I prepare bread dough the night before, then in the morning put it in the toaster oven on my way out the door. I don't know if that counts as cooking but I have fresh baked bread when I get home.

Anonymous wrote:Sometimes I fry up a pan of lightly spiced tuna.

OMG, I had forgotten lightly spiced tuna

I cook every night and it's well under 30 minutes. Just make simple stuff.
Teens can make own snacks like PB and apple or crackers, cheese, etc.

Anonymous wrote:I would say maximize the effort from those hungry teenagers! Many hands make light work. Whether in the morning or in the evening, think of your role as a force multiplier or special advisor, but your teens are doing much of the work.

This.

Find time on Sundays to cook for the week. Or cook enough on Sunday to through Tuesday. Then cook dinner for Wednesday through Friday on Tuesday night.

Sometimes I'll start something in the crock pot in the morning, but those aren't really my favorite meals.

More likely, I do all the prep ahead of time (night before for me, but morning would work also) for things that cook really quickly. For example, tonight we are having chicken fajitas. Last night I sliced all the veggies and put them in one container, sliced the chicken and put it in another container with seasonings, and set aside a small container of garlic and seasonings for black beans. This morning I put dried black beans in the crock pot with the seasonings. When I get home tonight, it'll take 10 minutes tops to heat a cast iron skillet, stir the chicken around on high heat, add the veggies, done.

Sometimes I also prep a casserole of some sort, and have my teens pop it in the oven when they get home from after-school practice. It's ready to eat by the time DH and I walk in the door.

You can hire a personal chef to prep the meals while you are at work. They could make heat and serve meals where you come home and heat, or they could be ready to serve when you are home.

Prep sheet pan meals and put them in the fridge so they are ready to bake. Do you have an oven with wifi? You can have it preheat while you're on the way home. If your kids are home before you, they can turn the oven on and put the sheet pan(s) in.

Crockpot chicken taco meat and cut up all the toppings in the morning, crockpot Italian beef, crockpot red beans and rice.

But also, your family might just have to get used to a different dinner schedule or a different idea of who does the work. And that's ok.

I don't cook before work but if I know I am not getting home until after 5 I will sometimes have foods ready to go.

Chicken fresh or defrosted to throw in the oven with olive oil and spaces, while it's baking make some egg noodles or rice and a salad.

Chili or soups prepared. Make a salad or sandwich, cornbread, fixings, whatever while it heats up.

Pulled bbq meat or shredded chicken for tacos ready to heat up. Heat and prepare sides. Done.

Pasta with salad is always easy. So is doctored frozen pizza. Or veggie/meat burgers with frozen sweet potato fries/onion rings and crudite.

Anonymous wrote:I would say maximize the effort from those hungry teenagers! Many hands make light work. Whether in the morning or in the evening, think of your role as a force multiplier or special advisor, but your teens are doing much of the work.

This. I’ll buy the ingredients and then write out how to cook it and in what order (even what times to start each thing) and my teens can cook it when I am getting home late.

Premake some meals on the weekends. Think lasagna, soups, precook chicken/buy rotisserie chicken that can quickly go together with rice or some other dish, etc. Then during the week it’s more of heat n eat. Bag of frozen veggies or bag salad in microwave could accompany

Sometimes I fry up a pan of lightly spiced tuna.

I would say maximize the effort from those hungry teenagers! Many hands make light work. Whether in the morning or in the evening, think of your role as a force multiplier or special advisor, but your teens are doing much of the work.

I throw stuff in a crockpot in the morning sometimes (chili, pulled pork, etc).

I'm more likely to cook something the night before (soup is a good one because hey often taste better after sitting for a day, and very easy to reheat in individual portions if you have kids coming in and out at different times).

I’m due back full time in the office next week. Both myself and DH will be out of the house all day and walking in with hungry teenagers. I would like to get up before work and prep meals but don’t know how that would work exactly. Essentially because of my kids sports schedules, I can dedicate 45 mins or so in the morning to cooking so I don’t have to expend that time in the evening but don’t know how to maximize it. Any tips, suggestions welcome!!