almost never eat fast food. if we're late, i usually feed my son frozen meatballs with a veggie and applesauce or something. or noodles with something. or stirfry tofu. or scrambled eggs. truthfully i think it's easier to cook something quick than to stop at any kind of restaurant. i keep frozen sweet potatoe fries in the freezer too. i try to keep the freezer filled for just such occasions.

Anonymous wrote:Why are people afraid to leave the crockpot on all day? Isn't that what a crockpot is made for?

My father was a fireman in a major city for 25 years before he retired.

He has seen PLENTY of fires started by people who left a crockpot unattended.

Same goes for folks who let their real Christmas trees get overly dry and have the tree near electrical outlets or use Christmas lights, but I digress.

OP, I would just make an effort to keep your house stocked with a huge veggie tray and a big fruit tray or bowl (maybe you'll have to make one of each twice a week), plus some fresh bread (can you get it at lunch) and keep a good stock going of instant rices, quick-cooking noodles, canned or frozen soups, and bottled or pre-made sauces. With that stock pile happening, all you need is a rotisserie chicken (or hell, McDonalds chicken nuggets) and you can make a meal in about 5 minutes.

OP, get a Crockpot and use it at weekends to cook meals for the freezer. Beef and lamb dishes are great in the crockpot and freeze well, chicken not so much. Beans are ok too.

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?

Really, he said, "I'm so conflicted?"

What is wrong with a child saying that? I am not OP, but that sounds like something my son would say.

Tons of good ideas here- not op here but thanks to everyone! Op, how often does your son eat McD's or BK? Keep in mind it is a little unfair to him to go from i.e. 5 nights a week to zero. So ease into the transition so that he doesn't "hate" the new meals simply b/c the burgers and fries are being taken away from him. Also, you could steer him towards healtheir options at the fast food places, like the grilled chicken and apple slices. Or, you could reduce your McD visit to once a week, but let him get his old favorites like fries and a milkshake. We do the latter but if you think you will need to keep visiting McDs a few nights a week until you've got a better routine at home, you may want to try going for healthier food options there. GL!

Hi 11:27 here (land of the sucky schedules).

This is the crock pot we have - not too costly. http://www.amazon.com/Hamilton-Beach-33967-6-Quart-Programmable/dp/B001AO2PXK/ref=sr_1_1?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1347370676&sr=1-1&keywords=slow+cooker. It is a 6-quart, so large, but as I mentioned, we eat half, then freeze half and eat it two weeks later. We are 2 adults and a toddler who eats what we eat.

But, I forgot to mention in my previous post - Get the slow cooker liners - then you don't even need to scrub the crock pot - just toss the liner, rinse the pot and you're done. Something like this: http://www.amazon.com/Kitchen-Collection-Liners-Cookers-Quarts/dp/B0053KM2RQ/ref=sr_1_3?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1347370908&sr=1-3&keywords=slow+cooker+liners.

Last night I tossed a 4 pound brisket into the crock pot, tossed on top of that a Lipton onion soup mix and 2 cans of whole berry cranberry sauce, put it in the fridge, pulled it out this morning, set it to cook, and left for work. We will eat part tonight (will microwave steam some carrots too), and then the rest probably next week during Rosh Hashanah.

And thanks everyone else for your great ideas. We're adding some to our arsenal too.

Anonymous wrote:Peruvian rotisserie chicken is the best! Pick one up,make some rice, add a veggie. Voila! Dinner. Steam in the bag veggies are great-6 minutes in the micro. We grill 30 hamburgers at a time and freeze them. 2 minutes in the micro to thaw. We make a huge batch of homemade waffles and then freeze them. Into the toaster for two minutes and done! We usually have "breakfast for dinner" once a week. Breakfast sausage, waffles and fruit is a great dinner. The trader joes "little beef tacos" are delicious. Soup (that you make over the weekend) with cornbread.
Do you have any single mom friends in the neighborhood? If so you could start a dinner club where you each make dinner for the other once a week. So on Sunday you make a double batch of spaghetti and meatballs and give her half. And she'll reciprocate with another dinner on another day.

OP, first of all you are awesome for doing this all on your own and wanting to do better when it comes to your kid's (and your own) nutrition. Hang in there, sister - you're doing great. I do the above a lot too - a rotisserie chicken, then steam in the bag veggies (with no added anything) and steam in the bag brown rice (also with no added anything). Done in literally less than 5 minutes for the really tight evenings. And lots of other awesome ideas on here for pre-cooking, small crock pot use, freezing, etc. Good luck!!

OP, if you are actually going to get a crockpot (and I agree with everyone here -- they are great and completely safe to leave on at home) you should know that there are packaged frozen crockpot meals. Of course you need to read the labels on them but a few I've found taste good and are not full of junk.

Or you can find a recipe you like, make it ahead, and put it in a ziplock bag in the freezer.

I use a crockpot for a while but then run out of steam -- I never seem to have enough time to put it all together in the morning. If you have a ziplock bag of all the crockpot ingredients in the freezer, you just need to remember to take it out the night before and let it thaw in the fridge. I actually let it thaw in the crock pot container in the fridge -- then just move the container to the crock pot holder in the morning -- ANYTHING to reduce the amount of thinking I have to do in the morning.

Here's an example of someone who did that Once A Month Cooking thing to get about a month's worth of crock pot meals made and in her freezer (has recipes, instructions, shopping lists etc)

http://melissafallistestkitchen.blogspot.com/2012/02/freezer-cooking-2.html?showComment=1346699136218#c3456854906029638060

Op, there are lots of great ideas on here (which I appreciate, too!) - all I really want to add is a reminder that you are doing your best and do not beat yourself up if transitioning to more non-fast food meals takes time - as a PP said, a big part of being able to slap down dinner quickly is having routine meals and a stocked fridge and freezer, and you need to give yourself time to accumulate these! GL!! Oh, and a quick meal we eat once a week is grilled cheese with ham made on whole wheat bread, with a side of those mini bagged carrots (bonus that it is only one pan so very easy clean up).

Anonymous wrote:Quick meals:
Quesadillas
Casseroles
Grilled cheese
Stir fry
Tacos

Rice and beans - google easy rice and bean recipes: healthy, hearty, and cheap. And quick!

Also veggie soup is easy, chili either with ground turkey or veggie crumbles is very easy. Quiche with a premade crust is easy. So many options! I aim to cook 2-3 meals a week and the rest we do leftovers. Once is on the weekend and once or twice during the week. Easy stuff that don't take a long time and are so much healthier than fast food. You can do it OP!

Quick meals:
Quesadillas
Casseroles
Grilled cheese
Stir fry
Tacos

OP,

Take a look at the 5 dinners in 1 hour website. It is a subscription service that sends you 5 meals, a shopping list, prep instructions and cooking instructions. You prepare 5 meals in an hour and then each night you cook the meal in 20-25 mins or less. I substitute bagged salad for the sides. I have several friends who are using this and it has been a huge help to all of us who have tried it. And, there are at least 2 single moms in my crew who have tried it and rave about it.

You guys, I can not even express how appreciative I am of all your suggestions and support. I will look into a toaster oven and a crock pot. There's now a huge list of healthier yet quick meal options. DS and I are going to try tons of new foods. Thanks again!

Two words: Toaster Oven

DH and I work, DD's in daycare, and this has been a lifesaver. Why you might ask? Because it takes less time to heatup than a traditional oven, perfect for smaller portion sizes, and you can easily throw something from the fridge in as it's preheating, sit down and relax while it cooks, then enjoy a hot meal.

When prepping the week's meals you can throw ingredients into large ziplock bags to then bake or reheat.

Look for cooking shortcuts. Rotisserie chickens, frozen precooked grilled chicken strips, bags of frozen veggies, cream soups, minute microwaveable rice/pasta... Na'an bread makes excellent mini pizza's (7ish min in the oven for cheese to melt), you can stuff pita bread with almost anything, and pasta can be topped with red sauce, can of fire-roasted diced tomatoes, cream of something soup, or just olive oil.