No motivation- stuck in rut HELP!

[mad4mybaby]

I have ds who is 20 months and can not have dairy, soya and egg. He eats the things he likes well. My dh is normally away mon to fri and im feeling really guilty at the moment because i just cant muster up the energy/motivation to cook a proper decent meal. I go to fridge/larder at 4pm and just go ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh

End up giving ds chips with something about twice a week and the other days spag bol as he loves it. This is so unfair to him and i feel so awful. When ds IS at home it isnt a problem for some reason. I have thought about freezing but dont know what freezes and what doesnt.

Can anyone help me? To add to the problem im also vegetarian and dont eat fish either. What quick nutrious meals can i cook for us?? Also what meals can i freeze to save cooking?

He loves roast, spag bol and rice. So potatoes of any description, meat, veg. He quite likes pasta but im always doing tom sauce dishes. He is currently on goat formula and can not have any cheese of anysort - not even goats so im really restricted. Any help i'll be greatful!!

What about sweet and sour wih rice? it's sweet enough for kids and can sneak loads of veg in with chicken (or have totally veggie)

Or what about a stew? Again, with meat or without. Just bung it all in the oven and go out for a couple of hours!

I second the stew idea, you can make a really lovely stew with potatoes, veg etc in a stock and tinned tomato base really simply - I always put chicken in - but it freezes really well and my 2 year old fussy eater laps it up. If you freeze it in individual portions you can just bung it in the microwave and bish, bash, bosh a nutritious meal really quickly.

Also a very mild curry? Can he eat coconut milk? You could make a lovely creamy vegetable curry and freeze it.

Veg rissoles? Basically veg mixed into mashed potato and fried up. Simple and can be frozen. Can easily add fish to these to make yummy fish cakes.

Try not to get too stressed tho, my dd usually eats tomatoes, avocado, crackers and cheese, and not much else. I try to expand her repertoire but she is pretty conservative.

Good luck x

Some of my menu planning meals that might work:

Spaghetti Bolognese
Shepherds Pie
Burgers
Chili
Meatloaf
Meatballs
Sausage Casserole
Spicy sausage casserole with potato or celeriac mash
Spicy Sausage with Penne
Bangers & Mash
Beef in Beer Casserole
Goulash
Steak Sarnies
Stew
Chicken Curry
Roast Chicken
Chicken Casserole
Fajitas
Kebabs
Chicken goujons/ nuggets
chicken parcels wrapped in parma ham
Chicekn Kiev
Tuna Pasta Bake
Coley/ white fish with cherry tom, capers and black olive topping.
Kedgeree
Salmon with Leek & Courgettes
Salmon fillets baked in the oven with sweet potato chips
Seared Tuna
Grilled White Fish
Fishfingers
Haddock w/ fennel butter
Prawn Curry
Thai Pasta with Shrimp (Spaghetti, ½ can coconut milk, curry powder)
linguine with prawns and garlic
Scampi

Veg-based
Veggie Bake
Sweet potato & chick pea curry
Baked spuds
Spicy Roasted Veg
Veggie/ Allotment Pie
Stuffed Peppers
Stewed Okra w/ tomatoes
Baba Ganoush
Stir Fry

Pasta
Tortellini w/Pesto
Tagliatelle w/ Veg ribbons

Rice/ pulses/ grains
Risotto
Couscous with spicy chickpeas & veg
Dahl & rice
Red Beans and Rice
Lentil Stew
Lentil Shepherds Pie
Spiced Lentils
Quinoa w/ avocado and mango
Quinoa in coconut milk

Pies/ pizza/ Tarts/ wraps/ sarnies
Leek & onion tart
roast veg wraps with hummus and beans
Vegetable Tart
Toasties

Burritos

Soup
Veg Soup
Tomato & Lentil
Onion
Winter squash (Roast pumpkin/ Butternut & onion)
Mushroom
Spicy Carrot
Pea and bacon soup
Borscht
Carrot and sweet potato
Pumpkin & Red Pepper
Tortellini Soup (w/ escarole/ spinach)
Tomato Veg soup
Split pea and ham

cor what a list!

i think you need to work around about 8 key recipes, and make sure you've got the stuff in stock (ie have that list when you shop/online shopping)...maybe on sunday make a big stew and freeze it for later in the week in smaller portions ( ithink you can freeze most stuff - but need to eat once defrosted and not refreeze again).

have a look online at delias recipes - her new how to cheat book - or nigel slater real fast food or ainsley harriots meals in minutes.

if you just google the ingredients you have though you often come up with something nice - for example i just googled "prawns pasta recipe" and it came up with this which was really yummy.
www.martins-seafresh.co.uk/Web_Recipes3/recipes3.htm

know how you feel though - am just at the puree stage and thats a nightmare trying to think of new combos!!