Morning meal prep

[orangedog31]

hi all - first time poster here!
I'm starting a new job next year which will have later hours then I'm used too. We're normally an early bird family with dinner on the table by about 5:30pm as we're usually up and out of the house by 7ish every morning.
This new job means I wont be able to log off till 6pm every evening (work from home), but will have time in the mornings to do any meal prep.

I'd like to be able to keep dinner as early as possible, so I'm looking for somthing to keep the time as short as possible between when I log off and we eat.

Can anyone help me with meal ideas / recipes or even tools (instant pot, slow cooker, air fryer etc) that can help me either prep most of it, or completely prepare meals in advance, but still taste good?

thanks in advance!

If we are having a late day the slow cooker is a godsend,

Bolognese (which doubles up for lasagne a couple of days later)
Chilli
Jacket Potatoes
Curry
Thai curry
Mince for mince and dumplings

Ours is used at least twice a week.

I also have a list of 30 min meals, I get home with the kids around 5:45 other days and these are great (some nights they ask for just porridge too which helps A LOT)

I use the Roasting Tray cook books a lot.

You can prep ingredients and shove them on to the tray in the morning, then just put them in the oven 30 mins before you want to eat (which won't take more than a minute away from your desk).

thanks both!

This is the kind of stuff we normally eat Mon-Fri:
1-2 fish/seafood meals a week (e.g. battered/grilled fish, seafood marinara, fish pie, fish cakes)
1 egg based (e.g. omelette, fritata, crepes, shakshouka)
1-2 veg dishes (e.g. falafel, veg paella, bean enchiladas/nachos, veg burgers, orzo salads, pasta, jacket potatoes & beansetc)
1 chicken dish (e.g. katsu curry chicken, chicken burgers, roast chicken)
0-1 other meat dish (e.g. sausages, spaghetti bolognese, pies, hamburgers, chilli, gammon)

Unfortunately i most likely wont be able to get away from my desk, even for a minute as I'll be typically in meetings all afternoon with people in a different timezone

And I can see the slow cooker would be usefull for the currys and bolognese, and jacket potatos - any particular slow cookers which are really good/

We have a slow cooker and an airfryer.

Your above meals would work for me like this -
Battered fish in airfryer for 10 mins while sides cook
Fish pie I use the bbc good food recipe and barely takes any time at all (same for fish cakes too)
Omelette/fritatta are quick as they are and are in my 30 min meals list but you could break/whisk the eggs on the morning and keep in the fridge until later
Roast chicken can slow cook all day, chicken burgers go in the airfryer
Toad in the hole is another quick one I can prep on a morning and throw in the oven for 30 mins while veg cooks

Mary Berry’s express lasagne can be made up to a day before and only takes 30mins in the oven. www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/express_lasagne_51375
You could chop the veg and meat for a stir fry. Use straight-to-wok noodles to speed up the cooking process.
Halloumi burgers require very little cooking time.
Tuna burgers can be kept in the fridge and don’t take very long to grill at all.
Salmon fried rice

Slow cooker for sure, I've three, 6ltr from aldi which is at least 15 years old and is brilliant, 3.5 sear and stew from morphy Richards which cooker hotter because its a metal pot, you just need to watch it a little til your used to it, 1.5ltr from Lidl that I use for desserts mainly, rice pudding is delicious from it. Good luck and well done on the new job.

Thanks all - those recipes look amazing!

Are their any combo machines out there that do it all - slow cook & air fry?

I think popping into the kitchen to put a tray in the oven takes no more time than popping to the loo between meetings so I think you should reconsider the tray bake thing. Also, not sure who else is in the house but if you do the prep, surely someone else could put a tray in the oven at 5pm? DH doesn't cook AT all but will quite often put things in the oven/take them out etc as per my instructions.

Many pasta sauces can be made in the morning and then just heated up and added to fresh cooked pasta.

For fish meals, salmon parcels with steamed veg and rice can be prepped in the morning and cooked in less than 20 minutes in the oven (fish) and stove top (rice and veg)

Yes re slow cooker.

Some instant/convenience foods can be helpful eg packets of rice that just have to be microwaved or rice noodles that just have to be rehydrated. Allows you to cook something super quick like a fried piece of fish or meat or chicken without waiting for the carbs to be cooked.

Favourite quick curry/noodle recipe that takes about 15 minutes for us is:

Thai red curry paste in a saucepan to sizzle for a bit. Add a little extra chopped ginger/garlic/coriander/lemongrass based on what you have in the house. Add tin coconut milk and bring to a simmer. Add handful of chopped tomatoes and a selection of easy cook vegetables sliced (baby corn, mange tout, tenderstem broccoli are our preferences but you could put cubed butternut/sweet potato, cauliflower etc). Simmer until veg are cooked.

Meanwhile, steam chicken breasts - I slice big breasts in half horizontally for quicker/more even cooking. And prepare rice noodles by soaking in boiling water.

Once veg are cooked, shred chicken and add to curry. Add, to taste, a generous squeeze of lime juice, a teaspoon of brown sugar and approx teaspoon of fish sauce. Stir. Add noodles. eat.

You could invest in something like a Ninja Foodi which does multiple functions- mine air fries, slow cooks and has a pressure cook function so all really useful when time is limited.