Toddler ideas

[rattlinbog]

DH and I both work full time 5 days a week and I'm currently pregnant as well. DH cooks us adults Gousto meals in the evening which are the perfect portion size so no left overs either. I'm always shattered by 5.30 when we get home from nursery and want to play with my son as he is desperate to play with me. No kitchen-diner set up atm so if I'm preparing food he's on his own upstairs.
I find myself relying on Little Dish meals a lot which are fine but would love some ideas for quick tea ideas for toddlers. Also anything that successfully batch cooks and freezes as I find so much that it just doesn't reheat well. Many thanks!

I make a huge batch of spag bol at the weekend and halve it, make one half into chilli. And then back up the bol and the chilli into freezer bags and pop in freezer. (I also make it in the slow cooker so once it’s on I can get on with making:

home made fish fingers in shredding coconut (again, I buy more than needed and put most in the freezer to pull out quickly and cook from frozen)

sausage and bean casserole (grill off sausages, chop up and add to pan of chopped onion garlic tin of chopped toms and tin of mixed beans in spicy/taco sauce. Half and put half in freezer for next time

basically anything I make I buy enough to make at least 3 meals for the 3 of us at once and shove the rest in the freezer. Other things include: curries, boursan chicken, shepherds pie, meat balls, vegi tomatoe sauce (to add bacon and pour over pasta).

we don’t do separate toddler meals, we all eat together. Other quick meals we do is baked salmon and chips, pitta pizzas, tortellini, fajitas, sweet potato tacos

I recommend the what mummy makes books for family meal ideas that are quick and bulk made/freezer friendly

We don't do separate meals but usually we only need a quick tea on work/childcare nights because she has normally eaten a tea about 4pm there.

Easy things I batch cook and freeze are bean chilli, fajitas (I mix in cream cheese for DD), shepherds pie, cowboy pie, soup, pizza pinwheels. Things I cook fresh that are quick - scrambled egg on toast, quesidillas, stirfry with noodles, pasta pesto. Or even just sandwiches and picnic type bits depending on what kind of thing they eat at childcare earlier in the day.

Pad put your gusto meals. Buy extra rice to top them up? It's so much easier when they eat what you eat

Or cook some pasta and give them a bit of your meal with it

Gnocchi cooks very quickly and I mix it with a bit of tomato sauce, tinned sweetcorn and tinned tuna, or with pesto and chopped cherry tomatoes, or with Boursin and peas.
Eggs (in various ways) make quick teas - scrambled eggs on toast, omelette or these mini frittatas (which take a bit longer but can be frozen). Likewise for these vegetable fritters.
‘Pot’ noodles are another favourite in my house.
Cheesy bean crumpets
Macaroni cheese in a mug
Hidden veggie sausage rolls - can be frozen unbaked and literally a whole meal in itself.

I used to rely on Tilda Kids rice pouches when my kids were little and I'd mix in chopped up chicken or salmon, and use frozen peas to cool down the rice when it was hot coming out of the microwave.

Another standby was a plate with cubes of avocado or cheese, cubes of chicken and chunks of cucumber with a mini naan bread cut into soldiers. Stick in front of them and let them eat with fingers.

Thanks v much!