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!

With limited freezer space, rather than batch cooking entire meals which take up a lot of space, you could batch cook things that could be used as the base for a meal. Tomato sauce can be used as a base for bolognese, chilli or a pasta sauce. You could make some Dahl which you could either eat as it is or add stock and more veggies to make a soup, curry sauce that you could add paneer, tofu or veggies to. It’s also worth batch cooking and freezing roast veggies and beans. You’d still have to do a bit of work to make the finished dish but it does make like much easier.

My kids love leftovers especially if reimagined into different things - eg leftover bolognaise made into a croque boom boom, leftover chilli made into a burrito, bubble and squeak, leftover veg frittata, curry and naan bread pizza etc.

Over lockdown we dug out the toasted sandwich maker er got as a wedding present. It's a vaguely warm, inexpensive, tasty lunch that everyone likes.

Alternatively bacon sandwiches / soup/ flatbreads or wraps.

Omelettes for people who like omelettes or eggs/ mushrooms on toast (there is still a fair bit of washing up with these though)

Op for the love of god chill out a bit. People are giving you ideas and this and that is wrong and doesn’t suit you. You don’t like sandwiches every day fine
It’s a modern world people don’t need two hot meals a day and if they are old enough they need to sort themselves!

I used to live in a country where my kids came home from school for 2 hours at lunch. Lunch is the main meal of the day and always hot. So we would eat simply in the evening, soup, cheese, pasta or bread. I have recently been doing "cook the week in 2 hours" by Caroline Pessin. It actually takes a bit more than 2 hours but you end up with lots of seasonal dishes in the fridge and it gives you ideas on what batch cook recipes work well for your family.

Get a slow cooker and bulk cook casseroles, mince-based sauces (veggie mince is great), biryanis, cheaper joints of meat etc I cook a gammon ham with brown sugar, large chicken with wine and vegetables, leftovers make a fabulous base for coq au vin with button mushrooms and shallots.
Lots of suggestions on the internet.

Since you did post on AIBU… YABVU and very rude. HTH.

Buy a bread machine. Constant stream of flavoured bread, flatbreads, pizza dough... takes two minutes to set up in the morning and the bread is so nice it always feels like a treat (creme fraiche, lemon and dill bread with smoked salmon is my new best friend).

I can sympathise, OP, similar situation here.

Rukmini Iyer’s Roasting Tin cookbooks have saved us, we just make twice as much of most of the recipes and then have it a day or two later with different carb or salad. Hot food twice a day with one set of cooking. Hope that helps.

Judgement day: please line up according to whether you are or are not 'sandwich people' 🤣

We're out over lunch time, but I often do things with our evening meal that will either reduce or eliminate cooking for the following evening, or bung something in the freezer so this could translate into a lunch/evening meal for the following day too.

Cook double quantity bolognese to go with pasta, then add chopped fresh chilli to the extra portions, leave in the fridge over night, then have with either rice and tortilla chips, or jacket potato and salad the following day.

Buy a larger meat joint than we need, then have the extra meat wither cold with salad/in wraps, or with stir fried vegetables and noodles (depending on what the meat is). I sometimes pop a marinade on the meat before it goes in the fridge too.

Cook a portion and a half of meatballs with spaghetti for the first meal, then make meatball subs with the half portion the following day.

Spicy marinated chicken with rice and veggies, then use the leftover chicken with salad and cous cous/quinoa for the next meal.

If I do a cooked breakfast, I do extra sausage, bacon, mushrooms & tomato and make it into a breakfast quiche. Usually I do a couple of extra quiches to bung in the freezer as well while I'm at it.

I do diced beef in gravy with veggies and dumplings in the slow cooker (I know you don't have one, but a pan would do, or perhaps invest?), then put the excess in a pie crust, and bake along with some roast vegetables for the following meal.

If I ever make a lasagne, I make extra white sauce, and keep half back for mac & cheese for another meal. I just grate cheese in before heating the sauce through while the pasta boils.

I do a deconstructed fish pie, so I cook the fish and sauce on a dish, but do double quantity. I then make mash (also double quantity) to blob on top of the fish when I plate up. The rest gets mixed in with the fish, and rolled in egg and breadcrumbs to make fishcakes.

If I make a soup that I'll be serving twice in short succession, I'll do it once with hot buttered rolls, then the next time with grilled cheese pittas cut into fingers so it feels a bit less samey. Or I sometimes spice the second portion so it tastes different.

Hopefully that might offer some ideas/inspiration

@notoldjustpastyoung

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.

This sounds like it would make the most perfect toasted sandwich ever. mmmmmm.......

How much mince do you cook when you make spag Bol? I cook at least 2 x packs 750g. How big is your cooking pot?

Why is your freezer so small for such a big family? I choose to have huge freezer space, 16 drawers of freezer, but how you manage on such a tiny freezer with a big family, is beyond me. Is there no way round this?

A large Lasagna usually lasts two days (tastes even better reheated the next day) ,I make the sauce with celery, carrots, onions, garlic and tomatoes blended together so it’s healthier.
Or big pot of risotto usually lasts more than a day and is fairly quick to make. And eggs are quick and easy, if I have nothing prepared I make scrambled egg or tortilla with a salad. I also
make everyone oat bars for snacking in between meals with honey not sugar (very filling) I make a huge tray of it and it lasts 2/3 days

If we are all home at lunch we often have a "table picnic". Basically we put bread, butter, a selection of sandwiches fillings, sliced meat, cheese, tomatoes, cucumber etc, on the table and everyone makes their own sandwich/ lunch. Very easy. At the end, all the rest goes back in the fridge.

Pasta might not be nice reheated but its no hardship just boiling pasta to go with a pre cooked sauce
I wouldn't call boiling pasta cooking
You can batch cook lots of things wether you want to eat it twice in one day is another thing.
But things like macaroni cheese and pasta bakes can all be cooked and extra portion made and put in oven for lunch next day.
Soups can be made and frozen and got out daily for lunch as needed .

If you are not in uk might be worth a mention as well as if in australia middle of sunmer a stew might not be a good recommendation
Quiche could make a couple meals
Quiche and salad lunch
Quiche and potatoes etc for dinner

I can't understand why people are still giving help when the OP is so rude ?
A previous poster politely mentioned that geographic location could be important. I agree.....

Hi OP just read this so I am coming in quite late into the discussion. Same problem here, cooking both lunch and dinner and need to limit starches ( I have a gluten allergy). I also have a small freezer and I use it for frozen vegetables and a little batch cooking.
I find the pressure cooker really helpful as I cook a lot in it, apart from stews, I make both risotto and polenta with it....it is nutritious and it substitutes pasta. I prefer to eat carb at lunch so it goes like this:
Monday.Polenta sliced with cheese and a salad
Tuesday Ravioli (I am the only gluten free)
Wednesday Soup made with canned chickpeas/borlotti, bacon and tomato
Thursday: Risotto with mushrooms, peas and leeks etc
Friday: usually a cheese and ham omelette or a quiche

Dinner gets the proteins ( and more veggies) but when I have stew I also line up some leftovers of crispy polenta or balls of risotto reheated with some cheese inside. If I do cheek or meatballs or any stew I double the amount for the next week ( it is very boring to eat the same food during the same week) and I use so.e space in the freezer.
I hope this is useful

I think you need to buy a slow cooker. Mine cost £12 from Aldi. Make a rich tomato and veg sauce in it that you can eat with baked potatoes at lunch then add chicken or minced beef to it and turn it into a pasta sauce for dinner.

Minestrone soup is amazing. Really hearty and filling.

Look up BBC creamy courgette lasagne. We never get tired of this. Have it for dinner and make extra grated courgette and ricotta mixture for a simple sauce with spaghetti for lunch

Halloumi griddled with some roasted Mediterranean veg and couscous is filling and super quick.

I understand about not being sandwich people. Maybe a panini or wrap or pitta bread? The latter toasted with home made hummus and chopped raw veg.

Make extra mashed potato at dinner and add grated cheese and egg and bake for a simple cheese and potato pie for lunch. With green salad or peas. Or use as the base for a quick fish cake with tinned salmon.

Scrambled eggs on toast with grilled tomatoes or smoked salmon.

Bake large tomatoes with olives and feta cheese crumbled over. Dribble with olive oil. Serve on couscous or with french bread.

These are all things I do.

I also think risotto warns up brilliantly in the microwave the next day. As does kedgeree.

I make a vat of Italian sauce and freeze it into small individual pots. The sort of pots I used when I was weaning my children. About 200ml in size. Just defrost a pot when you are making pasta for your children. One pot would be sufficient for pasta for two. Fast and next to no effort involved. I also make large batches of food like lentil soup, curries, chillis, lasagna and will automatically freeze half for those moments when I simply can't face cooking.

Yikes! I’m in Florida and the climate doesn’t allow for soups most of the year, and we don’t each sandwiches for meals often. I tend to make too much and we end up with enough for at least two meals, so I get it. In summer, we use a lot of veg for ratatouille or curries. In cold weather (maybe 8 weeks of it?) we have soups and chowders. We like seafood chowders, but there are other recipes for chowders and corn chowder is awesome. Chicken and dumplings makes a big pot full. I make my own dumplings, the ones that are patted flat and cut into the pot, not the cloudy ones with processed baking mix. I always end up making more dumplings, because they go before the chicken and broth do. When I make waffles I make a good amount, so they can be warmed up and served with bacon, or sausage and maple syrup. Enchiladas can be made with meat, chicken or black beans, and baked in a large casserole dish, served with sour cream and salad. Likewise, Spanish rice, made with tomatoes, peppers, ground turkey. We don’t eat beef, so use a lot of turkey. Last night I made shrimp cakes, which are similar to salmon croquettes? I mince the shrimp small in a processor ( I freeze the peeled shrimp just a little while to make chopping easier) and mix with scallions, horseradish, egg white and panko and fry in a pan until crispy. Always make way too many. Sloppy joes are good, as are stuffed peppers or stuffed cabbage. We live near a large Greek community, and can buy spanakopita anywhere, but it can be made at home, too. It is a meal in itself, served with a salad.

Usual staples, like chilli , Bolognese can be used with wraps/tacos/rice/ baked potatoes /pasta. Minestrone soup , butternut Squash roasted can be mixed through Risotto rice and pasta lovely with blue cheese also nice with rocket and some roasted tomatoes, roasted chicken can then be turned into nachos ,mix in with peppers ,tomatoes , mushrooms onto Doritos and sprinkle with cheese and grill , also turned into Chinese style Noodle soup with sweet corn . Definitely invest in a slow cooker ( under £20) they are brilliant for feeding a crowd .