Anonymous wrote:I make dinner every night, but make enough so it's the next day's lunch for the kids too. It literally takes me 30 minutes to make a tasty nutritious meal for my family, and it's totally worth it to me. DH does all the dishes and clean up.

same except we alternate who doesbedtime and dinner cleanup/lunch prep

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People here are obsessed with the daily “dinner prep” but that sounds like such a grind! It’s so easy to make things that last two nights, and then you have leftovers waiting for you and some extra time to relax.

Why hasn't anybody else thought of this?

Wait, what? It's not against the law?

I now have a 12 yo and 16yo. I have cooked most nights of the week (on the average) even before they were born. But some weeks don't work out that way and I don't beat myself up. Some weeks I make things that work for 2 nights (chili, tacos, stew, sloppy joe's, meatballs) when I see the calendar is really full. These are flexible and aren't necessarily red meat before the haters come on. But other weeks, I cook each night and it's not a big deal.

Husband and I make dinner every evening. Not together but we take turns. Husband takes leftover to work for lunch. We don't necessarly meal plan but we will pick a meat to defrost for the next day and plan the meal around it. I've recently gotten my 14 year old to start prepping for dinner when she gets home from school so we can make dinner quicker.

Cook in double batches and freeze the second batch.

Ultimate quick dinner - linguine with Costco’s pesto sauce. It’s awesome and my kids love it though they prefer pasta wheels. A quick salad and everyone is happy. Plus, very little clean up.

Every morning I pull something out of the freezer so I know what we are having and how much time it will take. I rarely spend more than 15 minutes on any prep though the cooking can take 45+ minutes sometimes. I often use a sous vide that I can turn on remotely before I leave work and the entree is done by the time I get home though it may need a bit of finishing on a grille. Our weekday dinners are usually pretty simple and with a little advance thought it’s not a problem. My husband sets the table and does the dishes so it’s not all just me. We are not into casseroles or stews.

I wouldn't say cooking every day is dumb. Some people genuinely like to cook, and some families don't have enough money to do takeout or restaurant meals very often. And some people have the time to devote to that.

I don't have the time or the energy to cook every day, because I WOH and my kid has a bunch of activities, most of which I have to help coach/lead. Some days, the last thing I want to do when I get home is cook, and so I'll get takeout to avoid resorting to cereal or something equally dumb. I do a lot of semi-cooking. By that I mean I rely on those frozen pasta/rice meals you can throw in a skillet, which I'll serve with steamed veggies. Or I'll toss some chili on pasta and serve with steamed veggies. Or I'll make things that provide good leftovers. Occasionally if we have bread, meat and cheese to use up, I'll heat up soup and make sandwiches.

I love takeout, though, and I can get a wider variety of ethnic food from takeout than I can cook, so that is sometimes my solution. We'll do Thai one week, Indian the next, etc.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I make dinner every night, but make enough so it's the next day's lunch for the kids too. It literally takes me 30 minutes to make a tasty nutritious meal for my family, and it's totally worth it to me. DH does all the dishes and clean up.

What are your best recipes for a quick dinner?

This week we've done:
shrimp scampi on fettuccine with broccoli
tacos using ground turkey (add in some veggies and beans)
salmon, rice and veggie
pesto pasta with chicken and tomatoes, a side veggie

My kids are 3 and 5 and we often have two pasta meals because they love pasta. I'm just glad I that we've gotten to the point of everyone eating the same thing, so I roll with it.

I hate cooking with the passion of a thousand suns. I hate doing the dishes even more. But DH likes to cook and my kids hate leftovers. I'd love to outsource cooking, but we eat very healthfully, are frugal, and don't like to order food.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I make dinner every night, but make enough so it's the next day's lunch for the kids too. It literally takes me 30 minutes to make a tasty nutritious meal for my family, and it's totally worth it to me. DH does all the dishes and clean up.

What are your best recipes for a quick dinner?

I am not the pp, but we have:
Monday: tacos
https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/easy-meat-mushroom-tacos/
Or chicken or steak fajitas

Tuesday: fish and veggies
Top fish with favorite sauce or breading, cook at 400 for 10 minutes or so

Wednesday: sandwiches or soup depending on season. I make a lot of crock pot soups in the morning. This was last week:
https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/241310/chef-johns-beef-and-barley-stew/


Thursday: spaghetti and meatballs, salad, bread. These I do make in big batches and freeze. Sauce I can over the summer.

Friday: take out

This changes as kids get older.
When they were little, I cooked less frequently. Most recipes are set for four, toddlers eat hardly anything, so it was generally enough for two days. But as they got older and started eating more, it did become a PITA to make enough for two meals. It also gives me something to do while they are sitting at the kitchen table doing homework or reading out loud.

I used to cook every night as a SAHM. At some point I realized my kids don’t eat the food anyway, so no point in putting in the effort. My husband and I don’t care what we eat. We are fine with leftovers, sandwiches, or salads.