Originally Posted By LPFan22 And breakfast for dinner is always a hit with kids. Quick, easy and fun!
Originally Posted By Labuda "Labuda, I can't even imagine spending an hour or more preparing a meal! Simple is best. " Yeah, when I cook a full meal, it tends to involve multiple things being made from scratch - and longest prep award goes to potatoes au gratin, gruyere, arugula, and proscuitto-stuffed chicken breasts with a carmelized onion wine-based sauce, green beans (just had to snap the ends off then cook and season those - easy!), and a raspberry dessert that involved a sieve and getting rid of all the raspberry seeds before making the dessert. That meal took about 5 hours total prep, cooking, and plating by myself. That was for a dinner party, though. Just the chicken and sauce by themselves I've got down to about 2 1/2 hours if I make six breasts. Anyhow, yeah, I tend not to do simple stuff.
Originally Posted By Lisann22 Oh I have meals that take a couple hours. And yeah dinner parties can take me all day with prep on other days but for everyday living; 45min max.
Originally Posted By velo Because I have 3 hungry teens at dinnertime, I try to do meals that are around 40-45 mins prep/plate time. As was mentioned earlier, planning out your weekly meals at the beginning of the week has been a life saver for me (I work too). I'll switch menus around for different days if I need to as well, so it's not all that rigid. I still make involved meals that take a long time, but I save those for the weekend :> As for the house, I say do what you can and enjoy Gideon for the most part. I always told myself that "It will be spotless when they're all away at college." And as they all slowly move in that direction, I'm finding it to be true (just one going away to college has made a BIG difference, lol)
Originally Posted By DAR One thing I've started to do on my off day is precook a few meals on that day and then freeze them for later in the week so the only thing I have to do is heat it up. If you want to go that route.
Originally Posted By beamerdog I agree with velo about not worrying about the house being spotless. When I was working and the kids were little, I would dedicate one evening and make meals ahead, or at least part of the meal that could be put in the fridge or freezer. Because I've been diabetic since I was an infant, my meals at home tend to be simple, without sauces (except tomato-based) and so not much prep time is involved. Breakfast-for-dinner is always fun and usually doesn't involve much prep time either.
Originally Posted By LVBelle The crockpot is my best friend. My very best friends are the crockpot liners you can buy that make clean up a snap! Check out <a href="http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/</a> for lots of great recipes!
Originally Posted By DyGDisney Awesome, I added that to my favorites! I love the crock pot. I'm thinking 1/2 hour to 45 minutes too for cooking. When my oldest was little I fretted over my house not being clean, and I wasn't even working! I mean, it was clean (not dirty), but messy, you know? But you know what, it doesn't matter! Do what you can, spend time with your little one while he's little, and don't worry about the rest.
Originally Posted By Lady Starlight Rachel Ray has some awsome EASY PEASY recipes that can be completely prepped and cooked and ready to be eaten in 30 min's. Rachel Rays 30 minute meals.
Originally Posted By Princessjenn5795 First off, you have an 18 month old so your house will never be as clean as should be. It probably won't be for another couple of years (when you can start making them clean up their stuff on their own) unless you decide to do nothing but clean all day. I am sure you are doing as great as any of us! Most of the meals that I plan for during the week take 20 to 45 minutes (I usually aim for the 20 minute mark). If it is something that reheats well I will make extra so that I can have leftovers either for lunch or dinner the next day. My favorite cook book is the Whole Foods cook book because most of the things in there are quick and they are all healthy. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Whole-Foods-Market-Cookbook-Natural/dp/0609806440" target="_blank">http://www.amazon.com/Whole-Fo...09806440</a>. I like to make speghetti sauce and soups and things like that in big batches and then freeze it for the days I need (or just want) a really quick meal. Get yourself a Food Saver if you not have one already...I use the containers that you can buy for it all the time. I would also suggest a Crock Pot. I spent a little more on mine and got one with a cast iron insert so I can brown meat or saute veggies on the stove in it and then put it in the Crock Pot and only use the one dish. You can find some really good Crock Pot recipe books too.
Originally Posted By iamsally ^^Where did you get a cast iron crock pot?!? I would love that. I was going to add to the crock pot brigade. I still use mine but when the kids (5 of the little buggers) were small it was a godsend. Lots of stews and soups and beans and even a whole chicken with veggies can go in there. You can cook a veggie dish and add your meat at the end. But I sound like Labuda. When I was cooking for seven, every single night; it would take 2 hours. I always made an entre, two vegetables and one or two starches. Was my house EVER clean?!? You guess................... As my husband's grandma told me, "In 100 years nobody is going to care if your house was clean or not." Now, I stick to simple. We eat lots and lots of salads and I make what seems like a modest amount of food but there is always enough for another meal. I never have learned hoe to make small meals. Still though, I seem to need at least an hour to get a full meal on the table. Good luck and enjoy that gorgeous little boy. You are so lucky to be able to spend so much time with him.
Originally Posted By quincytoo >>>I highly recommend trying any of Rachel Ray's 30 minute recipe books.<< Lisann bought me my first RR 30-min meals cookbook and I have used it so much I need to replace it but can't. You see, Lisann signed it and I just can't replace that I have given three of RR cookbooks out to my sister and family and they love them.Yes she can be grating to watch but the woman knows how to get a good meal together fast and you can't help but like that. >>> I always told myself that "It will be spotless when they're all away at college." And as they all slowly move in that direction, I'm finding it to be true <<<< That is so true and I have my baby,(the youngest of three) starting college this year
Originally Posted By KatieKate123 I agree with Dar. I cook all of my dinners on Saturday morning b/f my girls wake up, and then just freeze them. I even do this with chicken and it works just fine. It usually takes me 2 hours on Saturday mornings too cook everything but that is for 6 days. Saturdays is also my clean up day, I go grocery shopping on Friday night, and Saturdays is all of the other chores. My house gets dirty, but Saturdays and Sundays its a pretty hours, and then we are rarely home. I leave the house at 5 and get back at 7. But I used to be a stay at home mom 2 so I know how dirty a house can get, and I used to do the same thing but towards the evening I would set the timer and clean up for 1 hour only. Anyways I do everything on Saturday so that I can spend sunday with my family since its Bernardo's only day off.
Originally Posted By Princessjenn5795 "^^Where did you get a cast iron crock pot?!? I would love that." I got it at William Sonoma and I love it. It was really worth the extra money. I guess it is cast aluminum though...I thought it was cast iron. Whatever it is, it is awesome. <a href="http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/all-clad-deluxe-slow-cooker-with-aluminum-insert/?pkey=cpressure-rice-slow-cookers&cm_src=hero" target="_blank">http://www.williams-sonoma.com...src=hero</a>
Originally Posted By Rebekah Thanks everyone. I'm loving all the tips and suggestions. hearing what everyone's done. I was a fan of rachael ray and she had simply slipped from my mind. Glad for the reminder. I do have a foodsaver and have begun using it more. I also have a crockpot. I will have to start using it more, too. As to the house cleanliness, my struggle is getting rid of the clutter. I'm working on it. We just have TOO much stuff and not enough room for everything and honestly just need to purge it. So I'm slowly working on that. It is not anywhere near "hoarder" levels but with the addition of the baby we lost space. So our apt which is also where we work is bursting at the seams. But I just keep slowly but surely get rid of what we don't use or love and moving on. So its just a learning game for me. I'm getting there. Its funny how little things can really screw up the pattern. I relied very heavily on a program called ListPro it would sync to do lists between my computer and my handheld. Then we switched to Droid phones (which I love) but ListPro is a windows program and doesn't work on droid. I didn't realize how much I leaned on that...but now a few months I can see how much I relied on it. I think I may have found a replacement ... but we'll see.
