Working late and dinner for the kids

[BananaPie]

I'm looking for mid week recipe ideas that are quick to cook and will reheat the next day.

By the time I've done the commute from work and collected the kids from day care, and got home, it's getting on for 6pm.

I need to have their dinner on the table within about 10 mins, so I tend to reheat some of whatever dh and I had the previous day (we eat later once dh is home and the kids are in bed).

So basically, I'm looking for meals that are quick to cook for me and dh that I can save a bit of and give to the kids the next day. So far things like pasta sauces snd quick casseroles have worked, but I'm looking for a few more ideas.

Does anyone else do this? Or is there a better way of dealing with the problem (other than a slow cooker which I really cAn't be doing with)

Curried sausages
Fried rice
Lasagne
Rissoles and salad (can make into hamburgers)
Scrambled eggs on toast
Cottage or shepherd's pie
Fish pie
Mexican mince (burritos, or on jacket potatoes)

Not a mum, but Leon meatballs recipe is a marvel. Batch cook, leave to rest in the fridge overnight, freezer bag portions. Get couscous and something like green beans ready while reheating.

This is what I take out of the freezer the night before knowing I'm working late.

www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2008/oct/06/foodanddrink.recipe

Thanks. I find things like shepherd's pie, fish pie and lasagne take ages to make - loads of things to do like mash, white sauce etc. I'm really after things that I can make in half an hour at about 7:30 so dh and I can eat at 8, and that I can then reheat the next day for the kids. I do batch cook for the freezer, but generally only have one defrosted meal a week (and make double of something else another night to freeze for the next week)

I find that pasta salads are a big hit, and omelette and stir fry is quick and easy. For the stressful week, maybe try to do Jamie Olivers 30 min meals, healthy and delicious. If you have time in the weekend, it's always good to do some cooking for the week. Do a big batch of e.g. lasagna and have that during the week.

Why do you need to have dinner on the table in 10 minutes?

Do you have a slow cooker??

I have the same issue so watching for ideas. DS is allergic to milk and tomatoes which restricts us too.

I usually do one pasta night, one 'freezer night' so nuggets, fish fingers etc, one rice dish night, one potato dish night, one jacket potatoes or pizza, breaded chicken on wraps. It gets repetitive but works for now.

You can also pre-prepare all of your vegies (eg. enough potatoes cooked and mashed for a few days at a time, cut up other vegies to be steamed), have your meat defrosted ready to go and then put vegies in the microwave and cook meat on stove as soon as you are in - should be done in less than 15 mins.

Or, all of you can have 'last night's' dinner the next day and after you and DH have eaten you can cook the next night's meal, which means you can make something which takes a bit longer.

Can you rearrange your time so once the kids have eaten you can make the main meal for you and DH so it's not so much of a rush, needing to have it all done in 30 mins? Can you get the children to help with peeling vegetables?

Probably not possible for you, but when my kids were small, they were fed by their childminder in the evenings before I picked them up . So I didn't have to rush when we got home. Unfortunately now they are older I do have to cook for them, but at least they are older, can wait a little longer, so it's not such a rush.

Not on the table in 10 minutes- but if you do a big pot of mashed potato to have with something at the weekend, then you can produce a fish pie very quickly if you cheat with a pouch of fish pie sauce. Chop up the fish, stir in that sauce, leftover mash on top, 20 minutes in the oven.

But if I were you, I'd batch cook and freeze for the week, or even the fortnight.

I cook a batch of something and then freeze it in portions to take to university. Things I have made lately include:

Bolognaise
Chili
Meatballs
Lentil and bacon soup
Broccoli and Stilton soup
Sausage casserole
Curry

The soup is nice and doesn't take long to heat up. I then have it with bread and some fruit.

We get home about 6.30-7pm. Was just all eat after whenever foods ready, so kids eat 7.30-8pm with us

We either pre make food or have quick meals

Last night : marinated salmon, rice and broccoli ( salmon marinated and frozen before) -20 mins

Night before: chicken grilled, avocados, beetroot, tomatoes, spinach ( 10 mins to grill, everything else just chopped)

Actually I find everything I cook reheats in the microwave, so am not sure what the problem is?

This week we have the following so far
Quinoa, lentils, chicken and mango salad (add dressing just before serving, but the rest are warmed up in microwave)
Mac and cheese
Chicken curry and rice
A baked chicken with salad and rice

All take less than 30min and can be reheated. I have a rice cooker with a timer which I find is the fastest carb to do. Wash and set the timer to 6pm!

And all stir fries reheats well too. Sweet and sour, lemon and general tso's are all favourites of my DC. (They are all pan fried and sweet. They are very predictable).

www.mashdirect.com/everyday-mash

If you want to do things like shepherds/cottage/fish pie then just buy the mash. See above - for a Shepherds pie I mix the potato & swede mash together, for the fish pie just mash.

By mixing in vegetable mash with normal you can sneak in veggies past the DC.

Hte only way it works for me is to batch cook at the weekends.