Hit me with your easy but not beige dinners

[Oncewassmith]

Sorry if this isn't a true AIBU but I've been diagnosed with breast cancer and I'm facing a double mastectomy (plus reconstruction) - so I need some go to super quick dinner ideas for the family (me and DH, DS6 and DD4).... so what do you go for when you need a quick, low fuss dinner?

Buy chopped chicken and store it in ziplock bags squashed flat, and freeze. Because it’s flat, it will defrost in 15 minutes in a basin of water if you forget to take it out in the morning.

Throw it in a wok and add a handful of frozen veg and a packet of seasoning or a jar of sauce.

If you batch cook mince, you can bag it and freeze it the same way. Mince is even handier than chicken because it can cook from frozen.

For carbs - baby potatoes with garlic butter in the microwave for 5 minutes. You can pour a kettle over a bowl of couscous and leave it sit for 5 minutes. Fresh pasta is quicker than dried.

Buy the biggest ziplock bags and put all the ingredients for a tray bake in it so your 6 year old could tip it out into a dish, put in the oven and set it going, and all you’d have to do is take it out when the timer dings.

Definitely get your freezer out. Do you have a microwave? Or a slow cooker?

Good luck with your treatment OP.

Chicken legs in a roasting tray, brushed with garlic paste, scattered with fresh rosemary and thyme, lemon zest, salt and pepper. Quarter peeled red onions around them and baby potatoes. Pour a small glass of white wine into the tin and roast for 40-45 mins. Serve with steamed greens or salad.
About 10 mins prep max.

Salmon slices, brushed with sweet chilli sauce and soy. Roast in the oven. Serve with egg noodles (take 5 mins on the stove) over which you've steamed baby corns and sugar snaps. Toss the noodles in a bit of sesame oil and soy. Squeeze a bit of fresh lime over everything.
Prep time - 10 -15 mins max.

Short term, I would go for really easy things eg beans on toast, scrambled eggs, sandwiches, falafel in pitta, pre-cooked roast chicken with caesar salad, ready meals

Freezer will be useful. You could freeze dahl. I've heard it can be easy to eat when other foods feel too rich and fatty
Good luck with treatment

I finished chemo and surgery last year there will be days when you won't be able to even think about entering the kitchen. Your family need to step up. Also there is a very supportive cancer thread on mumsnet. Take care of yourself x

Coronation chicken - cooked chicken, mayonnaise, curry powder, you’re done.

If you’ve got them, you can add sultanas, flaked almonds and mango chutney. Back to the 70s - tastes like the interior of a Marks and Spencer sandwich, but my family love it.

Chop onions, peppers- courgettes too, if you like them. A couple of garlic cloves, and a load of tomatoes (you can use soft ones if you’ve had them lying about). Put into a oven tray, drizzle with oil. Sometimes I add a splash of balsamic vinegar. Roast for about 30minutes or until lightly caramelised. Blend. You have a pasta sauce that you can stir through most things- I sometimes put orzo pasta in and heat through- it turns out a bit like risotto. Or you can use it as a base for risotto. Sometimes I blend a bit of it, keep the rest whole, and make tartlets using bought puff pastry- put the sauce on the bottom (thin layer or it goes soggy) top with the roasted veg and I often add olives, basil and feta/goats cheese/ mozzarella. You could also add in ham/salami or chicken.
I sometimes use the same sauce to bake chicken as a sort of marinade. Or as the base for a pasta bake- add chicken in if you want.

Take the same base (don’t blend) and add stock- it makes a really nice soup. Sometimes I add lentils to bill it out.

Good vibes for your treatment OP

Mine are
Fresh ready made cheese sauce stirred in with part cooked macaroni baked for half an hour and throw a part baked sourdough Baguette in at the end (plus salad)
Tesco fresh sourdough pizza bases topped with pesto and ready grated mozzarella
Sweet potato chopped into wedges and baked for half an hour with three bean chilli (I fry an onion with Mexican spice, add a tin of mixed beans and half to one tin of chopped tomatoes).

I had a mastectomy, chemo and radio last year. What I found difficult was lifting heavy pans to drain food, eg potatoes, pasta, but this may be because I had node clearance too. If it helps, I don't recall any pain from the op site itself but if you do cook, please be sure you are well enough to. You don't want to be handling hot, heavy pans if there is any anaesthetic lingering, or if your blood count is low after the op. It is also likely you will have drains to contend with. Just get through it. Beige food doesn't matter for a few weeks - just chuck fruit at them!

I agree with PPs, get someone else to cook is the best option, but this is my standby. 5 minutes prep and a bit of shredding 30 minutes before it's ready - damndelicious.net/2013/11/02/slow-cooker-crockpot-honey-sesame-chicken/

Sending you all the luck in the world x

There are probably a few kitchen utensils and gadgets that could make life easier too.

For fresh pasta, track down a spoon with holes in... I'm not sure what it would be called but it's like a colander spoon, so you can just lift out the tortellinis rather than having to lift the pan.

Electric tin opener! My parents have one where a magnet holds the can and it whizzes around and its done. I find tin openers a pain, and even find the ring pull ones difficult to open, so I imagine it could be an issue after an operation.

I'm so sorry for your diagnosis
Great ideas on here however the best thing you can do is to present your OH with Jamie's Ministry of Food - sorted !!!

Simple salmon en croute recipe I saw online. Ready made puff pastry, put 4 skinless salmon fillets inside, cover with ready made pesto sauce, and sliced tomatoes, wrap it up and bake it in the oven for 40 mins x

@dementedma

You are undergoing huge medical procedures and need to look after yourself. Your partner should be dealing with the cooking, not you!

THIS. I'd be side eyeing him very hard if he just expected service as usual. All the best for your treatment OP

Thank you all for the lovely ideas. Realised I'd been so busy noting them down - I'd forgotten my manners.
The DH will step up (second time around for cancer so he knows the score) as much as he can
And thank you all for the messages of support it's so nice.
Currently just waiting for my oncoplastics appointment to discuss the new boobs (silver linings hey?!)

Do you know anyone with Costco membership? They do good family 'ready meal' type dishes:
Macaroni cheese
pasta bake
lasagne
cottage pie
steak pie
caesar salad
greek salad
burritos
soft tacos
Katsu curry
Jalfrezi
Pizza

They're good quality and good value.

Hope your treatment goes well and wishing you a rapid recovery.

@Oncewassmith

Thank you all for the lovely ideas. Realised I'd been so busy noting them down - I'd forgotten my manners. The DH will step up (second time around for cancer so he knows the score) as much as he can And thank you all for the messages of support it's so nice. Currently just waiting for my oncoplastics appointment to discuss the new boobs (silver linings hey?!)

If dh doesn't have time to cook during the week, he can batch cook at the weekend and freeze it for you to reheat.

Best wishes for treatment.

All the best OP

Good luck with your surgery op💐
Slow cooker gammon, bung it in on low first thing then serve with packet/ frozen mash and frozen veg.
Omlettes,
boil up pasta and towards the end chuck In a handful of frozen veg add pesto and some grated cheese.

Sending you best wishes OP.

Fish cakes and frozen veg
Grilled chicken flatties (Ocado do a mango and coconut one, M&S do other ones basically thin pieces chicken breast in sauce so take 12 mins under grill) with packet of Cous Cous and salad

Carbonara (sorry it's beige but it's v quick and tasty)

Also a fan of the roasting tin cook books very quick easy and tasty

I hear gousto is good...then you dont have to shop either...i agree your dh should cook.

One of you lovely people mentioned a support thread for cancer (I've searched for it and only found one from 2016) does anyone have a link to it?

Firstly good luck with your treatment. I hope you won't be doing all the cooking 💐

Rendang curry is quick and delicious
Curries in slow cooker
Casserole in slow cooker
Stir fry with rice or noodles
Spiced chicken with salad and naan
Fresh pasta and pesto or any sauce
Chicken / fish tray bake in oven with lots of veg
Pizza on a wrap with salad

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/general_health/4256780-cancer-support-thread-80-newbies-welcome?pg=27

Here is the cancer support thread

Just wanted to say I've had one sided mastectomy and reconstruction and was kept in for a week and couldn't lift the kettle for another week when I got out.
If your DC will eat salad I would go with premade salad bags/bowls and tuna etc added, soup and bread for the first week your home.
Best of luck 🍀

REALLY easy = M&S Cottage pie with fat slices of tomato and grated cheese on top ( buy ready grated). Frozen veg or the bags of prepped veg you can just stab and put in the microwave for a few minutes are very easy.

Marks also do big 800g double size trays of roast potatoes for £3 you can just pop in the oven.

Omelettes, oven chips and a ready made salad are also very quick and easy.

When you do baked potatoes, do a batch. They'll keep in the fridge for two or three days or you can freeze them.

Good luck with everything, sending you very best wishes. xx