how do other WOHM's handle dinner?

[Anonymous]

When I am organized, we use the crockpot a lot. We also make big meals on the weekend (meatloaf, roasts, soups, pulled BBQ chicken) and then eat the leftovers for a few days, just adding new sides or a salad.

We tried Let's Dish a couple times, but I thought it was expensive for what you got and like a PP said it does still take time to cook when you get home. It's not a "pop in the microwave for 10 minutes" kind of meal and then you still need to make side dishes.

Fortunately, my husband is a consultant so he is at home much of the day and can do meal prep ahead of time. He drops off the kids and I do pick up, so by the time I get home with the kids he usually has dinner well underway. He is NOT imaginative LOL and he hates to come up with dinner idea, but if I give him specific tasks he is more than willing and able to do it.

My craziest days are when he travels for work and I am alone with the kids. Between doing both drop off and pick up, and then trying to put something on the table when I get home....ugh. Those are usually the days I end up ordering pizza, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do to stay sane! I also have to help my older kid with homework these days. So while things get easier in some ways when the kids are older, the challenges when they are older are just different.

[Anonymous]

We plan ahead - make the grocery list together on the weekend. Make at least one big meal on the weekend, sometimes with the slow cooker, sometimes not, and often make another to freeze for the week ahead. That usually takes care of 4 meals for the week.

Have about a half dozen quick and healthy meals we cycle through the rest of the days. Get take out or delivery maybe once every 3 weeks.

Very easy to eat healthy and not be time consuming, especially if you don't mind spending extra for convenience. The bulk of our groceries every week is fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables and lots of good stuff to throw on salads. We build from there. Spring and summer is great because we do a lot of grilling, and winter is great because of the fun slow cooker meals.

[Anonymous]

DH is German so we have a lot of dinners the German way: a bit of bread, a bit of prosciutto or other ham, brie, fruit, tomatoes.

We make lunch our big meal of the day.

[Anonymous]

I make a lot of very simple meals that don't require much effort. Like pasta from a box with sauce from a jar, and fresh steamed veggies. (usually broccoli.) Or baked salmon w/ lemon, salt & pepper with brown rice (instant) and fresh veggies. Every so often I'll make a batch of hamburger helper - I add in fresh mushrooms and peas, and serve with a veggie, and it makes great leftovers. Or a chicken casserole with diced chicken, brown rice, cream o' mushroom soup, peas and mushrooms, serve with a veggie. If I plan to eat microwave lean cuisine type entrees for lunches at work that week, I'll make extra veggies to throw into the meals. (broccoli, asparagus, or you can use those yummy grape tomatoes.) Green Giant has frozen veggies portioned for 1 or 2 people that I like.

Typically we'll come home, I'll turn on Yo Gabba Gabba or Sesame Street to distract my daughter while I cut up the veggies (if I didn't do them the night before after her bedtime) and start the pasta or the salmon or whatever. Then I just set timers for everything and walk back and forth from the kitchen to put stuff on or take stuff off the stove. If it's about to come off the stove, I'll plop her in her highchair and give her some fruit to eat and maybe some veggies, then whatever I've cooked for her. (sometimes what I'm eating, sometimes ravioli - her fave - or 1/2 of a Kraft EasyMac.)

Before I had a kid, I used to enjoy cooking. Now I really don't, but it's easier to get my veggies (and save money) if I don't get takeout all the time.

[Anonymous]

Your child is at a really tough age. I remember dinner time being a nightmare when DD was 14-16 months old. But then it got a whole lot better. By 18 months I could pop her in the high chair with food and she'd feed herself while I made the rest of dinner. No DVDs necessary. But before then . . . ugh!!

In terms of meals, here are some shortcuts I posted on a different thread yesterday:

I vote for stocking your freezer with food from Trader Joes and Costco or BJs. This is what we live on, including:

- Butoni Torellini
- PRE-COOKED Purdue Chicken products -- Refrigerated grilled chicken tenders (perfect to microwave with BBQ sauce or sweet/sour), Frozen Chicken Nuggets in Sauce (not as bad as they seem, nutritionally), and Refrigerated Breaded/Baked Chicken Cutlets
- Veggie Burgers
- Frozen, pre-cooked shrimp (defrost in cold water) with cocktail sauce dip or mixed into pasta with red sauce
- Pulled Chicken or Pork BBQ sandwiches (pre-cooked meat in TJ refrigerated section)
- Soup with extra beans and cut-up pre-cooked chicken added
- Frozen dumplings/shumai

[Anonymous]

When DD was that age, she rarely ate dinner with us. She would have a simple dinner--small dish of frozen veggies cooked in the microwave, meat reheated from what the grown ups ate the night before or meatballs/chicken/veggie burger/whatever from the freezer. It just wasn't feasible to have a full family dinner and get her to bed on time (7:30) when we were getting home at 6:30 or later.

Now that she is a little older, she actually gets home earlier (by 6 PM), DH now works from home, and we are able to eat a simple family dinner together most nights. Steamed or microwaved veggie, grilled protein, sometimes bread or other starch. Those 30 minutes make a huge difference. Note that DD doesn't get a full bath with shampoo every night.

As for keeping DD out of your hair while you cook, we have an area adjacent to the kitchen (like a small family room) where DD kept some quiet toys. She would play there and could watch what we were doing in the kitchen. I don't think we ever put her in the high chair for anything other than eating.

[Anonymous]

OP here - thanks for the suggestions and reassurance that it will get better as dd gets older!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DH is German so we have a lot of dinners the German way: a bit of bread, a bit of prosciutto or other ham, brie, fruit, tomatoes.

We make lunch our big meal of the day.

I love this kind of dinner! LOVE! (But my DH makes dinner, and he's a BIG NIGHT Italian sort of guy, so he whips up crazy three course meals... is it any wonder I can't lose weight? ).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DH is German so we have a lot of dinners the German way: a bit of bread, a bit of prosciutto or other ham, brie, fruit, tomatoes.

We make lunch our big meal of the day.

PP here, and I need to chime in about one more thing... Another reason why I like the light dinner thing like this is that it's not processed. I like quick, microware meals as much as the next gal, but all that factory extruded stuff over and over, well, it worries me. A slice of bread, a boiled egg, some prosciutto, cheese, tomatoes, sliced cucumbers--well, it just seems better for your over the long term.

[Anonymous]

We do a lot of cooking on weekends and freezing meals. It makes the evenings much easier but we also tend to cook the same meals over and over, so it gets a bit boring.

[Anonymous]

Easy Mac n Cheese -- 3 minutes and it is done. Pair with carrots and applesauce and I have convinved myself it is a well balanced meal.

Gotta love Kraft.