What can we replace Jacket Potato Night with??

[FusionChefGeoff]

I love JPN but kids have started moaning! Bonus features were:

no prep, just shove in in between calls
DH with no confidence in kitchen can do it too
10 mins to finish off & serve
we could all have our own version / fave toppings
healthy
cheap
can all take and eat whenever it suits
No thought needed!
always got cheese / tuna / beans and potatoes last for ages so basically a store cupboard meal

What can I start doing on our very busy Wednesdays instead??

Omelette is obvious but the bastards don’t like them.

You need a good traybake recipe. I do one with rice, chicken, pesto, cherry tomatoes, chicken stock and cream cheese. Shove it all in, stir it all about, cover it in foil then whack it in the oven for an hour. Job done and it literally takes minutes to prep. It's sooo good.

Ha ha who knew JPN would get over 100 replies I feel like MN royalty don’t think I’ve ever managed that!

DH just hates / is crap at / takes forever - I’ve spent 15 years but he just doesn’t care about food as much as I do. It’s fuel to him so if I want nice food (which I do) I am in charge. He’s MUCH better now and can and does cook for us but it always takes at least an hour - but this post was about the super simple, no thought, no skill options as no one in the house has any time on Wednesdays.

The biggest problem here is that a lot of the obvious ideas aren’t great nutritionally - or they don’t fit the store cupboard angle.

And I forgot to say pasta doesn’t agree with me so I avoid too much of it overall.

i also cannot stress how little time / effort I have to put into this particular meal! There are some ace ideas for slightly more involved tray bakes etc.

Definitely going with rotation and adding in roast chicken wraps, the pre-made pasta with sauce and chicken, JPN and then toasties probably.

Switch it down to swede or turnip night, they’ll soon be begging for JPN to be reinstated.

It suits you, it’s good for them, they perhaps should be be less vocal with their complaints

‘Sort it out yourself you ungrateful buggers’ night

Tray bake is a good suggestion too.

@BatFeministand @notnormanIm loving the cut of your jib - both excellent suggestions 🤣

In our quick night we have the stirfry bundle from m&s
10 mins tops.
We just what proteins/ sauces etc.

Pasta. Offer pesto and two other fresh sauces e.g. carbonara and cherry tomato with chilli. You can heat the fresh sauces in microwave. Add grated cheese or olives if they want and a bag of salad.

Rotisserie chicken ready cooked from supermarket with wraps, salad, mayo, chutney etc.

Ready meal curries are often very good value and quite healthy if you choose carefully. Just cook rice while they heat up.

fahitas

home made soup

Chicken fajjitas - fry or airfry chicken with some shop bought seasoning. Serve in wraps with grated cheese, sour cream and some cooked sliced red pepper or mashed up avocado if you can be bothered. Can bulk out with oven chips if need be

It says in the op that they don't like omelette...

Oh god. I’m now one of those annoying people.

How old are the kids?

Around once a week we tend to have a 'ain't no one cooking so bloody well sort yourselves out' night.

There's plenty of staples here. Eggs, ham, cheese, tinned tuna. Salad, frozen veg, tins of beans. Bread, wraps, pasta, rice, noodles. A variety of sauces/condiments. Fruit, yoghurt etc. So everyone just makes themselves a random 'no-meal' meal.

The kids (teens) will happily make themselves something odd like scrambled eggs, rice with garlic mayo, sweetcorn and cucumber. Or pasta and grated cheese with a side of green beans was one last week 🤣

🤣🤣🤣

I know the Op does not want complicated tray bakes etc. But yesterday I was at a lunch and was served a gloriously delicious bread and butter pudding that was just saturated with cinnamon and nutmeg and orange peel and raisins. It reminded me that for a while a few years back when things were particularly stressful in my life I would make 'pudding for tea' every couple of weeks. So french toast with ice cream and berries or banana sundaes with coconut and pineapple etc. The DCs have cooked and very good school meals so occasionally it just did not matter if they just ate pudding - and at least it was all eaten.

And tbh, at the end of the day there is nothing wrong with a ham salad sandwich with whatever your favourite sides are for dinner. Sometimes it is about filling stomachs.

I’m afraid that nothing is ever is ever going to match the jacket potato. I think the best thing about jackets is that they will happily sit in the oven if people need to eat at different times.
with Summer on the horizon I think I would probably put a chicken in the oven the night before. Then serve it cold the next night with salads, take and bake rolls/pita/wraps. It is however not as cheap as JP’s.

Halloumi or breaded chicken wrap is one of our quick go to meals for busy evenings

Pasta pesto night or filled pasta night or pasta bake night. Add sausages if you want protein!

Keep serving the jacket potatoes! It works for you at the moment. If someone else wants the bother of thinking up and dealing with something else, they are welcome 😀