Decent meals in under 20 minutes?

[FruitSaladIsNotPudding]

Hello,

I am expecting dc2 in a few weeks and am thinking ahead to how I'm going to do dinner - we currently all eat together about 30 mins after DH gets home from work, and this works well, but I'm thinking that with a baby and a toddler I'm going to struggle to get much (or any!) cooking done before DH is here.

I am going to get some chilli/stew etc in the freezer but would like ideas for meals I can make quickly, the idea being that I fling the baby and toddler at him when he gets in and make dinner from scratch then.

Omelette is the obvious one, or salads, but I'm a bit stuck for other ideas. Not helped by the fact I'm not massively keen on pasta!

Would prefer if it were healthy-ish and cheap-ish.

Help me mumsnetters!

And DH doesn't cook this meal because......?

My go-to quick dinner is chicken cut into cubes and fried (or use left over cooked chicken) served with rice and white sauce. I cook some carrots and peas in with the rice too (or boil separately if you prefer - I'm lazy and want to save on washing up!).

It's not really healthy, but there's veg in there, and it's quick and substantial.

Do prep for dinner at breakfast time, so it's just cooking it in the evening. I used to do this when DD was a baby, and still do sometimes when I work from home.

SOme ideas :

Fajitas - marinate it and leave in the fridge until evening
Baked risotto
Lomo saltado (beef stirfry)

This blog is fab for time limited recipes. The ones I've tried from the site have always worked really well.

DH doesn't cook this meal because I want to! One of us is going to have to watch children while the other cooks and I think I will have had enough of small children by then. In fact, shutting myself in the kitchen alone will probably be bliss.

Thanks for the other suggestions - that beef recipe looks interesting.

Cogito: obviously can't speak for OP, but I like having half an hour of time cooking instead of looking after the baby. If both adults need to be busy then its nice to have a change. Unfortunately dinner cooking time clashes with cluster feeding...

A got meals, try risotto or stir fries

X- post!

Slow cookers are good as you can assemble when convenient and switch on even while holding a baby.

Soups can be frozen easily.

Couscous/bulgur wheat is much easier than rice.

Microwave rice is really nice and easy.

Oh god, I forgot about cluster feeding. Stupid DH not having boobs.

That blog is good. Am going to try the kipper kedgeree, we all love kippers.

salmon fillets wrapped in tin foil cooked in the oven. Sprinkle the fillets with ginger and lime and soy sauce. I sometimes add honey and chilli too. Serve with microwave rice and microwave veg. i chop up veg, add olive oil and water, black pepper and cook for 2 -3 mins and then just mix in with the rice.
Super quick and healthy too.

try the Angela Hartnett easy mid-week suppers

We had the spaghetti with mozarella last week, cheap (worked fine with cheap mozarella) and quick. And it looks good.

I know what you meant about being happy to hide in the kitchen after a day being frazzled by small children.

However frazzled I was or how much I wanted to cook, DS had other ideas.

What about a slow cooker?

Hot chicken salad - dice some bacon and fry. Dice some chicken breasts and fry in bacon fat. Open a bag of lettuce and put in a bowl. Chop up some tomato and cucumber and shove in with letuce. Add a bit of dressing. Throw in the cooked chicken and bacon while warm but not too hot and eat before the lettuce wilts, - preferably with some nice warm crusty bread.

Make a stew by boiling a whole chicken/joint of lamb or beef. Take the meat out and leave the water to cool abit then skim off the fat and debone the meat and put to one side.
Chuck in a load of diced veg (pots, swede, carrots - that type of stuff) and boil. When the veg is ready, put the meat back in and serve. Will last a few days.

Doesn't take as long as it sounds as you're doing other stuff while the meat is boiling and later while the veg is boiling. You can freeze left overs too, to resurrect another day. Delicious AND nutritious!!

DS is 12mo now but when little I'd prep stuff during the day (lasagne, cottage pie, fish pie etc) while ds was in the sling and then it only needed bunging in the oven later. I also used my slow cooker a lot. Just threw meat/veg in there in the morning and left it.

My go to meal when I'm exhausted or short of time however is tuna pasta. Fry onion, add tin of tomatoes/passata, tin of sweetcorn, tin of tuna and black pepper/herbs. Boil pasta at the same time. Quick, easy and the dc love it. We have grated cheese on it too. If I have more time to prep, I also add courgettes, peppers, mushrooms etc but sweetcorn, tuna and tomatoes are the base.

Toad in the hole's pretty quick too. And pancakes with savoury fillings.

i've found it easiest to cook things like curries, soups, braised meats that can sit around all day.
i try to have dinner pretty much finished when dd2 naps at lunchtime, and then reheat it and pop some veg on to cook at dinner time.

Risotto (or is it rissotto? I can never remember. Ready in 20 minutes fro scratch, cheap as chips, uses up leftovers, works well in summer and winter and is deeeeeelish!

She doesn't like pasta folks

'pot' noodles

I make a quick pasta dish with variations on the sauce.
I either fry off some mushrooms, courgettes and leeks (maybe with some lardons too) then add a dollop of pesto and creme fraiche before mixing with cooked pasta or gently fry some cubed cooked chicken in a little garlic olive oil, add some chicken stock concentrate and a little single cream, finish with grated parmesan and mix with pasta or cube some ham and fry in garlic olive oil, add chicken stock concentrate and single cream, cook peas in the pasta for the final few minutes then drain and combine the two.

I also make a chicken and chorizo type paella thing that takes more than 30 minutes but when it's cooking it needs minimal input.

Can you half prep things during the day and just hide in the kitchen doing the final touches when he gets home?

Bugger, I've just seen that you're not keen on pasta. Doh!

I can prep things during the day, it's more that I can't be bothered, and hate cooking with a toddler under my feet, so how much worse will it be with a toddler and baby??

It's just the early weeks I'm thinking of really, when the baby is feeding nonstop.

Thanks for all the ideas, loads of things I fancy trying there.