Midweek meals. Expand my menu!

[Novella]

Rice (one of the microwave packs with flavouring) Chicken Skewers and salad
Tacos
Roast
Stirfry (I cut everything up when the kids are quiet)
Spag bol (can make the bolgnaise sauce earlier in the day then put pasta on later)
Chicken curry (in the slow cooker). Sometimes I cut everything up the night before then put it on int he morning
Beef Curry in the oven
Chilli Con Carne (cook the chill up earleir in the day then make some rice to serve)
Lasagne (I make in bulk and freeze a couple before they go in the oven, then just thaw and cook in the oven when having a bad day)
Corned beef in the slow cooker, steamed veg and a microwave pasta packet
Chicken burritos - chicken diced, taco seasoning, jar salsa, tin chick peas and tin kidney beans cook chicken, stir the rest through then put in tortillas and top with cheese, roll and bake in oven for 5 minutes, easy reheat ok - just a bit soggy. Filling can be made in advance but only takes about 5-10 minutes anyway. These are the kids favourites
If Im really tired baked beans and toast or scrambled eggs

These are my lazy cooking ideas

[Violet Star]

I love that the meal ideas are simple. Some of the over the top ones just are too much hassle mid week.

[Aussiegirl777]

Here's our mid-week meals list:

Pork Chops with veggies or salad
Chicken soup (easily made ahead of time)
Spaghetti bolognese - any leftover bolognese sauce then turned into lasagne
Grilled haloumi cheese and salad (easy and super quick)
Grilled fish with salad or rice and veggies

[Beautitude]

Thanks for all the suggestions, they all sound so yummy!

Violet star: yes we do have a slowcooker but i mainly just use it for spag sauce or roast. Id love to use it a bit more.

I tend to like stove top meals over oven meals as with two little people on the move i worry that one of them will touch the oven while im chasing the other. Iv been hassling dh for gates on the kitchen for ages!

We tend to do have:
Chilli Con Carne a fair bit
Spag but im sick of the packet mix that we use so want to learn how to make it from scratch
Burgers
Home made pizza (our pizza maker is the bomb!)
Spinach and feta pie
Meat and veg/salad
maple chicken (donna hay recipe, sooooo yummy if you like sweet things)
tacos
burritos

Today is playgroup day so i have a pot of chilli on the stove all made so when i get home i can just make the rice (snap sararose) as i always have two grumpy hungry children on wed arvo's.

I love to make risotto but need dh at home to keep ds's busy as they tend to mill around while im cooking and risotto is so labour intensive.

Mid week cooking is hard work with two little people around so the easier the better!

[sloane]

donna hay has a couple of nice risotto recipes in her chicken cookbook that you do in the oven - i do the one with chicken & pumpkin quite often & it's easy (although uses the oven that you're trying to avoid!)

i also do:
chicken parmas - pretty easy, just a schnitzel with a tomato sauce (if i'm in a hurry just some tinned or chopped tomatoes with herbs), then some cheese on top & i often just grill at the end
chicken satay with rice
sausages with either baked vegies or salad
steak with salad & oven chips/baked potato - or if i can't be bothered, i make it a steak sandwich
grilled chicken in turkish bread with sweet chilli, cheese & salad
slow cooker curries
meatloaf

[nothing2lose]

Other things I do regularly ...

- smoked chicken "cabonara"
- home made baked beans with fetta and sausages
- souvlaki
- fajitas
- Asian spiced pork belly with rice and Asian greens
- slow cooker curries
- zucchini fritters
- meat pie (I do the filling using beef cubes done in the slow cooker)
- chilli con carne
-

[Cherished]

Goodness me I need to expand my meals too! My problem is not knowing to make half the time!

Home made pizza on sougdough flat bread wraps
stirfry
Spinach and ricotta triangles (bit of prep but not many ingredients)
rice bake with anything chucked in and Tahini to make puffy
vegie bake
Loads of salads! with cous cous or quinoa in it, nuts, sun dried toms, olives, fetta/cheese, sprouts, beans etc even fruit like orange or kiwi
Potato salad, rice salad etc
burritos, tacos
nachos (yes we have it often enough lol) with everything to go with it, inc avo, sour cream and a big salad!
lots of curries in winter
polenta bake
roast veg and home made bread

[Erin_25]

a yummy spag is super easy to make with most things in your cupboard/fridge. I always cook beef mince up in a big pot, add some tomato paste, crushed tomato's, a little red wine & then some mixed herbs, salt and pepper. Then to add more flavour I add a dash of bbq sauce, sometimes a dash of sweet chilli and there's always a bay leaf floating around. Just let it simmer, easy. We always serve with angel hair pasta.....love it. This is the same base for my lasagna.

Others we have that are super easy.....

Zuccini Pie
Tuna Pie
Wraps with salad and either Chick or Beef Strips
Taco's (chicken or beef)
Steak, Salad/Veg
Fried Rice and Chicken skewers
Buritos (get these at our chicken shop...so yummy) with Salad
Chicken Chow Mein with crunchy noodles
Sausages (gourmet one's) with Salad/Veg
Toasted Sandwiches
Fish & Salad
Trail Mix Cous Cous (made on my kitchen rules & is awesome) with marinated meat
Pie with Salad/Veg
Quiche & Salad