Back to school - tea time help?

SpikyHedgehog

I'm the oldest so had to come home on my own while mum was getting the younger ones from school. I loved coming in to smell lentil soup cooking. So, slow cooker soups? Or batch cook soup to warm up quickly.

Mum would do curry and rice once a week, and the next day we thought it was wonderful that mum would give us rice pudding for dinner - no veg! She'd use the leftover rice & heat up with milk & sugar & add a spoonful of jam/fruit.

FairyPrincessk

Just wanted to second the soup idea. One place I lived growing up we used to be given a small mug of soup--the house was populated by teens then so we were allowed to wander around with it but may not for the younger ones. It ensured we filled up on veg first. The soup used to be made in big vats and frozen into portion sizes. It was a small amount--say 3/4 of a mug for larger people, so maybe tea cup size for little ones? I'd just pop it in the microwave and then get on with whatever else they're having while they eat that. Even refer to it as a 'First course' or 'starter.'

Tink_04

Thanks some good ideas (I have noted some down) don't think my DS 2 would sit for 2 courses but my DD 5 would. Still looking for stuff I can make and just either chuck in the oven or microwave while we get sorted.

Think I'll use the slow cooker a bit more too, sausage casserole is always good as I put everything in a roasting bag with the potatoes in the bottom so a meal in one.

Would love stuff I can batch cook and freeze just to put on an oven tray tho so I don't end up with nuggets ect

lushlifesaver

t14cy_t wrote: »

must confess my kids are 23 and 26 years old now. brought them up on my own physically and financially, so money was tight. I used to save all my potato , carrot and parsnip veg peelings in the freezer then bake them in the oven until crisp, served with lots of vinegar, pepper and salt!! took 10 mins and usually had 6 or more kids round to play and scoff!! cost pence....they even speak about it now!! they loved these straight after school and before going out to play.x

I need to try these!


My situation isn't too dissimilar, although I have a 17month old in nursery and an almost 30 year old other half who is permanently ravenous (he is a pro athlete though so I let him off!)


I need to get better with the slow cooker so any recipes/tips/advice would be greatly appreciated. I haven't tried jacket potatoes in mine yet though - I really should just a bit worried about them burning or something (I have a sear and stew)!


I do things like par-cook wedges etc and freeze, always have a bag of pre-cooked frozen chicken strips (quickly defrost to be added to things), homemade fish cakes, freeze extra bolognaise/chilli etc - bf is very fussy so a lot of the freezer meals are for me and little one when he is away.


Annabel Karmel has some nice, freezable recipes on their website for savoury/main course additions. I'm trying a few over the next few weeks as they sound good for grown ups too!


Another thing I do is write a one week meal plan on the Saturday for the following week then on the Sunday I prep everything I can (slicing/dicing/grating) and store it all in the fridge or freezer (meat I prep in different ways and freeze as I buy it) then its easy to chuck meals together.


Things we have include:
chicken or beef wraps (no fajita spice if boys at home as bf can't handle it!)
sausage casserole served with yorkshires
gammon (or thick cut ham) egg and chips/wedges
spag bol and garlic bread
chilli and rice (not if bf is home!)
soup and toasted sandwiches (not tried little one with soup when shes feeding herself yet though!)
lasagne, salad and garlic bread (great for left overs!)
baked fish and rice with veggies
lazy toad in the hole (sausage and Yorkshire puddings) with veggies and gravy
cottage pie
stew and dumplings
chicken and gammon/ham pie (using leftovers usually! - chunks of cooked chicken and cubes of gammon/diced ham in a basic white sauce and a pie top - pastry or potato)
slow cooked beef joint with veggies (roasties from the freezer)
chicken supreme (packet sauce mix) and rice


I think the key thing is to know when it's ok to cheat/cut corners (like ready to go roasties) if it works for Delia it works for me!

jackyann

You can make your own ready-to-go roasties of all kinds.
Par-boil, turn over with a bit of oil & salt, open freeze, then put into bags.

Golightly72

I use my slow cooker a lot, not just for whole meals though - I whisk up some gravy in it (two tablespoons flour, one stock cube, pint water, gravy Browning), then add some boned meat to it (lamb chops, pork chops, chicken legs/thighs), on low.

Then when I get in I only need to prep some mashed potatoes and veg to go with it, and I get those ready in a pan in the morning so I can turn them on as soon as I walk through the door.

Tink_04

Great ideas, I've never made roasties or chips like that?do I just put them in the oven from the freezer? - I make jackets just by wrapping in foil and leaving on high for 4 hours then Brown in the grill to crisp

kerri_gt

Tink_04 wrote: »

Great ideas, I've never made roasties or chips like that?do I just put them in the oven from the freezer? - I make jackets just by wrapping in foil and leaving on high for 4 hours then Brown in the grill to crisp

Yup, just use the, like normal bought frozen chips. I sometimes make them and bag them up for OH, though within a week he's usually snaffled them all.

If the kids desparartely need a little snack while you do a couple of bits for dinner, my mum used to give me a piece of cheese to nibble on.

Some good ideas already on here. Must get back to batch cooking myself.

Ohh, not sure if it's been mentioned, but how about corned beef hash?

YORKSHIRELASS

Hi

My kids are 14 and 16 now and we have always eaten the same evening meal since they were tiny. Personally I think cooking two different meals makes more work and can cost more, depending on what you are cooking of course.

When mine were little I always had something organised that didnt take long to put together then I would eat with them at 5 and OH's would stay in the slow cooker or he would heat it up, depending on what we were having.

If they were struggling to wait until 5 they would get a small snack to keep them going. I can remember rushing a bit to get tea done at times but I dont think it was ever a real problem.

craigywv

I found out my best friend to be a ready roll pack of puff pastry ,make pies ,pasties,sausage rolls all can be frozen with raw pastry and cooked centers just bung in oven while doing homeworks and mash,veg gravy or chips and beans fills them up. I tend to save leftovers from dinners to add like sunday roast be it chicken cut up mushrooms ,handful of frozen peas and tin of condensed soup mix up and put pastry on or make the mixture in to individual rolls,beef same applies, I even did it with curried pork the other night they raved about it,all from leftovers .another fav of ours is buy a pork shoulder in Iceland big lump for 3 quid cut into cubes throw in slow cooker for few hours don't add any water till soft try not to stir or they break dry cubes when cooler on kitchen roll whilst still warm make batter I do flour water and salt,heat pan of oil up flour the cubes dip in batter and fry ...pork balls ! let cool bag into portion sizes and freeze I get 4 dinner for the 3 of us out of this but my oh and son are big eaters so you prob get more, I either do my other new found bestie mayflower curry from home bargains 99p does 3 separate meal times so 33p ameal for 3 people or sweet and sour sauce tomato ketchup,malt vinegar and sugar blast in microwave till sugar dissolves and add some value range pineapple to it, rice or chips. granted the meals I have said here are prob calorific but we don't eat like that every night its a treat once a week, or night before make big pot of rice out in fridge must be cold gok wan recipe here put in wok ,soy sauce medium heat and start turning the rice ,add handful frozen peas and in micro blitz 2 whisked eggs mix that into rice along with anything you have in fridge mushrooms,tiny bit of chicken whatever costs pennies hthxxx