Cooking? really? when?

opermommy

Okay, so I've never been the domestic goddess.  Actually in our house my husband cooked and still does more often since his schedule allows for it.  With him out of time, though, I know I actually have to make something more healthyfor myself (I gotta lose the baby weight somehow) and more importantly for my very picky 18 month old that doesn't involve cans, Gerber, yoghurt, grilled cheese, or sweet potato fries.  How do you manage the time and a picky eater???

scherza

I will cook something that I can reheat the next day after the kids are in bed, or DH and I cook together on Sunday afternoons and take turns watching the kids.  We do a lot of stuff in the Crock-Pot and a lot of stuff like casseroles that can be reheated.

Cooking Light and Weight Watchers both have some fast and easy recipe books that are pretty good resources.

jlw2505

My DH does most of the cooking in our house and we do as much prep as possible the night before - after the kids are in bed so all we have to do at dinnertime is heat or cook what has already been prepped.

howleyshell

When the baby was super little DH would come downstairs while I finished putting the baby down after bath and prep the next day's dinner so all I had to do was throw something in the oven.

Now I use the following tricks:

1.  Always double and triple batch when I DO cook and put 1 or 2 extra meals into the freezer for a night when the kids will not let me cook.  I just made a triple batch of split pea soup this morning while the boys were eating breakfast.

2.  Prep food after the kids are in bed for the next day

3.  Prep in the morning when they're both in better moods than the 5:00 "happy hour" when tensions are highest.

4.  Always cook enough so that lunch the next day is 100% covered by left overs from the night before.

5.  Menu plan on the weekend so I'm not standing in the kitchen scratching my head and trying to figure out what I'm gonna cook while juggling a million other things in my head.

 

 

whatstalkn

Crock Pot!!! I love it

shouldbworkin

I used to do most of my cooking on the weekend when DH was home and the kids were napping.  I'd make double portions of two different entrees that I could freeze and/or reheat during the week.  Now we do some easy meals in there too.  We have breakfast for dinner 1x a week, which is a total crowd pleaser even for my picky eater.  We also have soup and sandwich or salad 1x a week.  If the kids don't like what I'm serving, it's easy to make them some nuggets or give them some yogurt.