I am a full-time teacher, mother & wife. Just wondering if anyone had tips on how to handle cooking meals w/ such a busy life. I want my children to be raised on home cooked meals-- but it is definitely a challenge. Any tips??
2007-01-01 09:47:40 · 12 answers · asked by Proud mother! 6 in Pregnancy & Parenting ➔ Parenting
Get a crock pot!
Cook large batches of things on the weekend and freeze part of it.
Do some of the prep work in the morning before you leave for work or when you bring the food home from the store.
2007-01-01 09:55:25 · answer #1 · answered by momma2mingbu 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
As a wife, and working mom of 4, the thing that helps me is having a kitchen full of kitchen gadgets. I love doing meals in the slow cooker. They can be prepared the night before or in the morning, and when you get home from work, it's done. There's no rushing around trying to get dinner ready as soon as you walk in the door. I also just got a rice cooker, and can see it's potential! Just turn it on, walk away, and it turns to a keep warm mode when it's done. Rice cookers can also be used to cook other things, such as stews, oatmeal, and other grains.
Another thing I do is order the groceries on-line. I pick them up at the store at my designated time - they even bring them out to the car. You do have to pay a fee, but it keeps me from impulse buying s I walk around the store, which in turn saves me money. Also, it's a lot quicker than spending an hour walking around a grocery store!
There's also a couple of places around town where you can walk in, they have all ingredients for many different meals all cut up and ready to be prepared. You follow the directions, putting ingredients in containers, pay for how ever many you made, bring them home and put them in the freezer until ready to cook.
When you cook dinners, you could also cook double, and place one in the freezer for a day you're running late.
2007-01-01 09:59:03 · answer #2 · answered by mcdaid36 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I would check out some of those 30 minute recipes on Rachel Ray. Also, I always keep a Lipton bag of alfredo and a can of chicken breast in my cabinet for when I am really short on time and I make chicken alfredo. Just look around on the internet and there are many sites with quick meals. Also, when it comes to side dishes it is really quick to just throw a can of veggies into a pot and warm them up. Bake some meat while making some macaroni and there you go. Not all home cooked meals have to be five star. As long as they are healthy-ish, that's better than take out.
2007-01-01 09:53:50 · answer #3 · answered by Hayley C 3 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Make anything and everything (meals) ahead of time (even lasagne) and freeze before thawing and baking in the oven. You can use this trick with lots of foods, or try cooking or baking the food and then freezing in air-tight containers - one little leak or gap in the lid will start freezer burn hell! There are also vacuum sealing products out there to end freezer burn forever! Dairy products shouldn't be frozen very long, if at all. Hope this helps! The cooking and baking are never a problem for me, it's the dishes!!
2007-01-01 10:07:04 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
If you are really organized (I am not) you can plan your meals on the weekends and prep them.
I rely a lot on Rachael Ray's cookbooks, and a couple of cookbooks that limit recipes to 5 ingredients (Southern Living has a great one for 5 ingredients in 15 minutes). I always have Pasta in the cupboard and stuff for salad in the fridge. Another quick bacjk-up is a boboli, you can use it with meat and veggies and the kids like putting stuff on it.
Also, try recipes at epicurious.com or allrecipes.com they have a lot of kid-friendly and 5 ingredient recipes.
2007-01-01 11:01:20 · answer #5 · answered by gauchogirl 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
There are businesses popping up all over the country..one example is "Dinner's Ready" You go on like a Sat afternoon and in two hours you can have 1-2 weeks worth of dinners that you put together yourself, are healthy and all you do is pop them in the oven when you get home. Check around. Some places might be cheaper than others, but they are usually pretty reasonable.
2007-01-01 09:53:11 · answer #6 · answered by Ryan's mom 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Menu planning - this way you can do some pre-prep on the weekends and do all your buying on 1 day. I also recommend getting a book on 30 minute meals it can spare your sanity. There are lots of quick and easy meal options but planning a menu-doing all your shopping in 1 day and sticking to the plan can make your life so much easier. Good Luck!
2007-01-01 09:57:11 · answer #7 · answered by Walking on Sunshine 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Do fresh veggies every day, serve them 1st, I use olive oil, to flash garlic, and lemon juice, with fresh cracked pepper, awesome ! then do things like meat balls, (u can get 2 nights out of that (Make on Sun). Perdue Thin chicken cutlet, tomato's, mushrooms (all fresh) olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper.... Bang ya chicken in the olive oil fast hot for 2 mins both sides, reduce heat, add the rest (above), cover, cook, spin it two minutes later, spin it two mins later again, Bam ya done in 7 minutes, sprinkle with fresh locatelli romano... All fresh, tastes great, just a few items on the way home from the market... balanced, nutritional, fast !
2007-01-01 09:58:08 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
I take a day or half a day on a weekend or whatever. Any spare time and cook in bulk and freeze it. Unfortunately you can not freeze everything but you would be surprised the good nutritious meals that you can.
2007-01-01 09:54:49 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
I just ate pickles for dinner.
Anyway if you do your meal prep the night before after the kids are in bed that can help.
2007-01-01 09:53:39 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋