Anonymous wrote:Oh, one of my big issues is that I do not have time to make rice fresh for weeknight meals. I either make it the night before and refrigerate, or sometimes make a big batch and freeze in muffin tins. Pull out a couple frozen rice muffins and reheat, or drop them into a container of soup - voila, instant chicken and rice soup. Also rice works well as a thickener for soups, for littles who don't get the whole broth-spooning thing. Also couscous or bulgur.

I love this idea! I freeze mine in ziploc bags. Do you have trouble getting them out of the tin? Do you use a liner or grease?

I like to buy and then pre-cook sausage from Harris Teeter and Whole Foods (there are lots of yummy varieties, and if they're poultry, they're lighter than pork / beef). I freeze the cooked sausage links in groups of about 4, then reheat and serve with

-tomato sauce / pasta
-white bean soup with kale
-sautéed peppers and onions

Thanks everyone! These are all really great suggestions and I'm looking forward to trying them next week!

I make chili or soup or something that can easily be reheated on Sunday.

Mid-week I'll roast a chicken--if I put it in when bedtime starts, it is easily done in time to cool and remove the meat before I go to bed.

Sometimes I'll pan saute chicken thighs (4-5 minutes per side) during my morning routine or while I'm doing the dishes.

I never make a new dinner at dinnertime during the week. It is always reheating something from earlier in the week.

http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/recipe-collections-favorites/quick-easy/make-ahead-meals-00100000078085/index.html

Buy some bags of frozen veggie mixes. On a weekend, cut up chicken breasts into bite sized pieces, cook them with just s+p, and freeze them. You can toss cooked chicken together w/frozen veggies plus seasonings or sauce of choice and serve over pasta, couscous, rice, etc.

Do you have room to put her in high chair in the kitchen with you? I use to do this all the time. This way you can talk or sing to her, pass her toys or cheerios.

Oh, one of my big issues is that I do not have time to make rice fresh for weeknight meals. I either make it the night before and refrigerate, or sometimes make a big batch and freeze in muffin tins. Pull out a couple frozen rice muffins and reheat, or drop them into a container of soup - voila, instant chicken and rice soup. Also rice works well as a thickener for soups, for littles who don't get the whole broth-spooning thing. Also couscous or bulgur.

I feel ya, OP. While I do like my crockpot, I either need to set it for 11 hours or trust that DH will turn it on when HE leaves... so I tend to not use it during the week

-If the issue is clingy-child, and I get that, try meals that don't require "stand here and stir and add a bunch of stuff." Things that you can just throw in a (still preheating) oven and then go get 40 mins later. Such as: chicken, small potatoes, and carrots - pork chops and roasted cauliflower - pasta bake (1 box pasta + jar sauce + water + foil over the top) - etc. She can screech for 10 secs while you remove the dish from the oven later.
-Can you wear her on your back (ergo or such)? For short periods, provided she can't reach around and grab stuff. I have also done this specifically so that I could take something out of a hot oven without my kid slamming their hands down on the oven door.
-Double duty meals. Roast a chicken on Sunday? Roast TWO. Then use leftovers to make other stuff like chicken salad or pasta. Freeze extras, your freezer is your friend.
-If your issue with the crockpot is that it's running unsupervised, could you run it at night? Unplug in the AM and stick the insert in the fridge (lay down a hot pad). Spoon out and reheat at dinner. Similarly, I have roasted chickens at NIGHT, and just planned to serve cold roast chicken and/or leftovers. Stick chicken in oven, turn on, go upstairs for bath/bed/whatever. Come back downstairs, drink a glass of wine, pull chickens from the oven. Beautiful (and it makes me feel SO on top of my game).
-Super simple dinners. Some people will disagree, but the occasional dinner of cheese, crackers, and fruit - or scrambled eggs, sliced tomatoes, and toast - or cold cereal and fruit - will not kill anyone.

Salads! Make on Sunday, eat all week. One from each category, mix and match 3 each night.
Protien - Egg, Tuna or Chicken salad with fat free sour cream or mayo. Bean or Lentil salads. Black beans and corn. Chick peas.
Veggie salad - self explanatory, buy some greens add some in season toppings based on what's on sale that week.
Starch - barley/farro salads, Corn, sweet potatoes cubed and grilled, taboule
Fruit - clean, cut, and mix in a bowl. Waldorf with ff mayo in the fall, berries in the spring, citrus in the winter, and Watermelon in the summer. Just mix up whatever is on sale. No melon or bananas though - they don't do well in salads that are in the fridge 2-3 days.

You can also marinade chicken or other meat overnight. Then all you have to do is turn on the oven and pop it in--you can even do it with one hand! Add some steamed veggies from the microwave and its a healthy meal without having to put down your DC.

Lasagna with skim ricotta, low fat mozzeralla, sauce, loads of veggies (and meat if you want) and no boil lasagna sheets. Prep it the night before then throw it in the oven when you get home. It makes a lot, so freeze portions

Make lots of quinoa and you can make salads with veggies, chicken, shrimp, etc.

You can make chicken dishes and then freeze them.

I'm just trying to think of the things DH and I lived on when DS was born and we were too tired to cook/people brought us easy meals.

My one year old has suddenly become very clingy, which has made it extremely difficult to prepare dinner after picking her up from daycare. I'm really bad with meal planning and advance preparation but have come to the realization that they may be necessary evils to help keep my evenings sane. I have terrible Paranoia about leaving things plugged in while at work, so crock pot is not an option. What are your best simple recipes that can be prepared ahead of time. Bonus points for healthy ideas as DH and I are both trying to lose weight. Thanks!