If you and your DH work outside the home and get home late, what do you do for dinner? do you make things on the weekends? freeze meals? order takeout every night? I am kind of at a loss as to how dinner happens when both parents commute 
You might also enjoy...
-
We do crock pot meals or we make easy stuff like spaghetti, taco bowls, etc. Sometimes I'll also make a casserole Sunday night and we'll have leftovers one night during the week. We also get takeout one night during the work week (at least!).
-
I have had to learn to plan ahead. Easy meals, 30 minute meals, crockpot. I use a lot of tools - crock pot, rice cooker, wok, microwave. We will go out once a week or so because I just can't handle 5 days of come home, figure out dinner, set the table, sit down, etc.
-
I make a lot of food on Sundays and freeze portions in ziplock bags so I can just throw that portion in the oven/stove once I get home. Or we do lots of easy stuff like: mac n cheese, fish sticks, chicken nuggets, etc. Spaghetti is my LO's fav, so I just make a big batch of sauce once a week or so, freeze most of it in small containers, and then all I have to do is cook the pasta once I get home. Most of the meals I make during the work week take 30 minutes or less to cook.
-
Our commutes are short but we have a LO who expects to eat early and it's important for us to eat as a family. My tips:
I menu plan and grocery shop on Sundays, and then food prep that evening. I do any prep early that will allow me shorter cooking times for the week such as brown hamburger, shred chicken, ect. We use the crockpot at least 1-2 times a week so dinner is ready when we get home (egt one with a timer it's a lifesaver to not overcook). I also I make casseroles ahead of time and just bake when I get home, or we do quick meals like tacos/spaghetti/soup& sandwiches/ect. I can have meal on the table in less than 30 minutes most nights.
-
We do as much prep as possible the night before after LO has gone to bed (for ex. last night, we made a pasta salad that we will eat tonight for dinner), and we also often eat the same thing two nights in a row. Things like stews, curries, and pastas are good for eating multiple nights. We also like quick meals like tacos or sandwiches.
I admit, I used to be really picky about eating leftovers (especially meat) but now I prefer leftover nights b/c we don't have to cook!
-
We cook for the week on Sunday. That get's us through Wednesday night. Then on Thursday we either do takeout or a freezer meal. Friday night we either go out or just cook & eat late since we don't have to get up in the morning.
-
My husband grills on the weekends and we freeze/refrigerate for the week. Then all I need to do is reheat the meat and cook up the sides when I get home. I haven't completely mastered reheating the meat without getting it too dry. It works for us for now.
Or we do tacos or spaghetti which we can have done in about 30 minutes.
-
We just cook regular meals. We divide up the prep and he'll do the prep and cook while I bathe LO and then we eat after she's gone to bed.
We eat a lot of fish and big salads, which honestly take 15-20 minutes from prep to on the table.
-
@lawbee11: you know, i've had a crock pot for several years and have never used it other than for chili! any good recipes or websites with recipes to share? i think i'm going to have to get to know the crock pot!
@mediagirl: i've been thinking of starting a plan of going out to eat once a week - we don't eat out at all now, but that will change when i'm commuting!
@NovBaby1112: so you cook it on sunday, freeze and then just reheat? or prep the meal but don't cook it till later? i like the idea of freezing in ziplocs, so you can choose which day you want to eat what.
@LuLu Mom: these are good tips, thanks! we were good with menu planning for a few months pre-baby, but that has gone out the window these days. gotta get back into it! and i love making soup on the weekends, but never thought of making it work for dinner with a salad or sandwich or something.
@catlady: i love leftovers! dh is ok with them too, we just usually don't make enough. we have to get better at doing that (we're both the type that eat whatever we make rather than exercising portion control
)
-
We aren't to the point where we can do family meals at this point as DS isn't very patient and needs to eat pretty soon after we get home. Mainly, we feed DS and then make our own dinner after he goes to bed. I should meal plan more. That's a goal of mine.
-
@Pirouette: Mrs. Wagon has some great blog posts with recipes. The beef tips with gravy is one of our faves. They make steam n mash potatoes (found in the frozen veggies section). You steam the potatoes in the microwave then add milk and butter and mash. Sooo much easier than peeling, cutting, boiling, etc. We also use crock pot liners which makes for super easy cleanup.
http://www.hellobee.com/2013/06/24/slow-cooker-freezer-meals/
http://www.hellobee.com/2013/08/02/slow-cooker-freezer-meals-part-2/
-
@sarah.clarisse: how many meals gets you through wed? do you make 1 thing for like sun/tues and one for mon/wed? or do you cook that many meals on sundays?
@MamaG: oh yea, totally forgot we're finally going to have a grill! very excited about that for quick meals.
@yoursilverlining: I guess it depends what time we actually get home. I think i'll get home around 7, but I have no sense of what time DH will get home so i wasn't really counting on him helping. i just don't want to start prepping dinner at 8pm every night (depending what time LO goes to sleep)
-
@MUI831: oh LO eats dinner at 5pm so i don't feed her dinner these days. eventually we'll get there, but for the time being i'm just focused on me and DH! maybe this thread will give you the inspiration you need
@lawbee11: thanks! i've never heard of crock pot liners but that sounds genius!
-
We eat whatever my husband manages to cook, or we order takeout. I am completely removed from the dinner effort because I can't handle it.
-
DH never spends more than 20 min cooking on the days that no on gets home early so we don't eat anything fancy. We also stock a bunch of frozen foods from TJ for the days when there just isn't enough time and we don't want to eat out either.
-
It's kind of been a nightmare. L needs to eat pretty soon after I get home and I don't have the creativity to cook. lol.
DH and I just agreed that we are going to try The Fresh 20 and we are hoping it helps create easy meal planning AND hopefully will save us money too. We do our first week of meal starting this Sunday.
-
@Pirouette: I cook the meal, freeze it in 1-2 portion bags (only me and LO eat dinner together, DH works late) and then take it out of freezer night before and put in fridge so it is semi-thawed when we get home...then I just warm it up again.
-
@ElbieKay: haha i hear that. DH is a much better cook than i am, but at the moment he has a longer commute (this may change) so it's on me
@snowjewelz: we'll definitely be instituting at least once a week of "figure it out for yourself from the freezer/pantry" once all my breastmilk stops taking up the entire freezer lol
@.twist.: oh i imagine this will get really hard once LO stays up to eat when i get home! hope it works for you!
@NovBaby1112: ok, that's what i thought. that sounds very doable. thanks!
-
We do easy 30 minute meals + leftovers.
-
@Pirouette: normally we make two meals on Sunday that will provide two nights each (sun tues / mon wed ) then Thursday we pull frozen pasta sauce or enchiladas or something and microwave that.
What we make depends on how busy we are on Sunday. Sometimes we just roast a whole chicken and grill some pork chops or fish and make some potatoes and a ton of veggies... Then it's just mix and match buffet style for the week. -
Crockpot and leftovers and partially prepped meals. I get home at 530 some nights and we eat right away
-
I cook on Sunday, with adouble duty meal, like grilled steak on that night and steak salad on Monday. Wednedsay is a freezer meal, Friday is pizza night. Tues/Thursday we eat at my parents.
-
@sarah.clarisse: ok that makes sense! we do this usually with one meal (make a meal sunday and have it on tues) so i feel like it wouldn't be that hard to do 2 meals. or at least make the veggies ahead of time like you said and then just have to throw a piece of fish in the oven mon and then leftovers of that on wed. i like it!
-
I make a lot of quesadillas, mac and cheese with stuff thrown in, other pasta, pizzas.
I just got a pressure cooker and that makes it easy to cook. I just don't have a lot of time for clean up at the end of the day so I eat a lot of cereal after kids are in bed.
-
We do what @sarah.clarisse does! We cook meals on Sundays and then have a frozen meal (pizza, frozen spaghetti sauce w/pasta, soup, etc) on Thursday and pick up takeout on Friday.
-
We both WOH and we generally manage to get dinner on the table most nights. A typical meal for us is a protein (steak, chicken, pork, fish, etc), with steamed/microwaved veggies and a starch (potatoes, rice, or pasta).
We generally buy pre-marinated chicken and steak because it saves time. It's a little more expensive but it saves us from take out. Most meals take about 30 minutes to cook, so we eat between 6 and 6:30.
-
@matador84: if it was just me, that's what i'd do every night! DH is much more of the mind that we have to sit down and eat a full meal with a protein, veg, etc. every night. but the cleanup...ugh!
-
Dinner? whats that? I used to love cooking nice meals when i got home from work but now its frozen meals made on the weekend, leftovers, or takeout. Very rarely do I cook when I get home unless its something easy like tacos or salads.
-
@Pirouette: I only cook 2-3 night during the work week, but make bigger portions so we can eat the same dinner two nights in a row. And it's pretty much always easy stuff like pasta with meatballs, a veggie (like broccoli) and jarred sauce. Or a curry with bought curry sauce (from Trader Joe's) and a frozen veggie thrown in, that way all I have to do it cut the chicken and make the rice.
-
Oh, and our dinners are usually LOs lunch for daycare the next day. We eat a lot of repeats. Almost every week we have chicken meatballs in some form, chicken breasts in some type of curry, Italian turkey sausage used in some form, like homemade pizza or on top of polenta in sauce with zucchini. And salmon with a vegetable side. Every week!
-
@mrsog: this is totally how i've been feeling lately, and I haven't even started commuting yet!! as i sit here planning meals for our new life, we're totally ordering sushi tonight lol.
@Anagram: we've been trying to do that too (give LO for lunch what we have for dinner), except when we eat shellfish. i've been planning meals with her in mind which will only get easier as she gets older. also, turkey sausage on polenta with zucchini sounds delicious!
-
@Pirouette: one night last week I literally had a single pork chop at 9:00. After being away from him all day and then commuting I really only get like 1.5 - maybe 2 hours with him at night and spending time with him is more important to me than cooking dinner.
-
@mrsog: oh i hear you! as it is now my LO has been going to sleep really early lately and i've been getting maybe 45 minutes if i'm lucky. but i'm hoping we can shift her back again so i can see her, which also leaves less time for dinner, but hey, i can't have everything. this WOHM thing is hard for sure!
-
@Pirouette: and I use frozen zucchini and bought polenta rolls, too (the kind that you buy premade in a big roll, and just slice it and grill/put it on the griddle.
-
@Anagram: that's totally doable! I feel like that's a great one to just always have the ingredients on hand and make last minute too. I don't think I've ever seen a polenta roll! Will have to look at the grocery store haha.
-
We usually grill a meat, because it's quick, and serve with a salad. Even still, we usually don't eat until 9pm because our days are so long.
-
We both get home at 630/7 every day. We do a proper dinner (meat, sides) a couple of times a week, something easy (grilled cheese and soup) a couple of nights a week, frozen pizza, baked potatoes stuffed with taco meat or crab, tacos, taco salads the next night with leftovers, sandwiches, breakfast for dinner, pasta, casseroles.
We never ever get takeout.
-
I have been back at work just under 3 weeks and we have eaten a lot of sandwiches
-
@QueensBee: yea the eating at 9pm kills me!
@DillonLion: baked potato with crab?! That sounds delicious! Do you put other stuff in it? I love breakfast for dinner!
@kentuckygirl: aww. Nothing wrong with sandwiches!!
)
Subscribe to our newsletter
- Google Plus
- Stumbleupon
- Twitter
- Facebook
- Pinterest
- Favorite0
46 comments