Complicated Meal Planning Help Needed

[ChocolateMagnum]

Our family life is about to change in terms of daily activity and I'm in a bit of a flap about how to manage mealtimes. It's really appreciate some creative MN thinking to try to figure it out please!

(I've tried to put as much info as possible so I don't annoyingly drip feed!)

I work full time M-F 9-5-ish but sometimes am WFH and can be very flexible. I have undiagnosed ADHD and it's honestly not realistic to plan for me to be the meal maker because it just won't work. This is based on 20+ years of experience!

I go to an exercise class 2-3 times a week in the evenings but they're at different times each evening.

I need to eat quite early due to having a hiatus hernia otherwise I reflux at night - so 7pm at the latest really.

We have adult/older teens children who can sort themselves out if necessary, but it's obviously easier to eat a balanced diet (and cheaper) if we have one main meal a day. We don't all eat together but mostly all day at the same time usually.

DH has been working 3 x long days each week, and the children have been taking it in turns to cook on those evenings for those of us at home with DH cooking the other evenings. (I do cleaning, meal planning, shopping, laundry - I don't do bugger all, don't worry!). But he's about to start working 8.30-6 x 4 weekdays and Saturdays and I'm flummoxed as to how to manage main meals now so we all get a balanced diet and can still all do our evening activities, whatever they may be.

So... What do you do in your families? Do you have any clever creative ideas that might work for us?

We've tried slow cooker meals (fresh on one day and reheated in some kind of pie the next) but can only manage stew as a successful meal and I think we'll all get fed up if we live on stew! Bolognese was just way too rich being cooked for so long etc.

MN hivemind...help!!!

We tend to cook things like stew, bolognese, curry etc., things that benefit from long cooking or that take time to prepare, at the weekend and in quantity, and then just defrost/reheat during the week. We have at least 2 evenings when we are home late so having something we can heat up quickly is a godsend.

You can roast meat / chicken in the slow cooker, you just need to make some veg on the side. If you put a chicken in the SC in the morning whoever gets home first can cut off a leg or a breast and microwave some veg. Or in summer add some salad.

You can also do a pot roast, stick a piece of brisket in the SC, pack potatoes and veg around the edges and add boiling water and a stock cube.

Personally I have not done this but apparently baked potatoes work well in a SC.

You can also use a SC to keep food warm, it works best with soups and stews. So someone puts some root veg with seasoning and boiling water in the SC and switches on. Who ever is home first uses a stick blender to make soup and turns it to 'warm' for everyone else.

Having a salad of some type as a starter or side dish can balance out a protein and carb meal.

What about a tapas style / picky meal? Han, cheese, olives, pickles, salad and you can add a few hot items if you want.