AIBU to ask for kids evening meal ideas?

[craicdealer]

OK so here’s the thing. My name’s craicdealer and I’m a complete and utter failure on the cooking front. I always thought that when I became a parent I would somehow change into this domestic goddess and it hasn’t happened. I thought I’d be able to make my kids tasty, healthy meals from scratch but all that happens is I try and cook – badness happens. On one memorable occasion I managed to set the microwave on fire whilst making cakes for the school fair.

I’m a single parent with 3 kids so we leave at 7:30 every morning and drop them off at childminders / breakfast school club, then go to work, then do the whole thing in reverse so we’re all at home for 17:30. I need to be able to make my kids quick, cheap healthy meals but I haven’t a clue on how to get started with meal planning. AIBU to ask for your ideas?

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/food_and_recipes/2758530-your-absolute-favourite-slow-cooker-recipe

Ciabatta bread warmed in oven with cooked chicken and salad

Omelette with everything that needs using in the fridge

Risotto is actually very quick (chopped onion, garlic, herbs, mushrooms, chicken, stock, parmesan/cream/creme fraiche). I never bother adding stock slowly, put loads in at time and stir it a bit.

Roast chicken thighs and baked potatoes (done in microwave finished in oven) and corn on cob. Can marinate thighs in morning if have time. Lemon, garlic, paprika works well.

Those microwave rice pouches sometimes on offer are good fried with some bacon, chicken or chorizo with veg like sweetcorn and peppers chucked in.

Sausages and yorkshires (frozen), gravy and veg.

Eggy bread pan fried with bacon and beans.

Courgette fritters (grated courgette, one beaten egg, sliced cooked potatoes, cheese sprinkled on top whilst frying).

Quiche and salad

I'd be a bit easier on yourself if you work full time and have three kids and are a single mum. In your position I'd happily serve:
Pasta with a jar of tomato sauce, some grated cheese and some carrot and cucumber sticks
Rice with diced chicken thighs or breasts cooked in a korma sauce (or spicier if they like that) with peas and carrots
Baked beans on toast with apple slices and banana chunks for pudding
Cooked mince with a fajita kit, chopped avocado, lettuce, red pepper slices
Wholemeal fish fingers (the DC love them more than the ordinary ones as they crisp up better) with oven chips, peas and sweetcorn

If you want to do easy domestic goddess stuff, buy chicken portions on the bone in their skin and douse them in either:
soy, OJ, honey, garlic puree and grated ginger then bake in the oven and serve with rice and broccoli
or
a glass of white wine (the alcohol cooks off) garlic puree, lemon zest and fresh or dried rosemary, and bake baby new potatoes in their skins at the same time, rubbed in oil, salt and garlic served with two veg.

Or pork steaks in apple juice with fresh sage leaves served with rice or mash and two veg

Or (very easy) chopped chicken breast or boneless thigh cooked in a pan with tomato puree, a bit of brown sugar or molasses, smoky paprika and chilli powder, served in wraps with sweetcorn, shredded lettuce, sliced red pepper.

All these take about 15 mins to prepare max - often much less, and cook in between 10-35 mins.

thestylethatdecadesforgot I do an all in one sauce with a tablespoon of butter, a tablespoon of flour and some milk - sorry I don't know how much as I just kind of judge it by eye - maybe about a cup or a wee bit less? It's easier to add less than add more once it's thickened. Put them all in a wee saucepan over a low heat and whisk them gently until they come together and the sauce bubbles and thickens. When it's thickened then I add a big handful of grated mature cheddar, the tiniest pinch of ground white pepper and a pinch of English mustard powder. Add a wee bit more milk if you need to thin it down and that's it. Takes about five mins.

Staples here include:

Eggy bread
Tinned pasta on toast wth slices of avocado
Half a grilled salmon fillet with broccoli and half a jacket potato/a couple of wafffles/couscous
Green soup (veg soup with spinach/peas/courgette/broccoli etc)
Orange soup (carrot and red lentil!)
Traffic light pizzas (individual kids pizza from the supermarket with chopped red, orange and green peppers)
Pasta with bolognaise sauce (I batch-cook this and then freeze it flat in freezer bags in individual portions - it defrosts in hot water in the time it takes the pasta to cook)
Fishcakes with broccoli and baked beans
Baked potato with tuna and sweetcorn
Things on a plate (a random selection of what there is in the fridge)

I practically always serve yoghurt with fruit for pudding, sometimes rice pudding or custard instead.

Ooh yes I'd forgotten corn on the cob - I do a lot of that!!

Omlette with cheese and whatever veggies we have in the fridge; meatballs (BBC has a good kids recipe that can be adapted to hide veg in the sauce and the meat); beans and fish fingers; teriyaki salmon with broccoli and brown rice; pasta carbonara (super easy to throw together); stir fried noodles or fried rice with chicken/fish/veggies; vegetable lasagne (batch cook); mac n cheese; fish pie (batch cook); stir fried tofu with veggies; random bits of food in a plate with corn on the cob on the side!

Not that he always eats it all...but then I give a vitamin each morning to put my mind to rest.

Also I freeze and defrost leftover portions of mashed potato in the same way as above. I'll freeze anything, basically. Having said that, I once had a ex-boyfriend whose mum froze satsumas - I draw the line at that.

Did you ever try one of those satsumas, Laquila?

Another nice thing to add to Mac&cheese is garlic, just fry for a tiny bit in the butter before adding the milk. I also add feta to it.

Get the ready in 3 minutes polenta, cook so it's still a bit runny and add whatever cheese you have on hand, cream (single/ double/ soured), eggs and meat if you like (bacon, cooked chicken or pork) and put in the oven. Sooo nice.

No Cheshire - I couldn't imagine them defrosting well!

My fussy eater won't eat sauces or stuff together - so spaghetti bol, Shepherds pie, etc just don't get eaten.

Our staples are:

Fajitas (wraps, plain cooked chicken - ready cooked or left over from roast, peppers, grated cheese) Self assembly from bowls on the table

Fish & rice with veg ( frozen cod steak cooked in oven in foil with easy cook rice with a handful of frozen veg thrown in 5 mind before the end)

Meatballs & spaghetti (made from scratch if can be bothered but also have frozen meat ones and frozen Quorn on ones for variety!). With ketchup on the side for DS as won't have the sauce!

Pasta with frozen veg and strips of ham and grated cheese.

Tortilla pizzas, DIY - tortilla wrap, spread with tomato puree, sprinkle withave grated cheese, add toppings of choice (or favorites are chopped ham, chopped cooked chicken, frozen sweetcorn, chopped pepper)

Other staples in my freezer are sausages (Quorn and meat), cod fish fingers, salmon fish cake, breaded chicken mini fillets (rather than nuggets). I just alternative between rice and potato wedges with them!

Home made potato wedges (potato cut into thin wedges - half then half again and half again, sprayed with oil and cooked in oven) also popular.

Some really good ideas - saw fish pie mentioned earlier. A really quick recipie - smoked fish in chunks (could use any fish but smoked is tastier) or one of those fish pie mixes which have a white, yellow fish and salmon in, mix with creme Fraiche and chopped parley, salt pepper, mash on top and bung in the oven. Really tasty and no hassle of making a sauce/pre cooking anything.
We do a lot of chicken wraps with salad also and I batch cook hidden veg tomato sauce to go with pasta.

Thanks soloula will try again! I always end up with such a grainy white sauce that you can taste the flour in. Hugh FW said you need to cook the roux until the flour taste is cooked out but I can't judge that! And then when i taste the sauce all I get is flour!

Some fab ideas on here, thanks for starting this thread OP. I hope its useful for you and I'm def stealing some ideas!

www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00C1CTLTQ/ref=pd_aw_sim_351_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=Q9FVRHN94GS1VEJS95V1

This book changed my life four years ago. I can now cook most meals in the time it takes for Dominos to deliver.
Great chicken curry recipe, my two love it and they turn their noses up at most things.

If you let a white sauce bubble/simmer for 5 minutes once it's thickened you shouldn't be able to taste the flour. Taste it again & if you can still taste flour keep it simmering am inure or two longer. You can always add more milk or some pasta water if it gets too thick.

My kids are super fussy too and really dislike stews & sauces. I seem to end up doing fried eggs, peas & chips most weeks. They also like sweetcorn pancakes & bacon. (pancakes for 3/4 people - 250g pl flour, 2 large eggs, 2 level tsp baking powder, 1 tsp sugar, 300ml of milk, small tin of sweetcorn. Fry large dollops. Yummy. And swap sweetcorn for pineapple rings for fab breakfast/dessert.

Agree with lots of the above.
Salmon - pan fried with veg, or cooked in equal parts mirin and soy sauce (or just buy ready made teryaki) with noodles and veg.
Omelettes
Spaghetti carbonara - garlic, bacon (or ham), peas with an egg run through it. Do it also with ready cooked prawns.
I also do fishcakes, fishfingers, scampi and chicken dippers, sausages..
Stirfries
Chicken breast butterflied (ie sliced and flattened out) in soy and paprika and a bit of lemon juice in a griddle pan
Cauliflower cheese with gammon steaks
Tuna salad
Pork steaks and chops pan fried
Rissoto - onion sweated in butter, then add the rice and coat it in the butter, then gradually add in boiling chicken stock (from nice cubes - like kallo not oxo) - the secret is to keep the stock simmering as you add it. Keep stirring. At the end when the rice is soft through add in diced up cooked chicken breast, a bit of milk and parmesan. Eat with peas or broccolli. Can also be done with prawns.

No idea why there's so much slow cooker love on MN, especially in your situation where you're going to be out of the house for 10+ hours and most slow cooker recipes are 6-8 hours long.

I make a goat cheese/pesto and chicken wrap but you could use mozzarella. Cook a few mini chicken fillets, cut up and mix with the pesto and cheese.

Tacos just buy tortillas , cook ground beef, Mexican spices you can buy in the supermarket and onion and add lettuce and grated cheese.

These are my go to recipes, which I had gotten off a thread on here once:

1. Stuffed Chicken

Grab a chicken breast Make a slit from top to bottom to form a pocket Stuff with mozzarella Wrap in ham or bacon rasher (secure with cocktail stick) Dab with BBQ sauce and pop it in the oven for about 35 or 40 mins. You could serve with frozen veg, rice, chips or even jacket spuds.

1. Salmon

drizzle salmon steaks with honey and soy. Cover with foil if you like them pale or leave if you like the salmon drier and crispier. Bake for 30 mins. After 25 mins, pour boiling water onto rice noodles in a bowl and leave to soften for a couple of minutes then drain. Stir fry ready bought stir fry veg 5 mins before serving.

1. Topped CHicken

A quick and very nice meal is chicken breasts, spread pesto on them, then sliced tomatoes and top with grated mozzarella. Bake at about 190 for 30 minutes. Roasted sliced peppers and quinoa go well with it and the peppers can go in the oven at the same time as the chicken.

1. Chorizo and Beans

Fry lots of sliced chorizo until it's cooked, add 2 x tins drained/rinsed cannel ini beans, 1 x tin chopped toms, and 200ml odd of chicken stock to a casserole dish Cover and put in oven for half an hour (180C) then remove lid and scatter breadcrumbs all over the top and leave to cook for the final 10-15 mins I actually fry the chorizo (and some onions) the night before and assemble. Then on the day I just need to put it in the oven. It doesn't take 30 mins then, as you only need to get it warm really. I also don't add much stock as I find it too watery then and skip the breadcrumbs (yes...Iøm lazy :P). Just serve with rice.

BBC Good Food is great for quick and easy dinner ideas.

Don't really cook for little ones any more, but this thread is giving me loads of fantastic ideas for us grown ups! Thank you.

I tend to do the same stuff week in week out, so it's great to get some fresh ideas.

They may like this, a favourite of my kids when little.

Good quality sausages, skinned. Chop onion. Lightly brown sausages fry onion. Add a veg oxo cube, tin of chopped toms,tin of baked beans. Season. Put in a casserole dish and top with cheesy mash. Oven for 40 mins. Serve with crusty bread. Very yummy and filling this time of year. You can make it on a Sunday, then cook it on a Monday to save time.

Slow cooker - you can always put it on before you go to bed then portion up in the morning for the fridge/freezer and reheat in the microwave or he hob on an evening

Slow cooker recipes won't be ruined if they're cooked for 12 hours instead of 6. Just make sure it's on low and the food will be fine.

Eaay, quick meals i love include - chicken/fish stir fry (not sure if kids would like ir), fish curry (fry veg, chuck in curry paste and water), sweet and sour pork and rice, bolognese or pasta bakes are quite quick too, fish fillets, mash, veg and parsley sauce, sausages and chips, pasta and meatballs, fajitas, homemade soup and bread, pasta carbonara, chicken and rixe 😊