Quick, Healthy, and Budget-Friendly Meal Ideas for Busy Family of 5

[catephant]

Slow cooker.... does so many meals from just meat and potatoes to stews, chilli, curry etc. Love mine

 

[raymondrieger]

Check out @yuri48

 

[grandma5657]

I try to avoid the "we don't fancy it" and meal plan a range of meals for the week, and we have to pick one each night. There's no way out of that, I'm not wasting ingredients I bought specifically.

 

[lambysmith]

Try pinch of nom, there is a quick and easy book. Hope this helps.

 

[walkingdisaster]

We use the simply cook meals quite a lot. Most take around 20-30 mins but are actually really nice home cooked meals.
Slow cooker on a morning so people can eat as and when they're in - curry, stew, bolognese etc

 

[dragonfly]

Get the bored of lunch slow cooker recipe book. Such quick easy ideas for dinner in there xx

 

[onlinestores]

Do you have a slow cooker? I do loads of "bung it all in" type of meals, tin of beans, some hot dog sausages, tin toms, veg that are getting close to the end of their lives, some bbq sauce, that kind of thing. Jacket potatoes can be done in the slow cooker too, so you could prepare some tuna mayo and a salad the night before, bung the spuds in the SC in the morning, everything ready to dish up when you're all home together. Or do stuffed chicken breasts, split the breast, fill with mozzarella, pesto, some basil leaves, wrap the chicken in bacon and then tin foil into the SC in the morning. Good luck, us Mums really do have to think of everything these days, I'm sure it's harder now! xx

 

[realincarnation]

Consider a slow cooker, on low all day or turned on before hubby leaves for work, you could do stew, chilli, ragu, soups, casseroles type thing, a whole chicken or joint of meat x also freeze leftovers for handy nights.
Air fryer also very handy for something to go with rhe above, wouldn't be without either airfryer or slow cooker now

 

[melsna]

I find a gammon joint in the slow cooker is great I leave it all day and it just falls apart when we want to eat it, can have with jacket potatoes or whatever Ben chips and some baked beans (I make my own slimming world chips or wedges which is also fairly quick as just chop the potato up and put in the air fryer). Also chill made in the slow cooker or bolognaise, really easy and good for reheating. Also I call this a lazy roast, prep the roast potatoes in the morning and leave in water all day (can boil in the morning if you want so already to pop in the over or air fryer, then cook chicken breasts or a pork or lamb chop and some frozen veg, can all be done in about 40 mins xx

 

[christiangirl30]

@melsna when is tea time???

 

[johnrandall]

I use my slow cooker every day in the week. Everyone who needs to eat at a different time does and the left overs go for lunch the next day. Does need trial and error to avoid watery sauce and sometimes it smells and tastes amazing but doesn’t look amazing. However, everyone gets fed at the right time with minimal fuss.

 

[faselina]

Get a slow cooker and ask the hubby to prep and stick it in before he goes to work!

 

[meow6308]

Get some easy bits in that you can just do, like chicken gouchons and Wraps with salad. So good! (Esp with sweet chilli sauce & mayo)
Get some pasta in and some make a quick sauce, tomatoes based or mac and cheese. Jacket potatoes with different fillings. Use these for rushed evenings so you don't have to think. Then when you fancy something more and have more time to plan inbetween, do. X

 

[wwjdinthissituation]

Try meal planning with 5-7 meals for the week but be flexible with days. This way they are planned but it’s more like picking from a menu of options each day rather than having set days, well - until the last meal!

 

[itiswellwithmysoul78]

I always meal prep in the morning then it’s stick it on hob or in oven when walk through the door x

 

[itskayluv]

We did HelloFresh and Guosto for the introductory offers. It was fabulous!

 

[aaron1990]

Meal plan and just stick to it, you can move the days around if you fancy something particularly that day but you just get used to it

 

[funfun]

Slow cooker and bored of lunch cook book and UK Slow Cooker recipes, tried and tested! You can prep the night before and Chuck it all in in the morning ( I never sear meat etc if the recipe says to and they turn out great. A timer plug is great if you’re out for long hours

 

[lylacrose]

I try and meal plan at least 5 fresh meals a week..for the other two, we may have a take away or something easy and simple out the cupboard/freezer things like pasta bake, pizza, chicken wraps, soup and cheese toasties. I also ask for suggestions from those I'm cooking for so we all agreex

 

[maybrick]

Definitely a meal plan and use a slow cooker. It’s a life saver when working late. Most things can go in the SC spag Bol, chilli, curry, casserole, baked spuds, even if you have to cook a bit of rice and pasta to go with it. Air fryers are great too for quick easy cooking !! I’d be lost without my meal plans as I also hate thinking of what to cook everyday