super quick family meal ideas

Confuzzled

a very quick favourite with us is cheesy bean tortillas

fill tortillas with baked beans and cheese (i add a sprinkle of cumin and pickled peppers or extra goodies but to mine only my daughter doesn't like that) roll them up like a burrito and turn them over so the weight holds the folded bits down and microwave for about 1-2 min in the microwave til the tortillas are soft and the cheese melts

if you have a little more time fry up some onion, peppers (i use frozen sliced ones cheaper and faster than fresh) mince and whatever spices you can get away with. add in a little spice of your choosing (cumin and garlic are my musts for this) and add a little sauce of your choosing if you don't want it to be dry. i have found bbq sauce or ketchup will do in a pinch and those aren't too spicy for most kids. add in a bit of cheese, toss this in a tortilla fold as a burrito and nuke 1-2 minutes

another quick favourite is to make some white rice. while that's cooking i chop up a smoked sausage (the packaged ones you get out on the shelves not in the fresh meat section) lightly fry this in a pan with a little oil and some sweetcorn. fry until the meat browns nicely. when the rice is ready put it on the plate in a pile and top with the sausage and corn.

it might sound odd or even bland but the flavours and the textures mix so very nicely together. my dad taught me this one it's a firm fav in this house.

your daughter would def be able to eat the first meal. if the mince and veggies are done very finely she could eat the second meal and the last one well maybe not just yet but you could make her a cheesy bean tortilla and let the rest of the family have the sausage and rice, it'd make for a nice change

Fruball

Whilst rooting round my freezer for something quick to eat, I made prawn and chorizo pilaf type thing. Just fried the chorizo until it started colouring, then added rice and chicken stock, cooked for about 10 mins, stirred in some prawns (they were still frozen ) and cooked for a few more mins. It was scrummy - If i did it with chicken, or normal sausages my kids would eat that I think.

Could throw some peas in too.

Fruball

Have you thought about adding a small starter to your meals to make them more interesting?

When we have starters, very rarely, then the whole meal feels like a treat.

Quasadillas are yummy and quick for snacks at lunchtime or after school, or as part of a mexican night at home. Pop a tortilla on a large HOT frypan and sprinkle with grated cheese (plus anything else you might like that is soft, or precooked..) pop another tortilla on the top. When the first tortilla is toasty, flip the whole thing over and do the same on the other side. Cut with a pizza cutter. kids love these and can help make them.

candlepower_2

What about giving pastaa shot.
very quick to prepare and versitile.can be veggie,meat or fish based,tomatoe or creamy ,pesto,etc.
my dd would eat pasta every day if allowed.

Penelope_Penguin

lindseykim13 wrote: »

Seems to be too many obstacles in my way.
They need to be quick (i run my own p/t business, home school the kids & decorating right now)
Healthy
My dd needs stuff suitable to be chopped up small as she still has no teeth at 12mths and wont be spoon fed!
Non spicy as my two boys wont eat it.

Hi lindseykim; you have a lot of good suggestions there

As this has fallen from the front page of OS, I'll add it to the quick meals thread to give you more inspiration.

elf06

JulieGeorgiana wrote: »

At least once a month try a new recipe (I recently tried a Nutty chicken curry, took 7 minutes prep, 10 minutes cooking time - mainly unattended) this will add exciting new things into your life.

Ooooh please could you share this recipe with me (or send me a PM) it sounds lovely.

JulieGeorgiana

elf06 wrote: »

Ooooh please could you share this recipe with me (or send me a PM) it sounds lovely.

The ingredients seem odd, and when it goes together it looks weird and even tastes not great... but as it simmers it turns into a LOVELY curry!! And my family go crazy for the end result... they fight for the 'freezer leftovers'

for 4 people I use the following:

1 chilli (deseeded)
1/2 finger sized peice of ginger
1 garlic clove
1 tbls Extra Virgin Olive oil

blend and fry in a saute pan

fry chicken (I use about 1 leftover chicken breast from Sunday dinner, while the recipe asks for 4!!!!!) my family don;t think it lacks in Chicken!

Add Mushrooms, sweetcorn and petit pois (I added this part to the recipe to bulk it out!!!)

then add:

200g Greek Yogurt
150g Stock (I use HM from leftover carcass from sunday dinner as it is the best )
5 tbsp of Peanut butter (I used half a jar of Value Peanut butter the crunch add something!!)

Simmer for 10 minutes, stir a few times....!

Season!

serve with rice!!!

We find that it's not very spicy... so it does work with more chilli... I am thinking about not deseeding mine next time!

Let me know if you make it!!

elf06

Wow thanks for that - I have most of the stuff in already or pretty close to the right things (got chilli flakes, ginger paste and garlic paste instead of the 'correct' fresh stuff) so only really need the peas, sweetcorn and greek yog. Only have smooth peanut butter but think I'd prefer to use crunchy in this recipe. Hmmmmm when can I fit it into my meal plans hehehehehe. Thanks for sharing - oh do you know if it would freeze ok (dont see why it wouldnt except maybe the peanut butter???)

I've got frozen natural yog would that work instead of greek??

JulieGeorgiana

elf06 wrote: »

Wow thanks for that - I have most of the stuff in already or pretty close to the right things (got chilli flakes, ginger paste and garlic paste instead of the 'correct' fresh stuff) so only really need the peas, sweetcorn and greek yog. Only have smooth peanut butter but think I'd prefer to use crunchy in this recipe. Hmmmmm when can I fit it into my meal plans hehehehehe. Thanks for sharing - oh do you know if it would freeze ok (dont see why it wouldnt except maybe the peanut butter???)

I've got frozen natural yog would that work instead of greek??

I add peas and sweetcorn to bulk it out and the flavour of the curry is more subtle, so I wanted sweeter more subtle veg... add whatever you like

I would say Greek Yogurt is thicker, so using a thinner yogurt may require more simmering to get a nice curry consistancy!!

It freezes fine... last time I did it I froze it, my son said it tasted just fine when he ate it!!! (he beat us to it!!) :mad:

I use fresh ginger and chilli for the extra flavour, I don;t see why ginger paste and garlic paste wouldn't work. But I do think fresh chillis are good as that add colour to the curry!

elf06

JulieGeorgiana wrote: »

I add peas and sweetcorn to bulk it out and the flavour of the curry is more subtle, so I wanted sweeter more subtle veg... add whatever you like

I would say Greek Yogurt is thicker, so using a thinner yogurt may require more simmering to get a nice curry consistancy!!

It freezes fine... last time I did it I froze it, my son said it tasted just fine when he ate it!!! (he beat us to it!!) :mad:

I use fresh ginger and chilli for the extra flavour, I don;t see why ginger paste and garlic paste wouldn't work. But I do think fresh chillis are good as that add colour to the curry!

Oh yeah good thinking. Ok well I am trying not to do any more spending this week so will wait until next week to buy the bits I need. Cant wait to try it - it sound lovely thanks again for sharing the recipe