Family meals when working long days

[Tumbleweed101]

I've recently increased my hours so won't be getting home until about 7pm some nights. I'm a single parent of secondary age children.

I'm looking for ideas for quick but healthy meals, slow cooker type meals and easy prep meals the children could do. I keep resorting to things from the freezer (chips, fish fingers etc) but don't really want to be doing so as often as I have been.

I can cook but it's just another chore after a long, busy day so I don't enjoy it. But I think part of the probably isn't so much making the meal as the planning and thinking about what to make. Gets so tedious day after day!

The children would probably do more if they knew what I wanted done!

Just wondered if anyone had any meal planning ideas and routines too.

Risotto www.recipetineats.com/creamy-lemon-herb-baked-risotto-recipe/
Microwave jambalaya www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/microwave-jambalaya
Naan pizzas realfood.tesco.com/recipes/naan-bread-pizzas.html
Cheats paella www.myfussyeater.com/10-minute-meal-cheats-paella/
Mexican chicken traybake realfood.tesco.com/recipes/smoky-mexican-chicken-traybake.html

Search "dump dinners" on YouTube for meals that can just be dumped into a slow cooker.

Or Batch Lady www.youtube.com/c/TheBatchLady who meals preps 10 chicken dinners and 5 different ones at that.

How old are your children?

Thank you for the links.

The children are 12 and 15. My adult daughter also lives here but she does shift work and doesn't eat at home very much these days.

I would:
Get some tray bake ideas that the kids can prep and shove in the oven before you come home.
Have some ideas that reheat well - I'm usually found making a ragu after dinner once a week, that goes into the fridge at bedtime. It can fairly easily be turned into spag bol, chilli or lasagna.

When I was a teenager my Parents worked full time.
Together we created a family menu board and a rota for being responsible for evening meals. The weekday meals were all put on the meal planner and we chose which one to make. Mum bought the ingredients for the whole week before writing up the planner. The meals were pretty straightforward -chilli/spag bol/ sausage and mash type things. But it taught us all how how prepare and cook edible food -and clean up afterwards.
Stood us in good stead when we went to Uni .

We sometimes do pesto pasta with various bits chucked in, roasted broccoli, peppers, courgette etc, cold chicken, bacon. Basically anything hiding in the fridge. Super quick and easy.

The delivery boxes like hello fresh and gousto are good to get kids cooking. Also things they like to eat like pasta or homemade pizza.

I'd sit down with your family and plan meals for a whole month at a time. Depending on how much variety you like you can repeat the months menus.

I'd do a 3day Hello Fresh sub, then on Sunday eve, prep two dump bags for the slow cooker (chilli or bolognese and a stew of some sort).

The kids can put it on high in the slow cooker as soon as they get in from school, and the Hello Fresh boxes are suitable for teenagers to follow.

I’d probably look at dividing the load up on the week days. You, and both kids are responsible for one day each. If you aren’t in until 7 make your day super simple, either something you can prep in advance and leave in slow cooker or stir fry (pre chopped stirfry veg pack) that is on the table in 10 mins, or fresh pasta and a very simple sauce (batch cooked) or something like lardons, cherry tomatoes and chilli oil or cream cheese and smoked salmon. Then the other 2 week days either have left overs, omelettes, oven pizza etc. Kids get to choose what they cook on their nights. If they want to keep it really simple and do jackets, beans and cheese that’s fine, all that matters is they take their turn in the rota. If they are stuck for ideas brain storm with them. If they need to use cheats like ready chopped veg, curry pastes, micro rice that’s fine. For ideas search for ‘quick and easy’ or student meals.

Quorn swedish meatballs are nice. You cook them in the oven for 15 minutes. We have them with spaghetti and a bit of tomato sauce.

A pressure cooker might be a good investment some are also slow cookers.

Stew in 15 mins etc

I would make each meal for 6 people and freeze portions so the following week you have a choice per day ready prepared

I’m doing a long ass commute while my house completes… I feel you

I like stir fries - millions of varieties, noodles a bit quicker than rice
Gnocci and pesto
Fajitas/quesadillas are quick
Hearty salads (it’s hot this week so doesn’t feel a chore)
Soup, chilli and curry keeps really well for a few days
Falafel salad wraps

Thank you everyone, some lovely ideas for me to consider. Think I need to sit down with the children and have a proper chat with them about it.

But I think part of the probably isn't so much making the meal as the planning and thinking about what to make. Gets so tedious day after day!

I have this conversation with friends SO often! I think it has less to do with meals and is all about all the responsibility of providing nutritious/ balanced/ cost-effective/ interesting food (delete as appropriate) IN ADDITION to everything else we do

Growing up I had a friend whose family had literally the same meal on each day of each week. Now, I can entirely understand why her busy mum did it! Sausages and chips on Weds, shepherds pie on Thurs etc.

But a 3 week rotation sounds about right to me. Lots of ideas upthread- basically get idea on a plan stuck on the fridge and we can all have more brain space for everything else.

I normally cook a load of pasta or rice on the Sunday for the week and then cook different mains to go with the pasta or rice
Normally this could be
Meatballs
Mince
Grilled or poached fish
Tuna (cold with Mayo for pasta and fried with tomato and onion for rice)
Sometimes everyone's happy with toast here or a sandwich or pitta pockets