Fed up of making lunch during lockdown

[NeurologicallySpeaking]

Right then I need some help as am tearing my hair out here.

I am so so fed up of preparing meals 3 x a day. I love cooking but the prep, clear up etc is taking up all my time!

Can anyone help with some easy lunch ideas at least as usually we would all be out for that and it's driving me round the bend having to think about it.

DH- eats anything apart from fish
Me- eats anything but trying to do lowish carb/high protein Med style foods
DD- eats anything apart from sandwiches (I know )
Baby- weaning. Nearly 8 months.

Today I made a very basic sweet corn chowder for the baby as she hasn't tried sweet corn yet. Pasta for DH and DD. Salmon with greens for me. Then yoghurt with fruit purée for dessert. I feel like a chef.

Everyday winter lunch here is soup, crackers and cheese with fruit, or leftovers pinged in the microwave.

Cauliflower cheese with ham and salad
Cottage/shepherd's pie with green veg extra
3 minute noodles with side of Chinese beef strips with carrot and broccoli garlic ginger soy
Chicken stew with potatoes carrots celery all in one
Baked potatoes with carrot salad, ham, sweetcorn
Pasta with pesto, tomato salad, grated cheese

It is often cheaper and quicker to have preprepared hot dishes like stew or pasta and baked potatoes, baked dishes as they can be doubled up and use cheaper ingredients than deli food

I'm pretty much having soup every week day lunch

Let DH take a turn in making lunch/dinner.

I couldn't handle making a proper lunch every day for all of us. On top of everything else!

Today baby (similar age) had an Ella's pouch and some veg sticks to munch / lick. Half a banana.

Young DC had veg sticks, humus and flat bread. The other half of the banana.

I had the same.

DH made a sandwich.

Most days we all have beans on toast / cheese of toast / soup

I love cooking but I'm so bloody over food this last 11 months.

Our lunches this week aren't very small child friendly - Monday was leftover pizza from Sunday, yesterday was Itsu pot noodles and today was gyoza and bao buns. We never have a proper meal at lunchtime, as we eat our main meal for dinner.

I have been feeling the constant meal prep fatigue too.
We have gone for convenience at lunchtime for now. Oven pizzas, pork pies, smoked mackerel, Mugshots, packet noodles, frozen gyoza etc, or sometimes leftovers. Always served with chopped veg (and sometimes coleslaw) plus fruit. Occasionally I make sandwiches, but we have bread at breakfast so I try to avoid it where possible. It's not the healthiest of lunches, but it's no worse than DCs would be eating at school and both breakfast and dinner tend to be pretty healthy.
Today's lunch was colcannon jacket potatoes (last night's leftovers), vegetable gyozas, slices of red pepper, and an apple. Yesterday was veggie cocktail sausages, cheese straws, small wedge of stilton (DCs are obsessed), cucumber, carrot sticks, and half a navel orange. Minimal effort, everyone's full, nobody's moaning!

For the baby, I would be saving a portion of dinner from the night before and reheating it. They would also get the same fruit and veg I was chopping up fresh for everyone else. When DCs were babies, I always added the salt and hot sauce/chilli once their portion was taken out so they ate the same meals as us from the get go - would this be an option? My DCs wouldn't have cared having the same meal for dinner and the following lunch at that age.

I don't do lunch or breakfast. I'd obviously feed the baby but your Dh can at least do lunch. Mine are 8 now and make their own, Dh knows now if he ever says 'what can I have for lunch' again I will thump him.

I am also so fed up with cooking... I also have children who don’t eat sandwiches 🙄.
I am a very “cook from scratch” person and usually enjoy cooking but I have found some cheats that help so lunch can be a little easier.
Noodle soup- I just add green beans, peas, corn any vegetables to the package ones.
Pizza on tortilla. Tomato purée, ready grated mozzarella and ham.
Egg fried rice ( from leftover rice from the night before) add eggs, peas,
Sausages or similar with ready made mashed potatoes
I am also trying to loose weight so all the cooking is even less fun! for myself I make a salad with egg or tuna and a salad sauce I make a big jar and keep in the fridge. usually but kids/husband eat the same. It is a ridiculous amount of cooking right now!

Thank you for all the responses - had a crazy evening and only just seen how many helpful ideas are here!

To defend DH- he also enjoys cooking a lot but his work is mad as we are about to swap - I'm finishing mat leave and returning to work and he's taking a long period of parental leave so this last few weeks he barely has time to breathe while he finishes up before the roles swap and he gets to think about all this every day!

Also if he doesn't have to spend time making lunch, he uses the rest of his lunch break to take the baby for a walk to give me some time off which I prefer! She's a lovely little thing but going through a demanding phase added to having older DD at home to home school!

Pouch of whole meal rice, garlic, cherry tomatoes. Fry in a little oil fir 5 minutes. Add
a green veg if you have anything quick like spinach..

Add a whole egg per person and put on a lid fir a few minutes. Serve.

It’s a bit dull, but we’ve always just cooked extra dinner the evening before if one or both of us are going to be WFH the next day. Lunch is leftovers from the previous day or the DC (aged 10 and 12) can make themselves something.

Whenever I make anything like pasta sauces, chilli, casserole etc I always make extra so there's leftovers next day if anyone wants any, this could be useful for the kids. Same with soup, I'll make a huge pot that can do several lunchtimes (I also freeze it) Adults just sort themselves out and the most adventurous anyone gets is a chicken wrap or a toastie. Why are you cooking actual meals at lunch? Can't your DH make that his job since you do the evening meal?

I make big soups, baguette type sandwiches with crisps, yesterday macaroni cheese, today heinz tomato soup and toasted cheese. Im doing 16.8 so make myself something at 12 and eat it in blessed peace before three teens finish online education.

Sometimes I buy a pizza or those packs of pasta and pesto salad. Halloumi or chicken wraps. Very occasionally fish fingers and cheesy chips if dd3 has done a lot of sport in the morning and is starving.

And I'm currently on furlough and enjoy cooking.

@visitorfromtheplanetzog

Get your DH to make lunch sometimes.

Since he started wfh last year my dh has decided that all cooking responsibilities are his!!

I am now chief bottle washer!!

Some days I just dip pita bread and carrot sticks in hummus or with a stick if cheese and a mini kabanos.

Quiche and salad

Pasta parcels sauce garlic bread salad (1 pack between 4 makes a decent lunch)

Dh makes us cheese and ham toastie

Remnants of previous meals, potluck. Today the kuds will have chicken egg fried rice left over from yesterday and I will have pita

I make a soup it does 1 lunch for 4, one dinner for 4 and then leftovers for 1 or 2 which I freeze.

Salad with various things Mon day was smoked salmon and booked egg, th likes egg and avocado and tomato

Got some bagels so going to do those with cheese and ham. Bought the convenience slices to make it easy, will put plenty of salad on too. I think I will have this today.

Baked potatoes with cheese or coleslaw.

Pizza with salad (1 small pizza between 4 maybe a garlic bread to share or mushrooms )

Oh yes wraps done like a burrito with those packet rice spicy, or just wraps. Kids love those

Kids also love quesadillas. 10yo can make them for him and brother.

Just one more idea - I know a mum whose kids won’t eat sandwiches but they will eat crackers so she makes “sandwiches” out of crackers. I think she uses ryvita but I’ve also seen sandwich thins which would work.

DC basically alternate between filled pasta and sandwiches (cheese for one, peanut butter and jam for the other). Sometimes we do what DS1 calls "the big plate where we all choose" with cold meat, cheese, crackers etc. DH and I often have soup or a salad, or something on toast.