How do you manage food with a crazy schedule?

[richierich2323]

My wife and I are both teachers (135 kids each) and we have three young kids. Each kid has at least one or two things each week that they need to get to whether it be the practice or game for the sport they are playing that season or an extracurricular activitiy for school.

How do yall manage to get good food on the table and not eat out all the time? We have found that most of our budget is going out of the window because we are too tired to cook when we get home and that has to change.

 

[LoveBWVVBR]

We changed 2 things...our expectations for dinner, and also our extracurricular schedules. My kids used to do every extracurricular under the sun because I wanted them to have exposure to anything they were interested in. Last year I decided the running around had to stop. Now I try to do zero extracurriculars during the school/work week unless they are at school (right before or after school). We have one exception to this once a week for one child. Otherwise, all extracurriculars are done on the weekend or else they just aren't done.

The other thing we changed was what we expected out of weeknight dinners. I used to cook more elaborate meals. Now I'm good with making grilled cheese, soup and salad, breakfast for dinner and anything else I can get on the table in under 10 minutes. I just buy a bunch of stuff that lends itself to that every week and go with whatever sounds good each night. Save the elaborate meals for the weekends.

And wow on the 135 students each...I cannot even imagine.

 

[havaneselover]

I work full time and get home around 6. DD needs to be at swimming before 6:30 and it takes 15-20 minutes to get there. This is about four nights a week.

Today I made and froze some twice baked potatoes and cooked some chicken. A few nights this week the kids can have chicken sandwiches and potatoes.

Sometimes I will make taco meat the night before and reheat it for the kids.

DD sometimes makes herself pasta (Buitoni cheese tortelini).

I generally cook a Trader Joe's turkey burger for myself.

Unfortunately, there's a lot of microwaving going on. It's not ideal, but if she wants to swim, this is how we live.

 

[pjlla]

One word for you................CROCKPOT! Get one, use one.... make it your best friend!

It can be as easy as plopping a pork loin in in the morning and then at the end of the day shredding it and topping it with BBQ sauce..... voila.... PULLED PORK sandwich night! Serve with a bagged salad or steamed broccoli.

Boneless chicken (breast or thighs), a large jar of salsa, can or bag of frozen corn and a drained/rinsed can of black beans...... dump it all in..... when you get home, stir it vigorously to shred up the chicken.... drop in a half a brick of cream cheese, let it melt a bit and then stir it in. Serve it over brown rice as a stew, in tortillas as a burrito-style filling, or even over pasta.

Meatloaf can be made in the crockpot (you could do all of the prep work on a weekend)...... frozen meatballs cooked in sauce.... not exactly gourmet, but healthier and cheaper than eating out. Serve over pasta or in rolls as meatball subs. I cook whole chickens in the crockpot. Here is a link to that recipe ............

WISH Away the Pounds--Healthy Recipe Thread (new title)

Link to my semi-crockpot hamburger soup recipe......

WISH Away the Pounds--Healthy Recipe Thread (new title)

Anyhow............... here is a link to the Crockpot recipe thread that was on here for a long time! TONS of great ideas on it! Best of luck................P

http://www.disboards.com/threads/crockpot-and-easy-meals-index-post-372.2367027/

BTW.... been there, done that. DD's last year of swim her team location changed and we drove an hour each way to practice, sometimes twice a day. Add to that DS's robotics schedule and my work schedule and things were nutty..... but you CAN eat healthy at home without spending your ENTIRE weekend cooking! It just takes forethought and planning.

 

[My2CrazyGirls]

Boneless chicken (breast or thighs), a large jar of salsa, can or bag of frozen corn and a drained/rinsed can of black beans...... dump it all in..... when you get home, stir it vigorously to shred up the chicken.... drop in a half a brick of cream cheese, let it melt a bit and then stir it in. Serve it over brown rice as a stew, in tortillas as a burrito-style filling, or even over pasta.

How do you let boneless skinless chicken breasts cook in the crock on low all day? Mine get done in a few hours and then then will dry out. Pork is always fine, but not boneless skin skinless breasts

 

[tvguy]

I remember those days.
Dinner at home was always simple, some sort of beef,pork, chicken or fish that could be cooked in about 10 minutes, usually covered in a can of Cream of Mushroom/French Onion etc soup.
Instant mashed potatoes, or minute rice, or barley, or pasta of some kind.
Frozen or canned veggie that could be heated up in 3 minutes in the microwave.

Also bought a lot of the Schwans meal kits, most you throw in a pan or microwave and dinner is ready in 10 or 15 minutes.

And yes, fast food once in a while.

I thought Little League season was roughest with games going until about 830 pm depending on sunset time. I guess it is worse for parents whose kids play in Little Leagues that have lighted fields because those games go until a 10 pm curfew.
Then my son hit High School baseball, first away game he didn't get home until 10:30pm to eat, shower and do his 2 hours of homework, and then back up at 6 am the next morning. I had to be at work at 11 pm and there were a few times DW and I took 2 cars so I could go directly to work from the game.....and pickup my own McDonalds on the way for dinner. Nothing like a Big Mac, and fries at your desk at 11 pm as you start your work day.

 

[bigbabyblues]

We look at our schedule for the week (we both work full time, but DH works 24-hour shifts in addition to overtime). We havetwo kids, one plays varsity soccer for his school with practice 4 nights a week and games. How difficult our week is meal wise changes based on DH's schedule and how many soccer games DS has. We plan a menu that works for the particular week, prep as much as we can ahead of time or the night before, and use the crockpot. Did I mention we use the crockpot a lot? We also use frozen veggies, and we make a big salad at the beginning of the week that we eat on all week.

Last week, we had meatloaf on Monday. Hubby made it in the crockpot when he was home, but could easily be assembled at night and put in crockpot in the morning and cooked through the day. On Tuesday, DS had a soccer game at 5. I browned the beef on Monday evening and put in the fridge. On Tuesday, hubby was teaching out of town. I got home at 4:15, put the meat, jarred sauce, tomato sauce and seasonings in the crockpot and cooked it while we were at the game. When we got home from the game, it only took a few minutes to boil the angel hair and heat up garlic bread. Add some salad that is already made up, and it was a quick dinner. On Wednesday, hubby was still gone, but I didn't have any plans after work. I made some garlic buttery chicken breasts that I found a recipe for on Pinterest. Wednesday evening, I put together the makings of chicken and noodles, minus the noodles. Put that in the crock part of the crockpot in the fridge. On Thursday morning, I put the crockpot on low. I came home at 4:15, and left again about 5:15 to get DS from practice. Before I left to get him, I put the noodles on the crockpot and dinnere was ready when we got back home. Hubby was working 24 hours on Friday, and the rest of us had leftovers/fend for yourself.

This week, we are doing a whole chicken in the crockpot tomorrow, and DH will be home before the rest of us to get the rest of it ready. Tuesday, we are doing bbq pork chops that I will start before DS gets home from practice. Wednesday, hubby works 24 hours and I will make a casserole or white chili with the leftover chicken. Thursday, DS has a game, and we are doing chili in the crockpot (put together the night before). Friday, we are planning steaks on the grill and baked potatoes.

Breakfast for dinner is always easy and quick. We keep ham that is cut into tiny chunks (buy it that way) to add to scrambled eggs and put on english muffins. We always freeze leftover (well, uneaten when hubby makes a huge batch on the weekends) pancakes and waffles to heat up in a hurry.

We don't do fast food unless we are traveling. We don't have any decent restaurants out here in the sticks, and even if we did, we can't afford to eat out.

 

[bigbabyblues]

How do you let boneless skinless chicken breasts cook in the crock on low all day? Mine get done in a few hours and then then will dry out. Pork is always fine, but not boneless skin skinless breasts

I've never had any trouble with them drying out on low, but I usually put them in frozen. They usually fall apart when I pick them up with a fork, though.

This brought to mind something my kids really like. 4-6 chicken breasts in the crockpot with a half bottle to whole bottle of Texas Pete (or whatever wing sauce you like) and a packet of Hidden Valley ranch mix. Shred the chicken when done and serve on buns.

 

[Vernie822]

We don't have kids but I have to study in addition to work, so many nights I'm home for an hour to eat dinner then I'm back out to study.

The crockpot is our friend. Chicken breasts with a jar of salsa and taco seasoning on low 6-8 hours - shred and put on top of rice or noodles, or on tortillas. Makes a lot and you can use leftovers for quesadillas or a taco salad the next day.

Meatloaf Muffins: I grab a pound of ground turkey, add a jar of tomato sauce, 3/4 of a box of stuffing, an egg, and a dash of worcestershire sauce. Mix together, spoon it into a muffin tin and pop it in the oven at 350 for 30-40 minutes. I make these by the batch and then just freeze them - they lay nicely in a gallon freezer bag! I buy the microwaveable bags of rice (I know, more expensive, but so much easier) and toss rice + a bag of frozen veggies in the microwave! Easy and delicious, they freeze so nicely.

I also like to make big batches of soup in the fall/winter. Chili, chicken noodle, wedding soup, tomato bisque, etc. We load our freezer up and you can just grab a container of soup, thaw it out, add a salad or a sandwich, and that's it!

 

[PracticallyPerfect2015]

Freezer Meals! Search YouTube for some great ideas and recipes. Like stated above, get yourself a CrockPot...you'll be happy you did! A lot of the freezer meals I have found go directly from the freezer to the CrockPot without thawing. I think that's an important detail---it's easier to put it in straight from the freezer, rather than having to thaw it first. Also, meal planning is something that we have found helpful; it's also helped us to streamline our shopping trips.

 

[LinderInWonderland]

How do you let boneless skinless chicken breasts cook in the crock on low all day? Mine get done in a few hours and then then will dry out. Pork is always fine, but not boneless skin skinless breasts

For just this reason, I switched to boneless, skinless chicken thighs. There is a negligible different in fat/calories but they hold up better. Though we don't have kids, my husband and I work very different schedules and don't get a lot of time together. To that end, Sundays become a massive prep day for me. I make my breakfasts and lunches for the week (DH eats literally the same thing every day for breakfast and gets lunch at work) and at least one batch meal that can be portioned out and frozen. He is off Weds and Thurs and I am off Friday-Sun, so he cooks dinner on his days off and I cook fresh Friday and Saturday night.

Some of my batch meals:

Overnight yeast waffles - I make the whole recipe one day, we eat a whole waffle each and I freeze the rest for toaster waffles.
Ricotta muffins - ricotta, egg, almond meal and whatever flavorings (savory or sweet) I feel like. Each batch makes a dozen muffins, which lasts me 2 weeks.
Marinara chicken & vegetables (slow cooker)
Porchetta - pork shoulder, beer, onions, carrots, fennel, garlic
Twice baked potatoes - Once a month I bake a dozen potatoes, split them, scoop them out and make several flavor fillings (onion & pea, chive & sour cream, chili & cheese, spinach & cheese, etc.), stuff the skins and freeze them.

 

[Narnia_girl]

On Sunday afternoon, grill or broil a large batch of boneless, skinless chicken breasts. These can be used during the week for so many meals from casseroles to soups.
Also try to cook once, eat twice. We had tacos one night and made extra seasoned beef. Two nights later it became taco soup.

If you have a Sam's or Costco membership it helps to buy these large packages of meat (chicken breasts are $1.77 here)

 

[Sadie22]

A big freezer. A big pantry. Buy in bulk on sale. Cook and freeze in batches on a day off. The kids can help. Chili, lasagna, meat loaf, taco filling, beef stew, chicken stew, bean dishes, soups, spaghetti sauce, etc. We cook once and eat five to eight times. We make twice-baked potatoes for the freezer. Bread and cookies can be made ahead and frozen as well. We always have chicken, turkey, and fish in the freezer as well as frozen veggies. We buy fresh veggies and fruits in season. There are many web sites which talk about Once-a-Month-Cooking and batch cooking as well as how to freeze produce.

 

[Eureka]

I do a lot of cooking on the weekends, including grilling twice as much meat so we can eat it through the week. I work from home several days week and sometimes I cook dinner during my lunchtime too. We have also changed our idea of what dinner has to be. Some nights is soup and sandwiches because they are quick and not too heavy before sports practices. I made a frittata this week and everyone loved it, so will be putting that into the regular rotation.

That said, some days Dh and I are both at our offices and he'll stop for a bucket of KFC on the way home bc there's not time to cook before getting them where they need to go. But that's only a couples time a month, really. We also keep Tyson chicken and frozen pizza on hand. It's not healthy, but it's cheaper than eating out.

 

[Marionnette]

My wife and I are both teachers (135 kids each) and we have three young kids. Each kid has at least one or two things each week that they need to get to whether it be the practice or game for the sport they are playing that season or an extracurricular activitiy for school.

How do yall manage to get good food on the table and not eat out all the time? We have found that most of our budget is going out of the window because we are too tired to cook when we get home and that has to change.

Everyone can offer meal suggestions but it really comes down to making eating in a priority. That means being organized, staying disciplined and telling the kids 'no' every once in a while (they'll survive, trust me).

If you're eating out because you don't even think about dinner until you've arrived home tired and hungry, then you need to find a way to have dinner waiting for you when you walk in the door.

If you're eating out because Chinese take-out (or whatever) is more appealing than what you have in the fridge, then you have to be the adult in the room and tell the family that "we can't afford" to go out for dinner (nor can we afford to order in).

If the thought of cooking an entire meal is intimidating, then start small and don't be ashamed to resort to convenience foods until your skills improve. It will still be kinder to your budget than eating out.

And finally, if life is so hectic that every night is just plain crazy, you might want to have the kids scale back their activities in order to maintain your own sanity. No one is making you maintain a crazy schedule. You have chosen to have one.

 

[AmyAnne]

If the thought of cooking an entire meal is intimidating, then start small and don't be ashamed to resort to convenience foods until your skills improve. It will still be kinder to your budget than eating out.

This was the key for me. For some reason I have had a hard time mastering freezer meals -- I just am not that organized. But I can make hamburgers and French fries at home almost as quickly as we can go out to get them. I am trying to cut back on pasta, so we are eating more omelets for dinner. Even sandwiches with cold cuts, or a frozen pizza, is better for your budget and probably not all that more unhealthy than what you would be eating if you went out.

 

[powellrj]

Check out pintrest for freezer meals you can reheat in your croc-pot. There are pages and pages of them. I found it easiest to have about 10 or 12 meals that I fixed during the month. I always had what I needed to fix these meals on hand.

 

[MomToOne]

I second the idea of dropping mid-week activities - when I gave up running DD around everywhere during the week, our lives became much more relaxed and manageable. I am a single Mom, so once I figured out that it was OK if I didn't have DD signed up for every activity under the sun and let go of that guilt, I became much happier. And so did DD ironically - she really needed some down time too it turned out. Weeknights for us became about homework, and that's it for the most part.

I cook just about every night now. I get home between 5:30 and 6pm most nights, and usually can have dinner on the table within about 30 minutes of coming in the door. I don't like crockpot meals, so I just cook regular meals. Over time, I've just developed a list of meals that can be cooked in 30 minutes or less. They are things like like quesadillas, tacos, chicken salads, hamburgers, pizza, baked fish, jambalaya (using a mix as a base, I just jazz it up some), etc. I have about a 4 week rotation. Meal planning is key to making this work, I know what I am cooking for dinner on any given night - there is no "what do we feel like tonight?" going on. While that may seem hard at first, you really do get used to it. And it takes so much pressure off. One thing that I will do to facilitate getting some meals together faster is to pre-cook on weekends or the night before sometimes - for example, for chicken pasta salad, I will marinate and bake some chicken breasts or thighs the weekend before, and cook the pasta and the veggies that need cooking the night before. Dinner tomorrow night is along the same lines - chicken taco salad. I bought some chicken thighs this weekend - I just pulled the skin off, sprinkled them with packaged chicken taco seasoning, and baked them (on the bone) for about 30 minutes. Once they cool, I'll pull the meat off and chop it up then tomorrow add it to lettuce-in-a-bag, grape tomatoes, whatever other veggies are handy, semi-crushed corn chips and Southwest dressing. If I'm in the mood, I'll make some corn bread tomorrow to eat with it, but if I'm not, the salad is more than fine on its own.

Oh - and one more thing - only one meal gets cooked per night. No fussing from DD allowed - she eats what I cook. I rarely cook things she out and out hates, but if I kept to just meals that she "likes", we'd be eating the same 3 or 4 things over and over and over.

 

[HeatherC]

Another thing that helps is to cook two of things. If you make a lasagna...make two and freeze one for another night. Things like ground beef can be cooled ahead and frozen to be used later in things like tacos, spaghetti sauce, soups, etc.

Also cooking a big meal on Sunday can be morphed into quick meals all week. Cook a big roast chicken for example.
First night serve it with mashed potatoes (make extra to freeze) and a veggie. Next night use some for chicken quesadillas or over a salad, next night chicken salad sandwiches.

Saves time worrying about what to have and dinner can be on the table in under ten minutes.

 

[Southernmiss]

We've got 4 kids 2 in college. Suddenly this year with 2 at home, their schedules are more hectic than when all 4 were home!

Dh needs to eat lower salt. My crock pot cooks too fast and hot. So all day in the crockpot is out.

What has worked this school year is to shop for fruit, vegetables and staples on Saturday. Sketch out the week's evening activities and then on Sunday make the number of meals we'll be too busy to cook during the week.

Last night I made potato soup. There's some leftover. Today in between soccer games, I cooked beef tips--started on the stove and finished in the crock pot. I cooked a pork roast--started in the oven before one soccer game and finished this evening. Made noodles for the beef tips and dh cut up a cantaloupe and a watermelon for snacks. Picked up a bagged salad on Saturday for a vegetables.

I've still got chicken and hamburger patties thawed in the refrigerator for later in the week to quickly cook in a pan on a night when we have a minute to cook them.

Getting organized is key.