Week night meals - what do you cook?

[WestYorkshireGirl]

I get in with DD from nursery at 6pm. Whilst she has a quick snack I have about 10 mins prep time max. I then get her to bed and am usually down by 7.15pm. I then have to start cooking dinner for me and DH who arrives about 7.30pm. I don't have much motivation at that time of day and like us to be eating before 8 if we can otherwise it's eat and clear up and bed as I am up early. Really struggling for ideas that are quick and healthy and also not too many carbs!
Any inspiration?

Somebody is going to say slow cooker....

But otherwise;
Meals you can make/freeze and either cook from frozen or defrost during the day in the fridge. Bolognaise, curries, sweet and sour, chilli etc

Or other quick meals - pasta and sauces, jacket potatoes, chops or steak and salad, fried rice, stir fry

Omlette and salad is my go to when I'm low on energy and/or time.

I cook soag bol and freeze it. Then have it in stuffed peppers with cheese melted on top.

Basa fish from Aldi (chilli marinated one) is free, I have that with SP wedges and salad. Quick but not low carb.

Salmon fillets, plain or chilli flavoured from Aldi, new pot and frozen veg. Takes 30 mins. Also batch bake and leave to unfreeze during the day. I made a lasagne the other day and froze the spare one.

Playinghouse, I like the idea of stuffed peppers with the spag bolognaise mix

Grilled chicken with salad/ new pots/ cous cous
Frozen / fresh pan fried fish fillets with any sides
Steak/ lamb/ pork chops
Stir frys ( chicken/ prawn)
Mussels and French stick with green salad

My go to, quick and easy meal is stir fry and noodles or microwave rice. Try Carbinara too, filling and takes 10 mins max

Stir fries, pasta and sauce, fish fillets with veg/potatoes, paella type dish (micro rice mixed with sautéed chorizo, prawns, peas, peppers and courgettes with loads of paprika and garlic)

We have:

Chilli (I make a great one with chicken - it doesn't take ages either). Served with cherry tomatoes, guacamole, sour cream and fresh coriander. Leftovers can be used in burritos and similar.

Salads such as salade Nicoise, Cobb salad, chicken salad with mango, panzanella type of salads or bresaola with peach/nectarines and rocket.

I really like butternut squash (or spaghetti squash) with courgette, red pepper, cherry tomatoes and goats cheese.

I often roast a whole chicken with herbs, then use it for salads and sandwiches.

Salmon (pan fried or grilled in the oven) with some kind of vegetables. I have a recipe somewhere where the salmon is covered with a mix of brown sugar and paprika, then served with avocado and cherry tomatoes - it's very nice and summery.

Any kind of meat, served with corn on the cob, salad and sweet potato fries (made in the oven) or a baked sweet potato with herby butter.

Spinach and paneer with lentils

We also do curries and have them with cauliflower rice.

Pan fried halloumi with loads of roasted veg (buy ready to roast if really short on time otherwise chop onions, peppers, aubergines and courgettes and roast with seasoning and olive oil). Serve with herby couscous if you want, other than the time it takes for the veg to roast which can be done while u bath DD, it takes 5 mins to put together.

I hope it's okay to link to my blog. I just put this recipe on today after cooking it the other night. It's quick and easy and bloody gorgeous, if I do say so myself. (Not that I can take full credit - it's adapted from a Nigella recipe.)

keralan fish curry

Google Mary Berry Sausage and potato bake. It's basically onions, peppers (any other roasting veg you like I suppose) new potatoes all roasted with some sausages on top. You could sub the sausages for chicken thighs (cheaper) or breasts (healthier). It takes about ten mins to prep and just under an hour to cook, but doesn't need a lot of faffing with. Just a quick stir around half way through and chuck in the wine/stock. I also didn't have my oven up as high as the recipe suggested because I knew it would scorch the veg. Yours may be different and that may have extended the cooking time slightly.

m.tesco.com/mt/legacy.realfood.tesco.com/recipes/pan-fried-pork-fillet-with-choirzo.html?un_jtt_redirect=un_jtt_iosV really easy and quick.

This one's quick too, actually - teriyaki tuna - you could always get a pre-chopped stir fry veg pack if you're really pushed for prep time.

Jamie Oliver's green chilli ticks your boxes. It is basically pork mince cooked with sage, green peppers, a couple of tomatoes and chilli and garlic. Doesn't take long and it lovely served in lettuce leaves with natural yogurt and a squeeze of lime.

Nigella's salmon with hot and sour sauce. I use fillets rather than a side of salmon, and add some pak choi to the pan. It cooks while the rice is steaming and the sauce is a matter of stirring some ingredients together. Really tasty.

Nigella also does a Vietnamese style soup that is quick and tasty.

Stir fry as already mentioned. I like prawns in mine, and the value veg bags from Sainsburys are enormous, cheap and good. No noodles necessary!

There is a hairy dieters Harissa chicken dish with bulgur wheat salad that is very good, low carb and tasty.

Grilled halloumi with a watercress and beetroot salad is lovely, as is a simple salad with peppered smoked mackerel and perhaps some new potatoes.

Gazpacho also easy and nice at this time of year.

Have a look at your library for the Busy Mums Cookbook. A couple of recipes were posted by an MNer a bit ago and they are quick, simp,e and tasty

This is so quick and tasty! Takes 15 mins max. www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/6593/spicy-mince-and-lettuce-cups
I leave out the sugar, doesn't need it at all. Use little gem lettuce as scoops for the mince. Yum!

We are in exactly the same position and sometimes hubby works away so I need to drum up enthusiasm to cook for just me - which I definitely struggle with.. If it's just me I end up resorting to ready meals (not the best I know) or 'something' on toast! I'm after low cal stuff too so some of my go-to's are: Mushrooms and Spinach on toast with garlic and cream cheese (one piece of toast and it's so low in cals but SO tasty and really filling, especially with herby cream cheese which you stir in once mushrooms are cooked!), Omelettes, Soup, Jacket Potatoes (whack them in the oven when you walk through the door)

These are my fav quick or low effort foods.

Spiced roasted veg with couscous. Just a few mins chopping then bung in the oven, then 5 mins before the veg needs to come out boil the kettle for the couscous. Easy.

Filled pasta tortellini from the supermarket, tub of passata with some fried Italian herbs heated up in the microwave. Less than 10 mins from door to plate.

Smoked peppered mackerel (cold) with a diced up cucumber and diced beetroot and then a dollop of plain yog and squeeze of lemon - serve with left over rice or potatoes or just some buttered toast/crusty bread if nothing left over. This is a