Ideas for simplifying weeknight cooking please

[DahliaBloom]

I'd really like to spend a lot less time in the kitchen on weekday evenings. Dh isn't home, so it's just me and the boys, and I feel like I always have my back to them chopping veg etc. when I'd rather be doing something with them / when they need me to look over homework etc. For some reason I lack the keeping-it-simple gene and even when I'm trying to make simple suppers it takes too long and I get stressed and irritable.

As a freelancer, I can organise my time how I like, really. I just don't seem to be able to get properly organised! (For some reason, I feel a bit overwhelmed by it all). But I could for example spend Monday morning cooking and/or prepping vegetables, salads etc.

I'd like to be able to come home and quickly assemble something, or warm something up. I like the idea of, for example, roasting a big load of vegetables and then using them during the week (but how?)

I don't have a slow-cooker or a massive freezer, though I can freeze a few things.

Can you give me some ideas? I don't know why I find this so hard, but I do, and I feel like I'm always anxious and stressed about the next meal and then bad-tempered every evening. I want to give my kids simple, healthy, delicious meals; I feel like it should be easy!

Well, what kind of stuff do you cook at the moment? How long does it take? And how long do you want to spend in future?

Are you a freelancer who works from home or are you out a lot? If you work from home, a good choice is one dish meals that you cook on stove of oven - when I'm working from home I quite often use it as an opportunity to make spag bol or a chicken /sausage casserole as they only take a few minutes to prepare but then need time to cook.

Roasting vegetables is great, but you need a lot of them to make a meal so I've never found it very successful to do in advance. However, buying pre-chopped vegetables (frozen or fresh) can make it preparing roast vegetables on the day a lot easier and quicker. I've just discovered you can even buy prepared frozen butternut so we'll be eating more of that as I love butternut but hate the effort of peeling and cutting it. Similarly you can buy chopped onion frozen and other basics for all kinds of meals.

Salads can last a day in the fridge (if you don't add dressing) so it's worth making a double amount for two days.

Otherwise simple pasta dishes are ALWAYS a good choice. A good pasta sauce should only take as long as the pasta to cook.