My god its relentless (lighthearted)

[PretendToLaugh]

Dinner!!!!!!!!!!!

Why did no-one warn me this would be a huggeeeeee part of having a family 😂

I need ideas, inspiration something nutritious that can be whipped together in a very short amount of time.

2 adults 3DDs

DD1 - fussy, likes chilli, tacos, steak pies, homemade burgers think very traditional British pub food

DD2 (my fave child to feed) Will eat anything and everything BUT must be in the mood for it, physically cant eat something shes not in the mood for.

DD3 - god she will be the death of me, would quite literally live on any form of chicken nugget if i allowed it.

All 3 train between 6-21 hours in sport, we are busy, as is everyone, both work full time so i need fast nutritious meals that taste nice and things that will reheat well as we are on different schedules.

Current rotations include:

Meatballs and spaghetti
Chilli
Roast chicken dinner ( the only meal of 2 we sit down together ad eat as a family)
Home made burgers

Some nights there will be 3 dinners on the go and sometimes its processed shite.

Is everyone else living in this hell and whats your current meal plans

It’s bloody awful isn’t it. From a previous dinner thread on mumsnet I’ve added
chicken adobo
chicken pulao
to the rotation. Sadly I over added so can’t make adobo now for a long time, we over-ate it.

I have an adult daughter who makes like bowls for dinner. Oven roasts a piece of salmon, eats with rice and various vegetables or vegetable side dishes in a bowl, maybe with large pieces of nori sheet to make little wraps for each bite. Or mince fried with hoisin and oyster sauce.

I swear some days that dinner will be the death of me. Both of mine are like your DD3. Super super picky.

Do you do homemade pizzas as well? By homemade, I mean store-bought bases, and then just add the toppings. Then can easily make them to suit different tastes. My kids often have them as a half and a half, because of course it would be impossible for them to like the same toppings! Then we make a nice pizza for the adults.

Drives me insane too.

Going on holiday in a few weeks and bracing myself for being expected to have inspiration for and resource three meals a day for everyone.

I now understand why old people judge eat bowls of soup and cakes. So easy, no thought.

Also, devilled sausages (use store-bought sauce if in a hurry).
I have taken to cooking the sausages separately from the sauce recently. Then the kids will usually have a sausage in bread, while us adults have devilled sausages.

What is a devilled sausage

How old is everyone? Can you make everyone responsible for a meal for one night?

does your husband also do half of you both work full time?

I live downunder, so maybe this isn't a thing in the UK?

It's a sausage casserole with a sweetish tomato-based sauce, with chopped-up apple in it. It's delicious! Lovely served with mash or rice, and green beans on the side.

Lots of recipes if you Google it. I usually use a store-bought sauce.

I'd put some of the burden on the DDs to come up with at least one meal each that would fit all the criteria.

Also, can you (or they!) batch cook and freeze huge amounts of basic bean/chickpea stews that can be tarted up with various spice combinations to make curry, mexican, cajun meals to go with rice and vegetables?

Crustless quiche or spanish omelette is good for being simple and quick to make.

We have a chicken pie night (shop bought!) with veg and potatoes, some kind of fajita/greek wraps with chicken, veg and rice, spaghetti night (bolognese sauce for me and ds, cheese for dd!) with salad, or some roast chicken breasts in some kind of sauce. They also like sausages and roast potatoes but I hate making them processed meat things.

Sometimes I find that serving more than one dinner is actually easier and quicker than the time I used to spend trying to plan seven dinners that all of us can have (for our house, it's allergies, preferences plus my own on/off attempts to eat more vegan meals!)

I'll batch cook chilli, chicken casserole, pulled pork, curry, etc etc and freeze in individual portions, then for nights where I don't have a magic dinner that suits all, the portions get reheated in rotation so takes 10 mins all in, and there will be veg/carbs that we generally all like and can pick quantities that we like.

I also find that putting everything in bowls on the table has decreased fussiness because DS is in control of what he puts on the plate. Also, sometimes eating in the lounge means that he will snack on pieces of salad for an hour afterwards, whereas if I plonked it on his plate there would be hardly any eaten.

12, 10 and 5.

Husband cant cook, but he works from home so does all the washings, tidy's/cleans, takes the girls to and from school so i really cant complain about him at all.

We share alot of the "taxi services" he probably does slightly more of that

Do you DDs eat eggs? Scrambled eggs, omelette, eggs & soldiers etc are great options for a quick meal.

Cut out the three different dinners op! Harden your heart!

Obviously this doesn’t apply if there are disabilities, allergies or neurodivergence that you have to accommodate.

But if this is just about preferences, then I am old school when it comes to food. Your time and energy is important too op. You are not running a restaurant. And you don’t have time to take them to sport and cook special dinners for everyone. But tell them that you will make an effort each week to include everyone’s favourite meal at least once a week.

Remind your dc again and again that some nights it will be their favourite dinner, some nights they will just like it, and sometimes it won’t be their favourite but they are lucky to have hot food and plenty of it! Also you have spent money, time and effort preparing it. There is a bowl of fruit and yoghurt for anyone who doesn’t eat but no other snacks.

It’s a nightmare initially but make sure they are hungry and they will get used to eating what’s on offer and this will prepare them for adult life when everything won’t be catered for their individual enjoyment,

Also, get them involved in cooking and meal planning and make it fun. During the holidays, they each get to plan, shop for, and cook and serve their favourite meal. The Dorling Kindersley step by step cooking for children books are brilliant for this. Your dh can learn from it too. He really needs as an adult to step up and learn to cook. No one is born knowing how! Also, it helps if you all sit down as a family and parents demonstrably enjoy their food too.

Good luck 💐

Husband cant cook

Has he tried?

Try the RecipeTinEats website, it’s been a godsend for family meal ideas

my kids like from her site:

Quesadillas
Chilli
Butter chicken (there’s a slow and quick version)
Pulled pork
Lamb shawarma soup
Chicken shawarma one pot with rice
Greek lemon chicken one pot with rice
Smoked sausage with rice and peas (I use chorizo)
Honey soy chicken
Thai chicken curry (uses bought curry paste but tarts it up a bit)
Massaman lamb curry (ditto)
Satay curry
Minestrone (although I use only 1 can tomatoes)
Chorizo chickpea stew (I also make it with a stock base instead of tomato)
Short ribs in red wine sauce (I use stout instead)
Mac & Cheese
Asian slaw
Family Meat Pie (takes a while)
Toad in the hole
Chicken pot pie
Greek chicken gyros

Also popular

hairy bikers sausage casserole
Roast veg, cous cous and halloumi
Pasta bake with mozzarella and tomato sauce
Bolognese
Burgers
Pasta & meatballs
Pork belly strips with an Asian bbq marinade
Teriyaki salmon, noodles, veg

Granted mine are not fussy eaters 🙏 but there might be some ideas here yours will like??

For your nugget lover - she may just prefer plain food - so eg if making a curry keep a piece of chicken plain and she can cook it herself..? Will she eat eggs as these are very useful go to for a one person meal ?

I feel your pain - literally worst thing about being a parent is having to think of meals. I can’t wait until I can just eat crisps and toast. This is a nice easy meal, easy to reheat and super tasty
www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/sausage-ragu

Oh sorry just saw nugget loving DC is 5!! Well she will expand her diet in due course… probably about age 8…

Honestly no one warned me about this bit!!

I have got into 'dump bags' the day the shop arrives I do up a few of those - curry/ stew/ fajitas that can be for you DH and DD2

How big is your freezer? Home made nuggets are actually really easy to make. Buy diced chicken breast, coat in egg, then in panko crumbs. Freeze it flat on a tray, then put it into a zip lock bag.

Lots of batch cooking for the DD1 if you get a chance some time. Things like chilli/ burgers/ pie filling (i freeze puff pastry in single serve slices along with it). freeze them all in Chinese containers (from amazon, not suggesting you get 20 take aways!, well do if you want!!)

I know we were all raised in the 90s and either 'eat it or starve' but hey!

I am so jealous that your DC eat all these foods! Amazing! 🤩

Quite often I make a massive chicken soup with loads of veg, pasta, beans in... you can then freeze half.
It does as a meal with bread / garlic bread / sandwich.

Also quesadillas - cheese and refried beans in a tortilla in a frying pan for 1 min. You can add all sorts.

Amazing thanks will have a look!!

They ALL love my home made chicken noodle soup but for some reason i dont class that as a meal when really it is within itself. Thy tend to pull from that for lunches or as a snack.

Well, he can cook chilli after me leaving step by step, he can cook chips pizza and stuff like, make salads etc.

But honestly he already does probably more household stuff than me so really the cooking is something i do

I'm sure someone on here used chat gpt for meal inspiration! Just ask it for a weeks worth of quick, healthy meals and it should give you some ideas.....also, if you are cooking entirely new things then no-one can say they don't like it because they have never eaten it!

We do a jacket potato night - works as everyone can choose what topping they want! We also love a pasta bake and I roast up a chicken and do it with wraps, rice, salad etc.