Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I really want to roll my eyes to this thread. Really op?! In 10 years you haven't figured out how to make meals that are simple. LOL

I know how to make simple meals, but there will only be 20 minutes from the time we all get home till when we need to be in the car. My kids can barely eat in 20 minutes. I won't even have time to heat up a frozen pizza. I literally need something that will take 5 minutes max.

You're going to have to make ready to eat things the night before then. Like when you get home from all activities, make wraps/sandwiches and wrap in foil for the kids to grab as soon as they walk in the door the next day. Make a big salad and when you walk in the door, slice a cold rotisserie chicken or steak to put on top and then dress. Set a Crockpot in the morning with chili/stew/soup so that when you get home you can just ladle it up and slice some bread. So spaghetti sauce in the Crockpot all day and boil some pasta the night before that you can simply microwave when you come in, then top with the sauce.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I really want to roll my eyes to this thread. Really op?! In 10 years you haven't figured out how to make meals that are simple. LOL

I know how to make simple meals, but there will only be 20 minutes from the time we all get home till when we need to be in the car. My kids can barely eat in 20 minutes. I won't even have time to heat up a frozen pizza. I literally need something that will take 5 minutes max.

It's usually the starch of the meal that takes 30 min. to cook (boiling the water for pasta takes the most time!). Precooked rice and pasta in the freezer are big time savers. Or you can cook the pasta in the morning if you have time, and just heat it up again in the evening.

Maybe on Sunday, I'll bake some chicken.

I like little picnics for dinner. My children are used to relaxing in my (king size) bed for a while before bedtime. For some reason nearly everyone gave me a tray at my wedding, so I use them for dinner picnics in bed.

Bowls of different fruits and hunks of bread, a meat sometimes, cheese...boiled eggs, fishsticks, tortellini, guac,...I mean, anything.

This is also sometimes how we do workbook time or literacy games. It's an oasis.

Is the 20 minute turnaround every night? That really seems impossible to me, if you were talking about having everyone sit down and eat a meal at the house.

We had a period like that over the summer when all three kids were on swim team, and what we did was to just skip family dinner and eat everything in the car.

One night would be peanut butter and jelly, another night would be cheese/cold cuts/crackers, another night, I would prepare homemade macaroni and cheese, and bake it in aluminum cupcake liners, another night we did a cheese quesadilla with veggies and chicken, another night we did homemade tomato or butternut squash bisque in a cup with a straw.

I would always try to have one thing that was more filling/warm, and then would have bags of fresh cut veggies, fruit, etc.

Definitely not ideal, but since you say you have a short-term gig, that may be the best way to go.

We've never been Sunday preparers. I'd like to do this, but what I need is some step-by-step tutorial. Specific meals (not just main dish) for each weekday night, exactly what to buy at the store, and specific steps to do everything on the weekend.

I've tried emeals, but I was getting burnt on what felt like a bazillion ingredients, there was not a lot of reuse (similar to their school lunch plan). But, those were week night prep, not weekend, anyway.

I may try their 30-minute dinner plan, but still, I feel like it is expensive because everything was completely different every night. That may have changed, I did this a few years ago.

What we currently do is pretty basic.
-Two fish nights; one salmon with a dijon glaze and one pre-marinated Trader Joe's fish. Side for those nights are a frozen veggie and 5 minute couscous or microwave brown rice/quinoa.
-Tacos one night, no really sides, just all the taco fixings.
-One crock pot dish, usually, less so in the summers. DH gets up early to prepare everything for the pot. He tries different recipes, as we get colder here it is more often chili, which covers two nights; one with spaghetti and the next night with rice or hot dogs.
- Cubed chicken with some tandoori sauce from TJs, plus frozer paneer or chickpeas put in the microwave.
- Sometimes I do parmesan fried pork chops, with green beans and a stove-top pasta.
- Fridays are usually take-out.
- Sundays are usually breakfast for dinner, kid's choice
- If we are exhausted, or just can't stand the idea of cooking at all, we do ham or turkey sandwiches and fruit. "Gourmet" grilled cheese is also often a hit (grilled cheddar cheese sandwich, with bacon inside, and parmesan on the outside.

I don't really like lasagna, or I'd make it. I've tried tons of recipes. It's just not my thing. I do like pioneer woman's sour cream bake, so sometimes I make that on Saturdays for dinner.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I really want to roll my eyes to this thread. Really op?! In 10 years you haven't figured out how to make meals that are simple. LOL

I know how to make simple meals, but there will only be 20 minutes from the time we all get home till when we need to be in the car. My kids can barely eat in 20 minutes. I won't even have time to heat up a frozen pizza. I literally need something that will take 5 minutes max.

Sunday make a big tray of lasagna. This is one of my favorite recipes: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Worlds-Best-Lasagna/Detail.aspx?event8

It makes a ton of food. Just pop it in the microwave.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I really want to roll my eyes to this thread. Really op?! In 10 years you haven't figured out how to make meals that are simple. LOL

I know how to make simple meals, but there will only be 20 minutes from the time we all get home till when we need to be in the car. My kids can barely eat in 20 minutes. I won't even have time to heat up a frozen pizza. I literally need something that will take 5 minutes max.

Fortunately, we only have one night like this. I usually give my kids a protein/granola bar in the car before practice. When we get home we have whatever is in the crock pot. We still get to sit down as a family and have a healthy meal.

You can do quesadillas in 20 minutes, or grilled cheese and heat soup or do scrambled eggs or grab PBS sandwich and yogurt. I'm busy single mom and we eat like that at least 2 nights a week.

Very simple, but it works.

My husband, who also works, cooks dinner. He likes it. I hate it.

OP, the slow cooker is your friend. In my household, we use it once a week and then have a variety of other strategies the rest of the week.

We aim for a slow cooker recipe to cover two nights. We usually have one night of take out, a night of make your own omelet night, and a night of stir fry with veggies and protein prepped ahead and ready to go when we get home. These are some of our go to weekly quick meals.

There are blogs devoted to bulk cooking and freezing ingredients for easy slow cooker use during the week. Here are a few links for inspiration....

http://whoneedsacape.com/2012/11/crockpot-freezer-cooking/

http://oatmealsmiles.com/healthy-slow-cookercrock-pot-freezer-recipes/

http://momsneedtoknow.com/freezer-to-crockpot-cooking-chicken-recipes-and-instructions/

Good luck.

Dinner prep is the bane of my weekday existence. I have not managed to find a good solution and end up ordering out at least once a week. Meal planning definitely helps and we use the grill year round - fast and less kitchen mess

Anonymous wrote:I know this isn't for everyone, but I make large portions of meals that we can eat two days in a row. This saves me the time of having to make and freeze portions for later use, but it has the same effect -- two meals in one. I get to telework one day (tues) per week, so on that day I have time to make a meal. I can make a meal Sunday. That leaves only one other weeknight when I have to make a meal. I generally make that one the least time-intensive. So, for example, our last week was:

Sunday: Moroccan veggie and lentil stew
Monday: Same
Tuesday: Asparagus, chard and mushroom pasta
Wed: Same
Thursday: Ecuadorian potato soup with avocado
Friday: Same (except we actually took the soup leftovers for lunch and ended up getting takeout tonight. But we *could* have had it for dinner).

I'm the PP -- I should note that i used to try to prep more meals on Sunday, but personally, I ended up DREADING Sundays, because it seemed like all I did all day was cook and never get to enjoy anything. So I stopped doing that, and just concentrated on making ONE meal that evening, although it is often a more time-intensive one.

I know this isn't for everyone, but I make large portions of meals that we can eat two days in a row. This saves me the time of having to make and freeze portions for later use, but it has the same effect -- two meals in one. I get to telework one day (tues) per week, so on that day I have time to make a meal. I can make a meal Sunday. That leaves only one other weeknight when I have to make a meal. I generally make that one the least time-intensive. So, for example, our last week was:

Sunday: Moroccan veggie and lentil stew
Monday: Same
Tuesday: Asparagus, chard and mushroom pasta
Wed: Same
Thursday: Ecuadorian potato soup with avocado
Friday: Same (except we actually took the soup leftovers for lunch and ended up getting takeout tonight. But we *could* have had it for dinner).

20 min? Sandwiches you make the night before and kids get themselves after school. "Real" dinner is after everyone gets home.

I assemble half a weeks worth of meals on Sunday:
Lasanga, all I have to do is heat it while I throw together a salad and bread, I might make another casserole type of meal as well, one day I'll maybe do a whole chicken in the crock pot and the leftovers will become chicken/broccoli alfredo over pasta.
On Wednesday I'm home in the afternoon and I'll put together a couple of other meals while I'm making dinner for that night.
Experiment a little, you'll learn quickly what works for you!