Meals for family of 4 - help!

[treefox3513]

Sorry posting here for traffic.

We have myself and DH, a 3.5 year old and a 13 month old.

We need either meals that I can put in the slow cooker at the start of the day or that can be prepped and cooked in under 30 mins.

I'm struggling because they need to be suitable for all of us. I don't have the time to cook separate meals. I don't mind taking a portion out and blending it a little however we mostly did baby led weaning so she manages.

Both DH and I work 4 days a week, with different days off to each other for childcare. On a Thursday and Friday both children are at nursery and they have tea there, so on those days we could have something a little more grown up.

I'm just totally lost and in a rut with it all, we do slow cooker chilli and curry, but it's losing its appeal fast as we have it every week. We love lasagne but again that actually takes quite a lot of time to cook, same with cottage pie etc.

Can you share your weekly menu? People with kids a similar age, what do you cook that you all can eat?

One of our easiest family faves is "fake McDonalds". I oven-cook either breaded fish portions, or breaded chicken, bit of mayo or burger sauce and whack it in a burger-style bun.
I serve either a few chips, or a bit of veg on the side.

Meals don't have to be fancy-pants to keep everyone happy!

Cook penne pasta
At same time fry off some chunks of bacon and peas and onion ( buy frozen chopped Onion)
Drain pasta add Contents of frying pan then stir in Boursin cheese packet.
Delicious takes approx 10 minutes to make.

Slow cooked pork and apple is lovely - my recipe uses cider but use apple juice instead, ditto beef stew, I use beer,but stock works. Pasta is super quick - fridge pasta is whatever is knocking about eg onion, courgette, bacon, lemon zest and juice, olive oil, dried oregano and garlic is a favourite.

Ps my normally weaned babies (blw didn't exist as a thing) are family meals from about 10 months

I haven't read this whole thread, sorry, but it stood out to me as my two are pretty much exactly the same age. It's a fairly exhausting time.
We are both full time at work, but at home, so on most days I manage a little time in a break between calls to do some prep for the evening meal. Sometimes I don't - and on those days the kids eat something really easy like omelette and chopped veg on the side, and I do a stir fry or something for DH and I in the evening.
On the good days when I manage something we usually do:
Pasta bake (small one can pick up and chew penne really easily) usually with ready made meat balls, and I use my blender to chop onion, carrot etc for the tomato sauce. Usually chuck the meatballs etc in and out in a low oven, then add cooked pasta later and bake for about 15 mins.
We also do various versions of fajitas or wraps, there's a chicken korma made with a paste that everyone will eat, I also do a quick carbonara that takes about 20 mins in total including chopping.
On a weekend we usually manage something a bit more like a roast or a casserole, but absolute top tip is getting lots of frozen prepped veg, including frozen chopped garlic - I never buy fresh now.

Hi op are you me?

I also have DH, 3.5yr old and 13m old!

We do a lot of batch cooked sauces & I do a roast each sunday & use the leftover meat to batch cook. Typical weekly menu might be:
Sunday: roast
Monday: chicken curry. I make on Sunday night use leftover roast chicken & so the pieces mash easily with a fork in the babys portion!
Tuesday: Pasta bolognese (I pre cook small pasta like orzo or stars for the baby, freeze in pots, and defrost on the day then heat by pouring on boiling water) so I only have to cook one type of pasta. I batch cook a massive amount of sauce once a month and freeze to have a portion each week.

• weds: little cooked prawns (fried with butter and paprika and garlic to reheat) with loads of roasted root veg (in oven on timer from morning), peas & sweetcorn

Thurs: hidden veg sauce (batch cook in freezer) with couscous

• friday: fish fingers and chips

Saturday - DH cooks something like a beef hot pot

I’d also add into your repertoire some really basic meals like scrambled eggs on toast with a side of veg/veg sticks, beans on toast, jacket potatoes etc- take 5 mins and if you have that once a week, it’s one less meal to think about!

You could make fajitas really quickly (have the chicken and veg cut into strips night before) and leave out tje spice for dc. I only ever use mild cajun anyway

Satay chicken- pound the chicken so its really flat. Lovely with rice and veg

Gammon (slow cooker) and jacket potatoes or mash

Stew / braised beef - you could cit corners using frozen veg and even put the potatoes in with the meat

Mine are a little older (5 and 2) now but have been eating the following for a long time.

Pasta tossed in butter and marmite with grated cheese and torn up ham. Very very quick and easy.
Bolognese (mince frozen portioned, home made sauce batched cooked and frozen)
Omelette (I add grated carrot/courgette, mushrooms, cheese)
I do a roast most Sundays and we'll have the leftovers in pitta breads, fajitas or tacos on Monday (depending on the meat).
Toad in the hole with root vegetables

I buy vegetables in bulk and chop/freeze. Especially things like onions and peppers. Sauces get made in bulk and frozen. I do a basic tomato one with roasted tomatoes, peppers, garlic, onions, courgettes and carrot which I then portion and freeze. Depending on the spices you add when defrosted, it works as a Bolognese, a chilli or a curry. I also chuck it in the slow cooker as part of a sausage casserole.

We also have one "cheat" meal a week. I have tutorials and committee meetings fairly regularly in the evening so need something really quick especially if they coincide with dc1's after school activities. Beans on toast, garlic buttered prawns with crusty bread, pizza on those part cooked baguettes or bought pizza dough.

The slow cooker is perfect for winter.

Google winter slow cooker recipes and loads of lovely stews and casseroles come up. You can even cook joints of meat in it and then quickly boil some potatoes and veg.

Thank you everyone. There's some really good ideas here.
It's a very hard time and we're all exhausted, I just wish I could afford a cook every day for lovey home cooked meals!

I have a question, I boiled some potatoes for roasties last night, did the whole bag as I was peeling and chopping anyway and parboiled wedges. Can I now freeze them? Do I add seasoning and flavours when I take them out? Can I cook them from frozen? Sorry if it's obvious.