Mid week meals with office days increasing

[Ronnie1234]

What do you all do for quick mid week meals around work etc? I get in about 5.20 usually on office days unless kids got clubs then it can be 6.30-6.45.

Work are increasing our office days so I need to start planning ahead with less WFH days when I have more morning time to prep something

Do you have a slow cooker? X x

Put something in the slow cooker that has been prepped the night before - chilli, curry, stews and casseroles

Make the WOTH day(s) the day(s) you have something you just put on a tray and put into the oven...... fish, kievs, a meat pie or quiche, pizza, with some wedges or chips from the freezer.

Jacket potatoes (microwave first then crisp up in the air fryer if you like crispy skins) with beans and cheese or tuna (or left over bolognaise or chilli from another night)

Pasta one night, with whatever you like to have it with - pesto, tomatoes, cream cheese or marmite, a jar of sauce, or create your own fairly easily, then add ham or chiritzo or bacon or leftover chicken from a roast. I'd add a load of mushrooms for me but am aware a lot of dc don't like the texture. Grate some cheese on top.

Stir fry and noodles

Poach some salmon pieces (or other fish) - very quick, but roasting them doesn't take long and doesn't need a lot of prep.

Nothing wrong with beans on toast now and then, either.

If I’m cooking a casserole or chilli type thing I make double and freeze half so there’s always a meal in the freezer. I can then add rice or pasta as needed. My kids are also no stranger to the odd fish finger.

@StartingOverInMy40syes have a slow cooker & dual air fryer

We do a mixture of slow cooker meals (prep the night before), and pasta/rice/stir fry meals. We still cook everything from scratch. We do have lots of recipe books though and we meal plan.

Quick easy meals kids generally like that aren't slow cooker meals

• pasta and pesto and salad.
• omelette and salad with chips/bread
• quesadillas
• pasta and a sauce you've bought,or batch made
• sausages, veg and potatoes

When my kids were toddlers I prepped shepherds pie and pasta bakes at the weekend for 2 of the 3 office days. The final one was freezer food night (fish, nuggets, pizza). Quick cook Midweek meals now are spaghetti bolognaise, chicken & veg noodle stir fry, pork chops veg & mash, piri piri chicken burgers & airfried chips, fajitas- most food I get to the table within 40mins (10 mins prep, 30 mins cooking).

Nothing to add to the suggestions, but are there not other family members who could be cooking your evening meal?

Sorry to read that your employer is reverting to life in the 20th century.

I get most of my recipe inspiration from The Batch Lady, Taming Twins and The Recipe Rebel. They all have sections for slow cooker meals and quick and easy meals too.

Meal planning is your friend - by working out what time you'll have each day, you can choose meals to suit and make sure you have the right ingredients in.

@LlynTegid no other family I can rely on to cook for us unfortunately. Husband goes to work at 3am he is often on the school pick iOS & drops my daughter & friends to horse livery yard where she rides & helps out & picks up youngest from school bus by about which time there’s only 20-30 minutes & im home

Great thanks all I’ll dig out my recipe books & follow some of the pages above & ideas! Family will have to learn not to moan about what’s for tea 😂

Jacket potatoes are really good plus anything you can sling in an air fryer

We have a 20 minute policy for weekday meals. As in they must be able to go from in the fridge or freezer to the plate in 20 mins.

I do batch cook on a sunday. Things like a chickpea and spinach curry, lentil bolognese, chilli, stroganoff. I do x2 of these meals. One we can have with rice and one with pasta.

Then we have quiche, pan fried gnocchi and salad one night, and we have something like omelette and chips and salad or something else out of the freezer.

I cook more elaborate meals at the weekends.

What do you normally cook midweek, just out of interest?

Stir fry is usual quick. I do a jackpot sauce with either pork or chicken and whatever veg. With chicken stock, soya sauce, honey and Gochujang paste.

my other favourite is air fry chicken thighs with spices on it. Favourite is a Turkish bbq, served with pita and salad.

others pesto pasta. But I do always cook double is doing bolognse or curry etc, and freeze half.

Between me and DH, we cook 3 double-portion HelloFresh meals at the weekend. This sees us through Sat-Thurs without having to cook on any working day or having to do any meal planning. On a Friday we have an easy oven meal e.g. pizza, dough balls and salad. We both work FT and have a toddler. Works great unless we're away for a weekend!

jamies 15 minute meals is full of ideas, many are also on his website for free

We both work outside the home, and get in between 6 and 6.30, and almost every night one household member is doing sport starting at 7pm....no answers we just end up eating really late but our kids (teens) are used to that..they have lots of snacks!

Thanks all! To be honest @MrsStickMan these are all similar meal suggestions to what we usually have - think I’m just over thinking it all!

On Sunday, I do a proper dinner that takes time, and as I am in the kitchen anyway, I make a spag Bol sauce/curry sauce/chilli con carne…etc type of meal that the sauce is easy to reheat and is better on day 2. I do enough so Monday is “heat sauce and cook rice/pasta/peeled potatoes for mash” type meal; and to put at least 1 more family portion into the freezer. Later in the week, I take a portion of a previous week’s “batch cook” dinner from freezer for a second easy night.

The other thing you can do is prep veg, marinade meat etc the night before when doing washing up after dinner. So it’s just start stir frying or turn on oven and chuck it all in type of meal.

I find that having it easier when you walk in the door, even if there’s a bit more to do after dinner, is much easier than starting prep just when the day’s news has to be told, homework checked, bags emptied, post opened and dealt with, table set etc…so having an easy path to food on the table is important. It might take a few extra minutes to get sorted after dinner - but the energy of the day has changed at that stage compared to “just in the door”.

We have for years had beige Wednesdays with freezer food. I also prep dinner for the next night whilst it’s cooking (usually soup).
I also occasionally buy a jar sauce and just add chicken/veg and have with pasta.
Lots of things made with mince freeze well.