Anonymous wrote:Mac and cheese
Soup and crackers
Sloppy Joes
Gyro
Nachos
Quesadillas

This isn’t hard now. Come on.

Its been a long year. Alll we do is buy food and cook food. So miss the olden days when meals were regularly consumed in other places. Its so boring to always be thinking about what we are out of, what we need to get, what's for dinner blak blah blah (not OP).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hear you!! I've started buying some TJ frozen meals (protein and rice) for convenience and variety.

mine need two boxes per meal they're too small even for lunch

Yep agree, supplement with some fruit, yogurt, cheese (or other easy stuff). Just gives some options that can be stored in the freezer.

I don't cook anything but dinner for kids who are teenagers, unless it's a special occasion. They can figure it out themselves.

my kids don't like sandwiches, so here are the top hot lunches in rotation:


Imagine boxed creamy tomato soup with grilled cheese
Pasta and tomato sauce
Pasta with pesto and fresh mozzarella cheese (the little balls)
Mac and cheese from a box, with the premade sauce pouch -- they like Cracker Barrel's
frozen Asian dumplings (the ones with the ponzu lime sauce are good)
Trader Joes frozen butter chicken dinner
leftovers -- I'll steam rice, and then just heat up whatever leftover meat and veggies we have

Anonymous wrote:I hear you!! I've started buying some TJ frozen meals (protein and rice) for convenience and variety.

mine need two boxes per meal they're too small even for lunch

Mine also sometimes eat cereal or other breakfast items, they don't love left overs, but they make a decent amount of pizza bagels and mac and cheese.....it's probably more than they used to eat at school.

I hear you!! I've started buying some TJ frozen meals (protein and rice) for convenience and variety.

I cook dinner and the teenage kids fend for themselves for breakfast and lunch. for lunch they mostly make sandwiches, wraps, bagels and eggs. On occasion they eat leftovers from dinner (leftover pasta or burgers are popular), boxed mac and cheese, frozen mac and cheese. Its not very different from what they ate in school.

I strongly encourage a piece of whole fruit with lunch and they often comply.

Our teenage sons eats a LOT of pasta. Other typical lunches: pb+j sandwich, frozen pizza, chicken nuggets, mac n cheese, scrambled eggs, leftovers, quesadillas, and leftovers . I don't make any of that for him. I cook dinner for the family and make sure there are plenty of fruit/veggies to go with breakfast and lunch options but our boys ages 11-16 make their own meals and clean up after themselves.

Often, leftovers.

I always have a lot of soups around. He'll make quesadillas or a burger. He's totally bored with sandwiches. Sometimes, convenience foods like frozen pizza, mac and cheese. There's a fridge full of fruits, veggies, cheese.

Left overs from earlier in the week.

Regarding tired of cooking - Teenage Boys are old enough to make dinner.

No evening activities - each child get one night to make dinner.

It's usually a brunch type of meal since he's rolling out of bed five minutes before school starts.

Today, bacon & egg sandwich

Other items: breakfast burritos, egg potato & sausage hash, ham & eggs, leftovers, or easy items like oatmeal, cereal, etc with an early dinner around 3pm. Then he's on his own to eat something later if I make a big meal by 3pm.

Vietnamese-style stuffed peppers with rice noodles.
Tonight is beef stew.

One of the advantages of DL is healthy, home-cooked meals.

Mac and cheese
Soup and crackers
Sloppy Joes
Gyro
Nachos
Quesadillas

This isn’t hard now. Come on.

Is anyone as tired of cooking as I am? We are completely stuck in a food rut. Take out isn't even good anymore. I have multiple hungry teenagers to feed - does anyone have some good lunch idea besides the obvious sandwich? Any ideas would be great!