Simple recipes for new parents

[charcb]

Hi all! New parents here and haven’t cooked since having baby as we survived on pizza / take away / things friends and neighbours cooked for us / ready meals / things we cooked when we had time… but we probably need to get started with that again! We aren’t great cooks and would need something we can batch cook, freeze and that doesn’t require much prep. Ideally that it’s also nutritious 😄 any tips and ideas? We have a slow cooker so can use that too.

Best ever pasta sauce:

Two tins of best quality tinned whole tomatoes
One onion
30g butter
Generous pinch of sea salt

Put the tomatoes in a pan. Add the butter and salt. Peel the onion, chop in half, add to the pan. Simmer on a medium heat for 40 minutes, stirring occasionally and mashing the tomatoes down a bit. Discard the onion halves (can be eaten on toast, blended to make relish, added to other dishes etc).

You actually won’t believe how something so simple can be so delicious. It’s gorgeous on pasta with some Parmesan, and also makes a lovely pizza sauce if reduced. The above recipe is a generous 2-3 portions, but you can double or triple it for freezing.

I’m also a big fan of baked potatoes - cook so fast in the microwave, healthy, endless variety of toppings. We have them with bags of ready made Caesar salad and cheese, but you can have them with coleslaw, those sandwich fillers you get in tubs, any salad, any cheese, beans etc.

I also like dhal for how easy and healthy it is, and it freezes so well. It’s cheap as chips too.

Oh thanks for the recipe! Yes so simple! Will try it :)

What recipe do you use for dhal?

Iona is right about the pasta sauce - I got the same recipe from Food52 which is a good reliable source, and we cook it lots.

We have lots of Things With Eggs - not batch cooked but quick. We also like Gousto boxes for their ten minute recipes (stovetop) and their five minute prep ones (oven). Tbh find that easier than batch cooking as no messy portioning out for the freezer and less tedious repetition.

Thank you! @WashableVelvet how do the boxes work? Do they really take 10 min?

It’s a subscription thing. You can get a box a week/month/whatever and you choose the recipes from that weeks (long) list. We’ve done it on and off for years.

They do take ten mins, but about 15-20 if you recreate them at home without buying pre-diced chicken, ready-chopped onion etc.

Lots of lovely and easy ideas for slow cooker on bbc food website, I make the spag Bol and beef stew very regularly but another couple of ours:

• chicken curry - chicken thighs / breasts, jar of curry sauce like balti etc, chopped onions, garlic, peppers and spinach (can use frozen veg to save time chopping) - cook for 8 hours on low
• meatballs in tomato sauce - raw meatballs plus any jar pasta sauce, on low for 6 hours ish
• slow cooker ‘roast’ - whole chicken / piece of beef, ham joint etc - put in slow cooker with 300ml water or stick a s season, low for 8 hours or longer, can then be used for roast / salad / sandwiches etc

Also I love the fresh pasta ravioli from aldi, literally cooks in 4 mins, usually have that one night a week for tea. I eat as it is but could add pesto or sauce and veg

I can cook properly I promise ! But these are quick no prep meals which have been a godsend since DCs came along

@Mrsdoubtfireswig - thanks! So easy, I agree. Love the minimal prep.

Steamed beans and broccolli with steak/salmon/chicken drumsticks. Maybe so potatoes cooked in olive oil and salt and pepper. Frozen veggies make it even easier.

Creamy Chicken, mushroom and spinach pasta, cook pasta, chop chicken mushroom and spinach and cook, mix together with half a pottle of cream fraiche, a little lemon juice and salt and pepper. Add a little water if the sauce is too thick.

What I did when I was starting to emerge from the fog was to instigate a sort of salad bar in my fridge. Basically, every day I'd make one new thing and then my dinner would be a plateful of dollops of different interesting things. Since things I made over that time (I kept sharing them on Facebook, I don't just remember them all!) included:

• Orzo with a herby tomato and olive dressing
• Egg mayo with celery, tomatoes, spring onions, wholegrain mustard
• Sweet potato hash with sweetcorn, peppers, coriander and lime
• Chunky coleslaw with cabbage, celery, carrot, radishes, lemon and black pepper mayo
• Courgette, chickpeas, spring onions, feta, fresh apricots, ras el hanout, lemon, mint
• Broccoli, yellow pepper, spring onions, preserved black beans in chilli oil, sesame seeds
• Green beans, fresh pesto, toasted flaked almonds
• Potatoes, onion, peas, chilli, ginger, coriander, lemon juice, spices. Basically samosa filling reimagined as a salad.
• Cabbage, celery, radishes, carrot, peanuts, lime/soy/honey dressing
• Mushrooms, garlic, thyme, black pepper
• Couscous, dried apricots, raisins, spring onion, fresh mint, toasted pine nuts and pistachios.
• Peach salsa

It doesn't really matter what you do, though; I was just concocting new things based on whatever was lying around, but there must be a million recipes out there for salads if you need inspiration. The idea, though, was that it only took me ten minutes a day to do, and then I got to have this really tasty interesting (and healthy) plate of food with a lot more flavour than any one thing I could've made in that time.

I loved my slow cooker when I was on maternity leave! I’d time myself on my phone (I did this for a lot of stuff - it works a treat for tidying!) and give myself 10-15 mins to prep.

Just grab some veg of your choice (buying prechopped is always good) and a nice chunk of meat - like pork cheeks (my favourite), osso bucco, chicken thighs etc - bone in is better, and tougher cuts are better too, so it’s nice and cheap - then a ton of chopped tomatoes and some stock so that the meat is just about covered. Don’t add too much liquid. You can pop in some herbs/spices as you like and season to taste. Chorizo and bacon are nice additions too.

Then leave it on all day and serve with crusty bread, microwave rice, pasta - whatever you like! Can usually stretch it to the next day by chucking in a can of lentils.

If the sauce is too thin you can add a bit of cornflour to thicken it

Tin of tomatoes, not a ton!

Meatballs and tomato sauce
Slow cooker gammon in apple juice
Slow cooker chicken stew
Hunters chicken and wedges
Sausage, mash and vegetables