Care to share your emergency baby/toddler meal?

[blushingmare]

As I was once again faced with a hungry toddler and a virtually empty fridge this evening and used my fail safe, tried and tested emergency Philadelphia pasta dinner, I thought "wouldn't it be great if lots of people shared their emergency meals, then I wouldn't always had to fall back on this old chestnut!"

So, would you care to share the meal you make when you've got in late, have a starving child and discover to your horror that there's very little food in the house?

This is mine....

Blushingmare's Philly Pasta

1. Cook pasta
2. Chuck in some frozen peas and spinach with the pasta
3. Drain when cooked
4. Mix in Philadelphia

It's actually delicious

I recently found out that mashed potato can be frozen. I usually unintentionally make more than I need (never have been good measuring by sight!) and was thrilled to learn I could bag it up and pop it in the freezer. So now I defrost and heat portions in the micro and serve with fishfingers, baked beans and veg

I make toasty pizza- toast the bread, spread over tomato purée, add some thinly sliced beg of your choice (quickly fried first-don't use much oil), a little grated cheese and melt under the grill. Or microwave if like me, your rented house has a grill that threatens to burn the place down.

Sometimes, if its very late, and I deem that lunch was healthy enough... cereal. And fruit.

fantastic thread, thanks OP

We keep fresh ricotta and spinach or other pasta 'parcels' in freezer and take out handfuls as required -4m cook from frozen, max.

I also make instant fish pate (poppy and ceev might like this) with smoked mackerel and cream cheese (like Philly) and if you are feeling like a domestic goddess then a splash of lemon juice and a twist if pepper too. My dd would eat polystyrene with this on. Can add spinach if want.

Slightly more work but very easy is cheats feijoada (Portuguese bean stew for want of a better description): fry onion and garlic with chopped chorizo/pancetta/bacon, tip in two or three tins of beans (ideally a mix of kidney, canellini, borlotti, say), a tin of chopped tomatoes and half a pint of stock; bring to boil and simmer for up to an hour if you have time. You can add tomato paste, left over pasta sauce, herbs/bay leaves etc if feeling posh!
(Ceev I grew up in Portugal )

When I was pregnant doctor recommended best meal for keeping up iron levels was baked beans on wholemeal toast with a glass of orange juice, so no guilt at that meal

A handful of frozen peas chucked into any very hot bowl if food will cool it quicker while they 'cook' if toddler is getting antsy!

And that was veg, not beg, naturally..

I can only imagine JJJ wasn't being smug but her sentiment looked so written down.

Anyway ours is risotto. Always got risotto rice in and frozen veg. Handful of cheese in and bobs your uncle! Dinner in 10!

Ceve found them here and might order some or ask mum to send some from Lisbon.

But since I'm not entirely sure about the ingredients, have started looking online for fish pate recipes (thanks for your scarecrow - by the way, DD is half Portuguese and unfortunately not crazy about feijoada/bean stew so not sure where I went wrong!)

your=yours

Snakes and bastards, just read that fish pate is out during pregnancy. Now I'm craving it like mad.

This is a great thread! I've pinched loads of ideas.

My emergency is omlette with whatever veg is in the fridge

DD doesn't like touching pasta at the minute so that really limits what I can give in a rush

I just had to do an utter emergency meal of a bowl of baked beans, sone oatcakes and some tinned mandarins

Beans/omelette
or
for some reason i ALWAYS have broccoli and cauliflower in the fridge. I dont know why i buy so much of it. Steam both, blend with cream cheese with garlic and herbs and a handful of cheddar, serve with pasta or rice. 1 year old loves this.
or a similar version of feijoada.
DoItTooJulia - How do you make a risotto in 10mins? DD LOVES risotto!!

Thurlow why the blushes? Sounds very resourceful and plenty of vitamins so they won't get scurvy

A lot of cream cheese recipes here, I never buy it but will investigate now - wonder if the salt content is toddler friendly?

It just felt like a terrible meal! I normally at least make pasta but toddler was too hungry to even wait for that. I must try and remember that low salt, low sugar baked beans are really quite a good food.

Poppy, we buy the value cream cheese as it's so cheap it doesn't feel as though it matters if we don't use it all. But it is actually lower salt than the main brands.

I do the frozen mash too and serve it with all sorts of leftovers I also freeze for emergency dinners.