of the holiday. For example, if the bake off has Christmas theme, you'll want to hold it within the first two to three weeks of December.
5. Find a venue for the bake off. When you’ve settled on a date and time for the bake off, you’ll need a location for it. If you plan to have participants bake their entries at the event, you’ll need a spot with multiple ovens and stove tops. If you’re having participants bring prepared baked goods to the event, you only need a spot where there’s room for a judging table and space for an audience.
If you need a venue with cooking equipment, you might look online for catering facilities that could support the bake off.
A bakery or restaurant can be an ideal venue too. Talk to local businesses to see if they're interested in partnering with you for the bake off.
If you only need a space to showcase the finished baked goods, any catering hall or party room that's available for rent will work.
Part 2 Gathering the Personnel.
1. Select at least one judge for the bake off. To determine the winner of the bake off, you’ll need at least one judge to taste and evaluate the baked goods. Ideally, the judge(s) should have some baking knowledge and experience, but that doesn’t necessarily have to be as a professional.
The judges shouldn't have any personal connections to the contests to avoid any claims of bias.
In general, the more participants your bake off has, the more judges you’ll want. A panel of three judges works well for most bake offs, though. If your bake off has five or less participants, though, a single judge is usually sufficient. For five to ten candidates, two judges work well.
People who would make good candidates for judges include local bakery and restaurant owners, culinary teachers from local schools, or bakers who've won other bake offs.
When you're talking to potential judges, you might say something like, "We're holding a bake off and would really like your expertise in judging the entries."
If you're holding the event to raise money for a cause, provide information about the organization or group that will benefit to the potential judges.
2. Find participants for the bake off. A bake off can’t happen if there aren’t bakers to participate. Ask friends, family, co-workers, and/or classmates who you know enjoy baking to take part. You can also create flyers with all of the details to post in your neighborhood, on your school or office bulletin board, or other locations to invite people to participate.
Make sure to get permission before you post any flyers on private property, such as a store window.
If you’re active on social media, you can also post online about the bake off to find participants. For example, making a Facebook event for the bake off is a good way to generate buzz. You can also use Twitter and Instagram to do a countdown to the event as a way to keep people interested.
3. Invite people to watch the bake off. It’s not necessary, but it can be fun to have an audience to attend the bake off. Once you’ve secured participants, create a flyer that advertises the event for anyone who might like to watch and post them in your neighborhood and/or school or office bulletin board.
If you’re holding the bake off as a fundraiser, you can sell tickets to the event. You can charge however much you like for the tickets, but it's best to keep the price between $5 and $10.
Part 3 Arranging the Bake-Off Supplies.
1. Create judging sheets. To make it easier for the judges to evaluate the entries, you should create scoring sheets for them to use. Decide what categories they should judge, such as taste and appearance, and what scale they should use, such as 1 to 5 or 1 to 10. Make enough copies so each judge has one for every contestant.
Some judging categories to consider include overall taste, texture, presentation, originality, adherence to theme, and skill level.
There should be a spot on the judging sheets for the judge to write their own name, as well as the contestant’s name.
2. Make copies of the recipe if it's that type of challenge. If all of the participants are preparing the same recipe for the bake off, you’ll need to make enough copies so all of the participants have one. Don’t hand them out until the bake off actually begins, though.
You may also want to make copies of the recipe for the judges to consult.
3. Gather baking supplies if necessary. If participants are baking their entries at the bake off, you’ll need to have supplies on hand for them to use. You’ll need ingredients, such as flour, sugar, eggs, butter, and vanilla, as well as bakeware, such as mixing bowls, electric mixers, cookie sheets, and cake pans.
If participants are using their own recipes, you should ask them if there are any special ingredients or equipment that they’ll need so you can be sure to have them on hand for the event.
4. Gather decorations for the venue. To make the event feel more festive, it helps to decorate the venue. You don’t have to go crazy, but some colorful disposable tablecloths, decorative bunting, and simple balloons can help dress up the space.
It's a good idea to match your decorations to the theme of the bake off. For example, orange, red, brown, and gold decorations work well for a fall-themed bake off.
Part 4 Overseeing the Bake Off.
1. Verify that the venue is set up properly. The day of the bake off, take a walk around the event space. Check that any necessary ingredients and equipment are on hand and there are tables for the contestants to display their entries. Make sure that you have all the necessary recipes and/or scoring sheets as well.
2. Time the entries. If participants are baking their entries at the venue, you’ll need to give them a set amount of time to prepare their baked goods. Use a countdown clock that is visible to everyone at the venue, and don’t allow anyone to submit an entry that isn’t ready after it ticks down.
If guests are preparing their entries at home, you should still have a set time when the entries have to be on the judging table.
3. Have the participants place their entries on the table with no names. All of the participants should put their entries on tables in a designated judging area. However, the participants’ names shouldn’t be placed with their entries to ensure that the judges are objective. Just number the entries and keep a list of which entry belongs to which participant.
4. Give the judges time to fill out the voting cards. Once the entries have reached the judging table, allow the judges to look at and taste each one. After they’ve tasted the entries, they should be given some time to fill out their scoring sheets so they can be as thorough as possible.
The amount of time that the judges will need depends largely on how many entries there are. The more baked goods they have to judge, the more time they’ll likely need. In general, you'll want to give the judges at least five minutes to evaluate each entry.
5. Collect the scoring sheets and tally the votes. After the judges have had some time to evaluate the entries, gather up their judging sheets. Add up the scores for each participant so you can determine who the first, second, and third-place winners are.
6. Announce the winner(s). Once you’ve counted all the votes, it’s time to announce the winner. If you’re naming the top three vote getters, start with the third and second-place winners and save the first-place winner for last. Hand out the prize(s), and take some photos of the winners to remember the day.
Tips.
Holding a large-scale bake-off is difficult to pull off. It is best to start small, and eventually build to a bigger, better contest.
A bake off doesn’t have to be a formal event. You can hold one with friends for fun.
Vegetable pie is a great vegetarian meal that can be made in a host of various ways. Perfect for for cold nights or rainy days, this is true vegetarian comfort food. This recipe features an egg free pastry recipe and several suggestions to make a basic but delicious pie for your enjoyment. This pie is easily made as 1 large pie for the table, or 4 pot pies.
Vegetable Filling : 1 onion, chopped, 1 carrot, peeled and diced, 1/2 stick celery, diced (or about 1/4 cup), 1 small sweet potato, peeled and cubed (or about 1 cup), 1 small zucchini / courgette, cubed, 1 cup peas (frozen is fine), 2 cloves or garlic chopped.
Sauce : 2 tablespoons of butter, 2 tablespoons of plain flour, 2 cups of milk, Salt and pepper.
Optional additional flavorings
1 tablespoon curry powder or your favored spice blend to taste
1 tablespoon vegetarian beef, chicken, or bacon gravy powder or 2 stock cubes (such as the vegan Massel brand)
2 tablespoons of chopped herbs such as parsley, oregano, thyme, chives.
Steps.
1. Gather your utensils & prepare your ingredients.
2. Prepare the pastry. In a food processor or other mixing bowl, combine butter and flour until blended, it should resemble fine crumbs. Add sour cream and pulse until combined. If necessary, add cold water 1 teaspoon at a time and pulse until it starts to form clumps of dough. Put aside in the fridge while you prepare your other ingredients.
3. Heat a large frying pan with a little oil or butter. Fry the carrots, onions and celery until golden brown. Add garlic and sweet potato with 1/2 cup of water. cover and simmer for 5 minutes. You may make the sauce during this time. Add zucchini and stir through, cook until vegetables are just tender. Take off the heat.
4. Make the sauce. Heat the butter and once melted, add the flour and optional spice seasonings if desired, Once combined, add the milk in batches, whisking over low heat until thick and smooth to the taste. Check for salt & pepper and add as required.
5. Combine sauce and vegetables. Add remaining peas and herbs if desired as these ingredients need minimal cooking. Place filling into the pie dish, casserole or individual serving dishes.
6. Roll out pastry thinly (approx 5mm or 1/5 of an inch) and top baking dish/s. Brush with milk or beaten egg if desired for a nice glaze.
7. Bake at 180C / 350F until pastry is golden and filling is warmed through. This is usually about 20-25 minutes.
8. Finished.
Tips.
You may use any combination of vegetables you wish, including leftover roast vegetables or add precooked lentils, chickpeas / garbanzo beans, or any other precooked legume to bulk it out, adding at the last stage when mixing with the sauce. Pumpkin or butternut squash is another nice choice.
For a treat, serve with chips or crisply baked potato wedges that have been brushed with oil and seasoned with spices, or brushed with lemon juice, olive oil and dried herbs (thyme & rosemary).
Instead of making this pastry, you may use your own recipe, or use mashed potato.
Ensure the sauce is well seasoned and the vegetables are cooked through.
