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Tonight I made pizza with chicken nuggets on top - Please, I need culinary help!!!
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Anonymous
| Try out Let's Dish or some other similar place. You can make the meals yourself if you have time, or they have meals ready to go that you can just pick up and take home. I usually keep a good stock in the freezer. |
Anonymous
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OP: Don't beat yourself up. i think you are great for at least caring!
Our go-to meal: roast a big chicken (7 lbs) on sunday afternoon. it requires nothing but salt/pepper and a little olive oil. put in an oven for 1.25 hours, add rice or potatoes, green beans and that's meal #1. the next day, throw some of the leftovers into pasta with sauce (i like those knorr packets). the 3rd meal can be burritos (just add black beans and tortillas, rice if you want). we keep salad greens on hand all the time so there is always that. good luck! |
Anonymous
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If you're a crockpot fan, check out this blog--she does something in the crockpot every day of this year!
http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/ I use frozen vegetables a LOT. Add them to EVERYTHING you make and you get a little extra nutrition. |
Anonymous
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My son's favorite meal is vegetarian chili. I make it in the slow cooker and serve it with rice for meal #1. For meal #2, I make quesadillas with chili and cheddar cheese on my Griddler. For meal #3 I serve it for lunch with tortillas. I freeze the rest for another day.
I also grill a lot of vegetables and serve them as veggie tacos or fajitas, and then use the leftovers in quesadillas or a fritatta. I make extra pancakes and freeze them for days when my son wants pancakes and I don't have time to make them. He wants them for lunch or dinner sometimes! |
Anonymous
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1. Plan your meals for a week in advance. It really helps, especially since some meals are so much easier with a little night-before prep.
2. Crockpots rock! - I have two sizes. In the winter I try to do at least one meal a week in a crockpot. In the summer, I now do "cold food" one night (cold chicken, salad, hard-boiled egg, chopped up veggies and/or fruit). In addition to the other recipes mentioned, you can do chicken tacos. Put 1-2 llbs chicken, a can of chopped tomatoes, a taco seasoning packet and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours (I've done even longer). Just serve with taco shells, cheese, and toppings. I sometimes heat up a can of black beans also. 3. I also use a rice cooker with a timer, so it will be done when I get home and then I can quickly do a stir-fry (with prechopped chicken and frozen veggies). I try to cut up and freeze chicken in a baggie. Then you just put in the fridge the night before, and dump into the wok to cook, no need to even touch raw meat while there are kids running around. 4. Anytime I have the energy to make something like lasangna, I make two, and freeze the second one (allow at least a full day for defrost). Still takes time to cook though. 5. Everyonce in awhile make a big pot of soup, stew, chili and freeze in portions. Then you have a handy ready to microwave meal. 6. I used the Scramble for 6 months. I didn't find it life altering, but did find some good handy recipes. The woman who runs it has great customer service. You could ask her anything via e-mail and she will answer. 7. And my newest "cheat", supplement decent take-out with veggies and fruit from home (Lebanese Taverna market is my favorite). 8. Frozen salmon fillets. Just pop in the oven (or toaster oven) and bake. Healthy and easy (Ok, not so cheap) |
Anonymous
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All the replies are so earnest!
Didn't anyone else just fall on the floor laughing when they read the title of this thread? Pizza with chicken nuggets. I love it. And I love your candor. |
Anonymous
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In addition to quick recipes, try just keeping it simple to save time. Roasted asparagus take no time to make and taste great. Just throw them in a pan with olive oil and salt and roast for 10 minutes. Boil some small red potatoes and serve them with a pad of butter. Buy fresh salmon or other fish and pan fry it in peanut oil with salt and pepper. Serve with the potatoes and asparagus. The whole meal takes about a half hour and is very healthy and tasty.
Fresh salad also makes a great simple side dish. Wash and store a few heads of lettuce over the weekend so that your salad is ready to assemble. You can add avocados, tomatos, radishes and so on to make it more substantial. Make your own salad dressing by mixing salt, pepper, dried tarragon, minced shallots, olive oil and red wine vinegar (three parts oil to one part vinegar). Serve with a fried steak or pork chop and baked potato. Again, very simple and healthy. |
Anonymous
| You really have to put food first. Once you shift your thinking it will all fall into place. |
Anonymous
Put food first...in front of what? This statement is confusing to me. Could you elaborate? |
Anonymous
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Someone said plan the menu and that is where the rubber meets the road for me. I have to plan the entire menu Sunday, buy the food, have it in the house. Sounds like a PITA, but you get used to it and you start to feel strangely accomplished when you serve more then easy mac and soy dogs (my go-to meal). I like Real Simple (get the recipes online) b/c they really call for ingreds you can get...
Good luck....you are a good mom for caring and trying... Oh, and the crock pot rules....now if I could just find a good crock pot recipe book!!! |
Anonymous
I like Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker cookbook! |
Anonymous
Each weekend I put together a meal plan. I plan each and every breakfast, lunch, dinner, and make a list of snacks to have on hand. I then go shopping and come home and prep each meal as much as possible. This includes measuring ingredients, cleaning, and chopping as much as possible. This prep enables me to prepare meals very easily during the week. It also helps me stick to a plan, so we don't end up going out. All of the recipes are either printed out or labeled in the cookbook and the menu posted to the fridge. This way if I'm not around or running late, my husband can step in and prepare dinner. I also use the "green bags" that keep the prepped fruits and veggies stored in the fridge a bit longer than normal. I have pleanty of freezer meat already marinated so in the morning I pull it out to defrost and then its ready for the oven by 5PM Basically healthy, balanced, and whole food is a priority in our house. It is up at the top of the list before TV, the computer, shopping, yardwork, DIY projects, or cleaning. It also invloves advanced prep, including involving DHs help. For example, beets. Beets take 45min to cook. That is unreasonable to do at he 5o'clock scramble. So last night after dinner, I put the beets in the steemer. They will be ready for tonights veggie. I also have chicken that has already been breaded with Panko Sunday night and completely ready for the pan this evening. A great cook-book for Freezer meals is called "Once a Month Cooking". |
Anonymous
| OP here: I wanted to say a huge thank you to all who responded. I am definitely considering a crock pot - you may a see post later about what one to get. In the meantime, I made my way to Trader Joe's and in the past week we have had Salmon (wild, precooked and delicious!), balsamic chicken and now I'm making a frozen shrimp primavera. You all are the best - thank you! |
Anonymous
Yes, this is a fabulous cookbook. No canned cream of mushroom soup in this one. I have an amazing slow cooker that came with three sizes of crock, too -- 2 qt, 4 qt, and 6 qt, so you can use whichever one you need. I can do dinner in one and while it's washing do steel-cut oatmeal overnight for breakfast in another crock. I love this slow cooker so much I call it my wife because sometimes I think we wouldn't eat anything decent without it. 
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Anonymous
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http://www.womansday.com/
This site has a recipe finder that pops up on the home page. You can narrow your search by looking for recipes that take 30 minutes or less, 20 minutes or less, and even 10 minutes or less prep time. |