Welcome to this week’s #CookitBlogit. I bring you a ridiculously simple recipe today, which most people, already do, but I find myself quite behind in the culinary department and shell out up to £1.50 for a basic sauce in the supermarket!
Lately I’ve started making my own baby food in my attempt to be more frugal and cut costs. It’s even better if I can cook something suitable for the whole family!
Bechemel sauce is shamefully something I had never even attempted to make. I had no idea how easy it is. I’m not a big fan of adding things that aren’t needed to food, so I made a Baby bechemel sauce (no seasoning or herbs or flavourings), added some grated cheese and poured it over cooked cauliflower. For the twins I mashed it and froze some in portions. For me bunny and Jonny, we grilled it with some more cheese and crushed crisps on top, which made a lovely lunch. I also use Baby Bechemel for a variety of other dinners now, which will mean a huge saving for me and less salt in our diet, as I won’t be relying on Bisto cheese granules anymore!
To make baby bechemel you will need:
40g Butter
25g Plain Flour
400ml Milk
1. Heat the milk – either in a saucepan on a low heat or in a jug in the microwave for 2 minutes. Set to one side.
2. Melt the butter in a different saucepan over a low heat.
3. Remove the pan with the melted butter, from the heat, and stir in the flour.
4. Slowly add a tiny amount of the milk to the butter and flour. Mix into a paste with a wooden spoon. Gradually add more milk and continue stirring until all the milk is in the pan.
5. Return to a low heat and stir continuously until sauce thickens.
Now you have your Baby Bechemel, you can add any flavours you want. For our baby cauliflower cheese, we added a generous helping of grated cheese.
My husband likes to add garlic and mushrooms to make a nice sauce to go on top of Pork.
This recipe will give you enough sauce to add to your family meal AND make a few portions of baby food. If you just want to make several portions of baby food, I’d suggest halving the quantities.
So now you’ve had a good giggle at the fact I think something as simple as a homemade bechemel, could actually be the best thing since sliced bread… Link up your recipes below!!! And next weeks #CookitBlogit will be back over at The Diary of a Frugal Family‘s blog! A lady with much greater skills in the kitchen department than my own!
<div align="center"><a href="https://www.crazywithtwins.com/" title="Crazy with Twins"><img src="http://www.frugalfamily.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/cookitblogit11.jpg" alt="Crazy with Twins" style="border:none;" /></a></div>
I use packet cheese sauce mix when I’m short on time ! I’ve linked up another simple dish 🙂
Cheryl @ Madhouse Family Reviews recently posted..Midweek recipe : Quick Smoked Sausage and Bean Casserole
I haven’t made white sauce for ages…so simple ….and cost effective x
shahnaz recently posted..Chicken and Spinach Curry
I love simple recipes, so much healthier than convenience food and, sometimes, just as quick! 🙂
Simple but effective is always the best way to go 🙂 To make a simple cheese sauce I use your recipe but add a little grated cheese and some Philadelphia – it makes a really nice creamy cheese sauce and is now my secret ingredient. I also stir Philadelphia into pre-cooked veg and chicken, just so it lightly coats everything. It makes it a little more exciting and not quite so dry. Since having my little boy I’ve discovered that Philadelphia is quite versatile 😉
Kath recently posted..A week in pictures – day 3
With a family of 8 including Hubs and 5 boys I make everything from scratch, it works out much cheaper and better ingredients and really doesn’t take long when you get into the swing of it. Keep it up Emma, you’ll be surprised how many short cuts are not really worth taking.-
Coombemill – Fiona recently posted..Greek Baklava a la Coombe Mill
Thanks Fiona, Yes I think I can probably learn a lot from you! xx
Looks great. Homemade cheese sauce is a favourite in our house. The boys love it with broccoli too.
Cat (Yellow Days) recently posted..My Boys
easy to adapt for allergies as well.