Please save me from another Monday/Tuesday night dinner in our house ...

[Millie1]

... On Sunday we always cook dinner for Monday and often Tuesday nights - especially if I'm working. It's preferably something that I can bung in the oven at lunchtime, stick the timer on and come in with children at 5.30pm to dinner ready to eat.

I have two fussy eaters - what one eats, the other won't ... or else neither will eat. We're down to 2 Monday/Tuesday night meals ... spag bol (sometimes disguised as pasta bake with cheese sprinkled on top) and shepherds/cottage pie - both nice, tasty recipes.

I'm soooooooo sick of both of them and so are the children so all I'm asking, wonderful Mumsnetters , is for some ideas ... can be prepared on Sunday to reheat Monday/Tuesday. Just to complicate matters further casseroles are a no-go area.

So ... over to you ...

Would they eat fish pie?

What about doing some spicy chicken with peppers, mushroom, onions and warm it up with some soft tortillas? Would that work? Or would they dry out on reheating? Fun to eat, though.

lasagne (meat or vegetable or spinach and ricotta)
chilli (re-heat on the hob quickly when you get in) served with crusty bread
chunky soup ( " " " ")

Mildish curry?

make a roast dinner on sunday and make plates up to reheat on Monday?

Curry? Macaroni cheese?

Or for ultra quick, stirfry with chicken and noodles?

Baked potatoes don't even need much prep on the Sunday and plenty of options for variety of fillings.

Or home made pizzas, the kids would love making their own pizza, fridging it til the next day then bunging it in the oven for 15 minutes.

I've not made these but think they would lend themselves well to your needs:

moussaka
lancashire hot pot (is that too close to casserole styleee?)

Soup

What about pasta, pesto and feta cheese or keep some of the chicken from the dinner. Make pasta on sunday when cooked rinse in cold water store in fridge, when ready to reheat spinkle a little water on cover and microwave for a minute or just refresh in boiling water then stir in pesto crumle on feta also tinned tuna is nice

Brilliant ideas - thank you!! Some I'll try, some no point in trying as there are just so many things they won't eat (will I ever change them?) and some we do already. I'd love some more chicken ideas please though if anyone can help - I feel we eat enough red meat (ie. mince) as it is and that's what I really want to get away from. Have a lovely chicken pie recipe (Jamie Oliver) but it's a bit labour intensive as it needs pastry on top then 40 mins in the oven. They're dreadful at roast dinners - what a battle. Pasta heat-ups are a super idea but unforunately the pesto variety is out (and I'd love the pesto/feta combination) as DS1 has a nut allergy .

Still, great ideas - thanks! And keep them coming as I need to do my weekly grocery list in the morning!

I make a meatloaf using turkey mince which would get you away from the red meat. Eat it with potato wedges that could be cooked at the same time (using timer) and salad or brocolli or whatever.

Also you could do jambalaya (I tend to use chicken and sausage in mine) if you are not too edgy about reheating rice. Also on that theme I do mushroom and parmesan risotto.

TBH I am the queen of reheating meals. Tonight we had a basic spag bol recipe but using bacon instead of mince (with onions, peppers, tinned toms, mushrooms, herbs etc).

I make a meatloaf using turkey mince which would get you away from the red meat. Eat it with potato wedges that could be cooked at the same time (using timer) and salad or brocolli or whatever.

Also you could do jambalaya (I tend to use chicken and sausage in mine) if you are not too edgy about reheating rice. Also on that theme I do mushroom and parmesan risotto.

TBH I am the queen of reheating meals. Tonight we had a basic spag bol recipe but using bacon instead of mince (with onions, peppers, tinned toms, mushrooms, herbs etc).

Sorry.

Home made fishcakes from the dinner lady cook book. Make a load for the freezer and get some out the night before you need them to defrost in the fridge. For a quick reheat at 17.30, pop in the microwave.

What about bashed chicken breasts, you could slice them almost in half(butterfly) then place in a freezer bag and bash them with a rolling pin so they are nice and thin then add some olive oil and spices and garlic leave in fridge till monday,
then simply fry in a griddle pan 5/6 mins serve with cous cous this can just have boiled water poured on before you cook chicken, make a bean salad day before and have that too

anyone got the fishcake recipe??
:)

we had chicken paprika tonight - a variation on an annabel karmel recipe with extra kick

jamie olivers beef and guinness pie is great to make the day before - they you can either put a puff pastry lid on and put in the oven for 45 mins on the day or reheat with some dumplings in

Replace the mince in cottage pie with cut up sausages & baked beans & top the mash with cheese - usually goes down well & is pretty quick.

Feeling kinda peckish!!

Bozza - would there be any chance of sharing your meatloaf recipe please? And, dumb question of the night, what's a jambayla?

Fishcakes, brilliant idea. Cous cous - haven't tried since babies - must give it a go (this weekend!).

Am off to bed now but will be back for more ideas in the morning.

Thank you

Serves 4:

450g of tuna, cod or haddock fillets (go for skinless and boneless fillets for ease)
450g potatoes
2-3 tbsps of milk
2 eggs
2 tbsps of chopped parsley (pretty optional - ok to leave out if you don't have any)
115g fresh breadcrumbs (I just toast bread then whizz it up in food processor)

Poach fish in pan of water for 15 mins until cooked.

Meanwhile peel and chop potatoes and cook in boiling water until tender. Drain then mash with sufficient milk to make them smooth. Beat the eggs.

Mix the fish with the mash and the parsley and just enough beaten egg to bind the mixture. It must be firm enough to shape.

With floured hands shape the mixture into fishcakes. Brush with remaining beaten egg and then coat in the breadcrumbs. Chill for about 30 mins or until ready to cook.

Then either shallow fry or (as I do) bake in the oven on a lightly oiled baking tray at 200 degrees centigrade for 15-20 minutes.

If you make extra fish cake mixture you can freeze fishcakes as I suggested, then defrost and microwave to reheat when needed.

Although the Dinner Lady doesn't suggest this I lightly saute some finely chopped onion and add this to my fishcake mixture (to the fish, mash and parsley) for enhanced flavour.

That was for popsycal btw

and for Millie of course!

Right I am at work but the meatloaf goes roughly like this:

1lb turkey mince
1/4 lb sausage meat (or you could deskin 2 sausages)
1 chopped onion
3 chopped celery sticks (I use less)
Mixed herbs or thyme
2 oz Breadcrumbs
1 beaten egg

Put the mince and sausage meat in a bowl and break up with a fork. Then add the other ingredients and bind. Because I am too lazy to make breadcrumbs I use oats instead.

Put on a baking tray and shape into a loaf using a palate knife. Cook for 45 mins. Then mix a spoonful of ketchup and a spoonful of mayo together and brush onto loaf and cook for further 15 mins.

Can be made in advance and eaten cold or warmed up in microwave or whatever.

Jambalaya is a Cajun dish which is made of mixed meats, rice, tomatoes and peppers all cooked together with Cajun spices. I think the idea is that you can use left over meat but I hardly ever have any (don't do many joints) so I tend to use a mix of chicken breast and chopped up sausages but you can use ham, prawns, anything really.

I do wonder if you might do well to start with variations on what you already do IYSWIM and then take it from there. So do something else with mash instead of shepherd's pie, do spag bol only use bacon instead of mince, that kind of thing.

Sorry by cook I meant bake in oven at about 200C.