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Washington Babies
Dinnertime without Dad
For those of you who have husbands with alternative work schedules....
What do you do for dinner when dad isn't around? I'm running out of ideas for quick and easy toddler friendly meals when J is not home when I'm making and serving dinner.
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Re: Dinnertime without Dad
English muffin pizza's (M can help make them)
Grilled Ham and Cheese
Breakfast for dinner - Ella's fav is waffles.
Ham and cheese rolled up in crescent rolls and soup to dip in
Chicken fingers (slightly pound chicken breast, slice into strips, dip into mayo/mustard combo and then in Panko. Lightly fry in olive oil to give the panko some color and then bake in the oven for 20 minutes at 375).
We're going through this right now since it's busy season for DH.
I try to stick to my easiest meals (spaghetti, chicken sausage with rice, steamed veggies), things I can make quickly (stir fries and fried rice mostly) or things that I can prepare in advance or in the crockpot (chili, soups, salads) and when all else fails I keep a small stock of frozen meals from Trader Joe's. I hate convenience foods so I save those for absolute "emergencies". I also keep a box of salad greens in the fridge so if I'm scrambling we can at least have "salad" as a veggie side.
Here's a few of the easy staples in my kitchen:
Ginger, Coriander & Orange Braised Chicken (serve with rice and steamed green beans - this is a favorite in our house, I usually skip the cilantro when I'm running short on time)
Scarpetta's Spaghetti (don't bother with the fresh tomatoes and just buy a can of San Marzanos instead, you can skip the garlic basil oil but it does bring a lot of flavor to the party, I've also been known to use dried basil)
Chickpea with roasted red pepper salad (a good one to make the night before as a side to something simple like grilled chicken)
Aussie Chicken (I don't bother with the mushrooms)
I also sit both the girls in the kitchen with me while I cook. We turn up music, dance, snack on puffs and have a lovely time. It keeps everyone happy so I can get dinner on the table. It doesn't always work, sometimes I just have to say "I give up" and grab a frozen pizza.
We try to give Lucy whatever we're having, or at least a toddler friendly version. Last night we had orzo with peas and shrimp. I added some grilled chicken to hers instead of the shrimp.
Staples in our house are:
orzo or risotto and then we add either grilled chicken or shrimp and veggies (usually peas or asparagus).
Various kinds of baked chicken with the microwave brown rice from TJ's and some steamed broccoli (https://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/parmesan_chicken/, dijon, etc)
White bean and chicken chili with a salad
Tacos or tostadas with ground turkey (I give her everything but the crispy chips)
I sometimes buy the jarred curries at Trader Joes/Costco and we'll have chicken curry or tikka masala with rice and peas.
Salmon burgers (use the sandwich thins, shredded cabbage, avocado) and sweet potato fries
When all else fails, we have some fresh French bread with brie or mozzarella and veggies dipped in hummus. I steam carrots and broccoli and then let them cool for Lucy to dip in the hummus. And, the kid loves bread and cheese.
So do we with Madelyn (even though she doesn't eat a ton of it, dang picky girl)...it's more the logistics of cooking by myself when Madelyn is at her crankiest, baby is fussy too and dad isn't around
Great recipes!
OHHH I love those nights - it's so much easier feeding the kids then feeding a DH/whole family. I usually just have cereal when kids go to bed.
But I remember when Alex was little (under 3) he'd have :English Muffin Pizza with Chicken, and a side of green beans. Actually he loved green beans so we had that with every meal.
Also He liked black bean quesidillas (with green beans) or Beans and Weenies (turkey weeines)
Willow adores lil' smokies and rice (mixed with peas)
Both my kids loved dipping veggies, so carrots and broccoli are big at our place.
Easter 2011
Ugh, I know. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to come across as being rude. It is hard enough with 1 kid and DH around. I don't know how you do it lady!
Oh, you didn't at all!!!! I just meant that I need recipes that are super easy to cook. And I am far from alone in my single momishness - there are several ladies on here that have to do it on a more regular basis than I do!!!!
What I really can't imagine is if my husband were deployed and I was just alone. For over a year. Nothankyouverymuch.
Staples in our house are:
mexican lasagna
spaghetti and meatballs
pasta with alfredo sauce and veggies (can also add chicken)
egg "mcmuffins" - english muffin with fried egg, cheese, pepperoni or ham (or sans meat)
homemade pizza
shrimp or chicken scampi- cook pasta. while pasta is cooking, cook meat and veg mix (whatever bag of frozen veg looks good) in healthy amount of italian salad dressing ( some will cook off). Toss with pasta and sprinkle with parm. My family (and toddler!) inhale this!
I'm trying to think of some of my other "fast" meals.... I'm always cooking without DH home, so most of my stuff is fast/easy even though DH will come home and eat with us. He usually comes in at 6:15 and I say "SIT DOWN AND EAT".
Boboli pizzas are easy.
Tacos
I get these three packs of ham steaks at Costco - they don't have any nitrites which is rare for ham - and I keep them in the freezer. They thaw really fast, so you can pull this out at 4 and still have dinner easily. I make a glaze of soy sauce, dijon mustard, and some sort of jam - apricot is good, but blackberry is too. I put the ham on a broiler pan, brush one side with glaze, and put it under the broiler for 5-7 minutes til it's bubbly, flip it, glaze the other side, broil that. In the mean time, steam some broccoli. Done. Sometiems I make mac n cheese as a side for that. Or mashed potatoes (the Ore Ida steam n mash is a huge time saver). But we dont' always have a starch/side for dinner. Sometimes I just roast some sweet potato wedges too - those are always a hit.
I have a super easy soup recipe that takes no time at all. I usually try to cut stuff up while at least one of them is napping. I'll post that on a separate post so the formatting doesn't get all messed up. But I pick out pieces from it for Cooper and he eats the individual components
Trader Joes has an orange chicken that I really like. It's easy and fast too. I make it, and steam some broccoli and mix it in with the chicken and sauce, and nuke the frozen TJs brown rice to go with it. All of your food groups in one bowl.
Our standbys:
Spaghetti (I make a double batch of meat sauce and freeze)
Fried rice
Chicken fingers with rice/couscous/quinoa
Sloppy joes
Chicken tacos
Turkey meatloaf
Teriyaki chicken
Taco soup
Chili
And, if I'm really feeling lazy, we have bell peppers with hummus (which both of my kids *love*).
*Breakfast for dinner (egg sammies)
*Chicken/Bean quesadilla
*Ham & Cheese sandwich with tomato soup
*Mac & Cheese with peas and turkey dogs
*Gardenburgers with sweet potato fries
That's all I got. Probably not very healthy - but I hate wasting food.
one of DH's go to meals when I'm gone that the kids love is "poor mans paella". Well, that is what he calls it. Cook up a box rice a roni, add some peas and either cut up hot dogs or if he went shopping, Apple Sausage bratwurst type links. (Think Adele's at Costco). The kids LOVE it. Quick and easy.
It is hard though by yourself! I usually have one crazy wild kid and another one crying since he is starving. I can't get dinner on fast enough. I find that meal planning helps with the stress tremendously! If I know what we are having and can plan time wise it goes smoother. Also, I had the jumperoo/ excersaucer IN the kitchen so I could put the baby in that while cooking. Bought me some time. I am hoping to start using the crockpot more. Perhaps that will help to ease that stress for you as well?
1 pound chicken Italian sausage, crumbled and browed (Optional)
2t olive oil
1 1/2 c chopped onion
1 medium carrot, halved and sliced (3/4 c)
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 c long grain rice uncooked
1 t dried Italian seasoning
2 1/2 c water
2 (14.5 oz) cans whole tomatoes undrained and chopped
1 (10.5 oz) can chicken broth
1 medium zucchini halved and sliced (2 c)
1/4 t salt
1/4 t pepper
1 (15.5 oz) can cannellini beans, drained
1 (10 oz) package frozen chopped spinach thawed and drained
2/3 c grated parmesan cheese Brown sausage and drain fat. Add onion, carrot and garlic and saute in the oil for 3 minutes. Add rice and next 4 ingredients. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes. Add zucchini and next 4 ingredients. Cook 5 more minutes.
mine are all listed (along with many others) in my recipe exchange link below. The chicken broccoli pie was a recent and easy success!
I guess I can sort of answer, although it's usually breakfast & lunch I do solo, usually hubby is the one making dinner while I'm working. I'll try to think of things he makes too...
We've done a lot of things from Trader Joe's, although not quite as much lately. M likes their mini cheese pizzas, their mini cheese ravioli (in the dry pasta section, we cook it up and then toss with just a little butter, garlic powder and parmesan cheese), turkey meatballs, she LOVES their gorganzola gnocchi in the freezer section - that one is super easy, just heat in a pan for like 10 minutes.
She loves soup, so we do a lot of soup & grilled cheese sandwiches. Her favorite soup is butternut squash, we get that at TJ's too. She loves breakfast food too especially eggs, sometimes J makes breakfast for dinner for them - banana pancakes were a big hit just recently. M loves "toads in a hole" too, where you cut a circle in bread and fry an egg in the middle. I also like to get bread dough (Pillsbury has canned French bread dough, or whatever type you like) and I unroll that flat onto a baking sheet and we add toppings - sometimes pizza stuff, or ham & cheese, but you can put whatever Maddy likes, and then roll it back up and bake it. Slice it after it bakes and serve it with some veggies or fruit on the side.
She loves noodles too (really any carb, honestly, but who doesn't??). We got these frozen yaki soba noodles from Costco recently that were really good. Might not be the healthiest but they zapped in the microwave in like 5 minutes, and they had a ton of veggies in them and were actually pretty flavorful. We served that with some grilled chicken brushed with bottled teriyaki sauce.
Another thing - if Maddy is interested, let her help you cook! M LOVES to help me cook, she grabs her little step stool and peers over the counter and wants to help with everything. I let her do what she can - sprinkle on cheese, stir things, I help her crack eggs. Like the stuffed French bread is a great one for kids to help with, she can sprinkle toppings all she likes.
It makes her more interested in what she's eating, plus it's such a cool experience to share with her.
And, there's no shame in just piecing together a meal that might seem weird, but stuff your kid's like and is somewhat nutritious! I bet you're exhausted by the end of the day!
Grilled cheese
Nachos
Veggie pot pie
Pizza
Soy dogs and fries
Veggies galore
Order in!
Thank you so much ladies!!!!!!!!!
Crockpot!
I buy pre cooked chicken breasts and throw them in the oven and then cut up veggies for salad. M can help throw the cut up veggies in a bowl while you chop
You could run water and suds in the kitchen sink to entertain her
Magnet+ Fridge (or dishwasher or metal surface)
If I keep W engaged and talk to him or ask him questions he'll leave me alone enough to use hot ovens and stoves with out putting him in danger, but we call it the witching hour at our house: All tired and hungry and 1 parent to deal.
tortellini and pesto from costco
pasta and sauce with costco meatballs
I'm late but some meals I make that I didn't see listed already
Chili on Potatoes - w/ cheese and sour cream (hot sauce for DH). All done in the microwave.
One of the steam fresh cheese and broccoli boxes is great topping a potato (easy side)
Crockpot chicken tacos - 4-5 chicken breasts with ajar of green salsa. Cool on low all day and when I get home I shred it, add 2 cans of black beans (drained) and make tacos. This makes at least 2 meals and lunches for us so bonus there!
I also cook 5lbs of Hamburger meat at a time and batch it up into small tupperware in the freezer whcih makes things like spaghetii, soups and sloppy joes easy to throw together
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