Crockpot meals that your kids like
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Anonymous
Wow, that's not sufficient to cook the alcohol out of the "stew". |
Anonymous
| My kid is still in the stage of not wanting foods to touch. My most successful crock pot meal is refried beans. I make a huge pot once a month or so and then freeze portions for dinners. Kid eats a LOT of bean burritos. |
Anonymous
| My kids don’t eat crockpot stuff unfortunately - but we do have the super hungry right from school issue. I use leftovers for this purpose - heat up a couple leftover meatballs, noodles, etc from the night before the tide them over while I make dinner. Throw some baby carrots and fruit on the plate if they need more. |
Anonymous
| I prefer the instant pot these days but I also look for one pot/skillet or 30 minute meals. Most of the popular food blogs have great ideas .. here’s a list of 100 of them: https://blog.feedspot.com/food_blogs/ |
Anonymous
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I really don't like slow-cooker meals but also struggle with needing food RIGHT NOW when we get home, so I focus on prep for a few hours on the weekend or during lunch on my WFH days. My young kids surprisingly love chili. I reheat, serve with spinach, avocados, cheese, tortilla chips, olives, etc. Another great fast meal is stir-fry. I make the sauce and prep/blanch veggies on the weekend. Use thin-sliced chicken and microwave trader joe's organic rice. Ready in 5 minutes.
I also have picky eaters who don't want foods to touch and with the above I can serve components separately. |
Anonymous
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OP I understand the hungry kids. What helped in our house is I would have veggies cut up in the fridge so I could pull those and a dish of hummus out as soon as we got home. The kids could snack on those while I finished making dinner. Most of the time they ate more veggies this way then they ever would if I had cooked them and served them with dinner.
Reheating meals was also faster then finishing to make the meal. So when you do cook a meal make sure you freeze enough for a 2nd meal. If you thaw that in the fridge and can warm it up in the microwave in 4 minutes you will have dinner ready much faster. |
Anonymous
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Unfortunately, I have found that the best crock pot meals require a lot of prep work (chopping, browning meat, etc.). So it is just finding a different time of day to do that work... That said, if you have NYT recipes, the slow cooker short ribs with Chinese flavors is quick and amazing.
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Anonymous
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OP, these are all in regular rotation at our house. Are they my absolute favorite meals? No. But any night dinner happens with no fuss, in a household with two working parents plus kids with activities, is a win for me.
https://belleofthekitchen.com/mississippi-pot-roast/ https://everyday-reading.com/dinner-is-served-crockpot-chicken-chili/ https://everyday-reading.com/crockpot-jalapeno-popper-chili/ http://www.themagnoliamamas.com/2022/02/kitchen-confessions-easy-crockpot.html https://www.yellowblissroad.com/slow-cooker-asian-chicken-drumsticks/ I also highly recommend investing in a Zojirushi rice cooker. Set the timer before you head to work in the morning and it's done. Some of the best money I've ever spent. |
Anonymous
| We throw 1.5 lbs chicken breasts into the crockpot with a jar of tomatillo salsa on low. In the fridge are tortillas, pico, avocados (or TJs prepared guacamole), sour cream, shredded cheese. While the kids are pulling all of the fixings out the fridge, I shred the chicken with 2 forks and remove some of the sauce and then stir the shredded chicken back into the remaining sauce. If I have a minute extra I'll also cut up some melon or peppers or rinse a can of black beans. We can be eating within 5 minutes of walking in the door. A rice cooker would enable you to serve rice, too (as do the TJs microwavable frozen rice packets). |
Anonymous
which rice cooker do you have? there are so many models. |
Anonymous
This is not what the OP put forth |
Anonymous
I have this one and it has seriously made life as a working parent easier: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B0074CDG6C/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_ECQCMEJH7BNTHRXZ4J8N?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1 |