Family dinner or quickie tea?

[Cheeseballer]

I'm struggling with mealtimes at the moment. I like the idea of having family dinner every night where we sit at the table together as a family and eat the same food; a home cooked meal from scratch.
However, we also have clubs and activities booked for 3 nights of the week and I work late another night. This means there's never enough time to cook properly as by the time we are home from clubs and activities, we end up having something like beans on toast or sandwiches.
Just wondered what sort of thing everyone else does? It seems like it's one or the other, I can't find any middle ground.

On the days you don’t have things, or at the weekend, could you batch cook? That’s what we’ve always done. The nights we are cooking from scratch we just make double amounts & then put portions in the freezer so there is always a meal to eat.
Failing that something simple like seasoned salmon fillets in the oven, microwave jacket pots for 7 mins then put them in the oven for 10 to finish off with the salmon, pour boiling water over mange tout & it’s a quick simple meal.
Chicken & noodles with hoisin sauce & a little bag of fresh veg mixed through takes 10 mins.
There is nothing wrong with beans on toast though.

Slow cooker! Life has calmed a little for us as I wfh a lot now but a few years ago when we had so much going on I'd put the slow cooker on in the morning and we could all eat a fresh home cooked meal together without lengthy prep time after a busy day.

I also batch cook and have meals ready to warm up at all times. I just cook when I have time and freeze it, then take it out to defrost before work. When I get home, it's ready to warm up.

You could also put stuff in a slow cooker in the morn and it's ready when you get back.

Fajitas - wraps, some chicken (you can even buy precooked), salad, some Nando’s hot sauce, and grated cheese. Put in bowls and everyone helps themselves.

Wrap pizza - marinara sauce, some mozzarella and some toppings on top of a wrap . Pop in the oven for 5 or 6 minutes. Job done.

Fresh pasta with a fresh pasta sauce. Cooks in 5 minutes. Throw in some ham and olives.

Tin of chickpeas, tin of potatoes, tablespoon or two of Pataks curry paste, bottle of passata - any frozen veg like onions or peppers. Chuck it all together and cook until warmed through. Serve with rice or a naan.

Fish finger sandwiches with air fryer frozen fries.

Batch cooking / freezer is your friend. I've got loads of spag bol / stew in there which is quick to reheat.

Sometimes we have something quick like hot dogs with loads of veggies / tacos / a big salad. Nothing wrong with eggs on toast / omelette / stir fry etc. nothing wrong with sandwiches either but to make that more of a shared dining experience I just get loads of stuff out of the fridge (ham / cheese / hummus / carrots / cucumber / fruit etc etc) and put it on the table with a big crusty loaf / baguette and everyone helps themselves to what they want. You could jazz it up with more exciting cold meats / chicken / crudités etc.

Another thing I sometimes do is use the timer on the oven so it cooks while I'm out and there's hot food waiting when we get home! (Ie programme temp / start cooking / end cooking times) if you don't know how there's probably a walk through on you tube! Obviously you have to place the food inside the oven before you leave the house.

We have a proper family dinner every night. Helps that I wfh but also that dh does the majority of the cooking. He’s usually home by 5:30, starts cooking maybe around 6.
our dc are older, youngest is 11, his clubs are all finished by 6:30 on the days that he does them so no one is out late for clubs now. We eat at about 8/8:30.

Ahh thank you so much, so many great ideas here! I think we may have to think about getting a microwave or slow cooker to make things easier 🤔

I stopped obsessively forcing everyone to sit round the dinner table. It's a nice idea and there absolutely are days when we do it, but it often is impractical and just adds to our stress because we're all rushing around doing different activities at different times.

I think an hour over the weekend would be useful. Loads of tupperware. I really think that’s the secret. And some time making the decisions. Both when doing your shopping list and then in your prep hour.

Plan your meals and recipes. At least get your ingredients chopped and together. Then it’s a matter of throwing everything into your slow cooker or whatever. But, at the end of a busy day, facing a fridge full of food that needs to be decided, chopped up and then cooked is a pain.