HELP!! -hungry family, no time -recipes please. here's one i made earlier

[hildysmom]

help, we have a 12 week old and i'm getting exhausted with bed time routine, making a meal, expressing milk, a thousand chores besides and not getting to bed before midnight. also have to go back to work in 2 weeks and need some recipes that are super quick and tasty for midweek. any ideas very gratefully recieved.

here's one i made earlier:
pasta with roasted veg:
chop up peppers, carrots and anything else you've got lying around. throw on some rosemary and bay leaves, salt and pepper. drizzle with oil and put in oven on a high heat for 30 mins.
make pasta, then mix it all together..

You need a slow cooker!

Chuck it all in and forget about it!

Beef stew

Diced beef
Carrots
Leeks
Potatoes
Sweede
Mushrooms
Beef stock

Leave in slow cooker for a good 10 hours - and yum yum yum!

sounds great. can you freeze it?

i make a pasta sauce with onion,mushrooms bacon and a tin of tomatoes. fry off bacon and onions add mushroom and tin of tomatoes very simple

corned beef hash?

turkey mince stir fry.

turkey mince, onion, peppers, courgettes, other bits and bobs, stir fry them withsomee garlic and seseme oil, serve with noodles.

have never got the hang of stir fry - how long do you fry for?
like the sound of turkey mince one very much though.
i have done the pasta, bacon onion in the past as well.
also, psata with pesto,
minestrone soup doesn't take too long and you can reheat and flavour always better the next day.

My strategy is to use Saturday morning and make a huge batch of a very basic beef mince sauce, with onion, garlic and tomato (and I do mean HUGE- enough for 6 meals, ie about 2 lbs of beef mince and about 4 onions and 4 cans of tomato).

I simmer for about an hour and then divide it into 2 halves, each enough for about 2-3 meals.

To the first half I add basil and oregano, plus any veg I have lying around (carrots, courgettes, mushrooms, aubergine - obviously you may need to fry these off first). This is served as pasta sauce, or made into lasagne, or pasta bake (ie water it down and pour it over dry pasta, top with cheese, bake for 30 minutes).

To the second half I add a teaspoon chilli powder, a teaspoon cinnamon, a teaspoon ground cumin and a teaspoon of ground coriander and a can of kidney beans, plus chopped red or green peppers if I have any lying around. This is served as chile con carne in a variety of ways - with tortillas as burritos, with rice or with jacket potatoes.

Obviously they are rather same-y so I don't serve these on consecutive nights, I freeze 5 out of the 6 portions and just have them in the freezer when I can't be bothered to cook.

you could also try fish as it is so quick too cook. a nice piece of salmon served with pesto mash is lovely. Also have you tried the giant family size packs of birds eye steam fresh veg, they cook in the micro in about 7 mins and are great for the days you haven't time for anything else but fel guilty for not having veg!!!

hi miss golightly,
i have a similar saturday routine, but use it to make soups mainly, that can be reheated for lunches and serve as a sauce base for other meals.
kidney beans variations have inpired me as well.
as has pesto mash.
any more out there?

Forgot to say, my favourite absolutely quickest supper is from Nigella Lawson's How to Eat (which, if you don't have it already, is a fantastic book with lots of ideas for quick suppers).
She calls it Lemon Linguine but I serve it with any kind of long pasta - tagliatelle or spaghetti would do just as well. This is my version (partly because I can't be bothered to look up her quantities, but in any case I prefer the sauce slightly sharper than she makes it.) This makes enough for 2-3 people

Put large pan of water on for pasta

In a bowl mix:
*100ml double cream (must be double - single will curdle)
*yolk of one egg (make sure it is very fresh)
*four or five tablespoons of grated parmesan
*zest of half a lemon (preferably an unwaxed one, if it is waxed just scrub it very well with hot water before zesting)
*juice of about half a lemon, maybe more depending how juicy your lemon is.
*pinch of salt and large grating of black pepper

Drain the pasta, reserving some of the pasta water
Add the sauce and toss well. If the sauce is too sticky then add a few tablespoonfuls of the pasta water - you want it juicy, but not runny.
Taste and add salt and more lemon juice if required.
Serve with more parmesan and more pepper and a green salad.

The whole thing takes about 10-15 minutes, start to finish, and as I always have pasta, eggs, lemons and parmesan, the only ingredient I need to remember to buy is the cream.

NB The egg yolk is only partially cooked by the heat of the pasta. As long as the egg is fresh I personally don't worry about this - but I wouldn't serve it to pregnant women.

Missgolighty, I agree that "How to eat" is a brilliant book, I use it a lot, have also made lemon linguine, very yummy.
Just thought I would say that.
Cous cous is very quick, fry up some veg, make cous cous (by pouring some olive oil over it, then boiling water and leave for 5 minutes)
Chop stir fry veg add miso soup and noodles, fish sauce and simmer.
Last one.

Pour half a can of cocunut milk in a wok, add curry paste from a jar (if you make it, it will take a while ) stir and simmer when it has reduced, add other half of cocunut milk, simmer then add cooked prawns and cherry tomatoes, then once they are heated through its done.
Sprinke some chopped corriander on top, serve with noodles or rice

Oo I like the sound of that prawn curry overrun!

jerk chicken- you can prepare beforehand and let marinade longer to taste better and put in oven when ready to cook

season it with
all purpose seasoning
ground black pepper
garlic powder
chicken seasoning
jerk seasoning
jerk season paste

mix it all together and put in oven

serve with rice and gravy or roast veggies

Very quick thing I make if i have leftover roast eg pork or chicken is fried rice

Put rice on to boil, meanwhile fry up onions, peppers, cooked chopped carrots and cooked peas, any other veggie bits you fancy eg mushroooms, leeks. When rice is cooked put it in and stir fry for a minute. Then bung in an egg and soy sauce, salt and pepper and anything else you fancy. Cook while stirring til egg all cooked

sorry forgot to say, put in the diced leftover meat (you can add prawns too if you fancy)

i know some people here will frown at this but when mine were at similar stage and younger I found ready made pasta sauces and fresh pasta a godsend. Even dh was capable of cooking that!

If you prefer you could just make up a big batch of a tomato-based sauce and freeze it in individual portions, then defrost and add whatever veg, etc you have to hand that night...

Agree that if you can get organised enought to do the preperations before you go to work that a slow cooker might be a good idea....

oooh, all sounding good. like prawn curry thingy and lemony linguine.
i use pesto for pasta and add some fresh spinach underneath to feel like i'm eating my greens. also poach fish:
put fillets of fish in a deep frying pan, add water to about halfway up the fish, a spash of white wine if you fancy, 1/2 sliced onion, some chopped carrots, black peppercorns, bay leaves, couple of slices of lemon and dot each piece of fish with a bit of butter if you feel like it.

heat until water boils, then turn down and let simmer for about 10-12 mins. Ta-da!