I need some help.
I don’t know how to cook. Well, I don’t know how to cook very well… and basically, I rarely take the time to do it. This fact generally results in either a) grabbing something while we’re out, b) pizza, or c) Hormel beef tips & gravy poured over egg noodles seeming like home cooking.
I don’t get home until 5:45, so preparation time is at a minimum. And, like I said, I don’t know a lot about cooking.
So I’m turning to all of you in the blogosphere for some help! How do you get dinner on the table in less than two hours? What are some of your stand-by recipes? What are your tips for a great (I would settle for edible) family dinner?
And while we’re at it, how do you get a 3 1/2 year old to eat?
I’m anxiously awaiting your comments!
There are things you can’t “make” a child do. Unfortunately, sleep and eat are two of those things. You might try letting him read a book at the table. Sometimes they will eat more if they are distracted a bit. Focus on the healthy items he likes, and don’t forget that their stomachs are only about the size of their fist.
Taste of home is a great place for recipes for someone in your situation.
My favorite from them just uses 5 ingredients! Chicken, rice, taco seasoning, mild salsa and peach preserves. Chop chicken up into cubes, coat with the taco seasoning, then cook in a skillet with a T of oil. Combine salsa and peach preserves and add them to skillet. Cook through, then pour over cooked rice. If your kids are picky about the pepper/onions in salsa, run it through the blender or food processor first. I would use at least a 2 to 1 ratio of salsa to preserves, but experiment if your family likes things sweeter. It’s delicious and easy.
Have you tried any of the meal prep places? I go to Let’s Dish and have found it very helpful since having my son. You go for a few hours to the store and prepare all of the meals there, bring them home and freeze them, and then you have meals ready to go on the nights you don’t have the time/desire/energy to put a meal together. It is also a great opportunity to get some friends (or cousins!) together and make an event out of it alone with no kids! Other places that do meal prep: Super Suppers, Dream Dinners, My Girlfriends Kitchen (didn’t like as much as Let’s Dish), Supper Thyme.
There is always the crock pot. Dinner waiting for you when you get home. 🙂
I am all about tossin’ some kind of veggie over wheat pasta. It’s better for you than regular pasta, and my 2 year old will eat it…I don’t know if it helps, but that is what I do!
Cousin as you know I am no Martha Stewart. But I DO have a couple of yummy crock pot recipes I will send you! I would put all the ingredients in before you go to bed, and turn it on in the a.m. before you leave for work.
This is my all time favorite quick and easy recipe: http://www.recipezaar.com/61040
That website has tons of really great recipes that you can also sort by time to make among other things. Go check it out!
Starve him. Once he’s good and hungry offer him teeny carrots or an apple cut across the middle into rounds that show the star inside (pick the seed slivers out first!) while you’re getting dinner together. Pasta is an easy make-ahead idea–rinse the starch off the noodles and spritz with Pam; refrigerate. Just heat through in the microwave and top or toss with jarred sauce–the Classico brand is pretty tasty and many of the flavors don’t have added sugar.
http://www.kraftfoods.com is AWESOME! You can type in what food you have in your kitchen and it will give you a recipe. You can also search through total prep time. Easy for me who also can’t cook or doesn’t like taking hours to prep and then hours to clean it up. =)
I also suggest the crock pot idea. I didn’t have a crock pot for MANY years until some friends of mine started passing around the FIX IT AND FORGET IT series. I mentioned to one of them that I didn’t have a crock pot and she said that it was worth getting it just to fix these recipes. I did, and my life hasn’t been the same. It may take a few minutes extra in the morning to dump the ingredients in, but it will be ready for you when you get home.
and when you learn how to get Kate to eat a variety of foods you’ll HAVE to post the solution. I am eagerly awaiting the answer myself.
In the movie Spanglish, Adam Sandler makes what is referred to as “The World’s Best Sandwich.” I challenge you to make it and then invite me over to eat it. Here’s the recipe:
2 slices bacon
1 cooked piece of chicken breast (leftover)
1 egg
2 slices sourdough bread
Jack cheese (or whatever cheese you have on hand)
Tomato slices
Butter lettuce (sometimes we use fresh spinach leaves)
Mayonnaise
(Keep in mind that I like my bacon crispy…cremated even.)
Good luck!
I try and prepare as much as I can over the weekend for the next week’s meals. I make sure veggies and fruit are washed and cut, I brown meat for spaghetti sauce (or my kid’s favorite, Sloppy Joes)…stuff like that. If I end up being rushed and having to make them grilled cheese sandwiches (on whole wheat, with REAL cheese…not cheese-food), then I’ll give them raw veggies to eat with it, and then I don’t feel so guilty. Sometimes, when things are really crazy (read: Mom is in a bad mood) we’ll have breakfast for dinner. My kids love having scrambled eggs and toast with some fresh fruit, and I’ll feed them that when I don’t feel like listening to them complain!
hello, my non-cooking soul sista! i, too, can not cook very well and have a hard time getting my 2-year-old to eat at times, but his doctor told me once, “if he’s hungry he’ll eat!!” i felt bad about it at first ’cause who wants to send their toddler to bed without dinner? but after nights of offering up 3 and 4 dinner options only to be turned down, i’ve agreed to agree with the doc!
Here are my thoughts
1. I also love the crockpot. There are recipes all over the internet.
2. Meal prep places are great. Shop around for the best prices. The only downfall is a lot of times they aren’t healthy.
3. My secret weapon is http://www.savingdinner.com. Sign up for their weekly menu service. Their meals are easy and quick and 99% of the time very yummy. It takes all the work of thinking out of it. I talk about them here.
http://thediaperdiaries.wordpress.com/2007/06/26/works-for-me-wednesday-menu-planning/
It has saved me a whole lot of headaches. There are other similar websites out there, including one that is free, but I thought the meals weren’t so hot on the free one.
The Crock Pot is an amazing invention!!! Get a “Fix It and Forget It” cookbook (There’s a whole collection of them.) There are some really good recipes in the one I have. All you do is throw a bunch of stuff in before you go to work and when you come home, it smells wonderful! It tastes like you’re an amazing cook! IF veggies and other things need to be cut/peeled, I do that the night before, store them in the fridge, and then dump it all in the Crock Pot in the morning! Voila!
“Hello? Pizza Hut? Delivery, please.”
I’m finding lots of handy things at Trader Joes that are helping this employed outside the home mom get a decent dinner prepared. Their Frozen pasta dishes are great and heat up in a skillet in less than 10 minutes. If you like seafood, their seasoned/mainated fish selections are good and bake/grill up easily. Frozen chopped basil and frozen minced garlic are sold in easy to use little cubes. Just pop them out into your recipes to save time and hassel. They have great stir fry meals in a bag too.
I forgot to say, if you are a pizza fan, the Trader Joe’s pizza dough is very good. They sell it in baggies in the deli case. You just sit it out at room temp for about 20 minutes and then make your pizza. They sell whole wheat pizza dough, in addition to plain and some herb flavor. I’ve tried all three kinds. I like the whole wheat, and it has good amounts of fiber and protein, but my DH does not, unfortunately.
You could always cut off a chunk and let Kate make her own pizza.
you should check out what’s cooking weekly – http://www.whatscooking.info/. 🙂 it’s an online menu planning service for families. i am actually going to be reviewing it and offering a giveaway on my blog in the next few weeks. one of the cool (i think) things about it is it has ways to get your kids involved in the meal preparation. your dd is around the same age as mine and, while some of the things are still a little advanced for her, there are some things she can do. she loves helping me out in the kitchen. 🙂
Do you like fish? I make Tilapia a lot. It is so easy, and can be made a variety of ways. It only takes 20 minutes on 400 degrees. I buy a lot of it at Kroger and since it’s fresh it can be frozen. I just thaw it out in the microwave on 30% power for about 1 1/2 minutes on each side and bake. I also heat up a can of green beans on the stove and make some microwave baked potatoes for the sides (Bacon Bacon from Tastefully Simple is a nice add onto the potatoes). It is a quick healthy meal. Kate may not want the fish, but maybe she’ll eat some green beans and potato?
Two of my favorite ways to make it are: 1) mix some dijon mustard and light mayo and spread on the fish (I don’t like mayo but this is good) and sprinkle with flax seeds and diced pecans (you can buy them in the baking aisle); (2) take virgin olive oil and some spices and marinade (Kroger’s Seafood Rub with Love spice rub is good)
My crock pot is my best friend. 🙂
Also, we are big fans of quesadilas. You spray both tortillas with pam, through one in a skillet, add whatever you find in the fridge that looks appetizing, (get creative) through the other on top, flip once and ta-dah. Cut it into about 6 pizza-triangle pieces.
I usually let the kids help with what is going in them and that makes them a little more willing to eat them, lol. Plus, the easy to eat slices makes even the littlest hands happy. 🙂
We also love love LOVE frozen tortellini. First, they usually only take 3 minutes to boil. You can add canned red, white or cheese sauce. Carrots, brocolli, frozen spinach, chicken, meatballs, ham….(um, not all of those at once, lol!) it seems like another endless possibilities dish.