Meals that last 2 days

[nonomo]

We are a family of 5. We’ve recently had a baby and are struggling with cooking every night.

I’m hoping to start cooking meals that will last for 2 nights, rather can cooking every night!

Could I have some ideas please?
So far, we have Macaroni cheese, lasagne, spaghetti Bol, shepherds pie.

Any other suggestions would be much appreciated!!

Thanks!

Curry, chilli, any pasta sauce.

Curry, meatballs, chilli are all two dayers in our house.

Pre cook jacket potatoes. Reheat 2nd night. Stuff with prawns, beans & cheese, tuna etc.

Side salad pre-chopped in fridge, use 2 nights.

Cook chicken. Make Coronation Chicken enough for 2 nights . Salads are quick & easy.
Cook salmon in microwave enough for 2 nights. Keep in fridge. Side salad and a jacket?

Anything saucy basically.
Fajitas
Spanish chicken
sausage casseole

I hardly make anything that won’t do more than 1 meal!!

Chilli is a favourite here because we can do it with rice one day and potato wedges the next.

Roast chicken breasts that could be with chips and salad one night and chopped into pasta the next.

Any soup or casserole. And we bulk out the volume with pulses. So Bolognese is half meat half lentils

Any roast meat and veg. Roast dinner one day, cold meat and bubble and squeak the next. Also some sandwiches if you’re lucky.

Any kind of stew or soup.

My usual system (bear in mind I live on my own), cook for day 1, a second portion kept for day 3 or 4, portion 3 (+4?) in the freezer. always consider that something can be repurposed, the ragu for a bolognese, can be made into a lasagne, or it can be the base of a cottage pie, add beans and chilli and it sort of becomes something else. The remains of a roast chicken, can become a chicken risotto.

I find making lasagne too time-intensive! But like PP, I make mince and then use it for lots of things - with pasta, as plain mince with Yorkshire puddings, and in cottage pie.

I have found these easiest to scale up and keep/freeze an extra batch:

• Curries
• Soups
• Stews
• Most pasta sauces
• Mince-based things (Bolognese, pork mince and fennel ragu - there's a great Tesco recipe, chilli con carne)

Pretty much anything can last 2 nights if you plan sufficiently, except maybe things you have to cook fresh to order like steaks.

I do 2 sets of 2 nights meals each week (so 4 nights total). Some Sunday evenings I’ll do a roast and that will do us Sunday/Monday. This week also did a beef and bean chill, that did us Tuesday/Wednesday plus extra for lunches.

Often I do chicken wraps, so chicken legs or thighs roasted in whatever seasoning in a wrap or flatbread with salad, hummus, whatever. I cook a big tray of the chicken and we just reheat the next night. I do the same with paneer for a vegetarian version.

Curries, soups and stews often last us 2 nights plus a few lunches like the chilli. Mac and cheese and pasta bakes with salad. Anything cooked in a tray pretty much.

Or you can make one item into two different meals. Sausages, mash and veg and we cook extra sausages and have them in rolls with salad the next night.

Pulled pork or chicken.

Curry always tastes better on day 2.

Campfire stew (bacon/ham joint, slow cooked with beans, tomatoes and i chuck a few baby potatoes in).

we often roast a chicken and have it for several meals, especially this time of year when I like cold meat with salad.

Cooked side of salmon, again can be eaten hot one night with veggies and cold the next with salad.

Sausage casserole

Beef and Guinness, 1st night as a Casserole, 2nd night as a pie.