Fed up of cooking twice a day!

[Scienceisnotopinion]

Need some tips/ideas. All of us, Dh and kids, are home for lunch and dinner. Will often make soups that last for dinner too, but they eat a LOT and often there will not be enough left and will still have to cook some side dish or something.
Anyone more organised then me that can help? I try to have a balanced week, meat fish veggy dishes. Thanks!

And also, meat and fish are NOT part of a balanced diet - that's absolute nonsense. A vegan diet is the bets diet, for animal, the planet, and for people. I can't believe people still think using animals is in any way the right thing to do.

@Nomoreusernames1244

Beans are great. Can't beat beans on toast 😂

Bean and cheese toasties are the best. Bet that blows o/p’s mind. Beans in a sandwich

The whole world doesn’t eat like the UK does. People on MN need to start understanding that.

Yes, the OP should’ve given more information to begin with, but beans on toast and tinned pasta are something you do not find in another countries. Beans and cheese on toast, or tinned pasta, are foods that some of us find disgusting - and it doesn’t make us snobby. I also don’t like scones with butter and jam and many other ‘posh’ meals, simply because they’re so different from what I’m used to and even though I’ve tried them, I still can’t comprehend why you’d eat them. Same reaction some people have when trying food from my home country.

Most meals in the UK are highly processed (unless you’re soaking and cooking your own beans from a dry packet, there will be more sugar than actual protein in a tin of baked beans) - it’s something that simply doesn’t exist in other countries, where foods and meal traditions (hot/cold) are different.

I too would be bored if I ate sandwiches regularly, no matter how nice they were. Once a month is enough. But in my culture we have whole baguettes with potato omelette or cured meat or fried calamari for our morning snack, freshly-baked bread before each and every meal, so the idea of eating sandwich bread (or any form of sandwich) isn’t appealing. It’s simply about different customs.

Batch cook everything
a bolognese sauce in quantity and freeze in 2 person portions - can then use for standard spaghetti or to make a lasagne/moussaka/cottage pie.

Roast chicken on a SUnday lunchtime - then strip the carcass and use in an oven baked risotto or a stove top paella on Monday evening, DIY chicken wraps with a range of raw veg (eg lettuce leaves and carrot and cumcumber sticks) fro lunch on Tuesday etc.

Make a couple of curries and a dhaal and freeze in 2 person portions - defrost a 2 person portion of each and serve with rice and naan.
Veg stir fry with noodles makes a very quick supper - keep the left overs and make a chicken noodle salad with them for lunch the next day.

A soupmaker means that you can just bung a load of left over veg and an onion into it and walk away. 20 minutes later you have soup. If you are feeling extra kind you could bung some part baked rolls/cibatta/baguette in the oven to heat whilst the soup is making.

Or you could batch cook in a weekend.

I'd do:

A quiche
Some jacket pots or baked sweet potatoes (can be reheated)
A chilli (doubled)
A big soup
A bolognese (doubled)
A big salad - pasta salad, chick pea salad, rice salad.

So then you can have for lunches:

Quiche and salad
Soup and salad
Jacket pot with various filings

Dinner -

Chilli and rice one night
Chilli wraps one night (chilli, in a wrap, sprinkle with cheese, grill)

Spag bol one night
Lasagne one night

Try the 'kitchen revolution' book they have loads of ideas of big meals that you can freeze half for another day, or otherwise something that you cook on one day and use the leftovers to make a new dish the next day.

I like the meal ideas on Cooksmarts.com. They also provide meal prep strategies and how to use leftovers from one meal in another. Since you need warm meals twice a day you could sort of tag together two of their weekly meal plans. If your family eats a lot, you could increase the ingredients by 50 percent.
It is not a free service, but reasonably priced. You only get the meal plan and shopping lists, no ingredients.

One meal (either lunch or dinner) is something that doesn’t need proper cooking. And that everyone makes their own. Like sandwiches, wraps, veggie stick ans hummus, salad, microwaveable things.

@Nomoreusernames1244

Beans are great. Can't beat beans on toast 😂

Bean and cheese toasties are the best. Bet that blows o/p’s mind. Beans in a sandwich

Stop this carry on, you are way to adventurous now 🤣🤣🤣

Sandwiches, Or a rollwith crisps, fruit and a drink for lunch or a remade pasta salad
1 cooked meal in the evening!
Sorted!

Sorry OP didn't see about the sandwiches
How about pizza and salad
Pasta is always easy too
Make a load of curry or bolognaise sauce maybe?
Super noodles are an easy lunch option as long as they're getting a healthy cooked meal in the evening

@Bugbabe1970

Sorry OP didn't see about the sandwiches How about pizza and salad Pasta is always easy too Make a load of curry or bolognaise sauce maybe? Super noodles are an easy lunch option as long as they're getting a healthy cooked meal in the evening

I'm excited for OP's reaction to the suggestion of super noodles

(Which by the way are actually yummy)

I don’t have much time during the week and we get a veg box from a local market garden so I often use one pack of mince and do a veg base (it is veg heavy and I throw in beetroot and whatever else they give us) with whatever I have, then split it, one for bolognaise/ lasagna and the other for a Chili. I make enough for at least 8 meals, will often make bechemel sauce and make lasagna and use any leftovers for macaroni cheese. I use a lot of brown and spelt pasta to try and keep as healthy as possible. I freeze or put into individual meal dishes that can be reheated quickly in the oven/ hob.
I get the no sandwich thing, but I take the time to make sourdough bread at the weekend and freeze, makes a nice change to cooked lunch. Decent, healthy bread does make a nice sandwich 😊

Why not get a sandwich toaster/panini press. More interesting lunches that people can make themselves.

Do a massive chilli one night, meat or veggie or a combo of beef mince and lots of black beans and other pulse to make it go further. Have it with rice in the evening and then the next day for lunch with wraps, grated cheese, guacamole, shredded lettuce etc. Then have the rest for lunch the following day with a baked potato. If you make enough you could freeze half and do the same the following week. Also cook a couple of whole chickens and have with a big tray bake of toasted veg for supper and then left over chicken for lunch the following day- do baked potatoes with salad and chicken or a salad with avo and chicken or a quick rissotto with left over chicken and leeks- use the chicken stock from the roasting pans to make it extra tasty.

Depends what you put in the sandwiches. And change the kind of bread sometimes, seedy ones, sour dough, - Chop some crispy bacon for the fillings with salad. My favourite sandwich this time of year is strawberries with sugar. When my grandchildren were little, the first time I gave this to them they were incredulous. Just use things that don't have to be cooked or lay it all out and make their own.

Also, if you don’t like the idea of sandwiches or processed stuff (I get it) why not have a lunch of oat cakes, homemade hummus, crudités and a nice piece of cheese with fruit. Or avocado on sourdough with a poached egg- not really cooking- quick and nutritious.

I’m a single mum of 5 and yes they eat ALOT I get not wanting to do convenience food due to health/tastes/finances. But cooking all the time can get tedious! So basically you need some homemade convenience foods. I can help!

It’s definitely an organisation thing. I make things like trays of roasted veg which can make soups, eaten as a side or with pasta. That way I cook once by making 2 trays and put some in tubs for fridge or freezer. I do this with pasta sauces, rice, mash. You can freeze almost anything. Saves waste too! I make up lots of bolognese sauce, and pasta and put them in the fridge to be reheated for lunch and put in the freezer, lentil currys, chickpea curry. There are always options in my freezer to pull out. I also prep fresh things too. Ie if I’m boiling some eggs I make extra. I can snack on them, make egg sandwiches or add them to salads. Once you get into the swing of things it’s so much easier!

I tend to meal plan. I wouldn't serve the same for lunch and dinner, but maybe would do left overs the following day or 2 days later. I make a big vat of soup each weekend which does us for many lunches. We will maybe do toast or pitta or rolls with it. Jackets with cheese/tuna/coleslaw are easy and no prep. We always have a salad in the fridge.
Batch cook shepherd's pie, fish pie, chilli (and make rice as you need it). Things like baked salmon and veg are easy. If you can't be bothered to cut potatoes I often make with cous cous instead.

With no petrol to be had they’ll be more of us home for lunch! But don’t think i’ll Be putting this amount of artificial pressure on myself to ensure it’s perfectly nutritionally balanced, varied etc etc. Life’s just too short and there’s way bigger still to flap over

@Scienceisnotopinion

Sandwiches get very boring very quickly, we only eat sandwiches at picnics or day outs. Hotdogs and supermarket pizza or ready foods are something we only tent to eat once in a while as we tend to avoid processed food when possible.

Hence why you are cooking and getting fed up. You need to have a more flexible mindset if you are going to change the situation. Greek salads and pitta Flat bread pizza (homemade) Mezze or tapas plates(mini portions like a picnic) Bagels with assorted fillings Pasta pots (can be made in advance) Rice salad

When I make dinner I tend to double up enough for a lunch too.

So macaroni cheese, lasagna, bolognaise, curry, chilli, stews and casseroles. I will either keep for next day or freeze them.

Omelettes are good at lunch time, quick and easy or wraps.

Yesterday we made pizza dough for dinner- plain flour, yeast, warm water and olive oil. Then popped the leftover dough in the fridge. This will be used for dough balls, calzone or rolls to go with a soup for lunch.

I tend to make from scratch as both of my children have dairy and soya allergy.

If you’ve got a spare £1k (and some have, before everyone goes barmy about the affordability) get a Thermomix. It basically cooks for you if you add the ingredients. You pick a recipe on the website, it syncs to the machine and you just add the stuff it needs.

I love mine with all my heart and use it just as much if not more than the hob/oven.

I know exactly what you mean!

This is what I've come up with, home some of it helps.

Make a huge batch of bolognese.
Lunch- have half with a jacket potato.
Dinner - either top with mash for cottage pie or add a tin of kidney beans and serve with rice
Roast onions, peppers, courgettes, tomatoes and butternut squash
Lunch - blitz all the butternut squash with half the veggies with some chicken stock and rosemary and serve as a soup
Dinner - chop up the rest of the veg and fry with some garlic. Add a tin of tomatoes and serve the chunky sauce with pasta.
Roast a chicken with potatoes
Dinner - have a mid week mini roast
Lunch - have the leftover chicken in wraps or make a stir fry.
Hope this helps 👍

What about doing something like making a massive portion of bolognese sauce. I then use it in spag bol, with gnocchi, jacket potatoes, lasagne and whatever is left I freeze flat in IKEA bags and it only takes 5 mins to defrost.

Also similar with chilli? Rice, tortilla chips, jacket potato, burritos.

Casseroles are easy, so are stews, or cook a roast (any meat), have a roast dinner, then make curry or risotto and then soup with the leftovers

Casseroles (a starch, a meat, a sauce, a vegetable, a little cheese on top...),?
www.thepioneerwoman.com/food-cooking/meals-menus/g31929060/easy-casserole-recipes/?slide=17