How much do you cook nice meals?

[Anonymous]

Probably 5 or 6 nights a week I cook a meal that isn’t just pasta or heat stuff up. It’s usually nice in that we all sit down together with napkins, convo, etc, but I have a five year old and seven year old so chaos often ensures. We try though!

[Anonymous]

We sit at the table to eat most nights. We eat dinner at 4pm sometimes though. Spring soccer starts soon so may involve some car dinners. I don’t know if I ever make “ nice dinners” I don’t like cooking so it’s pretty basic. It’s nutritionally healthy most of the time though. Last night was rotisserie chicken, baked potato ( microwave) with cheese, and broccoli and carrots.

[Anonymous]

I typically prep stuff for dinner each morning so that when the dual sports activity (school year round) ends and we’re home by 7:00:

Kids shower
Food on table by 7:30
By 7:45 (or earlier) dinner is done for the kids
Immediately after that, they have homework or activities

So I cook, they eat, we’re together but the time is limited. Kids are in a ton of activities- inc social ones.

[Anonymous]

Three busy kids but HS so 1/2 activities are now right after school. We sit down together almost every night but missing 1 or 2 family members on occasion. More often than not we get everyone for 20 minutes and then whoever hast to leave for a late night practice or other extracurricular heads out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We sit down to a nice meal 6 nights a week. We prioritize it, because it's important to DH and me - napkins, silverware, kids have manners.

So your kids have no activities after about 6 PM? Parents have no PTA or board meetings, exercise classes, book clubs, etc? Everyone is home for dinner every night?

We sit down together if we can get everyone home at the same time at some point, but it doesn’t always happen. If a full family dinner can’t happen, we try to have each kid sit and eat at the table with at least one parent, if at all possible.

Great questions - We alternate cooking (DH and I). My kids are both in private school and sports are directly after school. Their day is structured so that the last hour is for their sport. Two kids - each does an activity 3 times M-F in addition to the school sport. The older one gets picked up at about 4pm and goes home to do homework. The younger one gets picked up at 430 and taken to the other activity, which normally goes until about 615, but we leave at 6 sharp. We eat together at about 610 and the older one goes off to her activity that starts at 630, but she aims to get there for 645. She’s home by 9pm. If I’m driving DH is cooking; if he’s driving I’m cooking. WRT to PTA and other things like that - I have 2 days a week where the kids don’t have this schedule, so we attend 100% on these days. When these events do fall on days the kids have activities, they either: get a ride with a friend, skip, or we skip the activity. Many of the competitions are on weekends. For the very rare occasion there is a weekday competition, we usually don’t have a sit down together that day.

So, when I say I prioritize family meals, I do. We cut the practice short by leaving early or arriving late. It is important to us that we sit down and have a chat with the kids about their day. We want to have that calm time to check in, use manners, practice speaking without talking over people or being harried. I understand not everyone prioritizes this and that’s fine. It’s more important that my kids are socialized than good at sports or their activity, because this is a differentiator in the real world. They still do the activities, we just pack it all in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:On average 4 times per week. If everyone is home and not busy we eat it together. Otherwise folks eat separately. Remaining days it’s leftovers/take out/restaurants. We don’t stress over the “niceness” of the meals as much as ensuring everyone is getting healthy food intake regularly and quality time (even if in short burst). I’ve served “nice” meals in the car and Chick-Fil-A at the dinning room table.

I make a plan for the week Saturday or Sunday. If that doesn’t happen the week is almost guaranteed to be an eat out week or quick things because I hate thinking about dinner at 6pm.

This is the key! Plus having a spouse that also is a good cook. We’re both in our 40s and can knock up a nice meal is 20-30 minutes. I am also a crockpot wizard and plan that usually once every week or two.

[Anonymous]

I don’t have sports kids, so we eat together almost every night.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We sit down to a nice meal 6 nights a week. We prioritize it, because it's important to DH and me - napkins, silverware, kids have manners.

So your kids have no activities after about 6 PM? Parents have no PTA or board meetings, exercise classes, book clubs, etc? Everyone is home for dinner every night?

We sit down together if we can get everyone home at the same time at some point, but it doesn’t always happen. If a full family dinner can’t happen, we try to have each kid sit and eat at the table with at least one parent, if at all possible.

Yes we have nothing usually and always make time to eat together. Its very important to us, more than PTA meetings, exercise classes, book clubs etc.

We have family dinner and activities at night. It's not an either/or...you can do both. Does everyone sit down with a cloth napkin every night of the week? No, but we were all doing that when the kids were younger so now I make a plate and they can enjoy when they get home from their activities.

I agree with the PP...it's a season of life, and I love it.

[Anonymous]

We don’t use cloth napkins and often use disposable plates to cut down on dishes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:what do you mean by "nice"? what an odd term. I am a successful T3 lawyer. If I have to cook, which isn't often because it wastes my time, I do not cook a "nice" meal. I cook a meal to get it done with.

What is a “successful T3 lawyer?”

[Anonymous]

My kids have activities that have evening hours, and those hours are not the same as each other. When we are all home, probably one night Mon-Fri, we all eat together. Whoever is home around 6-6:30 eats together. No one in my house can wait to eat until after 7, everyone gets hungry. So different combinations of us eat at different times. We are a family of five, and sometimes this is nice so DH and I get to focus on just one or two kids at a time, while kid #2 or #3 is at an activity.

We always eat together at home on Sunday nights, and usually it ends up one or two other nights a week. It's just not possible the other nights. (I have a dancer- so to "prioritize" family dinners would mean she could not do her activity at all based on when classes are held).

I grew up similarly and I managed to have good table manners and the ability to make dinner conversation. And when we do sit down together I am certainly not dealing with cloth napkins!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:what do you mean by "nice"? what an odd term. I am a successful T3 lawyer. If I have to cook, which isn't often because it wastes my time, I do not cook a "nice" meal. I cook a meal to get it done with.

What is a “successful T3 lawyer?”

😆 I noticed that too. 10/10 trolling attempt

[Anonymous]

Well, I’m a lawyer, so with my schedule tortellini is “a nice meal.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Never ever. DH is the cook. If left to my own devices I eat crap. Tonight I'm on my own and am having cookies, rum, and coke - and some almonds.

Same.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What are nice meals?

To me it's everyone sitting together and having a meal I made at least partly from scratch.

Thanks! I was thinking nice meaning "fancy". I try to cook 3-4 time per week, anything more than 4X is a bonus in my house!