I don’t know about you, but as a Mum of three, quick family meals on a budget are something that I NEED in my life! There’s barely an evening passes by without one of the children needing shipping out to some activity or other. Whilst I love that they’re active and they’re getting involved with things outside of school, it can make things pretty busy, particularly when you factor in actually feeding them in between school, homework and their after school clubs! I don’t want to rely on fast food or expensive ready meals, so I’ve been on the hunt for some more quick family meals on a budget.
If you’re a regular reader, then you’ll know by now that I work from home. This eases a lot of the pressures that we have on our time and finances, but working in the evenings does make things tricky sometimes.
At the moment, we have three busy nights out of five – for us it’s Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays when I find myself running round desperately trying to get everybody fed, changed, out of the door and washed after their activities whilst still feeding them a fairly healthy diet, making sure they’ve done their reading/homework and got to bed at a reasonable hour.
Honestly, if I sat down and actually thought about all of the effort that goes into making sure everybody does what they’re meant to, when they’re meant to, then I’m not sure I’d ever actually leave the house!
Being a working Mum is tough!
I swear by meal planning – it’s the only way I can guarantee that I’m not running round like a headless chicken on a daily basis wondering what to feed everyone and dashing to the shops between work and collecting the kids. I also know for a fact that meal planning save us hundreds of pounds over the course of the year. Planning around what we already have in means we’re not buying what we don’t need, and we definitely waste less food.
However, those nights when we’re in a never-ending rush can be difficult to plan for.
If you’re feeling the strain like me, then I’ve put together a couple of freebies to help you to plan out your weekly family meals might help!
I’ve also been asking around for some quick meals for busy school nights. Because it is HARD WORK thinking up ideas to keep the children fed whilst still getting them out of the door on time!
Quick Family Meals on a Budget
One pot pasta – Healthy Vix
Chuck wholemeal pasta in a pan of boiling water with some chopped veg and cook for ten minutes. Then drain and mix in either a tin of chopped tomatoes or some pesto and voila! Quick, easy and only one pot to wash up!
Fish Pie – Raising Badgers
A really simple yet delicious recipe that requires minimal effort so long as you’ve kept your freezer stocked up. Perfect for cold, busy school nights.
Homemade Quiche – Life as Mum
Make your own Quiche. It’s so easy and super healthy too. All you need is low fat cottage cheese (you can buy a chive one which is delicious), a few eggs and add your choice of veg such as onions, mushrooms etc, and your meat if you want. Put it in the oven for around 20 minutes. Make bigger portions and it will save for the next few days too.
Omelettes – Ever After With Kids
Have some pre-chopped up veg in the freezer ready to fry off and make omelettes by adding eggs after a few minutes. Healthy meal in minutes!
Quick Chicken Casserole – Welsh Mum Writing
This 20 minute chicken casserole is quick and very healthy. A little chicken goes a long way so great if you are on a budget too. Make it in bulk and freeze it, or portion out for the next day.
Pizza – Sophie’s Nursery
Either pre-made bases, wraps, sliced bread/baguette bases & then spread tomato paste on top & a sprinkle of cheese. Add any vegetables of choice. Grill & done!
This is such a great example of quick family meals on a budget. All of my children LOVE pizza and they love to make their own. I just get the ingredients out for them and let them get on with it whilst I get on with sorting out whatever it is I need to be doing.
Tomato Sausage Casserole – AnkleBiters Adventures
Pack of sausages, 2 tins tomatoes, red onion, yellow or green pepper, garlic – put all of it into one pot for an hour or so – and have with mash or boiled pots – so cheap and easy!
Oven Baked Frittata – Thrifty Lesley
This recipe is slimming world friendly, packed full of veg, and only takes a couple of minutes to make!
The humble toastie
It’s such a simple thing, but the humble toastie is something I never used to think to make for the kids for their evening meal. If you’re lucky and you have a child that likes salad (one of my three does), then you can throw some salad on the plate too. Toasties are really versatile too – it can be as simple as ham and cheese, or something a little more extravagant depending on how much time you have!
It can be really hard during a busy day to find time to make sure the whole family is fed and that they’re eating food that’s fairly nutritious. It’s so tempting sometimes to grab a ready meal or order a takeaway. But in the long term that’s not good for your family’s health or your bank balance!
Hopefully, these quick meals for busy school nights will help you to plan ahead, stick to your budget, whilst still making sure everybody gets out of the house to their various activities on time!
If you’re looking to save time on cooking but fancy a roast midweek, you can also check out how to cook the perfect roast potatoes in the air fryer!
Make sure you know where to find these quick family meals on a budget by pinning this post!
Some great ideas here.