Weekly Dinners (1 Viewer)

[glvsav37]

Family guys, with 2 working spouses and busy kids—how do you do/prepare dinners?

We are spending too much money on take out and quick meals b/c we can never seem to find the time to cook. 2 kids in some activity or another most of the week. Both my wife and I work FT—i get home later then her so she is usually out doing the sports taxi thing.  But I'll admit, my wife is not much of a cook even when she has the time. I loved to cook when we were young and fist married, but that when we could eat at 8:30 pm and not worry about it. 

We've tried the crock pot, but unless its a soup or stew, everything just gets mashed into one pile of slop for me. 

How are you guys doing it? Weekly meal prep? Calendar? Bag and freeze? 

Even when we do find time to cook, I rarely have what I need and end up spending time and money at the grocery store. 

I want to make this year much better with food overall, but dinners especially. Frankly its not a good example we are setting for our kids IMO. 

 

[Galileo]

Don't have a real solution for you.  We use the crock pot often, but just for the meat.  Nothing is really "mashed into a pile of slop" except the meat itself.  Lots of shredded meat...pork, beef, chicken.   Hell, we don't even thaw the meat anymore...just throw it in frozen.   It is easy enough to make a quick salad or steam or roast some veggies to go along with the meat.   Other than the crock pot, we'll do things with pretty short cook times...tacos, steak, pork chops.

 

[stbugs]

I'd like to start doing the same. With the two jobs, 3 kids and seemingly sports stuff all the time, we do take out food too often. My wife is pretty good at making dinner if we don't have any type of event, but like you said it seems like we don't always have tons of options/stuff ready in the fridge. It's one of my goals this year, along with getting back into much better shape and they kind of go together IMHO. Easier to eat well without take out.

 

[the moops]

I have found the only way to really do it, besides a slow cooker, is to get home early enough to properly cook a meal. For some, this will mean going into work earlier. For me, I just don't work as much and get my kids from school at 300 and am home by 315. So on Mon/Wed/Fri I am in charge and have a good couple hours to play with kids and make something proper. I teach on Thu nights, so the kids and the wife are on their own which mostly means a snack/leftover dinner for them. Tue my wife gets home at 315 and attempts to make something, but more often it is me picking up some takeout on my way home from work. So not bad, in that we are at least getting three solid home cooked family meals each week.

 

[the moops]

One other thing - I will generally take a peek in the fridge in the morning to see what stuff needs ot be eaten then do some recipe searching by ingredient while at work. Will walk over to the grocery store during lunch and get whatever else I need for that night's dinner. Gets me soem exercise and means fresher ingredients

 

[dino259]

Don't have a real solution for you.  We use the crock pot often, but just for the meat.  Nothing is really "mashed into a pile of slop" except the meat itself.  Lots of shredded meat...pork, beef, chicken.   Hell, we don't even thaw the meat anymore...just throw it in frozen.   It is easy enough to make a quick salad or steam or roast some veggies to go along with the meat.   Other than the crock pot, we'll do things with pretty short cook times...tacos, steak, pork chops.

This.  shredded Pork or Chicken.  It freezes well and thaws quickly for those days you forgot.

I would love more ideas as we generally have 30-40 minutes to try to eat supper.

 

[guru_007]

We started creating a menu/schedule about 4-5 years ago and couldn't imagine going on without it. Two full time working parents and at that time 3 kids with multiple activities per night, it was an unbelievable hassle trying to figure out what to eat, when to eat it and only when it was time to prepare something find out we were missing one or two things needed to make the meal, etc... 

We generally eat at 6:00 p.m. relatively promptly, but there are some days when a kid activity coincides with that time, so on those days we will eat a bit early and prepare a meal that takes less time to cook.  With the menu posted, we know what needs to be thawed out for dinner the next night.  My kids are a little older now so they can help with the prep work when needed sometimes - or at the very least, make sure the kitchen is clean so the parent(s) do not have to mess with that when they get home and can just prepare the meal.  There are also occasions when the parents need to split dinners with a child - but I'd say over the past 5 years, we have ate >95% of our dinners together as a family.  

Added benefits is it saves us quite a bit of time and money in grocery shopping as we have greatly cut down on the number of times someone has had to stop at the store on the way home to pickup a few things.  And, we have not forgotten or had to miss any activities/practices/concerts/meets/etc.... 

 

[Nick Vermeil]

dot

 

[Spike]

Family guys, with 2 working spouses and busy kids—how do you do/prepare dinners?

We are spending too much money on take out and quick meals b/c we can never seem to find the time to cook. 2 kids in some activity or another most of the week. Both my wife and I work FT—i get home later then her so she is usually out doing the sports taxi thing.  But I'll admit, my wife is not much of a cook even when she has the time. I loved to cook when we were young and fist married, but that when we could eat at 8:30 pm and not worry about it. 

We've tried the crock pot, but unless its a soup or stew, everything just gets mashed into one pile of slop for me. 

How are you guys doing it? Weekly meal prep? Calendar? Bag and freeze? 

Even when we do find time to cook, I rarely have what I need and end up spending time and money at the grocery store. 

I want to make this year much better with food overall, but dinners especially. Frankly its not a good example we are setting for our kids IMO. 

Great, timely topic.  I agree with so much of this.

I do 98% of the cooking and it's really a chore now.  We still do too much of the "frozen pizza", "frozen mac & cheese" and "stove top mac & cheese" for my liking but it's easy to fall back upon.

 

[RokNRole]

Teach the kids to cook?

 

[Buttonhook]

.

Good timing.  My wife is an incredible chef, but she's burned out trying to figure out what to make every night so I was looking into food delivery services:  Blue Apron, Green Chef, My Happy Plates...

Curious if anyone has tried any of these.

 

[Nugget]

When I'm cooking for my kids I can make most meals in 20 minutes or less.  Browned ground beef or chicken tenders on the griddle can be cooked in 10 minutes.  Pasta can be cooked in less than 20 minutes and I can make a couple simple sauces in a skillet in about 5.  I do use steamer bags of veggies in the microwave and those take 6 minutes.  Meals I've cooked in the last 2 weeks:

• Shrimp over veggies with a butter sriacha sauce
  
• Meatball Subs
  
• Tacos
  
• Bowtie Pasta in Alfredo
  
• Nacho Fries
  
• Chicken and veggies
  
• Pancakes and omelletes
  
• Various sandwiches
  
• Quesadillas
  
• Pork Loin and salad
  
• Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup
  

I really don't make anything with more than 5 ingredients and the only spices I use are salt, pepper, and garlic (nutmeg for my alfredo). I am walking and talking with my kids as we cook or prep so it seems to add quality time.  

 

[Bull Dozier]

Did the taxi thing for many years.  It is about to end, with the two youngest in high school, and one about to start driving soon.  Will be more time along at home with the wife.

We tried a few things.  Crock pot, but while that cut down the cook time, you still had to find the time to eat together.

The other thing we tried for a while was prepping a whole bunch of meals on the weekend (caserole/hot dishes) and put them in the freezer or fridge, and then just heating them on the day of.  While the prep time is cut down, you still have a long cook time, so it isn't a perfect solution.  Plus, count in the grocery run, then most of a Sunday doing all the prep, it eats up half your weekend,  I'm not really interested in spending half my weekend prepping meals.  I'd rather hit a drive through or take out when we have stuff going on.

 

[Rick James]

Sort of off topic but I'll never understand why parents let kids' sporting activities dictate so much of their daily lives. 

 

[glvsav37]

.

Good timing.  My wife is an incredible chef, but she's burned out trying to figure out what to make every night so I was looking into food delivery services:  Blue Apron, Green Chef, My Happy Plates...

Curious if anyone has tried any of these.

I'm trying to avoid these myself. My kids are fairly picky so I'm not sure I would get full value out of them, plus, they seem rather expensive for a fam of 4 everyday. 

I am curious about meat subscriptions/delivery. There is a local place by us that claims to drop off high quality, grass fed beef in bulk. That at least solves part of the "what do we have on hand" issue. 

 

[shadyridr]

On days he doesn't have baseball we cook. On days he does have baseball we either use crock pot or take out.

 

[glvsav37]

Sort of off topic but I'll never understand why parents let kids' sporting activities dictate so much of their daily lives. 

for us, if we don't they don't play. Schedules and times are set by the leagues.

Monday nights is ice hockey (Son), its a set league time each week. Wife has to bring him b/c I coach and can't get home to get him and back to the rink on time. Also, I can't be home cooking b/c i'm on the ice
Tuesday and Thursday is dance (Both), they only offer it weeknights
Friday night is Basketball (Daughter), again, I coach so I'm there for a while.
Saturdays is more hockey and figure skating, but its mostly during the day.  

 

[shadyridr]

Sort of off topic but I'll never understand why parents let kids' sporting activities dictate so much of their daily lives. 

It's definitely a huge time commitment. I guess i should just let him stay home and play on his iPad all night to make it more convenient for us. 

 

[wikkidpissah]

When I'm cooking for my kids I can make most meals in 20 minutes or less.  Browned ground beef or chicken tenders on the griddle can be cooked in 10 minutes.  Pasta can be cooked in less than 20 minutes and I can make a couple simple sauces in a skillet in about 5.  I do use steamer bags of veggies in the microwave and those take 6 minutes.  Meals I've cooked in the last 2 weeks:

• Shrimp over veggies with a butter sriacha sauce
  
• Meatball Subs
  
• Tacos
  
• Bowtie Pasta in Alfredo
  
• Nacho Fries
  
• Chicken and veggies
  
• Pancakes and omelletes
  
• Various sandwiches
  
• Quesadillas
  
• Pork Loin and salad
  
• Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup
  

I really don't make anything with more than 5 ingredients and the only spices I use are salt, pepper, and garlic (nutmeg for my alfredo). I am walking and talking with my kids as we cook or prep so it seems to add quality time.  

This, more or less.

It's a mindset - the thinking one can do over the course of a day/week can make cooking for a whole fam a fairly ez 20min proposition when you get home. I used to suss out a week by my starches - lessee....pasta, mashed, tortillas, starch-free, fries, sweet potatoes, brownrice, soup (spuds, rice or pasta), roasties (easiest good thing in the world is to wash & chunk some spuds, light oil & salt/pepper/garlic powder/paprika &or rosemary 425 for 15 min), sammiches, etc. then imagine your meats & vegs for those, mix & match, let the fam tell you what works. but without the mindset, either you or the fam as a team (shop together, this kid does the salad, set the table, thaw right things out, etc) it wont fly. but it's damn good eatin & a huuge cut in budget if it does. GL -

 

[the moops]

It's definitely a huge time commitment. I guess i should just let him stay home and play on his iPad all night to make it more convenient for us. 

The only two options to entertain them is playing organized sports or video games?

 

[Buttonhook]

I'm trying to avoid these myself. My kids are fairly picky so I'm not sure I would get full value out of them, plus, they seem rather expensive for a fam of 4 everyday. 

I am curious about meat subscriptions/delivery. There is a local place by us that claims to drop off high quality, grass fed beef in bulk. That at least solves part of the "what do we have on hand" issue. 

I'm only looking at a few nights a week, mostly during the week when time is short (both work, kids, etc.).  Regarding the financial commitment, my wife already spends a good amount of money on buying fresh food at the supermarket.

 

[Leroy Hoard]

Seems like a good way to lose weight, but I could see you getting really hungry after the first 3 or 4 days.

 

[Slapdash]

Sounds like you need to go FULL SPUD!

 

[shadyridr]

The only two options to entertain them is playing organized sports or video games?

Did I say that?

 

[mr. furley]

https://www.reddit.com/r/MealPrepSunday/ has been helpful

i make lots of pasta dishes. we eat a fair amount of pizza. but i also try to plan in advance for at least 3-4 dinners a week. means having meat thawed, ingredients organized, etc

cooking goes a lot more quickly when you're not thinking about what to make but also searching for the appropriate ingredients. 

i set all the dry ingredients out on my stove in the morning and group everything else that i need together in the fridge. this way i get in the door, start boiling the water, etc. and am more or less ready to rock a meal in 15-20 minutes.

seems simple but has helped me a lot.

 

[the moops]

Did I say that?

Well sort of. It is a legitimate question that Rick James asked. There are folks who struggle to feed their kids a healthy family meal because of time commitments to organized sporting activities. Your response to that was to insinuate that if your kid wasn't doing sports he would be on his ipad the whole time. 

 

[jfranco77]

Make a ton of protein on Sunday. Grilled chicken, meatballs, skirt steak slices, etc. Takes an hour, maybe 2. Buy lots of veggies that don't take long to cook or prep when you shop. Spinach. Bell peppers. Carrots. Tomatoes.

Then come home during the week, and make starch and/or veggies, and heat up or throw in protein. There are lots of things that can be done in 20 minutes. Throw some meat and veg on a boboli shell if nothing else. Or mix some things up with pasta or rice.

It's not great but it works, at least sort of.

Scrambled eggs/omlettes makes a nice way to break things up if it gets too monotonous. 

 

[the moops]

Scrambled eggs/omlettes makes a nice way to break things up if it gets too monotonous. 

Good call

 

[glvsav37]

i.e. sports schedules—I think we kind of shot ourselves in the foot in the last few years with kids sports when we let them become 'year long' commitments. I remember playing Football as a kid, and I would practice 2x per week and then games on Saturday, from August to November. and then that was it...move on to something else until next August. 

Now if you kid plays multiple sports, its not seasonal anymore, its year round, or special camps, or special training. Spring ball, winter ball, season ends and a week later the new one begins, gotta keep them in the loop, gotta participate if you want your starting spot. It does seem a bit crazy. Then add in any religion or sacrament classes into your week. 

I know I'm guilty of it, and I love seeing my kids enjoy their activities, but it is a bit crazy. 

 

[the moops]

@shadyridr - sorry if that came across as an attack. Didn't mean for that. I should have just responded in a general sense that it is for sure a struggle to make it all work. and at times, it is IMO a bit absurd how much organized sporting takes over family's lives.

 

[shadyridr]

i.e. sports schedules—I think we kind of shot ourselves in the foot in the last few years with kids sports when we let them become 'year long' commitments. I remember playing Football as a kid, and I would practice 2x per week and then games on Saturday, from August to November. and then that was it...move on to something else until next August. 

Now if you kid plays multiple sports, its not seasonal anymore, its year round, or special camps, or special training. Spring ball, winter ball, season ends and a week later the new one begins, gotta keep them in the loop, gotta participate if you want your starting spot. It does seem a bit crazy. Then add in any religion or sacrament classes into your week. 

I know I'm guilty of it, and I love seeing my kids enjoy their activities, but it is a bit crazy. 

I hear you. My son has been in little league for 3 years and somehow actually started to like it and become good at it this year. Therefore, I put him in 2x a week offseason training from Nov-Jan with his team. I'm ready for a break and I think he is too so we are going to take off until April when baseball actually starts.

 

[shadyridr]

@shadyridr - sorry if that came across as an attack. Didn't mean for that. I should have just responded in a general sense that it is for sure a struggle to make it all work. and at times, it is IMO a bit absurd how much organized sporting takes over family's lives.

I wasn't really limiting my comment to sports. Any external activity whether it be sports, music, art, karate, or dance are huge time commitments. And then consider those with more than one kid doing activities.

 

[NutterButter]

Kids pretty much eat the same stuff over and over.   They both like broccoli so that's the go to veggie for most meals.  Takes literally like 5 minutes to steam up some.   Besides that, its typically rice/beans/cheese, frozen pizza, quesadilla with chicken, steak with potatoes.  Rice is typically made as needed which is pretty simple 15 minutes in the pot.  Everything else is just prepared via toaster oven/microwave.  We never eat as a family.  Kids just eat when they say they're hungry.   

 

[brettdj]

We use Hello Fresh for 2 or 3 meals a week.  2 kids.  One will eat some of the Hello Fresh, so if the family meals will work for her, we get that.  Otherwise we get meals just for us and have leftovers for lunch or another dinner.  The picky one will not eat any of the Hello Fresh.  We have gone this way because otherwise it will be take out and cost more.

 

[shadyridr]

Our meals on a typical week:

1-2 slow cooker meals: Chili, chicken soup, lentils, stew, pork, chicken in a sauce, pasta sauce

chicken cutlets, rice, veges (takes about 30 min)

pork chops/steak/burgers with mac & cheese, vege, fries, etc (takes about 30 min)

Meatloaf (takes about an hour)

If he has baseball game in spring those end at 730 we almost always get Wendys

 

[Juxtatarot]

When driverless cars become the rage, parents will no longer need to be chauffeurs for their kids.  It will be one of those things that future parents will say "I can't believe parents used to do that!". 

 

[the moops]

When driverless cars become the rage, parents will no longer need to be chauffeurs for their kids.  It will be one of those things that future parents will say "I can't believe parents used to do that!". 

Surprised Uber hasn't gone into the "shuttling kids around" business

 

[TheMagus]

I'm not sure what your budget is or if you have a Wegmans by you, but it has been the perfect solution for us. They sell pre-made meals in sealed plastic that just need to be thrown in the oven. It's usually a meat in some kind of sauce and you just cook it in a bag in the oven for about an hour. They are very good. I think they usually run about $15-$20 a piece which isn't really that bad for a meal for a family. They also have other options that can just be thrown in the oven.

 

[Courtjester]

Great topic and is definitely a thing my family struggles with as  both my wife and I work FT, but luckily a pretty standard 7:00 to 4:30 M-F schedule.

I do 98% of the cooking and shopping. I look ahead to the week and if there are events, I don't kid myself--that is going to be a take out night. But if it is a clear week, I try and designate days as:

Monday--healthy day with usually bagged salad--toss in meat/crab and bread sticks on the side.

Tuesday is a pasta meal (bow tie pasta--white sauce or spaghetti with marinara sauce and frozen meatballs) and I can use whatever bread sticks from the day before as a side if I need to. .

Wednesday is wrap day--cook up bacon. Shredded lettuce, tomatoes and some ranch dressing wrapped in a tortilla. You can use pre-cooked chicken or buffalo chicken strips as a variant.

Thursday can be Mexican food day--Old El Paso makes these great taco boat kits--again use the left over shredded lettuce and tomatoes, brown a little meat and some cheese. What is great about these taco boats is you can repurpose them as pizza boats as well--a little pizza sauce, pepperoni and cheese and you have quick mini pizzas in about 5-10 minutes.

Friday is a wild card day where I don't mind spending a little more time in the kitchen so I will make a more involved meal such as a stuffed chicken breast or pork loin. 

We try and sit down somewhere out on Saturday.

Sunday is crock pot day--potato soup, taco soup, shredded pork and there are always leftovers for my wife and I to take a day or two for our lunches and if I double the recipe and freeze--bang, a future dinner. 

Also during the week, I will do grilled cheese and tomato soup, chicken quesadillas. breakfast for dinner, or a sandwich tray melt like Kings Hawaiian Sandwhiches  I use an 18 pack for my family. 

My tips to help:

Buy pre-shredded/pre diced stuff like tomatoes, onions and lettuce to speed things along. They don't last as long as uncut, but are a huge time saver and that is why I try and use them in back to back meals.

Another thing I do sometimes is buy my sides from fast food places. So Mondays, I will ask my wife to start getting the bagged salad ready and I will hit Fazolis on the way home and get a couple dozen bread sticks. If we are doing a frozen Chinese meal, I will have her start the meal and I grab egg rolls or won tons from Panda Express. The people at KFC always look at me like I am weird going through the drive thru getting only one large order of mashed potatoes.  . But these are a all huge time savers and money savers vs buying a whole meal from KFC. 

Cooked bacon can be used in so many ways, but cooking bacon is always so messy. So I make my bacon in the oven--(do not pre-heat the oven) line a cooking sheet with foil and have some excess foil extend out a little on one end. Put your bacon on the sheet and put in oven. Now turn the oven on to 400 and cook 15-20 minutes (cooking time is depending on what type-thickness of the bacon). When they are done, you make a little funnel from the excess foil on the end and pour the bacon grease in a can and bingo, a no mess way to cook bacon. 

I would love some more quick ideas--hopefully we can make this thread as successful as our Crock Pot thread has been over the years.

 

[Hawks64]

Sous Vide could be huge for you. You can freeze any protein in a single serve vacuum seal bag with whatever seasonings, then throw it in the water with Sous Vide and finish it when you get home. We typically do our meal planning on Friday night / Sat morning and then do the shopping. I'll make a couple of more time consuming meals on the weekend and then during the week quicker meals or will now be using the Sous Vide method.

 

[Nugget]

Any Instant Pot fans out there?  My sister swears by it and her next cookbook will be focused on it.  I will pick one up in a couple months but curious to see if there were any users in the normal world.

 

[El Floppo]

Any Instant Pot fans out there?  My sister swears by it and her next cookbook will be focused on it.  I will pick one up in a couple months but curious to see if there were any users in the normal world.

timely thread- we're in the same boat, family of four spending way too much on delivery dinners.

 

[Uruk-Hai]

Any Instant Pot fans out there?  My sister swears by it and her next cookbook will be focused on it.  I will pick one up in a couple months but curious to see if there were any users in the normal world.

I've got one, but haven't used it to near its potential. I mainly used the slow cooker option, but did black-eyed peas yesterday using the pressure cooker function and it worked perfectly - 30 minutes cook time which another few minutes on either end for the pressure to ramp up/down.You can do soups and stews this way, too.

There are tons of resources on line for using it - from beginners to experts. The few that I've looked at lay out the instructions much more clearly than the IP manual it comes with (which confused me all to hell and is the main reason I haven't been more creative). 

 

[NutterButter]

Any Instant Pot fans out there?  My sister swears by it and her next cookbook will be focused on it.  I will pick one up in a couple months but curious to see if there were any users in the normal world.

My wife bought one.  Its essentially our glorified rice cooker.

 

[Judge Smails]

When you are juggling umpteen activities it is tough. I get it. Been through those days.  The key so you're not eating junk is to have enough options on hand to where others have said you can make something in 20 minutes.  Means you have to shop every 2-3 days.  Fresh veggies.  Chicken, ground turkey, whatever meat you want. Rice. Salad fixins.  Pasta.  Sauce.  You can also do some things like marinate flank steak or short ribs the night before.  Come home and throw them on the grill.  Costco bags of shrimp etc are good to have as well.  I know others have had success with certain theme nights.  Taco Tuesdays, whatever.  But it's all about having ingredients in the house.  

Can also do soups instantly in a Vitamix. Some days crock pot just a pot roast.  And please serve 1 meal. I just don't get parents that cook 3 different meals for their "picky" eaters. That's how you end up with a kid who eats nothing but chicken nuggets.

 

[glvsav37]

Any Instant Pot fans out there?  My sister swears by it and her next cookbook will be focused on it.  I will pick one up in a couple months but curious to see if there were any users in the normal world.

this was the new 'magic bullet' for our problems as per my wife and she HAD to have one.

...used it 2x and been sitting on a shelf ever since. 

 

[Nugget]

And please serve 1 meal. I just don't get parents that cook 3 different meals for their "picky" eaters. That's how you end up with a kid who eats nothing but chicken nuggets.

I am guilty of variations.  I'll make alfredo with bowties for my daughter, add ground sausage to the dish for my son, and then ground sausage and alfredo with cauliflower instead of the pasta for myself.  

 

[Joe Bryant]

We tried Sunbasket service a couple of months ago and I've been COMPLETELY impressed with the quality. I was very leery and they've been outstanding.

My wife would say she's an average cook and the Sunbasket meals have been some of the best things she's ever cooked. For us, they hit just the right spot of being interesting but not difficult. I'd highly recommend.

 

[Joe Bryant]

I'll also say this - the young kids days are behind me now but we had them. Four kids with 8 years from the youngest to oldest. 

There is some truth to the strategy of "Survive and Advance". It'll get easier. 

My input would be do whatever you can to have the time together and let the food be secondary. in my opinion, the time is what your family needs.

in other words, 2 kids and 2 parents sitting down calmly at home with fast food is better than stressing waiting for the perfect home cooked meal or eating at 8 pm because it took too long to cook. 

 

[eoMMan]

We tried Sunbasket service a couple of months ago and I've been COMPLETELY impressed with the quality. I was very leery and they've been outstanding.

My wife would say she's an average cook and the Sunbasket meals have been some of the best things she's ever cooked. For us, they hit just the right spot of being interesting but not difficult. I'd highly recommend.

My wife and I were just talking about them yesterday. I guess they are the healthier version of plated/hellofresh/etc?

We tried both plated and hello fresh and had fun with it. My only complaint is no leftovers.  :(