Working Parents - What the heck for dinner

[Anonymous]

My teen boys like the relatively new chopped bagged salads. The toppings make them fun but are quite proportionate. My kids eat croutons and tortilla strips out of the bag, and those bags are expensive. So the salads seem affordable enough since they provide toppings but in modest amounts. The ones we like best are Steakhouse Wedge, various Southwest-inspired blends, and the kale with cranberries, pepitas, and poppyseed dressing.

[Anonymous]

Do as much prep on the weekend as you can. All of the following has helped me cut way down on the time I spend standing in the kitchen nightly:

- Make a big batch of stir fry (or paella, or wherever recipe you want) and eat it twice that week.

- Wash and chop all your veggies for the week.

- Plan some sheet pan dinners and prep the ingredients so all you need to do is dump them on the pan and bake.

- Cook a ton of brown rice at once. I use my Instant Pot for this. Portion out what you’ll use during the week. Freeze the rest in bags and pull out to thaw the morning you’ll need it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any recipe for Japanese curry meal?

Tonight we had pan-roasted chicken thighs and TJ chicken fried rice, adding extra veggies and eggs. 30 min max and kids liked it.

Get golden curry packets that come in a box
Cut in large chunks (not slices) -
Carrots
Sweet potato
White potato
Onion
*I add thinly sliced seitan but that’s optional

Put all in instant pot with 1/3 c water and put golden curry packet on top. Cook on STEW for 12-15 mins.

Serve over white rice

You can also use those same veggies and ground chicken or turkey. It’s so good. My picky 4 year old LOVES Japanese curry and it’s so easy. Just follow directions on box.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How do people make tacos quickly?

1) sautee beef

2) wash and shred lettuce

3) wash and shred cilantro, onion, dice tomatoes.

4) shred cheese or I guess use anti-caking agent cheese

It seems as much work or more than a salad?

We brown the beef or turkey (10 min?) and dump in taco seasoning and a can of black beans. Do lettuce step while beef is cooking. Use pico de gallo instead of chopping onions, tomatoes, etc. Shredded Mexican cheese—I prefer to shred myself but don’t have the time or patience on a weeknight. Serve with soft shells, hard shells, or over lettuce with Fritos scoops. The whole thing is about 20 minutes total and one of my few reliably fast weeknight meals.

[Anonymous]

You get home at 4pm, so dinner is ready at 5? That's at LEAST an hour before we eat dinner. What's the problem?

[Anonymous]

Shrimp tacos are incredibly fast. Thaw shrimp. Saute an onion, add shrimp, season with salt, garlic powder, chipotle pepper. Squeeze half a lime or lemon once shrimp is cooked. Make a quick slaw of cabbage, cilantro, dressing w sour cream, mayo and lemon. Slice up
Some avocado. Heat up tortillas. Heat up canned beans to eat on the side. It’s so fast and tasty.

[Anonymous]

I cook things in the morning and over the weekend. Or prep after dinner Like roasting sweet potatoes for another day/munch while we’re eating. I air fry chicken to pop into sauce later. Anything can be a salad.

[Anonymous]

I am struggling with this too. Last night I stayed up late to make chili that we ate for dinner today. Normally I’m rushing. One easy meal if I have the ingredients is salmon, steamed fresh green beans , and baked sweet potatoes. I just have to have enough time for
The potatoes .

[Anonymous]

I have the kids do their homework in the kitchen while I cook. That way I can supervise homework and answer questions while I’m cooking or dinner is in the oven.
We also eat a lot of meat and pre-cut vegetables. It does take a lot of time though. Purchasing and cooking food is probably the biggest chunk of how I spend my time at home (other than sleeping).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ugh, we are at wits end. I get home early since I wake up at 5, but it’s killing me. So I would like to shift to a more normal 8-4 schedule, but how do you dinner.

Even a simple dinner takes a while:
Oven roasted chicken shawarma. - 15 min prep

Salad - wash romaine leaves and dice, slice onions, tomatoes, carrots and mix dressing - 15 min

Simple paella - dice onions, garlic, peppers, toss in rice and shrimp, and water and simmer for 45 min.

If im a rock star I can get that out in an hour, maybe.

And that’s a dead simple meal unless we eat frozen or take out. What are other people doing — I do wished my parents had encouraged me to SAH, this juggle sucks.

So if you insist on fresh veggie salad every day, you can do some organizing to be more efficient.

1) You can pre-wash your lettuce or buy it prewashed if you trust them. Spin it dry, chop it and store with paper towels. You can do 2-3 days worth at a time.

2) Dice your onions, peppers, tomatoes and carrots and any other vegetables you use and keep them for 3-5 days in a ziplock (separate bags).

3) Mix dressing - you are making dressing from scratch each day? Make it for the week instead.

Now it is a lot quicker to put a salad together. And to cook the simple paella!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How do people make tacos quickly?

1) sautee beef

2) wash and shred lettuce

3) wash and shred cilantro, onion, dice tomatoes.

4) shred cheese or I guess use anti-caking agent cheese

It seems as much work or more than a salad?

It's about the same, but still maybe 20 min? Ground beef or turkey takes 10-15 min but it's not constant stirring. During that time I can easily have cut up the veggies. Shredding cheese only takes a couple of minutes. Tacos are our "quick and easy" dinner. It's on the table in 20 min with minimal work.

[Anonymous]

We buy prepared meals from Costco.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ugh, we are at wits end. I get home early since I wake up at 5, but it’s killing me. So I would like to shift to a more normal 8-4 schedule, but how do you dinner.

Even a simple dinner takes a while:
Oven roasted chicken shawarma. - 15 min prep

Salad - wash romaine leaves and dice, slice onions, tomatoes, carrots and mix dressing - 15 min

Simple paella - dice onions, garlic, peppers, toss in rice and shrimp, and water and simmer for 45 min.

If im a rock star I can get that out in an hour, maybe.

And that’s a dead simple meal unless we eat frozen or take out. What are other people doing — I do wished my parents had encouraged me to SAH, this juggle sucks.

Why on earth would your "parents" be the ones to encourage you to SAH?!?! That's a discussion for you and your spouse

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You get home at 4pm, so dinner is ready at 5? That's at LEAST an hour before we eat dinner. What's the problem?

I had the same question about time. We have always eaten dinner at 7pm, even when the kids were little. If we ate any earlier, I don't know we would eat without depending on take-out.

[Anonymous]

Example schedule: On Sunday we’ll make a large pan of lasagna or pasta bake and also about 150 frozen dumplings. The pasta lasts through Monday dinner and Tues lunch usually.

Tues dinner - dumplings (15 mins total — 10 mins to boil water and 5 mins of cooking dumplings. Plate and add soy sauce and hot sauce).

Wed lunch - make a caprese salad in the AM. Takes 10 mins (cut mozzarella, slice tomato). Olive oil and balsamic on the side. Include some fruit for lunch too.

Wed dinner - salmon with honey and garlic and soy sauce (20 mins in oven, 5 mins prep). Wash/rough chop/Stir fry broccolini while salmon is cooking. Make extra portions if you want lunch the next day.

Thurs dinner: I have homemade pizza dough in the fridge pretty much at all times that I keep in one meal portions in ziplock bags. I take out the dough the night before and place in fridge to defrost. Roll out dough, Slather some marinara sauce and add cheese / pepperonis / bell peppers. Bake for 10-15 mins.

Leftover pizza for fridge lunch.

Fri dinner — too tired, get takeout. Usually tacos.