Recipe: Sweet and Sour Sausage Casserole

Written by Lucy Korneluk

Lucy is a Boom Buddy Mum who loves food and cooking. Now she has a little one, she is keen to discover new and yummy recipes to suit all the family!

After Christmas, most of us are all a little tired, are fed up of roasts and massive buffets, and want to save a bit of money where we can. A cheap but healthy meal that we love in our family, is our hearty sweet and sour sausage casserole recipe, adapted from an old-school recipe my Nan used to make! It’s inexpensive, it’s packed with good stuff, it’s filling and it goes a long way. It’s a great batch cook for easy work lunches or freezer portions for a quick tea.Trust me on this one... it is delicious!

INGREDIENTS: (to make 6 small lunch portions or 4 decent size family portions)

• 1 pack of sausages (caramelised onion or sweet chilli are a lovely addition for something different! If you fancy something a little healthier, chicken sausages are a fab option.)

• 2 peppers sliced or chunky chopped

• 1 onion sliced or chunky chopped

• 1 tin of pineapple chunks and juice

• 1 tin of baked beans (reduced salt version for babies)

• 1 tin of chopped tomatoes

• 1 teaspoon of smoked paprika

• 1/2 teaspoon of chilli flakes

• 1 tablespoon of tomato ketchup

• 2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce

• 1 teaspoon of soy sauce

• 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil

• Salt and pepper to taste

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Cook the sausages according to their packaging (we use the air fryer). Then chop into chunks (bear in mind they should be quartered length ways for babies to reduce the risk of choking).

2. Heat the olive oil and frythe pepper and onion ona medium/high heat until softened and slightly browned.

3. Add the spices and fry for 30 seconds.

4. Add the pineapple and juice and reduce until not much liquid is left.

5. Add the Worcestershire, ketchup and soy sauces and cook for 1 minute.

6. Add the sausages and chopped tomatoesand fry off for 2 minutes.

7. Add the baked beans

8. Simmer for 15 minutes on a low/medium heat, stirring occasionally.

9. Season to taste.

10. Serve with rice, jacket potatoes or chips and enjoy!

You can adapt and size up as needed.Tweak quantities ofthe ingredients to suit your family’s tastes and leave out the salt to make it baby friendly!

I guarantee kids will love this funky adaptation on sausage and beans!

MORE MONEY-SAVING MEAL TIPS:

My favourite money saving hack when it comes to food is batch cooking: making something yummy you can freeze and just grab for dinner when you come home after work, or after a busy day of parenting! It saves the temptation or need to order a takeaway.We also keep our eyes out for proteins such as chicken and fish in the reduced section and freeze it for the following week.We keep a shared freezer list in our phones’ notes and a shared meal list, then

add to it as we pick things up or have ideas.That way, we make sure we use everything up in the freezer, don’t buy ingredients unnecessarily and it saves us money in the long run. It allows us to be a bit more creative with recipes too, as we plan the week around what we have in! It may sound a bit organisation heavy, but it’s a real time and money saving hack, believe me!