OP, you are not alone. I am also a single mom with an early drop off and late pick up. There have been some great suggestions here and I have gotten some great new ideas so thanks to all those who posted helpful comments. I will repeat that the freezer is your friend. I use a crockpot (overnight, not during the day when I am gone) and freeze individual portions in disposable bags and plastic containers. I also cook on weekends. My daughter loves to help (at least for a while) so it's partially "quality time" and partially one long Disney princess movie. It's a small price to pay so we can both eat healthy food. I don't do take out or fast food; on those crappy nights, my go-to meal is scrambled eggs, cereal or oatmeal -- she thinks it's a treat and I can make dinner in 5 minutes or less. And a glass of wine for me -- I find that always helps. So good luck and go slow -- once you get your freezer and pantry stocked, it will get easier. Good luck and do the best you can. It's all any of us can do.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a single mom with one child, I will say that the crock pot meals are not a good idea. They generally make way more servings then needed and food that has been warmed for 10 -12 hours, served and then reheated the next day - blah. Couple that with not wanting to eat the same meal for three or four days in a row to use up leftovers. I tried it several times and found it didn't work very well for such a small family. Gave away the crock pot.

So do you eat fast food instead?

They do have smaller crockpots!! Also, you can freeze the leftovers and mark them well. So let's say you make a big chili on Saturday and a mexican chicken on Sunday. You eat them the respective nights and freeze into the right size containers that feed the two of you. Then you can heat them up 2-3-4 weeks from now and it will be "new" to you, not leftovers.

I would cook on the weekends and freeze. defrost overnight for the next day or use the crockpot.

You can put a pack of frozen chicken in the crockpot, dump some sort of sauce on top (bbq? Teriyaki?) and put it on low and it'll be ready when you get home.

Think about meals (maybe check pinterest?) that can be quick.

You can steam broccoli (have it cleaned and cut the night before), bake a filet of salmon (put in a pan with salt/pepper the night before--add lemon juice before it goes in the oven), and microwave a bag of frozen brown rice in less than 20 minutes. It might take you that long to drive to your McDonald's, get out of the car, order, get your food and sit down.

Anonymous wrote:
In fact, I have so much free time, after I shit, I deodorize the fecal matter with a french-organic-biodegradable spritz that is just lovely!
Sweetheart, you should do the same.

You may deodorize your fecal matter, but you still stink, my dear.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Never. Well, we do eat out or get take out once a week or so, but never from someplace like McDonald's or Burger King, as I don't consider that food. I make a lot of food in advance. I stock up on vegetables, and roast them whenever I have a minute (often while putting kids to sleep or while watching movies). I keep meat in the freezer, and make sure to always have something thawing. It only takes a couple minutes to cook it up, and get a meal on the table if you have it at the ready. But, I don't understand you are trying to 1) feed, 2) do homework, 3) bathe, 4) relax, and 5) put to bed in less than an hour. That has nothing to do with cooking, just time management; it doesn't work.

If you were not going to be helpful, why did you even bother to reply? Just so you could publicly stick your nose up in the air and be judgmental? Go away.

When I was growing up, people were so impressed that we'd sit down to dinner and everyone would have a different meal. No, she didn't spend that much extra time making meals, but what she would do is each time she made a dinner, she would make extra portions. While cleaning up, she would put food into individual portion containers and freeze them. If someone didn't want what she was cooking that evening, she could take a portion of something else out of the freezer, microwave it and that person had a different dinner. My kids are a little young, but I'll be starting this when they get older.

Because I am so great! I am so great!

In fact, I have so much free time, after I shit, I deodorize the fecal matter with a french-organic-biodegradable spritz that is just lovely!
Sweetheart, you should do the same.

Anonymous wrote:As a single mom with one child, I will say that the crock pot meals are not a good idea. They generally make way more servings then needed and food that has been warmed for 10 -12 hours, served and then reheated the next day - blah. Couple that with not wanting to eat the same meal for three or four days in a row to use up leftovers. I tried it several times and found it didn't work very well for such a small family. Gave away the crock pot.

So do you eat fast food instead?

Anonymous wrote:
Never. Well, we do eat out or get take out once a week or so, but never from someplace like McDonald's or Burger King, as I don't consider that food. I make a lot of food in advance. I stock up on vegetables, and roast them whenever I have a minute (often while putting kids to sleep or while watching movies). I keep meat in the freezer, and make sure to always have something thawing. It only takes a couple minutes to cook it up, and get a meal on the table if you have it at the ready. But, I don't understand you are trying to 1) feed, 2) do homework, 3) bathe, 4) relax, and 5) put to bed in less than an hour. That has nothing to do with cooking, just time management; it doesn't work.

If you were not going to be helpful, why did you even bother to reply? Just so you could publicly stick your nose up in the air and be judgmental? Go away.

When I was growing up, people were so impressed that we'd sit down to dinner and everyone would have a different meal. No, she didn't spend that much extra time making meals, but what she would do is each time she made a dinner, she would make extra portions. While cleaning up, she would put food into individual portion containers and freeze them. If someone didn't want what she was cooking that evening, she could take a portion of something else out of the freezer, microwave it and that person had a different dinner. My kids are a little young, but I'll be starting this when they get older.

Haven't read the whole thread, but here are some quick dinner ideas:

Quesadillas: Shred some monterey jack & cheddar cheese, warm up a can of refried beans, wilt some spinach. Spread a tortilla w/warmed beans, add spinach, sprinkle cheese, top with another tortilla, cook for 2-3 minutes per side in a pan. Serve with bagged salad and salsa. (Have rice as well, if you have time to make that - you can make that ahead and freeze it actually).

Pasta & meatballs - pre-make on a weekend or evening before.

Omelette & toast w/fruit

Pasta with jarred sauce & precooked sausage

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Today DS told me, "I'm so conflicted - McDonalds has better fries hands down but Burger King has better milkshakes."

Guess it's really time to buckle down and do better in the meal planning department. How often do your kids eat fast food? And what the hell do you make for dinner when you're getting home at 7pm and trying to feed them, make sure homework is finished, make them take showers, have any time at all to unwind or relax in any sort of way all before being in bed by 8pm?

Never. Well, we do eat out or get take out once a week or so, but never from someplace like McDonald's or Burger King, as I don't consider that food. I make a lot of food in advance. I stock up on vegetables, and roast them whenever I have a minute (often while putting kids to sleep or while watching movies). I keep meat in the freezer, and make sure to always have something thawing. It only takes a couple minutes to cook it up, and get a meal on the table if you have it at the ready. But, I don't understand you are trying to 1) feed, 2) do homework, 3) bathe, 4) relax, and 5) put to bed in less than an hour. That has nothing to do with cooking, just time management; it doesn't work.

Well, aren't you special? Where shall we mail your crown? (Hint: the award wasn't for most helpful)

OP: Don't worry too much about making sure you're eating a warm meal at night. There are tons of cultures where this isn't even the way they eat in the evening--I'm from Northern Europe, and I can assure you that traditionally, most Scandinavian/German/Dutch households didn't serve a warm dinner. Lunch is warm, dinner and breakfast are cold. So don't beat yourself up for potentially serving cold cuts/whole grain dark breads and a salad or cut up veggies for dinner. I would just focus a bit on the quality of the meat/cheese/etc, and don't worry about trying to cook all of the time. I also assume that your son is eating the hot lunch at school? If not, then perhaps he should, freeing you up from having to cook every night? This would also give you the advantage of eating in the car, and then you could spend the evening doing other things? Or at least try this for a few nights a week. Also echo PPs sentiment about some nutrioutious soups that you can make over the weekend to supplement.

You can also do this with roasts made during weekend, and slice for cold cuts/sandwiches during weeks. Cut your stress where you can, your DS will not remember what you fed him nearly as much as he'll remember other things like that.

GL!

Anonymous wrote:As a single mom with one child, I will say that the crock pot meals are not a good idea. They generally make way more servings then needed and food that has been warmed for 10 -12 hours, served and then reheated the next day - blah. Couple that with not wanting to eat the same meal for three or four days in a row to use up leftovers. I tried it several times and found it didn't work very well for such a small family. Gave away the crock pot.

Family of 3 including a DH who hates leftovers. However, you don't need to eat the same thing multiple days in a row. Freeze in batches and have again in a week or two. The 365 blog is good, I also have purchased a couple of slow-cooker cookbooks. One is Italian, one is "healthy". Some stuff has been good, some has been okay. Only one meal was so bad that we threw it out and ordered pizza at the last minute. I lean towards soups, personally. Couple with a loaf of artisanal bread from the store, or cornbread f it's chili and you've got a satisfying meal. Most soups are even better the next day!

I try to use it twice during the week, maybe Mondays and Wednesdays. That means only Tuesdays and Thursdays are hectic and we can relax a bit more on Fridays. Or, make Friday your designated pizza or McD's night or whatever with a DVD or board game as a fun transition to the weekend. Make Thursday your designated breakfast for dinner night with scrambled eggs, whole wheat toast and fresh fruit. Now you've only got Tuesday night to worry about a "real" meal.

You've gotten lots of good ideas for Tue and Thur night meals. Good luck!

If you are uncomfortable leaving the house with a crockpot on you can cook things overnight. Or, there are tons of things that take 3-3.5 hours on highs, so you could stick it in at 7 when you get home, it turns off at 10, and you can stick it in the fridge for tomorrow night at 11. I do that sometimes.

Or you could turn it on right before bed, cook on low while you sleep, then stick in fridge in the morning.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Today DS told me, "I'm so conflicted - McDonalds has better fries hands down but Burger King has better milkshakes."

Guess it's really time to buckle down and do better in the meal planning department. How often do your kids eat fast food? And what the hell do you make for dinner when you're getting home at 7pm and trying to feed them, make sure homework is finished, make them take showers, have any time at all to unwind or relax in any sort of way all before being in bed by 8pm?

Never. Well, we do eat out or get take out once a week or so, but never from someplace like McDonald's or Burger King, as I don't consider that food. I make a lot of food in advance. I stock up on vegetables, and roast them whenever I have a minute (often while putting kids to sleep or while watching movies). I keep meat in the freezer, and make sure to always have something thawing. It only takes a couple minutes to cook it up, and get a meal on the table if you have it at the ready. But, I don't understand you are trying to 1) feed, 2) do homework, 3) bathe, 4) relax, and 5) put to bed in less than an hour. That has nothing to do with cooking, just time management; it doesn't work.

He mostly does his homework at after-care but will sometimes arrive home saying he has something to finish. We use mass transit so we often stop at the McD's on the way home (it's 2 blocks from our house). Sometimes I can walk in, drop everything, and send DS to the shower while I immediately start cooking dinner, but often I have things to get done for the following day or actually want to sit for a few minutes first. I am going to try cooking in (small) bulk on weekends and implementing omelets and sandwiches and soups for dinner. DS is skinny but I hate killing his arteries this way.

Anonymous wrote:Today DS told me, "I'm so conflicted - McDonalds has better fries hands down but Burger King has better milkshakes."

Guess it's really time to buckle down and do better in the meal planning department. How often do your kids eat fast food? And what the hell do you make for dinner when you're getting home at 7pm and trying to feed them, make sure homework is finished, make them take showers, have any time at all to unwind or relax in any sort of way all before being in bed by 8pm?

Never. Well, we do eat out or get take out once a week or so, but never from someplace like McDonald's or Burger King, as I don't consider that food. I make a lot of food in advance. I stock up on vegetables, and roast them whenever I have a minute (often while putting kids to sleep or while watching movies). I keep meat in the freezer, and make sure to always have something thawing. It only takes a couple minutes to cook it up, and get a meal on the table if you have it at the ready. But, I don't understand you are trying to 1) feed, 2) do homework, 3) bathe, 4) relax, and 5) put to bed in less than an hour. That has nothing to do with cooking, just time management; it doesn't work.

We just came out of a temporary schedule like this and it was the pits - you are a superhero for doing it! We were really boring and ate the same things pretty much, but it really worked and was pretty healthy:

refried bean burritos (microwaved with cheese and salsa), served with frozen corn heated up with a can of rotel - it takes about 12 minutes for a family of 4

veggie burgers with bagged salad - we do two burgers with cheese. Salad is just the lettuce and dressing. Sometimes we do oven fries but usually we didn't have the 20 minutes. This takes about 15 minutes for a family of 4.

Buy a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store over the weekend and then during the week, eat leftover chicken, microwaved frozen rice, and microwaved broccoli

"greek" dinner, which is pita, tabbouleh, hummus, olives, cherry tomatoes, and bagged salad - make your own pita pocket. All of that is just stuff we bought at the store. We cut the tomatoes in half and microwave the pitas for a second, which the the only thing that takes time. The rest you pull out and plate.

Roast beef and cheddar wraps, serve with grapes and baby carrots (and chips if you'd like).

We make omelets for dinner sometimes, but that takes a bit more time. But if it is a family of two father than 4, I bet you could do it much much faster - it's 8 minutes per omelet. Add thawed frozen spinach and pre-shredded cheese. Sometimes we add sundried tomatoes (in the oil). You can thaw the spinach in the time it takes to heat the butter - it adds about 1 minute (put 2-3 paper towels under the spinach to pre-drain it). Serve with toast and grapes.


All of my times include pulling everything out, putting it back, getting plates and drinks ready... the whole shabang.