Not Enough Time in the Day to Make Dinner

I was a working mother until a few weeks ago. A few things I did was something yo have already tried the slow cooker. I put a lot of different things in there, meetballs for spaghetti, then all yo have to do is boil spaghetti, I also did meetballs and brown gravy, then all you have to do is makie instant mashed potatoes. I would put a whole stuffed chicken in the crock pot, I stuffed it the night before and then put in in the fridge and plugged it in in the morning. Whole chicken breast and taco seasoning mix, it falls apart great for tacos or quesadillas. They sell a lot of soup mixes on the soup aisle, just add water and chicken or steak and cook all day. My children really like the chicken tortilla soup with scoops and shredded cheese. I have done chili in the crock pot and made hot dogs, my kids love chili dogs. When I get tired of the crock pot... I also pre make caseroles. I have done 10 or 15 on one day and put them in the freezer, lasagna, meet loaf, tuna caserole, seven layer dip, take it out of the freezer in the morning and put it in the oven as soon as you get home. Usually by the time they have washed there hands empty there lunch box, and you have the table set it is done. You can also try bagged salads or fruit, sit them at the table and let them have a healthy snack while you cook something special. Good Luck and good job trying to get your family to eat healthy on a schedule.

If you have a stock pot...You can start the week with the chicken quarters that are on sale right now at publix or $0.59/lbs!!
I roast or grill off 4-8 of them (depending on how many quick meals I need). So the meat lasts we only do 4oz of meat per person (I usually give my husband 6oz because he does manual labor). I make sure to use only 1/3 to 1/2 the meat the first night. The rest I refridgerate make sure to save all the fat and drippings that will be the stock.
Chicken rice/noodle (which ever you prefer) soup from scratch is real easy. Start the pot with water, bring to a boil; add rice/noodles; carrots, celery, onion, gr.beans (fresh or frozen work); add bullion if you don't want to use the gelatin stock in the fridge from the chicken; let it boil till the noodles/rice are tender, then add chicken (chopped or pulled apart into bits)
All in all it takes 30-45 min and the kids can munch on carrots/celery/chicken while they wait.
I'm in the same boat (3 kids 8,5,1 hubby working 1 car and I homeschool (that's my job))
I'll email you later with more ideas
Liz

Hello K.

I use a service that will make your meals for you all you have to do is pick it up. They have great meals and you can do all your ordering online. http://www.magicalmealtime.com They have stores in Orlando and Clermont. If you order over $300 they will delivery it to you. I have done this with a couple of neighbors and it has worked out great. I live in Davenport and travel there at least 2 a month to get this food. It is restaurant quality food without the mess in you kitchen or time consuming time to make it. All you do is stick it in the oven or grill and it is done. They have all the instruction on the food how to cook it, so anyone can do it. I love them and have been a customer of theirs for 2 years. Try them out!!!!!

Thank You,

K. W. Popchock

Use your slow cooker more!! I swear by mine!! You can make all kinds of stuff. Spag. sauce w/ frozen ravioli, roasts, chicken n dumplings..etc.. You can also cook part of the dinner and finish sides and stuff when you get home. Also pre cook the night before and heat and eat the next day. Hamburger Helper, tacos, chili, goulash are a few examples of foods that work great in that type of situation. Sloppy jos (a hit with the kids!!!), turkey rolls, stuffed cabbage (if you have extra time)...so many possibilities!! Good luck...and I also have a 6 qt. roaster I actually use more, because it's easier to regulate the temp.

Is it possible for the sitter to feed your kids a snack right before you pick them up? If that is not possible have snacks in the car so they are not starving when you get home at 5:30p. Raisins, healthy crackers, fruit, pudding cups, dried fruit, frozen gogurt. I hope your husband helps out a lot. You really need to communicate with him what you need. I did not understand who is getting the tutoring. your kids seem to young to be needing a tutor. Try and simplify your life as much as possible. Put off boyscouts another yr or car pool to activities. At this age your kids need you(stress free as possible) not running around. It's important to balance your life. I would rather you attend an activity for yourself that offers childcare. Wish the best for you.

Hey there,
I use a lot of recipes from Kraft. They have a great website and all of the recipes are real quick and most kid friendly. You can also request their free magazine. What I do is plan all of my 5 weekly meals on the weekend, write them on the fridge so everyone knows what is on the menu. Then I shop for only the items I need to make the 5 meals. THis really helps save money because you don't over spend on things you won't need. A lot of the recipes use similar ingredients too. THe also have a section of recipes you can make ahead of time and freeze. I do this on the weekend when I know I'm going to have a real crazy week ahead of me. Making a little more also helps cause my husband will take the leftovers for his lunch the next day, also saving us money. Hope this helps. Oh another great website to find good coupons is couponmom.com. YOu can print them from your computer. Good luck!
Viv

Other mom's have already made my suggestions; "Power Cooking" - taking a couple of hours once or twice a month on a Saturday to do all the prep work, this helps with the budgeting too. Also precut snacks, my kids 4.5 and 2.75 are crazy people if they don't get something right away, so I pack a big lunch everyday but it's not all for myself. Invest in a good lunch cooler and some icee packs.

I have either juice boxes or to save money a water bottle I refill with juice part water. You can even freeze it so that it thaws through the day then I take sippy cups with for the car ride. Then I have a small tupperware with grapes, apples, cheese, whatever, so they can snack for the 10-15 minute ride home. Since you are on a budget (probably like everyone these days) I save money by not buying pre-made or pre-cut snacks. I make my own peanut butter crackers instead of Ritz Bits (Publix has Ritz Crackers BOGO this week) or just using ziploc baggies instead of the prepackaged snack packs like Nabisco.

The prep work is a pain but it makes a huge difference. I have several recipes I'd be glad to share with you I can email to you.

Lastly, my oven has a timer to come on automatically. I premade a lasagna and freeze it, then I take it the morning of, put it in the oven, since it's frozen rock solid, it thaws throughout the day, then say about 4 or 4:30 my oven automatically kicks on and my lasagna (mostly still frozen) cooks until I walk in the door. It even has a start and stop time so the meal will only cook for the right amount of time (no burnt dinners) in case we are running late. Works for meat loaf too.

You could always come to my place to eat. My husband and I just opened up a little restaurant in Brandon. One of our sayings is, "Too Busy to Cook? Let Louie's Cafe Do the Cooking for You!" We do both Spanish and American food. You can get rice, beans, meat and a vegie for as little as $5.95 and we do grilled steak and chicken sandwiches, along with burgers, nuggets, grilled cheese... for the kids. You can call ahead if you'd like and we'll have your order ready for you when you come in. The number is ###-###-#### and the address is 1217 Kingsway Road, off of 60 heading toward Valrico, turn left on Kingsway and just up the road about a mile in the Sweet Bay Plaza. Hope to see you there. On the flipside, as a parent, if that isn't what you're looking for, before we opened up this restaurant and held down regular jobs, we would cook on the weekend for the entire week and put it away in the fridge and not touch it until the day it was made for. For instance, you can cook BBQ chicken for say Monday and meatloaf for Tuesday, etc. It does help a lot when it's already cooked and all you have to do is heat it up.

Hey K.- Easiest to do is cook extra large meals on your day off from work so you can basically reheat and redisguise for the next 3 to 4 days. Then by friday maybe make that pizza day. Instead of ordering a pie you can pizza dough at the grocery store for less than $2, use 2 ladles of sauce (1/2 cup approx) and have the kids add the cheese and other toppings. My big sunday meals are a roast or whole chicken with lots of veggies and stuffing, mashed potatoes, etc. Leftover meat can be made into quesadillas the next nights, salad and soups, sandwiches for work. Loaded baked potatoes too. Stock up on large bag of shredded cheese from a wholesale club and 10 lb bag of potatoes and meat in bulk. About $40 can cover a couple weeks. Tacos, pasta and salads help stretch the menu. The Food network has a lady that does this "weekly menu planning" and she has lots of great ideas using fish too. When you get home from work and prep dinner have the kids "help speed it up" by setting the table washing hands getting water cups etc to buy you time. Good luck you are balancing a lot and doing a great job.

I have a slow cooker recipe book with tons of recipes, another good idea is to take a Sat or Sun, have hubby take kids for a couple hours and put together a weeks worth of meals, freeze and then on the day of the meal put in fridge before you leave for work, and then thaey can be easily heated up as soon as you get home, kids can wait 1/2 hour - I'm sure they have chores, homework, a certain show that will keep their minds off eating for 1/2 hour :)
Also maybe check out a Microwave cookbook - at the library!

GOOD LUCK!!!!!!!!!!

google Mealtime Makeover, it's a service that once a week gives you a week's worth of menus and the grocery shopping list for everything you need to make them. They are all easy and quick to make, and super cheap, too. I think you can do a free trial membership, but I don't remember for sure. If not, it's still cheap, like $1.25 a week to subscribe.

There are quite a few dinner-making places. You can go assemble your own dishes, have it done for you, or even have it delivered depending on wehre you live. I have liked almost everything at Dinner Done in Carrollwood. www.dinnerdone.com
I tried Let's Eat once and didn't like the 2 dishes I made. But it is a nice location and the workers were nice & helpful. www.letseatdinner.com
There's also Weekday Gourmet but I don't know anything about them.

Not too much help with the meal idea...the other suggestions are great! Personally, if you are both working F/T you already have reduced time home with the kids as a family, therefore I feel strongly that quality family time far outweighs all the activities and running around, which tend to make life a hectic rat race rather than relaxing and enjoying quality family time together, sitting and eating calmly at the table with no schedules or places to be, reading stories, playing together, snuggling quietly.... Time goes by so fast with our little ones, enjoy the time personally with them as much as you can.

Best wishes for a happy family and a yummy, relaxed dinner!

Pampered Chef has a cookbook that is called "29 minutes to dinner" and it has alot of yummy recipes.
If you do not have a consultant you can contact me, I sell it.
We use this book a few times a week.
J.

You need to use your crock pot, you can make anything in those things. It is so nice to come home to a dinner ready to serve. You can get great recp. off of the internet. I am a member of cafemom.com and they have a great group for crockpot recp and give a diferent one for everyday of the week along with a shopping list posted friday night so you can get your list filled over the weekend and be ready to go Monday morning. If you don't want to make something they are cooking that week they have tons of different things listed you can choose from (if you want more info let me know) or you can grab cook books from the book store. Sandra Lee has a great one. I use my crock pot more than I use my oven. Good luck

You can get books that have tons of slow cooker meals in them. Also you can cook your meals up on Saturday and freeze them and just pull them out and heat them up. Quick and easy. Cut up veggies and have them on hand for snacking. Healthy and easy.

K.

Since you said you do have a crock pot there is alot you can cook in it. You can roast a chicken by placing it on foil balls. Make a roast with all the fixings, just brown all the sides of your roast before hand. Make spaghetti sauce. Chicken stroganoff, place 4 chicken breast in the bottom of the crockpot and place the following mixed together can of cream of chicken, 16oz of sour cream and 1pkg of liptons onion soup mix... serve over egg noodles.

I know it is hard. When My children was younger I did use a cuban restraunts service that made full meals Monday thru Friday and they even delivered to my work. It worked great I just heated if need be and served. The food was great. It was in South Tampa but I don't remember the name.

Good Luck, and hang in there.

I have heard some women doing this and want to do it myself as well: Taking a Saturday and cooking several meals and then freezing them. You can do this with Lazagna, or twice baked pizza, chicken with noodles and gravy, soup, mexican dishes like enchiladas, etc. Most dishes you can freeze and throw in the oven when you get home and about 1/2 later it is ready. Good luck.

I know someone else mentioned cafemom.com but I go on there as well and it is great. They have crock pot recipes for every day of the years. They also have other recipe sharing groups you can check out for new ideas. I am pretty new to it myself but so far it is great!

Good luck!
B.

There are so many wonderful dinner prep places that you can (if you don't have the time to get there & make it yourself) order pre-made meals & either pick them up or even have them delivered. Dinner Done is fantastic, but that's up on N. Dale Mabry, but there are others all over the place (there's something near Surf & Turf on Tampa Rd. that I've heard is pretty good). While that's cooking, give the kids some cheese, sliced apple, edamame, or salad. Your 7-yo s/b old enough to help himself to a healthy, light snack & help his sibs with a little something. And pour yourself a glass of wine. Good luck!

Hi K.,

Sounds like you have your hands full! I Have you thought about making one or two big meals at one time and then freezing them for later? Or have it twice during the week? I will make chicken parmesan or chicken with mushroom sauce, or chicken with BBQ sauce and bake it in the oven. I make enough for two meals during the week. I will make it with pasta or rice and make enough for two meals also. I buy the "Bird's Eye Steam Fresh" Vegetables which you can microwave in minutes. Do your kids like meatloaf, pasta, chili?

My kids like to have dinner right away after their sports too so lately I have been making dinner in the afternoon and then when we get home after sports I just reheat it. I know it's hard especially if you have picky eaters. Let me know if you want any recipes! Hang in there!

Michele O

There are some great recipes and money-saving tips at www.savingdinner.com You can prep the meals in a couple of hours on the weekend, freeze them and just do some quick cooking when you get home. There's a book by the same title you should be able to find at the local library as well. Good Luck.

You may want to invest in a slow cooker cookbook. There's alot you can do. I do pork chops, pot roast. My husband likes to do kielbasa and soups.

Hi K.,

Time is definetely a hard thing to come by these days! :)
The suggestions of making large meals on the weekends and freezing them is a great idea. I'd add to that you could also take a few minutes on a weekend or a your lunch hour to make a meal plan for the week and a grocery list, that way you save time in the grocery store (and money too, if you stick to the list).
You definetely don't want to make fast food a habit, but every couple of weeks stopping by Subway (or Chick Fil A, because they tend to be a bit more health conscious with their food, no trans fat oils) on the way home from work is not a bad thing. It will save a night to spend more time with the kids instead of preparing a meal.
Just some thoughts :)

I can well understand as not too long ago, I was in your shoes. Here is what I used to do, as the kids are hungry the second they walked inside the house: I gave them a fruit, a banana or an apple (7 year old might bite and start nibbling on an apple, but for 3 year old you have to cut it .. ). Many times, I will cut the melons in the night, and keep them in the cooler or fridge, so give them a box of fruit to eat. Carrots and a dip is also healthy for the 7 year old, and he can eat it without any assistance. That will give you 10 minutes to run to bathroom and get something going. Also, may be not to pick more than 2 activities during the week, so you are home alternate night, rather than running every night for an activity. I also kept Jello Snacks or yogurts, and gave them one to eat , they are better than cookies or cheetos. Crackers and Cheese is another option. I am vegetarian, but I think you must have some more options if you eat meat.

I hope it helps.

I agree with the crock pot being a lifesaver! There is so much you can make in it and all you have to do is just throw everything in. Just the other night I made BBQ pulled pork sandwiches. I put in pork in the crock pot of 4 hours with some water and BBQ sauce and when it was done I served in on rolls with pasta salad. A quick and easy $10 dinner! They also have the frozen meals already prepared you can just put in the crock pot.