Quick dinner ideas

[pigleychez]

Can anyone throw some ideas at me for really quick and easy dinners.

I have 2 under 2, one being only 9 weeks and im currently finding actually having time to cook near on impossible.
I just had to send DH up the chippy as all I managed to get done tonight towards tea was boil a pan of water!

Currently finding easy things to do are Currys with rice and Pasta but cant live on that forever and im not going to lose any baby weight eating takeaways!

Fresh fish with stirfry.

In fact, stir fried anything.

batch cook and eat leftovers.

Yup, agree with stir fry. And batch cooking- especially bolognese sauce, chilli etc.!

Yesterday I cooked rice with some stock and curry powder and steam fried some veg. Stired the rice in and served with boerwors (South African curried sausages, they were cheap in Waitrose). Yum!

And pilaff is quick and easy- a great way of using up Sunday roast meat.

.

roasted veg with cous cous (add cubes of halloumi or feta). You can prep the veg when you have a spare minute (!) and then roast when you're ready.

here are a couple more that are fairly quick:

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/4540/crispy-greekstyle-pie-

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2818/ovenbaked-risotto-

beef stir fry?

The night before, or in the morning, I slice up some steak (one steak between two as it seems to go further like this) and add some crushed garlic, ginger from a jar, soy sauce and a splash of sesame oil.

Put it all in a sandwich bag in the fridge for the day.

At tea time, dry fry (or with oil if you're not bothered) for a couple of minutes and serve with boiled noodles (only take 3 minutes) and some pak choi/stir fry veg pack.

Just looking back on menu plans, foods we eat that are quite 'quick' are...

Prawn or chicken or tofu stirfry with veg & noodles
Egg fried rice with peas/sweetcorn/ham
Pasta with veg & passata sauce (this is a fave when I'm too tired to cook...just boil pasta & while that's cooking, fry off some onion & garlic (miss this out if exhausted!) add tub of passata, simmer, then 5 mins before pasta's ready add frozen peas/sweetcorn/broad beans etc...easy, healthy & yum!)
Spanish omelette with various frozen veg added
Pasta with smoked salmon, peas & low fat soft cheese
Pasta with lardons, peas & pesto

We do eat a lot of pasta but it doesn't have to be unhealthy & they're are so many different variations... you need energy when you have young children anyway! Also do things with potatoes, risotto etc but these tend to take longer. Baked sweet potatoes or fried egg sandwiches are favourites at lunchtime!

Teach DH to cook..... In the time taken to go to the chippy he could have boiled some pasta in that pan of water and rustled up a quick tomato sauce.

Hi and congrats on new baby
i find Giant pots of veg soup a life saver, i just chuck it all in boil and blitz! Usually i very roughly chop onion and garlic, fry on a low heat for a few min in some fry light (for the diet) chuck in what ever veg you have all roughly chopped eg carrots and parsnips, leak and potato, peppers and two tins of chopped tomatoes, carrots and freezer veg (broc and colli i find great) anything you have handy, fill up with a hot kettle of water and throw in two ozo leave to boil then simmer till veg cooked and blitz. Get dh to get some crusty bread on his way home and freeze soup in batches or keep in the fridge for two days time...
Agree with all the rice, pasta, noodles dishes being very handy. And home made wedges, beans and a fryed/boiled egg. Baked pots and a million fillings, beans/tuna and sweetcorn/mince in tom sauce/chilli etc.
Iv found doing a basic like savoury mince or mince in tomato sauce in bulk and using it one day with rice and stir fry veg (add a tin kidney beans to make it chilli suitable for your 2yo and add a little spice for ye) another day i use it with baked potatoes and grated chedder, another day bung it in an oven dish top with garlic bread and cook according to garlic bread pack or as a filling for wraps with some cheese and salad. Or of course for a shepards pie or the likes but by making up a huge batch and adding a few different bits to make it different and splitting into portions big enough for a dinner and either using one today and keeping one for two days time and freezing a couple it really takes the weight off having to have something ready everyday.
When my two were really little (19month gap) i used to chop veg at night when they were asleep while watchin tv or chilling just to help myself for the next day! Add some mash and gravy is very handy and yum, add some roast chicken, fish and youv a proper lovely meal or just a fryed egg does grand! Right now your so busy it will get easier but use convenient things when you need em and have plenty of pesto pasta/egg fryed rice etc dont stress yourself bout doin anythin fancy... For now
And i Always cook double that way you give yourself a night off every other night! All the best