Working mums and evening meals -ideas please

[scottie54]

Ds1 starts reception in September and we're hoping that most days he'll have a school lunch (subject to his dietary requirements). I work so a cm will do after school pick up but does not give food.

At the moment he attends nursery so he gets lunch and a light tea around 330. So by the time we collect and get home it's 515-530 and it's another snack type tea (ie small sandwich and yoghurt) before bed at 7. 15 month old ds2 has the same routine.

Just wondering what working mums do for evening meals? Cooking from scratch isn't really an option at that time and dc aren't fans of leftovers, dh isn't a fan of slow cooked meals

Are you able to send a packed tea to the cm? My ds1 is in reception and he has school lunch and a packed tea in afterschool club so he just needs supper (toast or fruit or yoghurt or something) once we get home. I then cook for dh and I later.

Otherwise batch cooking is the answer - I always have portions of bolognaise sauce, beef casserole, fish pie etc in the freezer which are easily defrosted/reheated. Otherwise quick dishes such as pasta with pesto, veg and prawns or chicken only takes 10mins. Or if you cook jacket potatoes in advance they can be heated up with various fillings.

Do you have a slow cooker? Casserole or bolognaise etc into it in the morning, boil pasta or do minute-rice when you get in?

Batch cooking is your friend. Or learn some easy recipes that can be rustled up in 20minutes or so after you get home. DH might have to learn to like slow-cooked meals.

Ds3 (7) has school dinners so for his tea he has omelette, baked potato with a filling (the frozen baked potatoes take 5 mins in the microwave), beans on toast or a sandwich/wrap (sometimes with soup) If we have mince or stew I keep some as he likes that.

Salmon fillet,cheesy pasta and frozen peas is a popular one round our house. In fact any kind of pasta goes down well. So does omelette, sausage and mash, quesadillas, egg fried rice with leftover chicken and veg. That kind of thing.

What time will you be picking up from childminders? I agree a packed tea at theirs may be your best bet

Ds has a school lunch, and a snack (biscuit/cake at 4, small sandwich at 5) at after school club. At home he has beans on toast, soup and toast, pasta and cheese, that sort of thing.

Your dh can come up with, and cook some of the meals too!

Spaghetti, the swedish style meatballs and tomato sauce is DS2's favourite and very quick to cook. Omelottes and fried rice are also popular. Agree with the batch cooking, we keep bolognase, tomato and veg sauce and two strengths of curry(adult and child) in the freezer at all times!
Slow cooking wise, the least work is chicken or pork in condensed chicken soup. Serve with rice or mash and peas.

Omelette or scrambled eggs or boiled egg.

Stir fried rice with veggies and meat

Stir fry noodles

Tinned macaroni cheese (vile but mine love it!)

Or cook your dinner day before and do enough for a left over portion the next day. Plate up and put in fridge to be microwaved when you get in.

What's wrong with sandwiches and fruit and cake? There is such an obsession with 'hot dinners' - I seem to have said this on three threads already today .

What do you and your DH eat now, if you are working now then presumably you can carry on with whatever your current eating arrangements are?

There is nothing wrong with sandwiches and fruit, but since that is all I have available for lunch, I personally want something cooked for tea. Sandwiches or salad, 2 meals a day, 5 days a week gets very boring, very quickly!

Thanks ladies, some great ideas! Both ds can't have cows milk, ds2 can't have cheese either as well as egg. Nothing wrong with sandwiches (plus cake) just ds2 doesn't eat them yet and I'm not a fan of different meals for them.

Will check with cm about packed lunch, but aiming to collect as usual time as she's around the corner from nursery and home.

DH usually cooks for us after they've gone to bed - I'd give them leftovers but the only thing they'll eat like that is spag bol!

We pretty much lived off pasta with tomato sauce takes maybe 20 mins. Less if you use quick cook and shop bought sauce or pesto. You can put the pasta water on go boil, chop and fry the onions. Add the garlic, canned tomatoes and whatever else you are using. We are vegetarian so quorn or soya mince, or artichoke hearts, sundried tomatoes or whatever. Or red lentils put on to boil at the same time as the pasta water.

If you don't have time to cook from scratch, perhaps you could do the prep the night before and cook when when you get home?

Or (what I do), cook your meals the night before and reheat at dinner time the following day - lasagne, chilli, stews, soups and such often taste better the next day!

A very easy way to cook chicken (i.e. leave it while you get stuff done) is chop it, add onions, garlic (do all this the night before and stick in fridge), sprinkle any other seasoning if you desire, drizzle olive oil and cover with foil. Cook in oven for approx 40 mins. Serve with salad or roast potatoes etc (which can be done at the same time).
I often just come home, set the oven timer and get on with other things while dinner cooks. And then do my actual cooking when DCs are in bed.

Oh - just spotted your comment about DCs not liking re-heats. Sorry! Hope you find some ideas!!

There are lots of fairly quick low effort meals thst we make like
baked salmon fillets in tin foil with veg in the foil parcel too
pasta dishes eg sardine pasta
stir fries
chicken tray bakes
also have batch cooked lasagne/meatballs etc from the freezer

DD had school dinners and now packed lunch and eats a tea at her childminder. But she gets food at 4pm so she is still starved when she comes home.

We always eat dinner as a family, do so since she is 10 months old and decided food is to be eaten and not played with. We love it as it gives us time to talk about the day.

I come home at 6pm, DD is already picked up by DH around 5pm and I start cooking dinner. We normally eat things like pasta, chicken curry, fish and roast potatoes, fried rice, meat and two vegs, nothing is longer than max40 minutes from start to finish.

Hi scottie, I have to deal with dairy intolerance too (but not egg) and I'm not working but we are really busy after school with clubs and a very fussy baby so I don't have much cooking time. Some stuff reheated is horrible but lots is actually nicer on day 2. Favourites in this house are spag bol/pasta withroasted veg and tomato sauce/homemade chicken curry and rice/chilli and rice or baked potato/cottage pie (their milk or olive oil in mash)/fish pie all prepped in advance and reheated. If i have nothing ready baked potato with beans or tuna mayo and veg/frozen hm pizza base and sauce with whatever I have in the fridge/fishfingers/beans on toast. Also salmon with cous and veg or a bit of salad and chicken fajitas, stir fry or chicken wraps (cut chicken into thin slices) don't take long to cook if you do the prep in the morning or the night before.

Scottie54:

DH and I dealt with this by cooking big Friday/ Saturday/ Sunday evenings and freezing smaller portions for the week.

I also agree that cold meet, raw or stir fried vegetables (with or without rice/ noodles), salads (if they're willing - mine aren't sadly) can 'do' for those busy/ pear-shaped evenings when there just isn't time to cook.

Pizzas can be a lot of fun. Buy a ready made base and some tomato sauce and then have the kids decorate in veg, peperoni/ ham/ cheese as they like.

Get a toastie machine and make grilled cheese/ cheese and ham/ etc... sandwiches for your children. Also great with soup.

Tortillas are easy. Buy a pack. Place ham and cheese on one and fry gently on both sides - melts cheese into ham. (mexican toastie). Or quickly stir fry chicken or pork with onions/ mushrooms in tomato sauce (you can spice up with Tabasco sauce) or refried beans if your kids like them. Fill tortillas (wrap and place them all in a bowl). Cover with remainder of tomato sauce and a bit of cheese and bake until cheese is nice melted (maybe a bit brown). Serve with a bit of yogurt.

If your kids like soups - ready made soups and garlic bread are supper easy/ quick or if you have the time (and are growing your own veg/ get veg boxes) home made soups are brilliant. You can make a ton and freeze individual/ smaller portions.

And always have that emergency quick solution in the freezer - takes the pressure off if you're ill/ it's a bad week.

HTH

Go to pinterest.com and search "freezer meals", "once a month cooking," "batch cooking" etc.

There is bound to be something inspiring. Never cook enough for one meal, always "feed the freezer" when you do have time to cook.

I have a repertoire of meals that take less-than-5 minutes to prepare. Get home from CM at 5:30 and tea is on the table by 5:40

Some MNers will be at the horror of some of these "processed" items but we have so many food-refusal issues that there's not much fresh-cooked stuff I could do instead.

e.g. microwave frozen peas & sweetcorn & a small amount of precooked microwave rice with bits of frankfurter

potato waffle done in the toaster, baked beans and green beans and a couple of nuggets done in the microwave (yeah weird to do nuggets in the microwave I know, as the "crispy" coating is soggy instead - but that is apparently yummy! The nuggets can also be done in the toaster instead in a toasterbag for a crispy result)

omlette with veg&ham, with carrot sticks done in the microwave

Fish - good point - but a lot of what you suggested involves 'eggs' - and egg allergy risk - thus my avoidance of easier options like emergency fish fingers/ chicken dippers or omelettes. All of which would make her child ill.

The slow cooker will be your friend!!

Do whole joints of meat and use the left overs for stir fries, sandwiches and salads.

Batch cook mince. Just do a generic tomato based one and pot up then freeze. You can pull out and add beans and slices to it for a chili or top with mash (can be prepped night before) for a shepherds pie or make a lasagne with milk substitutes and dried pasta (so it's egg free)

Fish can be quick an easy too. Make up parcels in foil (laid on a bed of lemon and stalks from fresh herbs, S&p and a squeeze of lemon juice. Whack in oven when you get home, zap some micro rice or cook some rice/potatoes and frozen peas.

Beans and spices

I'm with Ragwort

What IS wrong with sandwiches?

I have the same argument with my hubby. I'm so sick of cleaning pans.

proudmama - glad someone agrees me - DH is off for a week's business trip and I am so looking forward to simple meals in the evening - when I say a sandwich I don't just mean two slices of Mother's Pride with jam but a nice plate of crusty bread, cold meats and cheese with a glass of wine of course .