Very low effort meals needed

[IsaBisaBuildsaBoat]

I have ME/CFS and have just realised I need to be more strategic about time spent in the kitchen. I need to reduce effort as much as possible, basically. Shame, as I enjoy cooking (sometimes) and have resisted making this change for too long. I use a perching stool so I can sit while I chop but still, the lower effort the better.

I need to change my shopping habits to include more preprepared frozen veg, frozen steam rice, more family size ready meals, and incorporate more dishes that are like 'dump the jar on the chicken beasts and walk away for forty minutes'.

So, please share your low effort tips. I would really really appreciate it.

Just popped back to see someone mentioned boiling double the amount of new potatoes and warming them in microwave the next day...
You can cook new potatoes completely in the microwave - no water, just like you cook baked potatoes -do risk them exploding so you can prod them with a fork - or just make sure you use a cover in case they do.
I love new potatoes..but then I hate peeling potatoes. My DCs don't like frozen oven chips -so on a lazy day I make 'homemade oven chips' basically skin on potato wedges. Wash them, chop them and pop them in a bowl and toss them in a little oil before cooking. (And I cook them on silicone/baking sheets so they don't stick so I don't have a messy dish to clean ....)

What a brilliant thread! Thanks op for starting this!

Sorry if some of these ideas have already been covered or don't quite suit,

Cous cous mixed with cooked frozen chargrilled veg and served with pre cooked chicken.

Shop bought falafel in a pitta bread with ready made salad.

Breaded turkey escalopes topped with a tin of chopped tomatoes with herbs, then when cooked add grated cheese (buy bags of ready grated, so much less faff!) and pop under grill,

I also second smoked mackerel fillets, lovely with crusty bread and salad.

@WorraLiberty

Tut tut Olivia

If you're going to post on this thread, you'll need to give us your favourite simple recipe.

It's in the new talk guidelines

You got me.
I have one from a magazine that we have a lot this time of year
Fry lots of sliced chorizo until it's cooked, add 2 x tins drained/rinsed cannel ini beans, 1 x tin chopped toms, and 200ml odd of chicken stock to a casserole dish
Cover and put in oven for half an hour (180C)
then remove lid and scatter breadcrumbs all over the top and leave to cook for the final 10-15 mins
Takes 5 mins secs to get going. but is amaze balls when you get out of oven - v comforting and filling- feeds 4 easily or two rather greedily (guilty)

MNHQ, can you make this cook book no 2 pls?

Couple of pitta breads...half them and pop them in the toaster to warm through. Then fill with cheese and red onion and pop back in the toaster too cheese is melted and oozing. Serve with tomato soup. Delicious!

1. Chicken or fish parcels - large piece of foil on an oven tray, put on a frozen chicken breast or a fish piece on one half/side of it, frozen sliced carrots, frozen sliced leeks, fresh or frozen peas / sweetcorn / onion / red onion / sliced mushrooms etc. Add a drizzle of vegetable oil or olive oil and then fold the loose half of the foil over and fold / roll the edges up completely on the 3 sides or gather it up on top of the food to make the parcel. Stick it in the oven at about 220 degrees for about 30 - 45 mins (check halfway through to make sure chicken is cooking through and fasten it back up again). When done, undo the foil, ensuring you don't spill the juices out, lift the food off onto a plate and either eat as it is, or add potatoes / salad. It tastes lovely and soft and you can easily do one for each person with individual veg according to their preference i.e. someone doesn't like peas - no problem, put sweetcorn in theirs!! You can drain and reuse the juices as well - I presume it would freeze but I never get any leftovers, and I think this is a Slimming World approved recipe too :)

Definitely buy big bags of all types of frozen veg and then you can use what you need with no waste.

1. Easy pasta bake - frozen peas, sweetcorn and sliced mushrooms done in the microwave, frozen cooked chicken strips (thawed out in microwave on a plate - sprinkle black pepper, garlic powder and ginger over it when done).

Boil frozen sliced carrots in a pan, boil some pasta in a large pan, boil cauliflower and broccoli together. Drain pasta, add garlic powder, ginger and black pepper to it, stir it up, add the cooked veg from other pans, and mix it all up. Add a tin of chopped tomatoes, chicken and a load of grated cheese, stir it all up and then transfer it all to an open casserole dish or an oval ceramic roaster dish etc. Sprinkle more cheese on top and put in oven until cheese is toasted (about 10 - 15 mins). This is great for reheating next day / freezing in a Tupperware box and you can make as much or as little as you like each time.

1. Chicken curry. 2 or 3 chicken breasts, roasted in oven on a tray. Whilst that is cooking, boil some frozen sliced carrots and green beans, mushrooms etc, whatever else you want in it. Boil chopped potatoes in another pan (fairly small pieces) - stop before they get too soft, drain and shake!

Chop some onions, heat oil in a large wok and add onions, then chicken. Take off heat whilst you add black pepper, sprinkles of mint, garlic powder, ginger powder to the chicken, then add potatoes and more spices. Stir until it is all coated. Add the veg. Add a tin of chopped tomatoes, return to heat and simmer for about 10 mins, stirring it regularly to stop sticking, until the sauce thickens and then enjoy it on its own or with microwave rice. (This is also great for freezing and reheating in a Tupperware and roasting the chicken first makes it shred down easier).

It is a great idea. I cook for myself and can't be bothered with complicated things that use ingredients I don't have
I want simple, quick, and cost effective stuff and I'm screen shotting a lot on here!

May buya soup maker - thank you to whoever recommended that.

Can I also recommend a proper sandwich/panini toaster? My children all make their own brunch - quite healthy - wholegrain bread or wraps, cheese, pesto, tomatoes, cooked meat, etc etc, with a handful of cherry tomatoes. So easy, no cleaning to do and helps them develop an interest in catering for themselves and independence.

Finally, microwave bags - they are about£1.50 for 40 - chop up your brocolli and put in the microwave for a few mins. No washing up to do.

I like doing a baked cod and potato thing.

Roasting tin with some oil and a few unpeeled cloves of garlic, add part cooked new potatoes cut into chunks, a load of halved cherry tomatoes and some black olives. Lay cod fillets on top. Bake for about 25mins or until fish is done, then add a few basil leaves if you have it. Serve with a bit of green veg.

To make it even easier (and cheaper, to be honest) I used tinned new potatoes (those Tesco 20p ones) and frozen fish. I used pollock recently which was just as tasty as cod.

Funny article about how "easy" cooking often isn't all that easy.

www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2015/11/the-myth-of-easy-cooking/417384/?utm_source=SFFB

Tonight's tea - baked potatoes with beans for dh, cream cheese for Ds and egg Mayo for me. Even easier if you all have the same bloody topping!

I've just done one that classes as fairly easy
Fresh gnocchi (cooked), chopped ham, tin sweetcorn, ball of mozzarella chopped up, tub of fresh tomato sauce. All mixed together, chuck in the oven

Chop a bit of chorizo, dump it in a pot. Dump two tins of chopped tomatoes and two tins of drained tinned chickpeas on top. Stir. Cook on slow on the hob, or in the oven for an hour or so, or as long as you want. Eat with mash (instant if you can't manage fresh) or good crusty bread.

If you want to get fancy you can add chopped onions, carrots, etc, at the start, but it isn't necessary.

It's so good, really unctuous, and it's even better reheated. It feels and tastes like a homecooked meal, but it's so easy. The chorizo does all the heavy lifting in terms of flavour.

The finished bake!

Nigella Spanish chicken it's so easy. Put chicken breasts or thighs in roasting tray with chorizo, onions: new potatoes and tomatoes.
Sprinkle with oregano, drizzle with oil and squeeE an orange on top.
In the oven for about an hour, shuggle it about half way through so everything gets covered in the chorizo oil.
And serve with crusty bread, micro rice or cous cous

Even more lovely recipes!

Isn't there a ready prepared soffrito you can buy that is basically finely chopped onions, celery and carrot which would provide the 'veg' base of so many of these one-point meals? I'm going to say yes. There is from Ocado, anyway.

My mammoth shop arrived this morning full of ready-made marinades and sauces, flavoured rices, and so on. No room now, have to use them up.

I printed out all 23 pages of this thread today and started highlighting things. Need to keep the printout handy for days when I feel uninspired. So much love here, thank you all.

I particularly like the fact that the same recipes keep coming up. Shows they work.

Favourite line from that fab article: "[they] admitted what every homemaker knew to be true: that feeding people was backbreaking work, and then you died."

Whole sweet potatoes tossed, as they come, into the oven and roasted for about 45mins at 190ish. Take them out and tear open the skin to find beautiful sweet, caramelised potato. YUM! Serve with anything, but I particularly like this with some tinned black or kidney beans, avocado, broccoli and maybe some houmous and roasted pumpkin seeds on top for added crunch on the side for a super nutritious and delicious meal. I always feel
Really virtuous after such a healthy dinner and it is super quick (as long as you remember to put in the potatoes) and simple.

We've just brushed mustard on fat sausages and roasted them in the oven; roasted spud wedges too, about the same amount of time for both, at the same temperature. Took about 45 mins at 180C. Pretty good.

I made pitta pizzas tonight with frozen peppers, onion, tonned sweetcorn, salami, ready grated cheese and tomotoe puree. So easy and yum! Dcs liked them too.

I did salmon with basil paste (nut and dairy free!), new potatoes roasted with oil and herbs, and steamed broccoli and cabbage. I had a leftover sweet potato and have leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

I also made a soup for lunch that was frankly bland and needed some pepping up.

It was easy. I think I need to really pay attention to the thoughts that say a meal isn't 'nice' if I haven't slaved over it and worked really hard!

Tomorrow is beef stir fry. With one of my many, many marinades.

Purplehonesty that Nigella dish sounds great. Going to try that next week.

Totally forgot to come back and read the whole thread

Thank you folks for the kind words. This is a great thread. Isa I don't recognise your current name but I'm sure I would know your old one sending hugs and spoons (perhaps wooden spoons or ladles since it's a food thread? :o)

I definitely need to get better at doing simple meals (for the DCs anyway, DH is not back til 6.30 at the earliest). Although thanks to my foggy brain yesterday I left the hob on while I walked DD to a friend's house

I too have a chronic illness and find food prep exhausting and painful.
Yesterday I made my first quiche!
Ready rolled shortcrust pastry, blind bake for ten minutes, beat 4 eggs, add cheese, a chopped fried shallot, pot of double cream and tomato, pour into pastry and bake for about 45 minutes.

Cook pasta, stir in creme fraiche and pesto, plus any veg/ham etc.

Dry fry flat mushrooms, fill with Boursin and grill until cheese browns.

I'm veggie now, but in my meat eating days I made:
Brown sausages in pan. Put in either casserole dish or stew pot, add whatever veg, a chopped apple, pour a bottle of cider over and cook in oven or stove top until veg soft.

Corn beef hash. Par boil cubed potatoes, put in casserole dish , add corned beef, tin of baked beans, plenty of Worcester sauce. I also put some cabbage in it. I served it with fried eggs on top.

Left over pasta (with a tomato based sauce) is yummy if you beat an egg into and fry it up.

Any bland soup can be livened up by adding a tin of corned beef and tomato paste to it.

Simple meat balls can be made from a tube of sausage meat.

I make my own marinade as DH is coeliac. I use honey, soy sauce, grated ginger, garlic and lime juice. I do a whole pack of chicken (cut small) and then bag it and freeze it.

Agree about the whole sweet potato! I particularly love it with cubes of feta and chopped spring onion.