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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Short answer: we don't cook during the week. We reheat.

That's either meals we cooked on the weekend and froze, or prepared meals from grocery stores or takeout. [/quote]

This except often I cook the night before. So a typical schedule is:

Sunday night -- cook Sunday dinner and cook something easy to reheat on Monday (eg, sausage in oven)
Monday night -- reheat sausage and pair with salad, fruit, bread. Cook something for Tuesday -- perhaps frozen meatballs in tomato sauce (throw in stove and let simmer 45 mins).
Tuesday night -- reheat meatballs and make pasta (or sometimes I make this the night before too) and salad.
Wednesday -- my work from home day so I make something fresh. Usually chicken on stovetop or sheetpan, or duck, or hamburger on stove -- something under 40 mins. Pair with cooked vegetable or salad if I am feeling lazy.
Thursday -- leftovers from any or all of the above. 
Friday -- leftovers if there are any; otherwise, "scrounge meal" -- scrambled eggs, PB&J for kids, cheese and crackers, any of the above with salad. 
Saturday night -- cook something decent or do takeout.

2 kids, 5 and 2, and I get home from work around 6:20 and DH gets home with kids around 6:30. With the reheating system dinner is on the table by 6:45. It's a bit boring because there are only so many things that reheat well and that the kids eat and that DH doesn't mind repeats of.  But it works.

The tricky part is I am also trying to bring my lunches at least 3 times a week to work, so that usually requires me to cook yet another 1 or 2 things on Sunday or some week night to take with me. If I don't have time, I do cheese/crackers/salami. Not the greatest but still better than Chipotle -- I think.[/quote]

Adding for those who commented on bedtime. My kids' bedtime is later, like 8:15-ish. We aim to go upstairs between 7:30 and 7:45 and have lights out by 8:15, though sometimes it is 8:30 if it's bath night. They usually wake up between 7 and 7:30 am. I drop them at preschool around 9 though next year will have to be a bit earlier when the 5 year old starts kindergarten (school opens 8:45, 9 am bell). Then I hop on the train and get to work around 9:30 or 9:40. It's a later schedule than a lot of folks have but it works for us, primarily for financial reasons: this way we don't pay for before care, only after care (and preschool pricing is "core day" which starts at 8:45 so we save $200 a month by not dropping off earlier). It's a crazy rat race for sure. My evenings consist of dish washing, often some cooking for the next day, other chores, sometimes an hour of work. DH does the same. I am hoping that at some point, maybe when the younger one is 4 and less needy, that we can shift everything up by 30 mins (and pay for before care, sigh) so I can get home around 5:45 and cook a proper dinner each night. Nothing fancy but not reheating would be nice.[/quote]

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