Making dinner ahead of time

[Anonymous]

I don’t use the oven if no one is home, but I do bake things in the oven, shut off the oven while I run kids around with the food still in there, and then it’s still warm and ready to eat when we get home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. My 1 year old would seriously throw vegetables at me if I tried just giving those to her (she does eat vegetables). She likes bananas, but those only last 30 seconds. If she snacks too much before dinner, then she won't sit and eat dinner, which means I can't sit and eat dinner either.

And pp, you would leave something in the oven for 50 min while you're gone? Aren't ovens a big source of house fires? I wouldn't feel safe doing that. Crock pot or instant pot are all I'll leave on.[/quot

Uhh sounds like a you problem

[Anonymous]

Veggie tray before dinner. Experiment with dips. Hummus, ranch, yogurt, tzatiki. You get what you get and you don't throw a fit.

[Anonymous]

I would get on a schedule where they are eating leftover of what you’re cooking the night before. For example, chicken pot pie/frittata/skillet ziti/lasagna etc. feed them what you made Sun night on Monday, then Mon put something together, like a frittata, bake it when you get home. On Tues they eat the frittata. Maybe grill something that night, which they can have with the frittata, or just for dinner the next day. And keep rolling like that. Pulled pork - cook it one day, pull it at night, then it’s ready the next day. Also you can make enough of something to freeze for another day. Or skillet meals that whip up fast, like ziti, sloppy joes, eggs with veggies, or quesadillas made with rotisserie chicken.

[Anonymous]

I have a lot of running around for kids after work-4-7 pm ish most days. If I don’t have meals ready they lose their minds and their teens. I do a lot of meal prep on weekends. Two big meals done on Sunday. One for that day and a leftover meal and another for a different day with enough for leftovers. That’s four meals. I have them take baggies of snacks for in the car to/from most of the car pool. Protein and carbs so pretzel- peanut butter bits, cheese and crackers, fruit snacks and other fruit or veg that I portion out on Sunday to grab and go. It does help. Another thing we do is use the oven while we are gone. Yes I set it at 300 ish and leave it with lasagna or whatever while I am gone but I have never had an issue in 16+ years of doing this. It helps to pull out dinner literally within 5 mins of getting home. I also make large salad bags so there is a salad option every day that I just toss in a bowl and dressings ready made. I have a starving 14 DS, a picky but athletic 16 DD and a vegetarian 12 DD who all seem to manage ok with this set up. It’s a lot of work on the weekend though. I work from home two days a week. Sometimes I cannot manage and dinner is homemade pizza or pizza subs with French bread and sauce. Or cereal. I do take out once a week also. Pizza or cava/ etc

[Anonymous]

When my DD was even through early elementary she was awful unless I got done real food into her asap. I used to bring something to after care pickup - something with protein, like Hommos and pita or cheese and crackers. Maybe it decreases what she ate at dinner but as long as it was healthy I was fine with it. Then I could come home, prep dinner for 30 -45 min and we could all eat.

[Anonymous]

Single lady reading this: just want to say you Moms are awesome. I am hoping someone somewhere has a partner that likes to cook? That's my dream anyway (I would supply all the baked goods.)

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks for all the suggestions. I will try more oven meals and leave them heated in there.

My older kids absolutely eat vegetables. I only make one meal and everyone eats it. We also all eat dinner together. (We both grew up that way and also want to teach our kids manners/sitting at the table together/ talking at dinner) My dh rolls in right at dinner time. Reading through this I realize the baby is the problem and hopefully it will change soon. If I feed her anything before dinner to tide her over, she won't eat dinner. Which is a problem because then I can't sit and eat myself. The older kids are okay with waiting for dinner too, just the baby can't.

Dh actually loves to cook but somehow just can't get home in time to cook. I'm annoyed by it but nothing changes. He's not a very good cook though and the kids hate his food, so I'm not even sure I want him to cook more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. My 1 year old would seriously throw vegetables at me if I tried just giving those to her (she does eat vegetables). She likes bananas, but those only last 30 seconds. If she snacks too much before dinner, then she won't sit and eat dinner, which means I can't sit and eat dinner either.

And pp, you would leave something in the oven for 50 min while you're gone? Aren't ovens a big source of house fires? I wouldn't feel safe doing that. Crock pot or instant pot are all I'll leave on.

So ok, the banana lasts 30 sec to eat and then kid won't be hungry for dinner...then push dinner back by 30 min which buys you time for last min prep work and by then your kid will start to feel hungry again

[Anonymous]

Where is DH?