Quick meal solutions

What are your quick and easy dinners that you do when you get to the end of the day and realise that you haven't even thought about dinner, or when you've forgotten to take the meat out of the freezer, or when the kids are losing the plot?

Mcdonalds. Sometimes chinese, but it takes longer.

toastie sammies or spag on toast or 2min noodles or breakfast cereal....my list could go on forever lol This is what happens when in your previous life (last job) you were getting home till near on 7pm with 2 hungry, whinging girls and too tired to cook

Every Friday night is one of those nights and we have home made takeaways - microwave Big Ben meat pies/toasted sandwhiches/frozen pizza or fish pieces and oven fries.

tomatos on toast is a family favourite for friday night dinners

We always have fresh pasta in the fridge and a pot of pesto. Thats our standard quick n easy dinner - takes 7mins to cook.

Well Elle won't eat anything we eat other than meatballs so for her it's a jar of organics stuff. At least I know she'll eat it!

For us, I always keep pitas in the fridge and can easily thaw them and stuff 'em with meat / salad etc to make round kebab type things. Can add mayo or make yoghurt, lemon and garlic sauce and cajun seasoning. We toast them in the toasted sandwhich machine.

Or, stirfry veges with soya sauce, honey, garlic etc and serve with rice or ultra quick vermicelli. If you've got left over meat chuck that in.

Or spag bol

I tend to keep cooked savory mince in the freezer too so we can have that with potatos or I can add it to Elle's food.

Oh yeah, one other thing kids and men like is to slice potoatoes really thin (I don't even peel them),chuck them into a bag with some oil and seasoning...shake, shake, shake then pop them on the tray to FAN bake at 200 or so for about 20mins. Because they are thin they cook quickly and are easy for kids to eat.

Cooked pasta add a can of flavoured tuna, a can of flavoured tomatoes and some frozen corn and a little bit of grated cheese. Heat and mix then serve.

Edited by mummy_becks

No kids yet but for DH and I - spag carbonara (with the eggs cooked) or pasta with tomato/olive sauce. Both done in under 15 min.

Maya wrote: What are your quick and easy dinners that you do when you get to the end of the day and realise that you haven't even thought about dinner, or when you've forgotten to take the meat out of the freezer..

That sounds like me every weeknight. My regulars are:

* eggs and soldiers (soft boiled eggs with toast cut into strips for dunking)
* cheese on toast
* frittata (sauteed veges with omelette mix poured over and cooked)
* risotto - this is so easy I lived on it when I was pregnant and I always make enough for lunch the next day I've added the recipe below.
* crunchy potatos (potatos diced, tossed with oil and roasted. Because they're diced so small they only take about 20 mins and Michaela loves them)

I always have lots of veges on hand too (frozen or fresh) and we usually have a side plate piled high with them.

Rice risotto:
Heat 2T (approx) oil in a pan, add diced onions and cook until clear (I also usually add chopped bacon at this stage, can also add garlic and/or spinach). Add 1c of arborio rice and cook until rice appears translucent around the outside. Add enough stock to cover bottom of pan and put lid on (I also add frozen peas or grated carrots or pumpkin now). Reduce heat and gradually simmer adding stock whenever the mix becomes dry (I use about 2.5 cups of stock).
This is so easy. Once you add the lid you can just walk away and leave it checking every now and then to stir in stock. It takes about 25 mins to cook.

Edited by The_Stuarts