I'm having trouble keeping everyone fed.

[Anonymous]

^^ the people currently responding to the OP, not the original responses.

[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????

Wash the potatoes and carrots, then trim without peeling. If you peel them, you're losing some of the most valuable nutrients.

Look up how to make a roux. Also, I'd suggest learning about using rice flour and fresh potatoes to thicken. Again, it's all freely available online.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do feel for OP adjusting to cooking for something outside her norm, it sounds like she is doing much better now!

My H is 6'6 and athletic. I come from a petite family. My mom would make a meatloaf with 1 lb of meat for the 4 of us and it would be good for 2 full meals plus leftovers for dad's meatloaf sandwiches. My similar 1 lb meatloaf feeds the 3 people in our family one night (one being a preschooler) with only enough left for one or two sandwiches. When we first got married I would get frustrated that he wanted seconds and would make it so there wasn't enough for a second dinner of leftovers meaning I had to cook an extra night that week. I've adjusted though and either don't plan on meals made of leftovers or double my original recipe if I want leftovers.

This sounds familiar. My parents were worried about money, especially at the end of the summer (my dad was a teacher) and my mom would make a roast or whatever but we were only allowed one thin slice at the first meal. Then the second meal would be something using the meat in another way (stir fry or a casserole) and then maybe my dad would get a sandwich for his lunch. Finally a soup if there was a bone. Taking a second slice was not allowed. My mom could stretch that original roast for several meals for four people. I wanted more roast but I didn't go hungry because there were sides or snacks available.

Boiled dinner!

Once a month, my mom would boil a corned beef, then refrigerate. We'd do a new bunch of veggies each night, but the beef lasted all week. Every other night we turned it into hash, for variety.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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????

Wash the potatoes and carrots, then trim without peeling. If you peel them, you're losing some of the most valuable nutrients.

Look up how to make a roux. Also, I'd suggest learning about using rice flour and fresh potatoes to thicken. Again, it's all freely available online.

Yes, I know that the above response was from a few years ago, but since this PP thought to continue the conversation, I'll add.

With young kids, to make a stew, I do the time consuming prep the night before after they go to bed. I cut and season the meat and put it in the fridge. I peel the potatoes and carrots and put in a bowl of water in the fridge. Make a roux, add seasonings and put in a jar in the fridge. I put a crock pot on the counter before I go to bed. When it's time to start, I get a skillet and brown the beef cubes, toss into the crock pot, toss in the potatoes and carrots, add canned tomatoes, add roux, add water/stock, add seasonings, turn on. I can and have done this stuff while watching young kids.

This technique of doing prep the night before and putting things in the fridge was used a lot when my kids were young.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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????

Wash the potatoes and carrots, then trim without peeling. If you peel them, you're losing some of the most valuable nutrients.

Look up how to make a roux. Also, I'd suggest learning about using rice flour and fresh potatoes to thicken. Again, it's all freely available online.

Yes, I know that the above response was from a few years ago, but since this PP thought to continue the conversation, I'll add.

With young kids, to make a stew, I do the time consuming prep the night before after they go to bed. I cut and season the meat and put it in the fridge. I peel the potatoes and carrots and put in a bowl of water in the fridge. Make a roux, add seasonings and put in a jar in the fridge. I put a crock pot on the counter before I go to bed. When it's time to start, I get a skillet and brown the beef cubes, toss into the crock pot, toss in the potatoes and carrots, add canned tomatoes, add roux, add water/stock, add seasonings, turn on. I can and have done this stuff while watching young kids.

This technique of doing prep the night before and putting things in the fridge was used a lot when my kids were young.

I'm similar, except I prep the crock pot itself. I make my roux fresh in the morning while I make breakfast, but the veggies (trimmed, not peeled!) and beans (half-cooked, sprouted first) are in the crockpot overnight. I marinate the meat instead of searing/browning, and I pour in the extra marinade (usually citrus juice, spices and a few crushed aromatics).

Dinner never takes over 30 minutes total. If I can't do it on my own in 30 minutes, I know that before I start, and the kids help.