What do you cook if you just need a quick meal for one child?

[dameofdilemma]

Mostly I cook meals for all three of us but occasionally, on Fridays especially, I'm just cooking for dd (e.g. If dp and I are going out and we don't need left overs for next day etc).

What's your best 'just for one kid' recipe that doesn't involve meat (we don't eat it) or fish (dd has it for lunch on Fridays at school) or cheese or pasta (dd eats too much of both at school!)?

Normally I cook veggie/pulses curries or chilli or fajitas etc but all don't lend themselves easily to cooking a small amount....

Sausages, burgers, hot dogs (vege in your case) or picnic tea - sandwich crisps cherry toms cucumber yoghurt biscuit or cake or pasta from the freezer

Omlettes are quick, or some kind of veggie sausage/patty/nugget with veg and some kind of oven carb product! Veggie sausage in batter (toad in the hole)?

Agree that it might be easier to freeze a small portion of something earlier on and reheat though. Veggie lasagne-type bake (although that's pasta again really).

Pasta, peas & pesto here

Scrambled egg on toast.

Egg and soldiers.

Ploughman’s - cheese / ham / nuts, bread, salad bits, an apple.

French toast with fruit
Cheese on toast with salad
Pizza and salad

Pasta with pesto and cheese, served with tomatoes or some other form of vegetable that won't get chucked across the room

Yy to ready made quiche here too

Jacket potato
Pasta with veggies and tomato sauce
Scrambled egg on toast
Stir fry (packet of stir fry veg and noodles, soy sauce)
Sausage and mash
Pasta pesto

Our quick meal for kids are:
Beans on toast
Omelette
Cheese on toast or oatcakes
Houmous on pitta bread with salad
Pesto, pasta and peas
Fish fingers, peas and chips
Sausages, beans and chips

I think you have to not worry about the odd day with lots of cheese or pasta although I can understand your frustration with the limitted offerings at school. Are packed lunches an option for you or would that limit her diet too much?

Pesto pasta with cheese

A small pizza or ready meal is perfect for these occasions, freezer food is also handy. From scratch an omelette, is my go to for veggie dd, but to be honest the number of times we went out without our DD's before they could stay home alone can be counted on my fingers!!! I thus rarely cooked for just them so fine to feed treats.

Thanks all - I should have said that mon-thurs I don't cook for dd at all as dp and I are at work, our babysitter cooks but time is short as dd has activities after school. So feel like we've used up our quick meal ideas mon-thurs (egg, pasta, homemade soup that I freeze in portions, Pitta bread pizza etc).

Guess I feel a bit guilty for not cooking properly come Friday. Our freezer is tiny too.
Think will do stir fry veg and packet rice. Dd is the only child in the world who refuses jacket potatoes!

School lunches are ok, I think it's since dd has stopped eating meat that it's got a bit too pasta/cheese based.

Forgot to say if I was you I'd keep a frozen stock of snacky foods like samosas or falafel to defrost quickly and have with a bit of salad.

To all the people saying jacket potatoes, how can I cook them quickly? They are obviously easy, but take ages to bake! Am I missing a trick here?

My go-to quick dinners are

veggie pasta - diced carrot, onion, courgette sautéed in butter, add a couple of skinned tomatoes also diced, a couple of Tbsp of double cream and Parmesan cheese, fresh basil if I've got it (an annabel karmel one)

Broccoli salmon cream pasta (another annabel karmel!)

egg fried rice using one of those microwave pasta pouches for the rice, lots of peas

Tomatoes and cheese on toast, cut up cucumbers/peppers/sugar snaps on the side

Scrambled eggs with spinach and smoked salmon on toast

Bake the potatoes in advance, then blast in the microwave (in a bowl with a plate on top, plus a drop of water so it doesn’t dry up).

Iv always done mine in the microwave from scratch.. 🤷‍♀️ ten mins.. done

The frozen jacket potatoes are excellent. Cook from frozen in 3 or 4 minutes in the microwave.perfect!

Eggs
Scrambled/boiled/fried/omelette depending on which child I’m feeding him

Didn’t mean to add ‘him’ on the end there...

For DD1 it would be two scrambled egg and spinach muffins. For DD2 it would be lemon linguine or possibly Caesar salad with grilled halloumi.

Pasta pesto
Jacket with beans
Beans/mushrooms on toast
Veggie sausage sandwich
Cheese on toast
Frozen wedges and salsa (wedges cooked obviously)
Hummous with pitta and carrot sticks

Veggie chilli with rice
Pasta with pesto & peas
Beans on toast

Do you and DH eat when you get home? In which case can you save a portion from the night before for your DD?

I'm another with a child who doesn't like baked potatoes. In fact DS isn't keen on most kinds of potato (including chips).

After all that looks like will be cooking for four kids instead ha!
Will be chicken or fish fingers or veggie sausages (to cater for all) with potatoes and veg. While I try to keep sane.

A baked potato is 5 minutes in the microwave. The skin is nicer if you finish it off for 20 minutes in the oven, but it's perfectly fine from the microwave.

I've started using those microwaved rice packages (75p in Aldi) and using easy garlic and ginger, a couple of spring onions, a couple of eggs and a handful of frozen peas and a splash of soy to make a quick meal for me and DS.

Otherwise he likes a Spanish omelet, beans on toast or is perfectly happy with a mixed plate of everything nice in the fridge.

Always pasta pesto but you said no pasta so egg fried rice with peas and sweet corn is a staple here!

DD is 7 and her meal of choice when she refuses what everyone else is eating is a tin of sardines, bread and butter and frozen peas, all on their own separate plates. Weird but fairly healthy and thrown together in under 90seconds