Do you cook from scratch every night?

[rebeccalouise]

Or do you sometimes have ready meals? With DH being away two weeks at a time, I struggle to know what to do for me and Amelia most nights.. Sometimes I find cooking a nice lasagne or something like that from scratch is more effort that it's worth. Amelia just picks at it, I eat it, but then there's loads leftover that goes to waste! Don't get me wrong, Amelia doesn't starve or anything like that! she eats, but tends to eat better if it's little and often.

Any good meal ideas or suggestions? Sometimes we do have ready meals but I'm really not sure on them as I've heard how much crap they can contain..

 

[loeylo]

We cook from scratch maybe half the time, and use convenience foods a few nights, then usually a takeaway one day at the weekend.

Easy cheap meals, a mix of from scratch and ready made which we have a lot are:

-Omlette done in frying pan then under grill. Dead easy - we just use eggs, frozen veg and fresh tomatoes with some grated cheese on top. We have this at least once a week.

- Asda fresh pizzas. The ones that you choose the toppings. It feels healthier than a takeaway because I have loads of veg on mines!

- pasta bake made with homemade sauce - it's dead easy!

- Tacos made using the kits.

 

[x__amour]

Yes.

 

[missk1989]

I love my slowcooker for reasons related to this. I can make a stew, bolognese, chilli, pie filling, and so much more and often I can do the prep the night before whilst lo is sleeping and then just chuck it on in the morning. You dont feel you have put as much effort in and if you make enough for maybe 4 you can freeze 2 portions for another time. That way you might find you cook alot one week but not at all another.

 

[Natasha2605]

No we don't. Before I got pregnant I cooked from scratch every night I wasn't working, typically 3/4 nights a week. Pies, pastas, stews etc. Pregnancy has been awful and it's only in the last 3 weeks or so I'm back to properly cooking on my night off.

Before that we were having quick dinners like simple pastas, baked potatoes and kiddies classics like fish fingers, chicken nuggets etc. They still had plenty fruit/veg etc but I just couldn't cook. When I'm working and OH has them he makes dishes from both scratch and a mix of made and shop bought. i.e he'll buy a mince round from the bakers and do the mash, veggies himself.

I'm pretty sure some ready meals are decent nowadays? OH buys the fresh asda ones for him and the girls and they all love them (I hate ready meals so don't eat).

 

[tinkerbelle93]

A slow cooker is amazing for saving time in the evenings.

Also if there's leftovers there's usually no need to throw them away, put them in the fridge and reheat the next day for lunch. DH quite often takes a lunchbox with leftovers to microwave at lunch.

Also you can bulk-make things up and store them in the freezer. So having a home-made meal really doesn't mean physically cooking from scratch every single night.

 

[jd83]

Nope. I don't have time for that. I cook from scratch a few nights a week, cook easy/quick meals a few nights, and 1-2 nights we order pizza or eat out.

 

[rebeccalouise]

Thanks everyone. I'll start freezing leftovers, I never really thought about that before! We have a slow cooker, so I shall start using that more too.

They're great meal I deas loeylo, thank you.

LO still gets enough fruit and veg, as she'll have veg on the side of meals, she also snacks on a lot of fruit throughout the day.. I'd just like to make her fresher meals.

 

[DCS]

About 5 nights a week. One night the kids usually have a pizza and me and OH have a curry out the freezer. ( pizzas are either frozen ones or I use the bases and add toppings myself depending on how I feel. The curry was home made by my mum she filled my freezer with them so I would stop buying them from the take away place. )
Another night we sometimes have a freezer meal. Usualy when I can't be bothered to find a fish meal. So we we'd up with fish and chips out the freezer.

I second a slow cooker. And freezing, re using left overs.

 

[embo216]

I never used to but since I started slimming world I do except one night when we have a takeaway

 

[Rainbow82]

Nope, I probably cook from scratch 3 or 4 nights a week. One night will typically be baked potato or omelette which I don't really count as cooking from scratch, the other nights will be meals that I have cooked and frozen. Usually when I cook I make enough for 2/3 nights and freeze the leftovers for days I don't cook the following week. Sometimes I batch cook if I have s free morning, usually mince meals. I'll chop loads of onions, mushrooms and some peppers then make a load of tomato sauce. I split loads of mince three massive saucepans to one I add tomato sauce, extra garlic and peppers and make into bolognese and lasagne, one I add peppers, beans and chill is too and make a chilli with the tomato sauce with the last lot I add peas and carrots and gravy and make into cottage pie.
The slow cooker is great too for stews and soups, make several portions at once to freeze. Other quick meals include pasta and sauce, either tomsto(chopped toms, onions, garlic and chillis) or cheese. Pita pizzas( I freeze tomato sauce in ice cubes, defrost a couple spread on puts and grated cheese), also oven food eg sausages in frozen HM yorkies with frozen veg and gravy, couscous with stir fried veg(ok does involve some cooking but takes ten mins max to throw manger out, baby corn, slice onions, mushrooms peppers and carrot and chuck in wok with bit of soy sauce, just mix into the couscous.

 

[lola_90]

We are in that situation as well but LO eats at nursery so it's often just me! On days when he isn't in I sometimes buy a ready meal from the shop COOK. The meals are frozen and delicious, no nasties. More pricey than the supermarket but cheaper than a takeaway.

Or we have something simple like sausages, beans and toast, smoked salmon bagels, baked fish and some rice, pesto pasta, pizza.

 

[PitaKat]

I cook from scratch about half the time, use boxed or frozen foods (like PastaRoni and fish sticks) a couple days a week, and then we eat out once or twice a week. I hate to waste food, so we eat leftovers once or twice a week too.

 

[tallybee]

No but I try to most of the time, and freezing leftovers is a good idea. I often make extra for freezing.

 

[AP]

Nooooo I do my best though

 

[CarlyP]

Yes every night. I follow slimming world so kind of have too. Even when DH isn't here I still cook for myself, I just freeze the rest and have it for lunch the next day.

 

[jodilee6]

I cook 5/7 nights, not always from scratch though!

Sometimes it just easier to use a jar sauce.

I do try and cook 3/4 meals a weeks from scratch tho at least one will be done in the slow cooker and will be 2 nights eg chilli and rice one night then leftover chilli on jacket the next.

We moved in the summer and still haven't bought a freezer so I can't bulk cook, I'm really missing my freezer and was craving potato waffles the other night!

 

[JessyG]

I wouldn't say we cook from scratch every night but we never use ready meals.

A typical week

Monday (I am off) - sausage pasta with homemade tomato and veg sauce
Tuesday - homemade pepper mushroom and pea risotto
Wednesday - wrap pizzas (quick and reasonably healthy we use chopped tomatoes mushrooms ham pepper sweet corn cheese or whatever you fancy)
Thursday - home made spag vol
Friday - left over from Friday maybe made into lasagne or pasta bake
Saturday - chicken curry. Really simple to do but does take about an hour to cook
Sunday - quick a simple meal like fish fingers potatoes and peas or spag hoops

I also do steak pie in the slow cooker which is easy to do as you just chuck everything in then cook off some potatoes and pastry at the end (its more like beef stew than steak pie)

 

[Lauraxamy]

Pretty much apart from if we have a take away or if I ever have left overs. I don't like frozen meals or anything like that, I don't even really like frozen chips so I make my own potato wedges.
If I'm working late I use left overs or try and prepare stuff I can freeze for occasions like that. I often deliberately make extra when I do lasagne and pasta bakes etc so I can freeze them.

 

[Boomerslady]

No way!! There's only me and Ben and he eats hours before I do, so he has what he wants, generally sausage and mash, fish and chips, beans on toast etc plus I have him 4 nights a week and 2 of these he eats at after school club.

Cooking for one is a nightmare, so I tend to use ready meals, or say tonight I've got a chicken mini roast thing (2 breasts, 2 sausages and stuffing) and I'll do a few roasties and veg from scratch to go with it.