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folklaur
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| Posted: Sept 17 2008 at 2:59pm | IP Logged
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With DH's new schedule/job, apart from trying to get used to the hours with homeschooling, meals are being a real trip.
What would you do?
DH gets fed at the casino while he is there, he doesn't have to pay for meals. I had had the idea to have our "big meal" at lunch before he went to work each day, but with the time we all get up/going, and the activities we have in the morning, it hasn't worked out that way - plus - he gets a break shortly after he gets there when everyone goes and eats before the shows, and then again between shows. So he doesn't come home hungry either.
So - with Sarah gone too - I have two children home with me - one with sensory issues who has a limited menu to start with, one that eats like a teeny bird (she will try anything you give her, but she only eats very small amounts) and then me, who has a super flaky stomach.
I am not finding a lot of motivation to make very much in the way of good, wholesome meals. It is no fun to dirty up a bunch of dishes, when DS will likely not eat it, and DD will eat 4 bites. I am looking at fall menus, and there are so many things I want to make - but I really am only cooking two "big" meals each week, on DH's days off.
I feel like a horrible Mom. But they are just as happy (No, they are HAPPIER) with "standard kid food" - mac-n-cheese, chicken nuggets, etc. I feel like I am going to turn into a TV-Dinner-Mom. Things that I will cook that I know they like I usually can't eat if it has ANY dairy in it (and so many kid-friendly meals have cheese.) It seems so ridiculous, and I don't know what to do.
What would you do?
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: Sept 17 2008 at 3:14pm | IP Logged
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make really big meals on the day you do that so you can just heat up leftovers for at least some of the other days 
Honestly, I'm the same way.. it's hard to make nice meals just for yourself and no appreciative "audience".
but also, I've found that after a while I'll get tired of the easy "kid meals" and make something else just because.. perhaps find easy meals that would work for you better that your kids still like?
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
-Sir Walter Scott
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Leonie
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| Posted: Sept 17 2008 at 7:30pm | IP Logged
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We eat mostly simple snacky meals - bacon and eggs with toast and fruit, for example. I don't have a lot of time to cook, we have many different tastes, food is just not that intersting for me! I save bigger dinners for weekends or visitors or celebrating a liturgical feast.
Simple can be both easy and healthy.
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Leonie in Sydney
Living Without School
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folklaur
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| Posted: Sept 17 2008 at 7:48pm | IP Logged
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Bacon & Eggs
Toast & Fruit
that's good....I need more ideas....tell me more, Leonie!!!
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guitarnan
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My husband is currently in a 10-week Navy class, far away.
I am focusing on making sure dinners are healthy. Lunches are kid-friendly but still decent - this is when we eat grilled cheese sandwiches, quesadillas, soup, etc. Dinner is either meat/veg/side or healthy pasta/veg (meat could be in sauce).
Last week I made a big pasta + broccoli rabe dinner and ate it for lunch for the next couple of days (by day 2, dd was helping). I also made a huge batch of "smooth" tomato sauce for pasta (my kids hate chunks), which I used one night with cooked ground turkey added in, and another day for lunch. (Kids like this sauce diluted with heavy cream...it's pink sauce then...)
My plan is to cook dinners with intentional leftovers, which I will use on future weeknights or for lunches, as I did last week. Tonight I did chicken/potatoes/veggies in my crockpot, and I have some chicken left over that I can shred to use in soft tacos or pasta sauce. I plan to try a similar tactic with a port roast later this week.
I'm still working out the kinks, but you can see where this goes - kid friendly is OK, as long as it's decently healthy (as in more than two food groups), but I am also trying to make my own life easier by pre-cooking some ingredients for future meals.
I've made my own tomato pasta sauce for (!) 20+ years, so that's a staple around here. I make a big batch, then use it for lasagne, cacciatore, lunches, whatever. I want to get equally creative with bulk-cooked chicken and pork (we don't eat beef), so that I don't have to stress weeknight dinners while dh is gone.
If I were adding in picky eaters (my kids were like that for a LONG time), I'd select five menus they'd eat, that I felt were healthy, and cook them M-F. Oven-baked breaded chicken, brunch food, mac and cheese with a veggie or fruit side...you get the idea. I'd bulk cook a couple of things to use all week, like tomato pasta sauce and lentil soup (I have a great recipe!), and eat my own lunches from my bulk cooking plus leftovers. I'd focus my creativity on weekends when my husband was home and rested. We'd do all "special" (read "grilled, which Mom doesn't do!") cooking on weekends.
This approach works for us. Feel free to PM, tweak, reject, adjust...
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Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
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lilac hill
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| Posted: Sept 17 2008 at 8:33pm | IP Logged
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foodallergy.org has recipes that might spark some interest and fit your particular needs.
As the only vegetarian, at least until I started growing our own meat , and now the only one with celiacs I have an assortment of dishes for meals so I can pick and choose.
Todays's asparagus becomes tomorrow's asparagus salad with a bit of vinegrette and a few nuts it is a meal for me and the asparagus also goes in dh's omlette before he heads out for a night shift.
Potatoes can be mashed, fried with eggs, twice baked with leftovers, etc.
Most of our vegetables are served raw so with dip, everyon can benefit. Celery is a hit with PB or cheese for those not eating dairy.
Perhaps a roasted chicken could yield some pieces for dipping in sauce for the children, a tasty leg and some chicken salad with apple and walnuts (when the children have their mac n' cheese) for you and the carcas could be a base for soup (if you puree the veggies no one will know how much extra nutrition there is) with rice or ABC noodles.
On another note, my dh has had odd schedules for most of our dds' lives. Even though we did not have main meals together because of his or their schedules--tea, dessert, fruit and cheese or nuts or smoothies have made the rounds when he eats his meal, at least on or before night shift. When they were little Cherrios or apple slices did the trick.And sometimes it was just the grown ups, needing a bit of conversation with a video in the background.
Although it was a "hassle" many nights--the extra mess and clean up of children and kitchen, it has been well worth it. The now 21, 18 and 14 yo gather to share time with their Dad before he leaves us and now when in college, his drive to work is spent checking in on the phone with our DD#1 and DD#2 . Since we have only the 14Yod home now we also have a bit of afternoon tea and sometimes eat "breakfast" at 8PM. Usually by them we are not too hungry so AM breakfast is bigger.
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Viv
Wife to Rick (7/83), Mom to dd#1(6/87), dd#2(1/90), and dd#3(6/94) in central PA.
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Leonie
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| Posted: Sept 17 2008 at 8:50pm | IP Logged
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guitarnan wrote:
| If I were adding in picky eaters (my kids were like that for a LONG time), I'd select five menus they'd eat, that I felt were healthy, and cook them M-F. Oven-baked breaded chicken, brunch food, mac and cheese with a veggie or fruit side...you get the idea. I'd bulk cook a couple of things to use all week, like tomato pasta sauce and lentil soup ( |
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GREAT idea!
What simple meals have we had this week?
Jacket potatoes with toppings and salad.
Shop bought quiches with cheese, crackers, fruit and salad.
Pasta with (bottled) tomato sauce and chopped veges.
Canned baked beans with bread and salad/fruit
Tuna mornay and pasta
Make your own pizzas on pita bread.
Scalloped potatoes
Make your own wraps with veges, cheese, egg, meat
Omelettes
Toasted sandwiches
Just some quick ideas...
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Leonie in Sydney
Living Without School
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RamFam
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Am I the only one whose imagination is running wild? What does your husband do?
Back to the topic at hand. I have the same dilemma. We usually do a big breakfast to replace family dinner. I also do big meals that dh and I wind up eating forever, like a pan of lasanga or something.
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Leah
RamFaminNOVA
Tom ^i^, Kyle (my Marine), Adeline '00, Wyatt '05, Isaac '07 Philip '08,Michael '10, and John Xavier Feb '13
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folklaur
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RamFam wrote:
Am I the only one whose imagination is running wild? What does your husband do?
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He's a Projectionist / Technician for Cirque du Soliel.
Here's his show:
KA
He makes it look pretty 
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JodieLyn
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with the mac and cheese.. most of my kids will eat broccoli with it (broccoli is so good with cheese).. and that makes it a much better meal. But it's also easy to add a third something to it.. meatballs is nice.. if you do the meatballs in a simple sauce and some plain pasta (cook extra macaroni and pull some out of the pot before making it mac and cheese) then you'd have meatballs with sauce over pasta and broccoli for you and meatballs and mac and cheese and broccoli for the kids.
I make ahead meatballs.. mix them up and shape and then freeze them on cookie sheets and transfer to a freezer bag once frozen.. that way I can cook however many I want and make them flavored however I want with sauce.
So this is really a simple meal.. it'a frequently what we eat on Monday nights when we need to be out of the house in the evening for CCD.
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
-Sir Walter Scott
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folklaur
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JodieLyn wrote:
| mix them up and shape and then freeze them on cookie sheets and transfer to a freezer bag once frozen.. |
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Do you cook them before you freeze them?
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: Sept 17 2008 at 10:06pm | IP Logged
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no.. I think they absorb flavor better if they can be cooked in the sauce.. so I just freeze them raw and cook from frozen when I want to use them.
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
-Sir Walter Scott
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folklaur
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Can you put them into the sauce frozen and cook them like that, or would you have to brown them first?
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JodieLyn
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I usually brown them first.. but I make soup with them straight from the freezer (albondigas - mexican meatball soup)
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
-Sir Walter Scott
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Vanna
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We eat a lot of wraps. I take a whole wheat tortilla and put different things in it...such as; chedder cheese, cheese and deli turkey, cheese and deli ham, cheese and scrambled eggs, cheese and browned hamburger, etc, etc...um, can you tell we like cheese? LOL Since you can't eat the cheese, you could make the wrap with turkey and fresh spinach or whatever crunch veggie you like. My kids like romaine lettuce with melted cheese and ham the best.
I used just throw a few on these on a plate, pop them into the microwave for a few seconds and breakfast, lunch or supper is served. I let the kids dip them in salsa or ranch dressing...whatever they want. Throw some fruit salad on the side and you have quick, nutrious meal.
I am the queen of lazy meals. LOL
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Wife to K  Mommy to B (ds18) and G (ds8)
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Topic: Meals - what would you do?
