What are your go to quick, easy evening meals?

[ImaHogg]

I’m spending more and more time rushing about these days as I am caring for my mum. I am finding I am sticking frozen foods in the oven more often than not which isn’t ideal.
Any ideas for quick, easy, relatively healthy meals that I can rely on as go to’s for the family. We eat meat but ds is veggie so I usually have to do him something different then he has the same veggies as us.

I like to buy trays of chicken breasts or pork loin steaks, split them into meal sized batches in ziplock bags, add a flavour then freeze them. They marinate as they're freezing.

Take a bag out the night before and put it in the fridge, then when you get home from work stick the oven on to preheat and just tip the meat out onto a baking tray and bake for 25-30 minutes at gas 6. Prep takes 2-3 minutes and you end up with a tasty meal with very little effort.

I usually either do microwave rice or a veg that can be roasted in with the meat like green beans, broccoli or cauliflower.

Flavours we like:

• lime and coriander
• bbq sauce
• honey and mustard
• sun dried tomato and pesto.

For roasted veg, just Chuck on a tray with olive oil, sea salt and black pepper or garlic.

Stir Fry. Baked fish and stir fry veg.

@sashh

I don’t have a slow cooker but have wondered if it may be a wise investment especially in the winter?

Yes it will be.

I use mine for roasting meat, just stick a joint or a chicken in and leave for 5+ hours.

I have a small slow cooker too and this is easy tasty and can be adapted

2 chicken breasts or three thighs, left whole or chopped.
Chopped / sliced mushrooms
1 sliced leek
1 jar of creme fraiche
1 tin Campbells condensed mushroom soup - this has all the seasoning you need

Stick it all in the slow cooker and come home to a lovely creamy chicken, I usually eat half with rice and veg and then I put the other half in a foil dish and top with puff pastry - either eat or freeze.

For a family you would need to double the amounts.

Really quick and easy pasta dish

You need pasta
cream cheese Philadelphia is fine but fancier cheese works too

Optional - whatever you have in the kitchen so mushrooms, onions, garlic, leeks, peppers, seasonings

Put the pasta in a pan and heat, when it is cooked (or 2 mins before) DO NOT DRAIN but turn off the hob.

If you are using anything optional fry in a little oil, and I mean a little, 1/2 a teaspoon.

Once your optionals are cooked put in a good dollop of cream cheese per person, stir with a wooden spoon. Add 2 dessertspoons per person of the pasta cooking water and stir.

Drain the pasta and toss in the cheese mixture.

This is probably a stupid question but as I've never had a slow cooker - do you literally put the meat in raw along with the other ingredients? Would be such a lifesaver if so and I'll look into getting one.

Jackets with fillings are easy.

Pastas like we have with spinach and blue cheese, spag bol, with meatballs. Or pizza

Salads - we have blue cheese and pear, also mozzarella, parma ham and grapes, a salad with cheese, ham, rocket, raddish, egg, onion.

Steak baguette with some veg on the side or mushrooms and onions and maybe blue cheese.

Fish or fishfingers beans and bread and butter, chips, potatoes.

Hot dogs with onions.

Omelette and salad / veg.

We have one veggie as well, she generally has a veggie version or cooks for herself.

We also have sausages and mash with veg and fajitas with steak.

'This is probably a stupid question but as I've never had a slow cooker - do you literally put the meat in raw along with the other ingredients? Would be such a lifesaver if so and I'll look into getting one.'

With a multipot you can fry first than slow cook or pressure cook (whatever you're making). I wouldn't go back to a slow cooker.

@Popcornbetty

'This is probably a stupid question but as I've never had a slow cooker - do you literally put the meat in raw along with the other ingredients? Would be such a lifesaver if so and I'll look into getting one.'

With a multipot you can fry first than slow cook or pressure cook (whatever you're making). I wouldn't go back to a slow cooker.

Thanks so much for answering. It would be brilliant for us to have an option where we can pop raw meat in and let it do its thing, without frying etc first. But maybe that's too good to be true!

@youvegottenminuteslynn it's perfectly safe to not fry first; it's preference i suppose. I have relatives who just throw it all in and stick on and it's fine. I like to brown it slightly first in a little oil but easier when you can just do it all in the same pot.

I put raw meat into my slow cooker and raw veg but I now cook the onions first because I think it tastes better at the end.

This is probably a stupid question but as I've never had a slow cooker - do you literally put the meat in raw along with the other ingredients? Would be such a lifesaver if so and I'll look into getting one.

For a roast I only put the meat in and yes it goes in dry and you switch on and leave it. You can add other things I often add lemon juice and pepper with chicken.

For other things you need to have some heat, usually I boil the kettle.

So for a pot roast I would flour the meat (Brisket is good) add veg (needs to be chopped/sliced to about the same size) sprinkle on a stock cube and add boiling water - you need about 1/3 of liquid compared with cooking in the oven.

I've not done it but I know some people do a piece of chicken with a baked potatoes in the sc.

I've never had a multi cooker so I can't comment.

Some people sauté but I don't bother.

Toasties with various fillings : cheese, pepperoni and cheese, ham and cheese, tuna and cheese etc with salad and crisps (for super quick).
Uncle bens rice with salmon and broccoli.
Soup and fancy bread.
Pate on baguette with salad.
Pork steaks topped with apple sauce and cheese with uncle bens rice and veg.
Stuff on toast : beans, mushrooms, eggs etc.
Homemade pizza and salad.
Pre-make a cheese flan the night before and eat cold with salad.
Cold leftover roast chicken with rice/pasta and salad or veggies.

Salmon fillet, salt & pepper, garlic, and thinly sliced lemon. In the oven at a medium heat for 15-20 minutes.

While roasting, pop some thinly sliced in a frypan to fry off with olive oil and butter. Or dice and boil in salted water and serve with a drizzle of melted butter, salt and fresh dill.

Whip up a salad - my favourite include cos lettuce, grated carrot, diced cucumber, diced capsicum, beetroot, goats cheese.

From turning on the oven to dinner ready 30 minutes.

Zucchini lasagna, delicious and vegetarian. Very easy, quick and filling. Can also be made the night before, and popped into the oven that night for dinner.

I'm a fan of this meal, especially in making the night before. I serve with roast potatoes (para boil to speed up) and steamed carrots.

Heaps of recipes online.

I think tray bakes are a great option for healthy quick dinner. Something like salmon, put the roast veg in for first 20 mins then add the salmon for last 20 mins. For chicken legs can put everything in together. Something about one dish in the oven is very soothing!

Pasta bake & garlic bread

Sausage, mash & peas

Spatchcock chicken with rice/ potatoes & veg

Slowcooker spagbol/chilli/curry/casserole

Ham/gammon, egg and chips

Pizza and garlic bread/ wedges

Slow cooker bbq Pulled pork in crusty rolls with coleslaw, corn on the cob and potato wedges

Crispy breaded chicken in wraps with salad

Chicken and pesto pasta
Bacon and cream pasta
Chicken curry - 20 mins , if use leftover chicken
Risotto with prawns with peas - 15 mins
I make meatballs at the weekend and reheat

There have been some great ideas. I’m going to get a little note pad and write them all down, thanks.

Meatballs and sauce, cajun chicken pasta bake, spag bol, chilli made from left over spag bol !

Baked cod - get some cod fillets and sprinkle on olive oil, salt, parsley and lemon. Add a few breadcrumbs on top of you have . Bake for 15/20 mins - serve with veg / microwave rice

Chicken nuggets, Smiley Faces and beans!

Onion, tomato, garlic, red peppers, tin of mixed beans, plus a jar of tomato sauce. Add cubed feta to serve (or cooked chicken pieces).

Cut chicken breasts into half so they are butterflied and thin. Marinade in olive oil, lemon, garlic, paprika and cayenne. Make a Caesar salad. Fry the chicken breasts in a griddle pan until you have nice griddle lines and they are cooked through but still juicy. 10 mins max.

Cut up sausages into meatball sizes and remove skin if you can be bothered. Fry them with garlic (and small dice onion if you want). Add Elmlea low fat cream and paprika, some grated Parmesan and warm through. Stir into pasta.

Fry pork loins with mushrooms, add elmlea low fat cream. Eat with brocolli, peas or veg of your choice and potatoes of choice.

Similar pasta sauces can be made with leak and bacon and elmlea.

Sea bass or other fish, lightly dusted in seasoned flour, pan fried. Serve with veg and pots of choice.

Buy cooked salmon marinaded in chilli or other sauce and break up into pieces in a Caesar salad.

Slow cooker is good, but also pressure cooker is worth getting too.
You can stick toughest meat in it and cook melt in your mouth stew etc in really short time.

I have to do a big shop tomorrow but I think it's very likely that a toasted sandwich maker might accidentally fall in my trolley

I did that lachy but was disappointed. The kids don't like them!

Smoked salmon, tomato pasta sauce, creme fraiche - with pasta and broccoli

Frozen king prawns with stir fry and express rice

Bag of spinach wilted and a piece of venison

Heck Veggie sausages, wrap, salad, chilli sauce

Chorizo, cherry tomatoes, spinach on toast with a fried egg and chilli sauce