Meals for working single mothers

DOMTIA1012 · May 2013

Hi all,

I work an average of 9 hours a day. I also am a single mother whose day goes like this:

6AM- wake up with the kids, feed and change them. Shower and get ready for work. Pack their things. drive to the babysitter.
930 AM- Start work
630- Leave work
7PM-Pick kids up, drive home, feed them. Laundry and baths.
9 PM-Get kids to sleep
930PM- PASS THE HELL OUT
12- wake up for a bottle
3 am- wake up for a bottle

Then I start all over again. Every once in a while I squeeze working out, or playing with the kids for a bit in if I skip on a bath night or whatever but my question is.....

HOW THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO PRE-PLAN MY MEALS IF I CANT EVEN FIND THE TIME TO HIT THE GYM UNLESS ITS MY DAY OFF? ANY QUICK AND EASY HEALTHY ON THE GO IDEAS?

TeaBea · May 2013

Everyone has busy lives ...... what things are priorities to you?

Crock pot cooking ..... dump everything in .... set it and go.

Cooking in batches during the weekend & freezing ahead of time

Stir Frying - chop your veggies on the weekend and store in the fridge. Super quick meals during the week.

Are any of your kids old enough to help out? ..... Resonsibility is good for them. Healthy meal planning is good for them.

Re: workouts .... can you walk during your lunch break? At least you get something in.

mdcoug · May 2013

I'm not single, but still crunched for time in the evenings. My weeks are smoother when I spend Sunday planning and shopping for the week, starting out prepared with a menu. (not always done, lol)

Some time savers for me:
Grilling the protein (chicken, fish, burgers, pork chops sausage, etc.)
Bagged salad for veggies (sadly almost every meal is this)
Bread for a starch or thin spaghetti noodles (cooks faster)

Also, rotisserie chicken from the grocery store and takeout one night a week.
I'll also buy prepared protein for those nights when I'm crunched for time. Just know that you're going to retain water after! Things like frozen hamburger patties, meatballs and sausage are good to have on hand when your plans fail.
Or prepare things on the weekend that can be reused during the week.

A typical week will look like this:
Sunday - Roast Chicken and veggies, potatoes (prepare broth for soup)
Monday - Chicken noodle soup, salad, bread
Tuesday - Salmon, pasta, green beans
Wednesday - leftovers
Thursday - out
Friday - pizza
Saturday - hamburgers, salad, homemade potato chips

elleryjones · May 2013

I'm not single but may as well be (husband gone M-F for work). I make big batches of things on Sundays (hamburger patties, chicken, etc.) and make up a batch of Tupperwares so that I can just grab and go in the mornings. I do a protein shake most mornings, bring all my food with me to work (I have a large lunch bag!) and get up at 5 am to get a workout in before the rest of the house wakes up. It was very very hard when I was still waking up during the night to feed my littlest one, so you have to keep your expectations reasonable. If all you can manage right now is to clean up your diet, that's all you can do. You'll get a full night's sleep one day here soon. In the meantime you can do some stuff at work - some bodyweight exercises at lunch or stretched out throughout the day. My kids are very familiar with mom's workout stuff (I believe one of the pics on my profile is of my youngest playing on my TRX when I was working out one night). I will often try to squeeze a workout in ( if all my planning has fallen by the wayside) while the kids are running around. You can accomplish good things in just 20 minutes 3 times a week..

DOMTIA1012 · May 2013

I do a lot of walking during work. I usually dont get to take a lunch break. Its more like shove food down my throat and go back to it sort of things... Sales. I like the protein shake idea! Other than that I do refer back to frozen things a lot. I loved doing veggie burgers for a while but it just got old.

elleryjones · May 2013

My diary is open, so feel free to poke through for ideas. Feel free to disregard the gummy bears.

toludc · May 2013

all the suggestions above are great. Cooking batches and freezing is a great way to have quick meals that you know are nutritious and home-made.

A work out plan like the 30 day squat can be fit into a few minutes throughout the day in between activities.

But mostly I just wanted to say well done - Single working mums are heroines in day clothes!!

NovemberJune · May 2013

Hi. I'm not single and it's hard to imagine the work involved! But I work ft mon-fri days and my hubby works 2nd shift and weekends. I do hours of food prep on Sundays to prepare for the week. I also do a lot of egg meals

Good luck!

mountaingirl2207 · May 2013

I'm a single mom, so I can definitely empathize with you. Nobody understands what its like unless they've done it. Feel free to friend request me and you can look at my diary. Some of my favorite things are:

Chicken breasts with a slice of provolone cheese on top with veggies
Morning star hamburger patties
Chicken wraps
Meatloaf
Soup
Lean Cuisine honestly good or evol frozen dinners in a pinch
Salads

Unfortunately my menu is pretty repetitive because these things are easy, but it works!

MyOwnSunshine · May 2013

My advice would be to cook a lot when you cook and package your leftovers into single serve containers that you can eat for lunches and dinners during the week. Crockpots are great timesavers -- prep the night before and plug it in when you leave for work.

Please be forgiving of yourself. You only have so much time in a day, and your kids are very little. Things won't always be quite so hard or so busy. Eat the best you can and do active things with your kids. Once they are sleeping through the night and are able to play by themselves for a bit, things will be better. Until then, just do the best you can.

stardancer7 · May 2013

Preparing big batches of soups/stews for the rest of the week can be a great activity with the kids, depending on their ages--learning how to measure ingredients, like a cup of lentils, or pouring in a can of beans, even just stirring the pot. I know that sometimes it is about perceived exertion--it feels a lot harder to peel a carrot when you're exhausted at 9:00 p.m and it's been a crappy, on your feet all day, doing for others....taking an hour on your day off and making it a fun family thing can really pay off!

HotSouthernMess · May 2013

I can sympathize with you
I am a single mom and I worked 60 hours this week
I am TIRED

Trust me THE LAST THING you or I will want to do is to take a day away from our weekend to PREPARE MEALS FOR THE WEEK...yeah like that will happen

I do the following:
prepackages salads
soups
fruits and veggies...peel and go/ eat it raw
oatmeals.....throw some in y our bag and go
yogurts with individual packages of nuts mixed in
baby spinach (raw) topped with perdue roasted chicken (packaged and ready)

Now I know I am going to get attacked by the paleo/clean eaters for eating packaged, processd yuck, they will tell you how wonderful and quick and easy it is and all you have to do is x, y, and z................... ignore them......... Do what works for you in the moment.

I try to eat as "clean" as I can when I have enough time to prepare meals for my family. Just remember calories in=calories out and portion sizes. As for excersize, sister i am having the same struggle, I go to work at 2pm get out at 2 am bed by 3 30 am get up at 11 30 am and it is go time for my next shift. At this point the only way I can forsee any excersize is if i cut my sleep time...yeah right....

-SO-

Park the farthest you can away from stores/work etc, take the stairs not the elevators, any task that gets you moving even if for a few minutes take advantage of to do it. On the weekends take LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG walks with your kids, they will love the time together and will be pooped and go to bed early

Further more DONT obsesse over it, just do the best you can day to day!!!

Good luck to ya!

i agree!! i am also a single mom with 3 kids and a 1 hour commute each way. getting home at 630 every night with 3 kids that are screaming they are hungry and youre afraid they might eat YOU is no fun. i do a lot of pre-packaged foods and easy meals. we eat sandwiches a lot, i just work it in to my day. i know people always say if you dont eat "clean" you wont lose weight. most of what i eat does have a ton of sodium in it, but i drink a ton of water to balance it out. it works for me, for now...just know that it will get easier and you wont always have to eat on the run. mine are no longer on a bottle (thank GOD) but they do still wake up at nights and i am always tired so i sympathize. good luck! feel free to add me if you want another friend...i promise i wont judge what you eat

ncl1313 · May 2013

I'm not a single mom either, but my husband works nights, so my day to day is similar to yours.

If we have tacos or fajitas, I make extra for leftovers so we can make quesadillas later in the week. Stir fry is always great...get a bag of frozen stir fry combo veggies if you don't want to do all the prep. Pillsbury crescent rolls and biscuits are my best friends...roll up crescents with cold cuts and cheese for a quick hot sandwich. Flatten out biscuits and top with tomato sauce, cheese and pizza toppings for mini pizzas. And of course, pasta. Shrimp cooks up in no time...add some spinach and garlic and toss with noodles dressed with a little olive oil and parm or whatever sauce you like. And we eat tons of eggs and egg bakes. You could try this recipe:

Crustless mini quiches: Whisk together 1 cup milk and 4 eggs in a large glass measuring cup (easier for pouring). Grease a muffin tin (very well) and toss in some cheese and whatever fixings you and your kids like (the nice thing about these is you can have a ton of variety in the same pan). Evenly distribute egg mixture into cups and bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes until toothpick in center comes out clean. You can freeze these, thaw in fridge overnight, microwave 30 seconds...breakfast! Throw it on an english muffin or toast as a to go meal.

As far as exercise, aren't you burning a ton just running after your kids?!?

Do the best you can, and don't stress about it, especially as long as you still have a little one getting nighttime feeds. Those are exhausting!!

jlk9182 · August 2014

saving this.. been googling for ideas and you all have some good ones!

Meals for working single mothers

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