Trader Joes has a lot of mostly prepped items that just involve heating.

Anonymous wrote:Reading this thread really makes me wish schools taught home ec still. Cooking is a lot easier if you know how to do it. If you know when to shortcut and when not, if you knew how to cook in the right order so you’re more efficient, etc. So many people hate cooking because they were never taught how to cook and suddenly are expected to cook.

I agree. I took it it middle and high school and it really helped.
I echo the above posters about having a rotation. It’s Tuesday so I’m making rice, roasted vegetables and salmon. You can use the pre-chopped broccoli or frozen rice to save even more time.

The best thing I did to alleviate weeknight dinner stress was to have a rotation of 10 meals that I can quickly make and I know everyone will eat. Many of these were deconstructed meals that worked well for picky eaters who can choose their own components.

Anonymous wrote:DD is 7 and I still make her pasta or tofu regardless of what we're eating. I'm not interested in the fight.

But for me and DH, we cook a bunch of chicken in the Instant Pot, either plain or with sauce, and freeze it. The evening of, one of us cuts up fresh broccoli and steams it, then serve with heated chicken. We eat this a lot.

Sometimes we mix it up with quick rice or soup.

You are doing her a tremendous disservice.

I used to love to cool elaborate meals, but now only can handle easy stuff during the week.

Learn a few techniques that will allow you to do almost anything - grilling a piece of chicken, baking a piece a fish, making easy meatballs.

When I make roasted veggies during the week, it's one veggie, maybe broccoli or something but it's one thing to buy and chop for that meal - no more fussy combinations. Maybe a squeeze of lemon, but no fussy sauces. I microwave sweet potatoes and mash them. I buy the potatoes that can be steamed in the bag for mashed potatoes.

Pre washed and cut salad.

In pandemic life I've learned that frozen veggies aren't terrible, depending on what you do with them.

Jarred sauces and frozen side dishes to go with the easy preparations of chicken or fish.

You don't need fancy menus - I try to make 2 things: grilled chicken with roasted broccoli, burgers and mashed sweet potatoes, stir fry with frozen egg rolls... The ingredients are minimal and it's easier to cook.

We do a ton of sheet pan meals, and I don't do the fussy ones you find in recipe books where every ingredient needs to be cooked for a different amount of time. I marinate meat beforehand (we often do chicken thighs cut into small-ish pieces). Veggies are chopped, dumped on the pan. Marinated meat dumped on top. Mix things around. Stick in oven at 375. Flip once. Depending on meat and cut, it's done ~30-45min later. Serve with a starch (e.g. rice or quinoa from rice cooked, dinner roll, etc).

Total time for a meal like this is ~1 hr. Hands-on time is like 15 min. So if you can do the hands-on time roughly 1 hr before you want to eat dinner, then it works. If you need dinner on the table 20-30min after you walk in the door, this obviously won't work (but few things will).

Nothing is going to make you enjoy cooking. So just make food you want to eat. I would literally put cheese in a tortilla, microwave it, put premade gauc on it, and put it infront of my 2 year twins. Choose on night as pizza night.

Anonymous wrote:crockpot recipes are the best. Throw some stuff in the crockpot and it does the work for you.

That is me and it works great- vegetables, soups, brisket, ham, turkey, chicken, meat loaf, Apple butter, cranberries, etc

Take 2 pounds of ground beef and put it into a 9 x 13 pan. Add salt, pepper, garlic powder. Mix it all up then press it into the pan. Bake it on 350 until it's done, pour the fat out. Add cheese if you want and put it back in the oven for a minute, or don't add cheese.

Cut into small squares and put onto slider buns. Use whatever toppings you like. Serve with fries, tater tots or chips, salad, watermelon, whatever floats your boat.

Frontera slow cooker sauce packs- Pork Carnitas and Beef Barbacoa.. No strange additives. Will male enough for 2-3 meals.

https://www.fronterafoods.com/cooking-sauces/red-chile-beef-barbacoa-slow-cook-sauce

Put the meat and sauce in the slow cooker and then shred with 2 forks after it cooks for 6-8 hours.
Serve with tortillas or rice and steamed veggies.
For the rice, buy packs of frozen cooked rice that you heat in the microwave like these

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Grain-Trust-Steamed-Brown-Rice/727830013?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=0&wl13=3490&&adid=22222222252447309553&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=m&wl3=468184119748&wl4=aud-430887228898:pla-294493680140&wl5=9061285&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=8175035&wl11=local&wl12=727830013&wl13=3490&veh=sem&wl18=showcase&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIuuydx-Ph7AIVk47ICh16awp5EAQYCSABEgIn2vD_BwE

when my kids were that little I didn't worry too much about it, honestly. We were just trying to survive. But, here are a few things at that age that I recall and that we still do.

Dh and I would make a pasta at least twice weekly with (for us) sauteed broccoli, garlic, red pepper, chick peas and olive oil/cheese. I'd separate out steamed broccoli before sauteeing and kids would have pasta,broccoli and smashed chick peas. sometimes adding chicken or shrimp too.

Tacos--yes, they are your friend. We still do this and I buy the pouches of rick bayliss sauces, Throw whatever (ground turkey, chicken breast, pork) into the slow cooker or instant pot in the am.If I'm doing fish or shrimp its last minute. PM make rice, black beans and put out cheese. We put this on the table with condiments (salsa or yogurt/sour cream). Everyone makes what they want out of it, and I eat leftovers for lunch with choppped lettuce.

Pork loin or roast: we buy these premarinated from TJs and cook as directed for night one, then I throw in crockpot for night two as tacos (see above)

there's a place near us that has terrific marinated steak so we do that once a week with roasted veggies (throw it all in the oven).

I do a crispy chicken--dip chicken breasts in beaten egg and then a mix of breadcrumbs, parmesan, garlic salt and paprika, sautee and serve with rice or pasta or bread and veggies. This also works for any kind of white fish.

rice bowls: marinate and cook chicken thighs, drumsticks in bottled teriyaki ssauce, serve on rice with chopped cucumber, green onion, sesame seeds, soy sauce.

toss hotbow tie or other shape pasta in a sauce of torn basil, garlic, olive oil cherry tomatoes and fresh mozzarella balls.

curry anything: buy coconut milk and jarred curry paste (not spicy for kids, I use only a little), follow instructions on back to make a protein or tofu and veggie curry. We do tofu, and any mixture of what we have around.

Chicken tortilla soup:great for leftover rotisserie chicken (another one of our staples--we pick up chicken, baguette and make a big salad). Sautee onion, garlic, a bit of chili powder, add chicken and a can of tomatoes and some chicken broth and a can of corn, simmer for a while andthen top with tortilla chips, lime wedges, sour cream etc. Lots of varied recipes for this online.

veggies my kids are8 and 10 and they still like to nibble from a raw veggie plate--peppers carrots celery cucumbers, etc. I wished they liked hummus more, because that with hummus and crackers is a great lunch too.