Easy lockdown lunch ideas for the whole family, from peanut butter noodles to loaded tortillas
The struggle, or rather, the juggle, is real; if you have children and are working from home during this third national lockdown, I’m sure many of you will be finding this time incredibly demanding – homeschooling the kids, all the while keeping on top of your usual workload from your desk, if you have one (there are a good many more of us at the kitchen table, or sofa, even).
Wherever it is that you find the space to work, there is also the tipping point of housework, of which there is much, much more these days given that we’re all at home, for breakfast, lunch and dinner, throughout the week. It’s safe to say the task we face is a daunting one.
I have three children (13, 11 and eight years old) all at home with me for the time being. My husband, classed as a key worker, works elsewhere. It’s not easy. New Government guidelines state that schools should be providing up to five hours a day of online learning; combined for my three girls, this is quite a chunk of time that I’m supposed to be on hand to help with schooling my children, though Grace, at 13, is diligent enough to work solo. Schools are doing a heroic job, and I am grateful to all teachers for their bombproof commitment in extraordinary times. That said, I’m no teacher (and know now, I’d be a dreadful one…)
My approach is to apportion a couple of hours each to eleven-year-old Ivy and Dot (eight) in the morning – an intense fast-tracking of the school day into just two hours per child, but needs must. There have been a few tears, but mostly and mercifully, we seem to be succeeding with good humour, tea and toast, too (more on that overleaf). As a chef and food writer, I am fortunate to be able to work from home in one of my roles, though not an awful lot gets done, for all the reasons above.
In the spirit of homeschooling and using the various virtual resources on offer to us all, I’ve decided to use our regular lunchtimes as a sort of home economics lesson in which my children and I cook a recipe together and post our endeavours as a short video online (@5oclockapron on Instagram). These cooking-with-kids videos are even gaining quite a following, and I’m pleased: if Joe Wicks can get the nation doing PE, we’ll give it our best shot on the family home-cookery front.
Here are five quick and easy lunchtime recipes that I hope will be enjoyed not only by you, but by your children, too. Much like the recipes the kids and I have cooked to date (we started making the videos in March last year, during the first lockdown), these recipes shouldn’t really take you any longer than 15-20 minutes (at the very most) to assemble, and they all make use of common, popular storecupboard ingredients.
Enjoy!
Quick fixes for the family
Leftover tomato spaghetti from last night?
Stick it in a grilled cheese sandwich to heat as usual for a lunch with extra welly.
Good eggs
Fried, scrambled, boiled and mashed with butter and black pepper, in omelettes, frittatas, or pancakes – having eggs to hand is always a must.
Spud-u-like
Baked potatoes take longer to cook but only minutes to serve. Wash first, then, while still wet, splash with a little olive oil and salt and bake at 200C/180C fan/Gas 6 for between 40 and 60 minutes, depending on size. Sometimes a knob of butter to serve is all that’s needed.
Magic miso
My oldest daughter and I love miso, made up as a broth to slip in some frozen edamame beans, some sliced spring onion and pre-soaked rice noodles.
Top tips
Use your collective lunch hour to make a meal together. Get your kids to help out with the prep and laying the table, and take a break from work/worksheets/phone calls.
Teaching a child how to make a cup of tea is a life skill, advising caution with the kettle and more. While you’re at home together, give it a go – they will thank you, and, eventually, you will thank them for a great brew.
A toast break can offer a five-minute pause for you all to sit down, reboot, and go again. Toppings can be as simple as Marmite, baked beans, a fried egg or peanut butter, to enjoy with a cup of tea while you take deep breath.
You can never have enough fruit in the fruit bowl (or carrots for cutting into sticks): the call for snacks is a continuous one throughout the school day.
