working moms - dinner for the kiddos

how do you do it? by the time i get home with DS, its 6pm! he eats, has a bath and is in bed by 7! how do you prepare dinner for DS? do you cook a meal for the entire family and eat together? how is there time lol???

i have found myself making enough so that there is leftovers from our dinner to give to DS for the next night for dinner. now im making a batch of turkey/beef meatballs to freeze and defrost as needed for when im in a pinch...

how the heck do you feed your kids? im finding myself making large portions of foods to freeze and use as needed for DS?

Re: working moms - dinner for the kiddos

i get home earlier than you, but i wind up making a ton of food on the weekends and then heating up. DS loves pasta and ziti, so that's a staple, and sometimes we'll have breakfast for dinner (frozen pancakes or waffles and eggs), pizza bagels, etc.

Re: working moms - dinner for the kiddos

this is why my kids sleep at 9pm!!

Re: working moms - dinner for the kiddos

I hear ya! It's tough but you may want to push bedtime to 8pm so you have more time with DC and there' time to digest before they sleep.

What I do is cooking a batch or 2 of food on the weekend and take out at least once a week. The other times I just get a rotisserie chicken so that's 2 meals with leftovers... Having an extra freezer also helps to keep leftovers handy so you're not eating the same stuff 2x or more per week!

Re: working moms - dinner for the kiddos

We get home around 6 but DD doesn't go to bed until 8/8:30. I usually make quick, easy to prepare meals that go in the oven so I can spend time with DD while they cook (baked chicken legs, chicken parm, homemade pizza, pasta & turkey meatballs, frozen perogies, easy sides like rice, frozen veggies, salad). We all eat together around 7.

On the weekends I make meals that take a bit longer and make a lot so we have leftovers and we get takeout 1 or 2 times a week.

Re: working moms - dinner for the kiddos

Message edited 5/23/2011 9:51:21 PM.

Re: working moms - dinner for the kiddos

I try to cook a bunch of things for DD on Sunday or Monday night and have it for the week (DD is only 11 months old so it may be easier right now)
Tonight I made mixed veggies, pastina, chicken, sweet potato, pancakes and a scrambled egg. I put them in all small microwave safe tupperwears and heat them up as needed. When DD gets older and can eat more I will probably just make larger portions and give them to DD the next evening.

Re: working moms - dinner for the kiddos

When I was working, I would pick up the kids and get home around 6:30. I would cook and we would eat around 7 - 7:15. Then bath time and bed by 8-8:30ish. We eat together and we eat the same thing.

Re: working moms - dinner for the kiddos

I am sahm right now and dd eats way before we do. She eats at 5:30. I make big batches of pasta and veggies, and cook an extra piece of chicken or meat balls or whatever. She had leftover tacos the other day from what I had the night before. I just reheat and serve to her. I cook on the weekends

Re: working moms - dinner for the kiddos

I get home at 5, and play w/ the boys until 6. For dinner, the boys usually have raviolis, spinach pancakes, meatballs, pizza, something quick. They eat around 6:30, and go to bed at 7. DH usually cooks dinner for me and him while I am feeding the boys.

We don't do baths during the week. There just isn't time.

We tried eating w/ the kids, but it just doesn't work yet....it's just too tough.

Re: working moms - dinner for the kiddos

John gets left overs or pasta that I make on Sunday and freeze for him for the week. He wants to eat when we get home so the timing doesn't work.

there is always Mac and cheese.. (the organic kind of course) hahaahha

Re: working moms - dinner for the kiddos

If I am really in a pinch I will have DH BBQ. That is the only cooking he can do, and it leaves me time to do what I have to do with DS. Also, DS will eat pasta so that is quick too.

Re: working moms - dinner for the kiddos

Most often, DH will cook. Otherwise, I get home around 5:30 and have dinner ready by 6pm and we eat as a family. Alex usually helps me make dinner, so it's interactive.

Re: working moms - dinner for the kiddos

I get home at like 5:35 but DH usually doesnt get home until 6pm. I start dinner then but i normally make quick things or try to prepare as much as I can before DH gets home(IF DS lets me) We always eat together, so I try to have dinner ready by 630. DS is in the bath at 745 and goes to bed around 815.

Re: working moms - dinner for the kiddos

i wish we could push his bedtime back a bit but he is wiped and 100% ready for bed by 7-720ish

maybe he will stay up a bit longer once he is older and there will be more time

Re: working moms - dinner for the kiddos

I usually get home from work around 600pm. I cook a ton of 30 minute meals of less during the week. Ds don’t go to bed till 830ish. So I throw the stuff in the over and we play until dinner done, then we usually eat dinner all together at 645-7ish. I also try to prep dinner at night after Travis goes to bed. Like tonight we are making turkey tacos and I already cut up the tomatoes, lettuce, etc. If you need any 30 minute meals, let me know I’ll fm you them.

Re: working moms - dinner for the kiddos

If DH doesn’t work at night, he starts dinner. His schedule has changed with his 1st job so he gets home by 4:15 now and that definitely helps us. He has dinner practically on the table by the time I get home. When I’m alone, I get home by 6:15. I grab whatever is left over and feed DS that. Friday nights its either pizza night or chicken nuggets with sweet potato fries. I don’t buy fresh veggies anymore unless it’s a super good deal. I just buy frozen. It’s easier to heat up and I put those on DS plate to eat first while I finish up the carb and protein. By the time I get home with him he is a starving piggy. And throws a fit if you don’t have food on his plate when he sits at his chair!! I bake as much as I can. Hamburgers, salmon burgers, cutlets, anything I can throw in the oven helps. That gives me time to clean up the kitchen and prepare for the next day.

I’ve tried prepping a few meals on the weekend for the week. I’m too tired with being preggo to be on my feet standing for long. So this doesn’t work for me right now. Somehow we manage to get a balanced meal every night and for lunch.

Re: working moms - dinner for the kiddos

Posted by maymama

i wish we could push his bedtime back a bit but he is wiped and 100% ready for bed by 7-720ish

maybe he will stay up a bit longer once he is older and there will be more time

Re: working moms - dinner for the kiddos

Posted by JoJo2010

Posted by maymama

i wish we could push his bedtime back a bit but he is wiped and 100% ready for bed by 7-720ish

maybe he will stay up a bit longer once he is older and there will be more time

What time are his nap(s)?

Re: working moms - dinner for the kiddos

Re: working moms - dinner for the kiddos

I don't get home until 6:15 or 6:30 on a good day. My kids don't go to bed until 8:30 or 9.

I love my crockpot. some days i will start the crockpot in the morning so that dinner is ready for when we are all ready to eat. I may make rice or a veggie separately when i get home.

when it's not a crockpot meal, i make something that doesn't take long--stirfry, pasta, fish, tacos (have the toppings pre-chopped--it's quick to brown some meat). othertimes we order out or have left overs. i am looking forward to summer because then DH grills a few nights and i just make a salad.

after dinner i give my girls a bath while my dh cleans the kitchen. then we play together and read some books. then i put the younger one to bed while the older one watches one episode of tv. then i put my older one to bed.

Re: working moms - dinner for the kiddos

I do a mix of making something more time consuming on the weekends (sauce, stews, soups) and either starting dinner in the morning and having MIl turn it off when it's done, or I make something that I KNOW will be done, soup to nuts, in 30 minutes.

I get home between 6 and 6:30 and I like to have dinner on the table no later than 7-7:15.

Luce goes to sleep around 8, though I try to get it as close to 7:30 as possible.

last night I made a super quick and yummy chicke dish that was done in 25 minutes.

fish is also something the cooks up nice and quick.

Re: working moms - dinner for the kiddos

I make meals and freeze them for my DH and I. My children do not eat complicated meals so those I do on the fly....omelets & toast, grilled cheese, quesadilla, mac n cheese, chicken fingers, whole wheat pancakes, homemade pizza (only takes 20 minutes & they help make it), pasta with butter, salad, etc.

Re: working moms - dinner for the kiddos

I order from Let's Dish (www.letsdish.com). I don't think they have them in NY, but there are similar stores there. Basically I get a shipment once a month and store all of these meals in the freezer. Most of them only require me to stick something in the oven or use the grill to cook it. It's so much easier than preparing something from scratch, plus it's healthy and really delicious.

I get home around 6 and I can get something on the table for everyone by 6:30. I like that we can all eat as a family. Even though DD is only 11 months she still eats the same food that we're having for dinner that night.

Re: working moms - dinner for the kiddos

DS doesn't go to sleep until 8-8:30pm. DH does all the cooking in our house and he gets home at 6:30pm. We have dinner on the table by 7pm usually. Sometimes we start DS off with something while we are cooking ours if he is fussing.