Yes leftovers. We also put together a quick menu every week from repeated categories:

Cool weather:
Homemade pizza
Pasta
Indian (dal, sag paneer, cauliflower curry, etc.)
Mexican-ish (quesadillas, tacos, chili, etc)
Chinese (tofu dishes, stir fries)
Super easy I give up food (breakfast for dinner, frozen kid food)

Hot weather:
Sandwiches
Pasta salad
Bean and vegetable salad with chips
Cracker, cheese, fruit plate
Hot dogs (sorry we haven't found a good veg alternative kids will eat but maybe fake meat?)
Stir fries and instant pot meals as well

My kids help in the kitchen, color at the kitchen table, etc.

We have breakfast for dinner once a week. Egg, vegan sausage patty, hash browns, tomatoes and whatever fruit we have. Black bean quesadillas or nachos are also ok frequent rotation. We have avacado/tomatoes with it. Baked pasta once a week. I put in the Trader Joe’s beefless beef crumbles. It’s like baked ziti but I never actually seem to have ziti lol.

I batch cook at the weekend and freeze half. That takes care of a couple meals during the week. I also have a couple one pot pasta and veggie dishes that we like, and heavily rely on things that can be seasoned quickly and tossed in the over to roast.

1. Involve your kids in cooking. My four year old cranks the pasta roller, shapes dough, etc.
2. Leftovers, minimum two nights in a row, and always also for lunch.
3. Food co-ops. Involve kids in bagging dried beans, lentils, nuts, dried fruit.
4. Stock pantry with mix-ins and short-cuts. Ours always has pickles, capers, and pickled vegetables; nuts and nut butters, baked beans; hot peppers and hot sauce; anchovies and tuna.
5. Do quick preps in advance: soak beans, make dough, etc.
6. Have a couple of meals in your back pocket to reduce food waste - veggie quiche, baked fruit as a yogurt topping, stews, stir-frys, veggie fritters.


So, for example:

Tonight we are having mushroom/chestnut ragu with creamy polenta.
Monday, we will have air-fried polenta (kids use cookie cutters to cut into shapes), shakshouka, pickled veggies.
Tuesday, we will have veggie stew and kids make croutons in air-fryer. Pickled veggies, olives.
Wednesday, we will make rice and serve with stew, shakshuka leftovers.
Thursday, we do a quick meal of stuffed baked sweet potatoes (kids top with baked beans, cheese, pickled jalapeños), and we make pizza dough.
Friday, kids will make rice bowls with babysitter with leftovers, eggs.
Sat: Take-out.
Sun: Homemade pizza (freeze extra sauce), and a pot of veggie chili for coming week.

I have started paying more at the grocery store to streamline my meal prep. For example, I like those Taylor Farms stire fry bags. All the veggies are chopped in it with a sauce packet and noodles. I will also buy chicken or beef (you would leave out or use tofu) and have butcher cut into stir fry strips so to make this meal it is literally just the 10-15 min stir frying, no chopping that night.

Anonymous wrote:I’m a single vegetarian mom. When my DC was younger, I did what PP suggests and did lots of leftovers. But here are some of the easier things to make:

Naan pizza
Lemon asparagus pasta
Burritos with canned beans
Stir fry
White bean and kale salad

Thanks I do some of this but will look up the bean and kale salad and lemon asparagus pasta is a great idea.

Anonymous wrote:Do you not have a husband? Why are YOU in charge of dinner and why are you continuing to enable your spouse?

My husband handles all the cleaning and I personally would rather cook than clean! But in general I do prefer us both streamlining daily chores so we can spend more time with our younger children.

Anonymous wrote:Agree on leftovers although I rarely do the same thing two nights in a row. Involve the kids in weekend meal prep; make a big batch of something that improves with storage like goulash or spaghetti sauce or split pea soup, then freeze half of it, and serve the rest for two meals during the week. Also reuse components but not necessary the whole meal so each meal only needs prep for part of it. Eg, I’ll serve fried salmon with steamed bok choy on rice, then make fried rice with the leftover rice the next night. Or mashed potatoes, asparagus, meatballs, and gravy one night, then leftover mashed potatoes with roast chicken and asparagus, then leftover chicken cut up into couscous with almonds and raisins and peas, then make a broth out of the chicken carcass as use that as a base for ramen or soba with tofu/egg for extra protein. Basically, have fast meals on hand when needed (frozen stew, fixings for quesadillas, etc), but even if you do have time to cook try to not have to cook multiple dishes that day.

Sorry still waking up and saw you’re vegetarian so all my meat based listings don’t work but the thought remains. Eg, I will do fried tofu with rice noodles and peanut sauce and veg — leftover tofu goes into fried rice or ramen. Veg chill is very freezable, as is spaghetti sauce or vegetarian curry. A big batch of lentils or chickpeas can be served over several days in couscous or curry or in a pita, sliced differently each time. I like avocado for instant meals too — chopped avocado and tomatoes in pasta with Parmesan and olive oil is great for a light quick meal; avocado quesadillas ditto, or nacho chips with vegetarian refried beans (I buy canned but you can also make them yourself on the weekend) and avocado and salsa. I’m not even slightly vegetarian but one of my kids has something against meat so I try to keep dinner meatless to ensure she’ll eat it. Also in a pinch, we totally do toast with peanut butter and sliced apples because it’s delicious and easy.

Agree on leftovers although I rarely do the same thing two nights in a row. Involve the kids in weekend meal prep; make a big batch of something that improves with storage like goulash or spaghetti sauce or split pea soup, then freeze half of it, and serve the rest for two meals during the week. Also reuse components but not necessary the whole meal so each meal only needs prep for part of it. Eg, I’ll serve fried salmon with steamed bok choy on rice, then make fried rice with the leftover rice the next night. Or mashed potatoes, asparagus, meatballs, and gravy one night, then leftover mashed potatoes with roast chicken and asparagus, then leftover chicken cut up into couscous with almonds and raisins and peas, then make a broth out of the chicken carcass as use that as a base for ramen or soba with tofu/egg for extra protein. Basically, have fast meals on hand when needed (frozen stew, fixings for quesadillas, etc), but even if you do have time to cook try to not have to cook multiple dishes that day.

I’m a single vegetarian mom. When my DC was younger, I did what PP suggests and did lots of leftovers. But here are some of the easier things to make:

Naan pizza
Lemon asparagus pasta
Burritos with canned beans
Stir fry
White bean and kale salad

Do you not have a husband? Why are YOU in charge of dinner and why are you continuing to enable your spouse?

Anonymous wrote:My biggest tip is to embrace leftovers and train your kids to accept them as a meal. This way you only cook 3x a week and can meal prep on your nights “off” as necessary.

So a week might look like this:

Sunday: make a vegetarian chili and a loaf of bread— this will take time but it’s mostly passive so works well for a Sunday
Monday: leftover chili and bread, meal prep for Tues
Tuesday: make baked pasta dish, if you have bread still it will go well with this
Wednesday: leftover pasta, meal prep for Thurs
Thursday: make rice bowls
Friday: leftover rice bowls
Saturday: restaurant or takeout, or something super easy like breakfast for dinner

This is how I limit my cooking/meal prep time to 30-40 minutes everyday but Sunday. I try to make the Sunday meal something kids can help with too.

OP here. Thanks this is very helpful!

My biggest tip is to embrace leftovers and train your kids to accept them as a meal. This way you only cook 3x a week and can meal prep on your nights “off” as necessary.

So a week might look like this:

Sunday: make a vegetarian chili and a loaf of bread— this will take time but it’s mostly passive so works well for a Sunday
Monday: leftover chili and bread, meal prep for Tues
Tuesday: make baked pasta dish, if you have bread still it will go well with this
Wednesday: leftover pasta, meal prep for Thurs
Thursday: make rice bowls
Friday: leftover rice bowls
Saturday: restaurant or takeout, or something super easy like breakfast for dinner

This is how I limit my cooking/meal prep time to 30-40 minutes everyday but Sunday. I try to make the Sunday meal something kids can help with too.

I love to cook but I find I spend a lot of time in the kitchen when I really would/ should be spending time with my kids. Does anyone have any meal planning tips that can keep dinner making efficient? Do you have recipes? I would like something that I might be able to prep over the weekend and whip up into a meal in 15 min or less on weeknights for example. I can ask meal prep during the evenings the day before but would prefer to keep that under 30 min. I don’t mind semi homemade but I’d prefer to avoid takeout. We are a vegetarian household so if you have any recipes that are veg friendly I would appreciate the ideas.