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Toddlers: 12 - 24 Months
papagena
member
How to eat dinner at a reasonable hour
papagena
member
I work, and usually don't get home until 5:30 - 6ish, at which point, I take a few quiet moments with DS before I start his meal time, and from there we pretty much start his bedtime routine. DH and I often don't eat until 9ish, which has got to change. I'm going to try the crock pot route, but other than that, any suggestions? If you work outside the house, or even SAH, how do you get dinner ready at a decent time?
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Re: How to eat dinner at a reasonable hour
The crockpot is huge in our house. We use it a lot.
I also do most of the prep work for a meal the night before after DS goes to bed. It really helps out a lot. I also have freezer meals that I make on the weekends like sloppy joes, lasagna, chili, spaghetti sauce-etc.
We prep in advance. It's the only way.
We keep salad in the fridge for a couple days. We always have chopped veggies. Meat is taken out to defrost every morning.
Rice cooker is always on.
We also use the crockpot 1-2x a week. I also do a TON of meal prep on Sunday, which may mean that I have a freezer meal or two that I simply pop in the oven.
I have 2 word docs if you want them. 1 is CP recipes, and the other is freezer recipes. PM me if you are interested, and I will email them to you.
I get home at 5:30. DH gets home 15 minutes after I do. I feed DS while we wait for DH to get home. DH will help me get our meal started (firing up the grill, starting the sides, whatever) and then by the time DS is done eating, we are ready to eat. He walks around the LR and we tend to put on TV at this point to keep him occupied. Then it's family time, bath and bed.
GL! I know how tough it is to get it all balanced. Oh, and I should mention that we do have the occasional 8pm dinner thing happen too!
I use Super Suppers. It is one of those places where you go and make a months worth of meals at one time and keep them in your freezer. There are several of types of these places around. Most of them are very easy to prep and I can usually do it before my husband gets home at 7 (DD & I get home around 6). If the meal doesn't come with a side, I have quick ones to make (frozen veggies, rice, etc.). The cost of the meals depends on how many you buy, etc. but for me the time savings of limited grocery shopping and meal planning and prep in the evenings and avoidance of eating out is worth the cost for us. We get a variety of meals and get to try things that I wouldn't make myself. I think we would be eating grilled cheese every night if it wasn't for them. I know this probably sounds like a commercial but every night I am so happy that I use them!
Good luck! I know there have been other posts about quick & easy meals as well so I hope that you are able to find something that works!
Thanks girls - I'll work on doing a bit more prep at night and the CP/freezer meals.
Blondie - you have a pm!
hit the "contact" link on her post, and select 'send a private message' or whatever it says...
HTH.
If you PM'd me, I sent the recipes. Let me know if you don't get them.
We all eat the same dinner and we eat together between 6 - 6:30P. I either make quick things like spaghetti or if it involves chopping vegetables, etc. I do the preparation the night before and then just throw it all together. I have also been using my crockpot more, too. Prepping the night before is a life saver! I make time consuming things on the weekends.
As for meals, here are a few of our favorites: tacos/taco salad, steamed lemon chicken w. brocoli, squash and lemon pepper linguine, grilled chicken w. corn on the cob, crockpot korean short ribs w. brown rice and brocoli, crock pot chicken & brocoli w. brocoli cheese sauce, burgers on the grill w. baked fries, frittata & pancakes, baked fish (salmon, tilapia or catfish) w. vegetable couscous
I am not a big fan of crockpot meals at all, so I cook on Sundays. Usually, I'll cook two big meals (a roast and usually a Filipino meal.)
I will steam veggies and make rice on a nightly basis while DD plays with DH. Then, I serve the meals I made in advance. Some nights, especially towards the end of the week we will do Trader Joe's frozen meals like meatballs, dumplings etc.
I have to say, I'm not very good at the crockpot. Well, maybe it's my imagination that's not too good - everything I've made is wonderful, I just can't think of anything except stroganoff, roast (which I don't like), and shredded salsa chicken. And queso!
How are you at grilling? Normally H did the grilling around here but I tried it recently and it was really easy, and now I grill 3x per week - last night we had turkey burgers and I made parmesan potato chips to go with (really easy, just slice a potato thinly, bake, and sprinkle shredded parm on top 5mins before you pull them out of the oven). You could even grill all your meat on Sunday and eat it throughout the week. That way you only have to jack with making a vegetable and a starch if you want one. I tend to stick with salad, frozen veggies I can steam along with either pasta or rice. I don't cook anything that takes longer than 30mins during the week.
Another thing you can try is assigning daddy to the bedtime routine. Ian and I play for a bit, then when H comes home he takes over baby duty while I fix the dinner. He feeds him dinner, gives him his bath and everything! A couple of months ago I never would have believed this man was capable of any such thing, and he kicked and screamed at first but now he likes it (well, maybe I told him he BETTER like it). Then while he walks the dog I play with Ian some more and then put him to bed.
Wow - that's awesome! I wish our day care did that.
Oh, I forgot to add that Crockpot liners are a lifesaver and make clean-up a breezer! I highly suggest buying them if you plan to use your crockpot.