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....

Potato waffle, poached egg and beans - yum

Jacket potato... different fillings

Beans on toast

Frozen food ie chicken nuggets and veg

Home made hummous and pitta

Jam on toast

Lazy packet ready made rice and tuna or tinned mackerel

Ready made soup and bread

Pasta. Every time

I have a bag in the freezer of little veggie omelettes (batch-cooked in a muffin tray). I’ve recently also started buying the frozen veggie cakes (the ones that look like blond hockey pucks) from ikea.

I call them, perhaps optimistically, ‘astronaut food’. They look a bit on the plate, but are healthy and tasty and super-quick.

In a similar vein, I heard yesterday about ‘train smash’ tomatoes. Layered slices of toms and red onion (maybe 4 high) topped with breadcrumbs, seasoning and baked. Very forgiving with cooking times, and reheatable. Might try those in a muffin tin and frozen, too.

My go-to non-veggie quick meal is a tin of chickpeas, tin of tuna in oil, chopped tomato, any green leaves I can find (parsley, kale, spinach, etc). Tip in a bowl, drizzle of oil, done. But I know not all kids go for those flavours. And it is a bit summery.

jacket with beans and cheese.or another filling.
sausages,form of beans.small jar of tom sauce for sausage and bean bake with some rice.a few potoatos or jacket.
pan some tomatos peppers and some white beans or chickpeas with red onion and garlic.have with rice,couscous jacket or on toast
a bit of rice cooked in turmeric watee then mix through some pease and carrots
naan pizza
pastry pizza slice
enchilas for one.so just cook down some onions,onions peppers.tomatos,corn,courgette,black beans other other legume if you like.spread on a few tortilla,poour over more tom sauce,crumble or grate on some cheddar or feta cook.yum
stuffed sweet potato
stuffed peppers
soup

Skittlesandbeer
my mum does this for the grand kids.cooks everything in muffin trays.shephard pie.veggie tartlette.spag bolls.lasagne.omelette.mac and cheese.pies.bacaon and eggs and beans.they constantly ask when arriving "we have muffin tin tea tonight"!

Quick Soup, my favourite 15 min recipe is a tin of tomatoes, tin of butter beans, half a stock cube and ¾ tomato tin of hot water, couple of carrots cut into chunks, garlic, basil. On the hob for 15 mins, mash a few butterbeans. Parmesan and bread.

If a main meal (meat and 2 veg) are not required, beans on cheese on toast is very yummy, filling and nutritious.

Spicy scrambled eggs.

Little bit of chopped ginger, garlic and chilli plus some chopped tomato or peppers. Fry in a little oil til soft. Then swirl through a couple of eggs. Serve with some salad or chopped herbs, plus some toast or a chapati. Really quick, especially if you cook a lot of curries and keep ginger/garlic/chilli pastes in the fridge.

microwaved jacket sweet potatoes with pesto and mushroom sauce

stir fry veg with peas, soya beans and ready cooked noodles

veg chilli with mixed beans, peppers, sweetcorn with microwave rice
(I used vege mince and batch cook/freeze

Handful of sliced mushrooms, fried with onions (and garlic if liked), handful of frozen peas. Add a dollop of creme fraiche and stir through. Black pepper to taste
Serve on toast/in jacket spuds

Omelette. With cheese and ham for us, but you could do veggies in it instead.

We do 'picky food' which is anything you can pick at and really can be whatever's kicking around so cold meats or salmon, cheese, crudités, hummus, bread or crackers, it's probably my DDs favourite type of meal.

Wraps
Toasties
Jacket potatoes
Things on toast