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!

@Scienceisnotopinion

The issue is that i was trying to not cook too much meat, and we tend to make pasta often, that doesnt heat up well. I have saved the helpful suggestions among the sneering for not eating sandwiches every day.

Pasta reheats really well, I do it all the time unless you are getting the gluten free one? If you don’t want to reheat the pasta itself at least make the sauce, ragu, whatever in bulk and then all you have to do is boil pasta to go with it.

@Scienceisnotopinion

milkbottleleg as said we are not sandwich people, no need to argue. Not everyone eats the same.

None of you will eat a sandwich or beans on toast? You sound hard work!!

Which country are you in op? The reason I ask, is because of your comment regarding lack of space for a freezer. I’m in the UK, and I don’t have space for a decent size freezer in my house (unless I put in in the dining room). Therefore, I bought an upright Beko model which can ‘live’ in an unheated space such as a garage. See this Which link for more information (may be completely irrelevant to you, but as I said - don’t know where you are):

www.which.co.uk/reviews/freezers/article/best-freezers-for-your-garage-arWYa8P3qY5V

A decent size freezer is a must for me, even as a single person. Batch cooking mostly happens at the weekend, meals are then defrosted adding fresh veg/pasta if required.

, i just never seem to make enough

Do you perhaps need a bigger saucepan ?

The ideas for batch cooking. Make CNN more of what you cook anyway and freeze it in batches.

Perhaps I am missing something here.

Also you don’t need to have pasta hot, you can make a huge batch of pasta salad and keep it in the fridge.

OP: I'm currently doing X and I don't like it does anyone have any suggestions
Everyone: try Y or Z
OP: only X works for my family. I can't believe you'd suggest anything else, are you completely mad? Does anyone have any useful suggestions?

If you won’t have sandwiches or any convenience foods/processed foods but want a full cooked meal twice a day, you either have to cook more often, or cook bigger batches when you do cook. Simple.

Nothing wrong with eating sandwiches on a regular basis (or versions of….ie wraps, rolls etc) and calling the foods many eat for lunch (beans on toast, cheese on toast ‘bleurgh’ isn’t making people feel favourable towards you, when they are trying to help, making sensible suggestions and you are saying ‘no’ ‘no’ to everything.

I cook twice a week. I cook something like shepherds pie, or sausage casserole and make enough for 6 meals and freeze the other portions. The freezer has about 5/6 different meals in it and the days I don’t cook, something is taken out on the morning to defrost. Am certainly not providing cooked food twice per day. The other meal might be cooked lunches at school (kids go to a boarding school as day pupils, so the food is very good) and if they aren’t having that, it’s sandwiches or salad in a packed lunch. If we are at home, it’s still a old lunch or perhaps beans on toast or soup occasionally.

Re food not being enough for the extra meals you’d hoped it would, quite simply dish up portions rather than putting the whole massive dish on the table. Seconds aren’t really required and certainly not twice a day. If the dish is there, some people will always take a second helping and then of course what you have left is less. Serve up a sensible promotion and leave it at that, knowing what you have left for another meal. Or if you really want to let people serve themselves, only out a set quantity into the serving dish.

I’d be irritated if the meal I’d made was 8 portions and the family of 4 ate 5 of them in one go, meaning not enough for another meal. That could so easily happen though and not really anyone’s fault if it’s all out out..so just don’t do it.

Make life easier for yourself not harder…..and don’t look down on the humble sandwich or beans on toast, or a plate of veg sticks with crackers etc. There’s no point being a martyr.

@Scienceisnotopinion

I have and use a preassure cooker. Sometimes we buy piazza dough from the bakery. I do freeze stuff sometimes even tho my freezer doesnt have that much space. Soups are made with pulses and pasta etc so are quite filling, i just never seem to make enough, need to work in that

I know, the first time I used FOUR chicken breast in a curry was daunting!

But now it’s a no brainer.

When you said you didn't like reheated pasta, it can be fine if it's part of a chicken/veg/sauce meal that is completely mixed up rather than just reheating bare pasta.

Pasta reheats just fine. Add a bit of water to it before re-heating if it's a bit dry.

Otherwise, there are loads of options if you don't fancy sandwiches.

Couscous with roasted vegetables (you can buy frozen, partially roasted ones that only take 10-15 minutes to cook)
Various pasta bakes. If you really don't like pasta re-heated, just batch cook loads of sauces and cook the pasta fresh.
Batch cook chilli or stew and just cook some rice on the day.
Jacket potatoes with various toppings.
Homemade pizza - or buy pre-made bases and add your own toppings - they only take 20 minutes to add toppings to and cook.
Nachos can be done in the microwave - just add salsa, guacamole, cheese, sour cream and whatever else you fancy.

Larger batches will help, obv. Otherwise:

@Scienceisnotopinion
How many children and how old?
Now you’ve explained that they come home for lunch because there are no school dinners you are making a bit more sense.
As a family we needed to cater for 6 at every meal as as the children grew so did the quantities of food needed, so extra veg to chopped, whole packets of pasta, but it took time to get into the swing by f scaling up.
Now we have the opposite problem and over cater with fewer people at home.

Oh dear.I could have written this my self..Am exhausted from the endless cooking.I will be watching this thread.

Also, if you cook a dinner and your family are not too high maintenance, you can just cook double, stick the 2nd load in the fridge and reheat the next day for lunch. That completely cuts out lunchtime cooking and is made even better - if for something like cottage pie, you stick all the veg into the meaty part of it, rather than serving veg alongside.

Lunches - big batch of bulgar wheat salad with feta and olives thrown in,
Baked potatoes with tuna,
Sausage jambalaya (pre cook the rice the night before,
Hummus guacamole and pitta,
Egg fried rice with veg (cook rice the night before)
Lentil dhal (the dishoom house dhal is great)
Bean salad using canned beans
Bruschetta with tomato and mozzarella

Chilli for dinner leftovers can be used as topping for baked potato, pasta bake, stews, casserole, gumbo, beef burgigon, homemade pies, mini quiche cottage pie or lasagne, sliders, pad Thai, stir-fry, chow mein, bangers and mash, meatball subs, coq au vin, fritatas, lamb koftas, fish tacos, enchiladas are some of our faves.

@Scienceisnotopinion

I am not asking for quicker alternatives, just for organisational ideas to avoid cooking at every mealtime if you read the thread

So just cook larger quantities of those things you do eat and freeze the extra for another time.

Make large salads that will stretch for 2 days and you can have that will something different 2 days running.

If your family are will to eat the same soup twice in one day, something I wouldn't do, then the same salad 2 days running accompanied by something different shouldn't be a problem.

If you do that once a day then the extras will be available when you need them.

Make a big tart or frittata. Everyone has a slice with salad for a couple of lunches?

I won't cook twice a day - so like most people (who like to eat reasonably healthily) I would do avo/beans/egg/cheese on toast, or omelette or something similar. To be honest, if I had someone at home who would cook twice a day I'd let them though, so there you go.

In all this amusement, has OP said ages of her DC (that she must produce hot meals for 2x/day). I am used to kids fending for own lunches from age 8 or younger.

Large roast with loads of veg - serve with potatoes etc for evening meal, use leftover meat and veg for either a curry the next night or in ready roll pastry as pasties for lunch.

Cook more pasta than you want for dinner, serve with accompaniment of your choice, reserve left over pasta to cool, when cooled mix mayo through and then add tuna, sweet corn, cucumber etc to it for a pasta salad next lunch time.

Visit your deli counter and buy cooked meats to serve with chips and salad and whatever pickles you like for a quick and satisfying meal.

Mince beef, veg and tasty stock base made in bulk can be turned into cottage pie using mashed potato, mince stew and dumplings with ready made dumpling mix, or a pot pie by adding a pastry lid. Easy to freeze the base in portions.

Cooking extra chicken or beef than you need for one meal allows you to add to noodles and veg for a stir fry.

Cook extra rice at one meal and allow to cool, then fry with egg and vegetables of your choice, some meat or prawns, a splash of soy sauce and sweet chilli sauce and there’s a version of egg fried rice that is quick and tasty.

Quick lunches I would use as go to include omelettes, anything on toast (how about mushrooms or tomatoes or sardines if you don’t like beans or spaghetti), baked potatoes, sandwiches (would a toastie or panini be acceptable as an alternative?), leftovers from the night before.

Quesadillas with cheese and refried beans in them are easy and tasty for lunch

Slow cooker is a must. I like slimming foodie book, pinch of nom books snd Slimming eats website. They are all healthy family friendly meals.
I do a crustless quiche with eggs and cottage cheese or quark and any fillings. Eat hot or cold. Soup with lentils or beans.

I hear you OP, I actually cook 3x per day for myself but I tend to eat the same thing over and over so pre prepare.

I have new potatoes fried in olive oil and salt with mushrooms, tomatoes, courgette, spinach and two poached eggs

Lunch is usually a jacket potato from the freezer with chorizo, peppers, mushroom, onion and courgette with cheese

Dinner changes of course. I’ve got used to it now and I have the time for it.

I suggest batch cooking if it’s wearing you down.

www.theslimmingfoodie.com/slow-cooker-mexican-casserole/

This is nice with quinoa and no effort