Meals for family of 4

[crikey456]

Not exactly parenting but can't find anywhere else to put it!

We are a family of 4 (2 young kids, aged 1 & 4)

I am looking for quick and easy family meals to cook. I work full time so basically have zero time to make any effort with dinners. I want something fairly healthy that I can just stick in the oven.

Any ideas please?

Have a look at be the quick roasting tin books. Batch cook one meal at the weekend eg BBC good food spag Bol, baked pot with bean and frozen veg or tuna and salad.

Frankly, we rely on Gousto boxes every couple of weeks for a break from planning etc. I keep the cards for all the ones we like, and frequently use these to meal plan a full week of dinners.
If you've not used them before, you get all the ingredients for the meals (bar salt, pepper, sugar and oil - occasionally flour or a dot of milk) with the recipes to crack on with. Highly recommend it to break a block.

If anyone wants to try it, here's a discount referral link - full disclosure, I get £15 account credit and you get 60% off your first box then 30% off all boxes for the first month! 😂

cook.gousto.co.uk/raf?promo_code=ALLIS33205208&utm_source=androidapp

Mince and potatoes, chicken casserole, sausages, pasta bake, macaroni cheese, bolognese, fish and chips. Cook the bolognese sauce at the weekends and put it in the freezer. Just a wee idea and nothing that takes long.

Under 'feed the world' there is a food and recipes forum which is really handy for ideas.

Tray bakes are nice and easy. Whichever veg you like and then add chicken thighs or salmon or cheese. We love red onions, butternut squash, chickpeas and feta or Halloumi. Cous cous is super simple to prepare if you wanted something else alongside.

Oven baked risotto or jambalaya just require some initial chopping then bunging in the oven.

www.bbcgoodfood.com/user/51048/recipe/crustless-quiche is a lovely simple dish

If you have more time at the weekends then batch cooking is your friend. Cooking a double batch of something doesn't take much longer than just a single meal but by putting in a little extra time at the weekends you could end up with two fully sorted meal ready for the week. Meals we find are really easy to freeze and reheat are lasagne, cottage pie, pastry pies (chicken, ham and leek perhaps), fish pie, curries and casseroles/stews.