Feeding Your Family Without Stressing Out

If you've had a tiring or stressful day at work, the last thing you want to do is to spend a long time preparing a meal when you get home. Here are some ideas and tips for quick and easy main meals:-

1.Pasta – Most pasta can be boiled within 10 minutes so it is great for a quick main meal. Bolognese sauce is simple to make – fry an onion with garlic, add mince and brown, stir in chopped tomatoes or passata and add mixed herbs or oregano. Simmer for 15-20 minutes and serve. You can also add vegetables to the sauce – mushrooms, peppers, sweetcorn, whatever takes your fancy. Red wine also makes a great addition to the sauce.
For a quick cheese sauce use crème fraiche mixed with grated cheese, bacon and mushrooms or use mascarpone. There are so many free recipes online for quick pasta sauces.

2.Quick Pizza – Fry some onion, garlic and mushrooms, spread passata over a slice of french bread (sliced lengthways) and pour onion, garlic and mushroom mixture over the top, grate some cheese over the pizza and grill.

3.Omelette – Omelettes are easy and quick to make and are tasty with a salad and chips or a jacket potato.

4.Slow cooker meals – use a slow cooker to cut down meal preparation. Prepare meat and vegetables in the morning before you go to work and the slow cooker will have a hot, tasty casserole ready and waiting for you when you get home.

5.Use canned condensed soups as a basis for sauces for meat and pasta.

6.Potato wedges – rather than doing chips all the time, cut potatoes (skin on or off) into wedge shapes, par boil for 10 minutes, drain, drizzle with olive oil and bake in a hot oven for 30-45 minutes. Great with fish, steak or chops.

7.Easy, no effort fish – Season fish fillets with herbs and spices and then seal in a parcel made of foil. Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes.

8.Quick curry or Chilli – Use the bolognese recipe from tip number one and add curry powder or chilli powder to turn it into a curry or chilli. Serve with rice.

9.Rice – Rice can be fiddly to prepare in a saucepan because you have to keep an eye on it and keep stirring it. Buy a rice cooker or a microwave rice steamer to make perfect fluffy rice while getting on with cooking other things.

10.Chicken – Chicken breasts are very versatile. Look for marinade recipes and sauces to coat chicken breasts with and then bake in the oven for hassle free chicken. Serve with salad or a jacket potato for a healthy, nutritious meal.

11.Jacket potatoes – Jacket potatoes can be served as a main meal or as a side dish. Microwave, or bake in the oven to get a crispier skin, and serve with a tasty topping. Topping ideas – baked beans, beans and grated cheese, tuna and sweetcorn mayonnaise, curry, chilli, coleslaw, bacon and mushrooms, mushroom condensed soup, prawns and mayonnaise or prawn and marie rose dressing, bolognese sauce, cottage cheese, cream cheese and chives.

12.Pork chops – Pork chops are quick and easy to cook. Grill or coat with a marinade and bake. A simple but great tasting recipe is to brush with a mixture of soy sauce and marmalade and bake in the oven – very tasty.

13.Make double – Whenever you make a pasta sauce, chilli, bolognese or casserole, make double the amount and freeze for a quick meal on another day.

14.Search online for quick recipes – Print out recipe ideas, file in a ring binder and give them a rating when you have tried them. You'll soon build up a file of recipes that you can depend on.

15.Use Pre-prepared food – Use prepared salads or chopped vegetables to cut down on preparation time.

You will find many more tips, main meal ideas and recipes online. Enjoy experimenting and trying out new recipes.