Super fast meal ideas to avoid buying a takeaway

[People1pleaser]

We seem to be running out of time to cook at the moment with small hungry children and getting delayed with after school clubs/unexpected traffic etc and have ended up with both McDonald's and chip shop in one week! I need some ideas for nights when this happens to avoid takeaway. The only super fast meal I can think of is Greek salad which is no good as the kids hate it and a frozen pizza which is no good as the kids both have cows milk intolerance. Any ideas anyone?

On busy nights I used to boil the kettle then pour it over some new potatoes in my biggest pan, after 5 mins add chopped carrots and after another 5mins add broccoli florets and frozen peas. The whole lot takes less than 15mins.
Serve the veg with any old crap ready bought pasties, fish fingers, pan fried meat (like steak), sausages etc. It's still got to be better than the chippy and there will be only one pan to wash up.
Fruit and yoghurt for pudding.

Here's a 5-10 minute meal from Slimming World - Mushy Pea Curry. We all love it here. Get the tins out ready by the hob either the night before or in the morning before school.

Serves 4

2 tins of mushy peas
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
1 tin of baked beans
Onion – chopped
Garlic
Mushrooms – sliced (optional - mine don't like mushrooms)
Curry powder

Method

Fry onion & garlic in fry light (or oil if not dieting), then add mushrooms (or not!).
When cooked, add mushy peas, baked beans, chopped tomatoes and curry powder to taste.
Heat then serve with cooked rice. Delicious and takes 5-10 minutes.

EPRS - how do you do your minestrone. Mine takes hours!

There are some good meal suggestions up there.

You mention after school clubs so I am guessing the kids are 6+. Start by sorting out the "snacks" so they are like a pack of wolves by the time you get home. Bananas and flapjacks or cereal bars ought to help fill them up. If they are doing active things a bit of malt loaf isn't a disaster. All of this will survive a stint in a car for the day.

At home whilst cooking maybe give them a few carrots sticks or cherry tomatoes or a handful of nuts. A glass of milk (or whatever dairy sub the DC have) is also quite filling.

Assuming you have a freezer, it is always useful to have frozen peas, sweetcorn, french beans and chopped spinach. They defrost very quickly and can be thrown into pasta/omelettes/sauces. Freeze tomato sauce/passata into big ice cube-sized portions (check flavour as some brands are a bit bitter and benefit from a (tiny!) bit of sugar or honey. A silicone mini muffin tray is brilliant for this if you have one.

Buy or make your own meatballs in quantity and freeze in portions (be it 1,2,3), The same with soup, bolognese, casseroles. (pop in the fridge the night before or possibly in the morning). Plastic takeaway containers are brilliant for this (and it sounds as if you might collect a few with 2 takeaways/week).

Hope you find something that works because mealtimes ought to be enjoyable for all, not a chore.

Have the cooked meal at school/work and have sandwiches in the evening?

"Baked potatoes are good...5 mins each side in the microwave"

I think you can just cook for 5 minutes, then leave in the microwave for another 5 mins without the microwave being on.

I use slow cooker for this reason...
ds favourite is meatballs (its tuesday must be meatballs!) no browning required can either prep night before (cut up leek or onion +garlic is only prep)

1or 2 chopped leeks or onions depending on what you have couple garlic cloves if you want.
1 packet 'fresh meatballs' - all supermarkets do them - slight preference for the waitrose aberdeen angus but all have been fine these can be cooked from frozen so often buy 3 packs at a time when on offer, use 1 other 2 in freezer...
1 very generous shake oregano/mixed herbs (approx 1tbsp)
1 tin chop tomatoes/carton passata
1/2 tin of water -
pepper to taste - I dont add salt as will be in the meatballs
put lid on - done
have with pasta/rice/bread depending on speed of meal needed.

I feed ds and sometimes decant a portion for the next days lunch then add some spicy sauce for us

One v quick and easy thing my dds used to love - and I still make it now and then - is a tuna/pasta thing.

One tin of tuna, drained and flaked, mixed with one tin of condensed mushroom soup, do NOT dilute.
Mix all that with cooked pasta, and serve with frozen peas.

I thought it sounded a very weird mix before I tried it, but it's very tasty.

the gammon in slow cooker is also fab and can do a few onward meals too..
so filling for wraps
in stir fry
instead of bacon in a carbonara type pasta dish
if they will eat pasta pesto i always chuck some spinach (when not rationed :) and or peas in as well -cherry tomatoes chopped also go really well mixed in

greek yoghurt pancakes good and filling and quick as doesn't have to stand...can have with bacon/eggs/bananas /avocado whatever sides

oh forgot for the meatballs also add generous squirt of tomato ketchup or sundried tomato puree /normal tomato puree....however if use puree rather than ketchup add a generous pinch of sugar (any type) as I think brings out the flavour of tomato

We are in a similar situation on 4 of our weeknights:

• Soup night (get part-baked baguettes - they take 10 mins in oven and make the meal nicer)
• Egg night - omelette, pached egg & microwave chips, scrambled with toast, etc
• Slow cooker night - in which I cook at least double portions and serve again later in the week. Top ideas are chilli / bolognese type things - serve in wraps, or with microwave rice, or with Jackets, and you can put loads of veg/lentils in to it.

I would recommend the Instant Pot. You can cook multiple dishes at the same time. Mac and cheese wit a side of veg, baked potatoes, cheese toast with pesto and veg, tagine all really quick and easy to make.

Grill some 100% lean beef burgers. Put in wholemeal buns and serve with carrot sticks, cucumber, sliced tomatoes and iceberg lettuce.
Total prep time 10 mins.

Chop up chicken breasts, add a jar of mild curry sauce and two heaped mugs full of frozen mixed veg. Cook rice or heat naan in microwave.
Maximum prep time 15 mins.

Cheese on toast with baked beans and a homemade banana milkshake on the side. (Just whizz up a ripe banana with 200ml of milk and a tiny drop of vanilla essence using a hand blender. Takes seconds.)

I never brown meat before I put it in the slow cooker and it's fine. I do mince, chicken, gammon, sausage casserole then just microwave baked potato or cook some pasta and your done. I also do chicken soup. Just chuck it all in and leave it. It won't burn and if it needs thickening up it's easy to do.
You can do lasagne in the slow cooker too but you do need to brown the mince off for that one.

UnicornButtPlug yes to picnic dinner! DC's favourite meal is what we call 'snacky dinner':
Canned pasta shapes (rather sugar-loaded but doesn't have them every day)
Tortilla wrap with ham/salami, apple and cheese (can easily do cheese-free)
Cut up fresh vegetables (usual suspects are carrot, cucumber, pepper, and sugar snap peas)

Done. Happy child, fast meal. DH and I then usually eat later once DC is in bed, giving us more time to prepare something.

People1Pleaser get yourself a slow cooker. Bloody amazing. You probably won't use it in the summer, but can eat a bunch of salads then anyways. Turkey cooks fast in stir-fry, as does tofu. You can get packs of ready-prepared vegetables for stir-fries too, which save a heck of a lot of time.

Spaghetti bolognese is quick too. We use some soffretto mix (chopped onion, garlic, celery and tomato, can buy fresh or frozen), minced meat or quorn, then 1 jar of store-bought sauce mixed with either a can of crushed tomatoes or diced tomatoes. Doesn't take long to cook and there are often leftovers. For added vitamin intake, grate some carrots, parsnips, beetroot and courgette once the meat has browned.

Tuna pasta bake is quick too. Don't bother cooking it - once the sauce and pasta are done, mix them together then shove it under the grill to brown it off. There are nice recipes online for tomato-based ones too.

Home-made pizzas. Get some pizza bases (we use Warburton's GF wraps), shove some tomato paste on them, then add whatever toppings you want. I guess the no cheese doesn't help here. Can you have vegetarian cheese?

Pasta salad is also a winner. Can put anything in it (we usually do tuna, sun-dried tomatoes, cucumber, cherry tomatoes and pepper, but you can put anything it it).

Another trick, if you can bothered, is to prep vegetables the night before so when it comes to cooking on a time limit the next day, they are all ready. I often find that prep takes quite a long time, especially with a DC running around and wanting attention.

BBC have a page on speedy suppers: www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/collection/under-20-minutes

Great thread.

I've recently come across the idea of freezing slowcooker ingredients in advance (basically big freezer bag with the chopped veg and meat etc prepped ahead of time, defrost night before and bung in slow cooker in the morning) Has anyone tried this? I'm wondering if the veg wouldn't go mushy?

Pita bread pizzas

Spread tomato purée on pita
Great cheese on top
Add toppings ( I like mushrooms, peppers and sweetcorn)

Peanut that sounds so weird, but I kind of want to try it

I find that veg goes a bit mushy when in with mince anyway as I'll leave it in for about 8 hours. It works for me though as the kids don't really notice it and will eat it

Put piles of veg in the slow cooker. No need to brown meat, I throw joints of beef in mine & even the toughest of meats come out tender.

I cook up batches of minced beef every so often & freeze them, just add potato for cottage pie, & a different sauce mix (jars) for bolognaise, & do rice for chilli.

Do some curry with the fajitas.

The minestrone recipe is an amalgamation of the quick ones on the bbcgoodfood website. I put baked beans in my last one - which is a bit of a cheat!

Look at helloglow.co/slow-cooker-freezer-meals/ for ideas for prepare-ahead slow cooker meals - you do the prep whenever you have time and freeze in bags, then just put the lot in the slow cooker on the day you want it.

I remember enjoying the Heart-healthy Platters years ago in the US and have used them again since as so quick and tasty. Based on a good scoop of cottage cheese plus half a large peach (tinned is fine), almost anything in the salad and/or fruit or veg line can be added to the plate and works well - good with rice salad, potato salad or really any left-overs diced or sliced and mixed with mayo or salsa to individual tastes.
Not really cooking, but a quick and healthy meal.

UnicornButtplug

I misread the last line of your suggestions as "Wasps" 😂

Slow cooker: you don't have to brown the meat! I have a good book called Slow cooked by Miss South with lots of nice recipes in. I like a sausage casserol