I'm having trouble keeping everyone fed.

[Anonymous]

Let's guess her job!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"An entire bag of spinach" is enough for 2 people. Look at the back of the bag if you don't believe me. Those bags say 2.5 servings.

It depends on the size of the bag but really, 2lbs of pasta, 3lbs of sausage, and a bag of spinach should be enough for 6 people since 2 of them are little kids! OP was not feeding her kids enough before but she is doing fine now. Leave her alone.

Agree, 2 boxes of pasta makes a ton of pasta! In any case, increase the protein first and maybe change the veggie to a heartier filling one like broccoli.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Let's guess her job!

Healthcare- nurse practitioner?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm the one who suggested stew, and I also saw your post about soup. So, with this stew, you are going to add potatoes. Lots of them. You can either use up the ones you roasted with the chicken, or add more. Also carrots, lots of those, too. Or sweet potato. If you make dumplings the stew will thicken by pulling flour out of the dumplings, but if you make biscuits instead thicken the stew with 1/4 cup of flour mashed into 3 tbs butter, then dropped into the broth. You can also add pasta and beans to the stew for extra oomph. That thickening with potatoes, flour, and beans is what turns a stew into a filling meal rather than the kind of food you and I (middle aged women, no?) prefer to eat.

NP here- I have a question for above poster- where did you learn how to cook? Seriously curious, not trying to be snarky. Are these methods you learned from your family growing up or learned from cookbooks or shows? I cook a lot for my family of 4, but I would be overwhelmed doing 3 chickens and peeling the vast quantities of veg prep like carrot and peeling 5 pounds of potatoes?? How did you know how to do the 1/4 cup flour and 3 tbs butter? It takes me a long time, like 2 hours, to get from start to finish for dinner for husband and 2 elementary kids. There's no one to help me or watch kids, and I'm trying to make recipes up as I go along as fast as I can. When do people like above prep for so much quantity for larger families?? Where is the time?????? Who's watching the kids????

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm the one who suggested stew, and I also saw your post about soup. So, with this stew, you are going to add potatoes. Lots of them. You can either use up the ones you roasted with the chicken, or add more. Also carrots, lots of those, too. Or sweet potato. If you make dumplings the stew will thicken by pulling flour out of the dumplings, but if you make biscuits instead thicken the stew with 1/4 cup of flour mashed into 3 tbs butter, then dropped into the broth. You can also add pasta and beans to the stew for extra oomph. That thickening with potatoes, flour, and beans is what turns a stew into a filling meal rather than the kind of food you and I (middle aged women, no?) prefer to eat.

NP here- I have a question for above poster- where did you learn how to cook? Seriously curious, not trying to be snarky. Are these methods you learned from your family growing up or learned from cookbooks or shows? I cook a lot for my family of 4, but I would be overwhelmed doing 3 chickens and peeling the vast quantities of veg prep like carrot and peeling 5 pounds of potatoes?? How did you know how to do the 1/4 cup flour and 3 tbs butter? It takes me a long time, like 2 hours, to get from start to finish for dinner for husband and 2 elementary kids. There's no one to help me or watch kids, and I'm trying to make recipes up as I go along as fast as I can. When do people like above prep for so much quantity for larger families?? Where is the time?????? Who's watching the kids????

Not PP but two hours for a basic meal for 4 people is ridiculous. 30 minutes is more reasonable. Make meal prep a family activity. Maybe it takes slightly longer but you are together.

Peeling and prepping 5 pounds of potatoes takes maybe 10 minutes, btw. Prepping 3 chickens to roast takes only marginally more time than 1. I could get three chickens from fridge to oven in 5 minutes. Potatoes from bag to perked to cut to pot in 10. A side of say asparagus rinsed and in a pot to steam in two or dried and on a tray with oil and s&p waiting to hit the oven in 4. Plus, by doing things in the right order or ahead of time you minimize the wait.
For example I might prep the chickens in the am before work and put the pan in the fridge. Peel and cut the potatoes, put in a pot on the stove in water. Cover and leave it.

Toss the chicken in the oven as soon as I get home. Go change. Turn the potatoes on 20 minutes later. Prep the asparagus. When the chickens come out of the oven (maybe an hourish after I have gotten home) up the temp and toss the asparagus in. It cooks while the chicken rests. A quick gravy, potatoes are mashed, and dinner is done.

Not a lot of active cooking time for stuff like this. Even easier if you have someone getting home earlier who can turn the oven on to preheat, put the stuff in. Or you can use a crockpot for stews, etc.


But if you don't already know how to cook it's harder to do when you are doing for more people. Start with low expectations. Read cookbooks sometimes when you aren't actively cooking. It's a skill and a science, in some ways.

[Anonymous]

NP here:

Cooking just takes practice. Watch the foodnetwork, youtube videos of how best to cut fruits/veg. For example--I used to cut red peppers in half, then carefully cut out the stem, then slice through the membranes to carve out the seeds, then shake out the pepper half to remove the seeds that stick. Then I saw on food network where you stand the pepper up vertically, sort of carve the side of the pepper, rotate and repeat until you have a stem attached to the membranes and seeds and your pepper slices all around on the cutting board. SO much faster.

So practice and look for hints and tips on pinterest or youtube and food network.

[Anonymous]

Well I agree the amount of food prep that OP is doing astonishes me. I WOH FT. During the week, dh makes supper for the kids, and it is usually spaghetti noodles topped with spaghetti sauce for one kid and easy mac with carrots and orange slices for the other one. I make more elaborate stuff on the weekends, but I can't imagine cooking up the food that OP is doing.

We have scouts on Mondays and soccer on Wed and Friday. We can't get home at 8:00, get to bed at 10:00 and have time to cook all that stuff.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well I agree the amount of food prep that OP is doing astonishes me. I WOH FT. During the week, dh makes supper for the kids, and it is usually spaghetti noodles topped with spaghetti sauce for one kid and easy mac with carrots and orange slices for the other one. I make more elaborate stuff on the weekends, but I can't imagine cooking up the food that OP is doing.

We have scouts on Mondays and soccer on Wed and Friday. We can't get home at 8:00, get to bed at 10:00 and have time to cook all that stuff.

You have little kids, that is why you are astonished....either that or your teens need to see a dietician.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well I agree the amount of food prep that OP is doing astonishes me. I WOH FT. During the week, dh makes supper for the kids, and it is usually spaghetti noodles topped with spaghetti sauce for one kid and easy mac with carrots and orange slices for the other one. I make more elaborate stuff on the weekends, but I can't imagine cooking up the food that OP is doing.

We have scouts on Mondays and soccer on Wed and Friday. We can't get home at 8:00, get to bed at 10:00 and have time to cook all that stuff.

You have little kids, that is why you are astonished....either that or your teens need to see a dietician.

I have 2 girls who are 5 and 7. I am not astonished at how much food the kids eat but how much the OP cooks. I would probably be heating up frozen pot pies or boiling up a big pot of noodles, but she is doing an entree, salad, veggies, etc, etc. I just don't see having the time for that. My co-worker has 2 teenage boys. At least twice a week, they order 3 large pizzas. One large pizza for each boy and one for her and her husband to split. I am not going to be making 40 chicken wings plus various side dishes on your typical week night.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well I agree the amount of food prep that OP is doing astonishes me. I WOH FT. During the week, dh makes supper for the kids, and it is usually spaghetti noodles topped with spaghetti sauce for one kid and easy mac with carrots and orange slices for the other one. I make more elaborate stuff on the weekends, but I can't imagine cooking up the food that OP is doing.

We have scouts on Mondays and soccer on Wed and Friday. We can't get home at 8:00, get to bed at 10:00 and have time to cook all that stuff.

You have little kids, that is why you are astonished....either that or your teens need to see a dietician.

I have 2 girls who are 5 and 7. I am not astonished at how much food the kids eat but how much the OP cooks. I would probably be heating up frozen pot pies or boiling up a big pot of noodles, but she is doing an entree, salad, veggies, etc, etc. I just don't see having the time for that. My co-worker has 2 teenage boys. At least twice a week, they order 3 large pizzas. One large pizza for each boy and one for her and her husband to split. I am not going to be making 40 chicken wings plus various side dishes on your typical week night.

She's cooking a balanced, varied diet (and she's working on the amounts).

[Anonymous]

Oh believe me, we have our occasional evening of "screw it, let's go to out for dinner" or when I just make basic spaghetti with a salad on the side.

[Anonymous]

^op here

[Anonymous]

Come on, OP! We're dying for an update!

[Anonymous]

Op here. An update of what? Dinner was good tonight.

[Anonymous]

For those questioning how one makes enough food if it's from scratch, the anwer is that these are teens! THEY should be helping! I posted ages ago about all I cook for my kids. They were in the kitchen with me from day one and were "helping" me as toddlers and were actually pretty useful sous chefs by about age 5.

At this point, dinner is around 30 min prep and it's all divide and conquer. So I'll yell that it's time to make dinner and they all swarm in and everyone gets a job: someone washes veggies, someone peels, someone chops, someone gets out pans, etc. Many hands make light work, and the number of hands should coordinate with the number of stomachs!