Full Time Working Mom Dinner S.O.S!!!

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acollis1
acollis1 Posts: 167 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hey ladies, I need some help!!! I have 2 kids and I work full time outside of my home, ever since summer hit I have been having trouble sticking to my good eating habits! I get up at 4 am every day to fit my workouts in so I've got that down, but I feel like I am wasting my time when my food diary goes south in the evenings!
Basically we have some type of sport or event RIGHT after work 5:30/ 6pm that usually doesn't get us home till about 7 or 7:30 at night 5 days per week and we are starving when we get home! I am trying really hard to stay away from fast food, but it's getting hard. I usually make one meal every week in the crock pot and we have leftovers on our next busy night, but I was hoping to get some ideas for the other nights. That was working well when we just had karate but now we have karate (2 days/week) , cheerleading, baseball, and swimming!!!!! Any ideas would be appreciated! Thanks :)
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Replies

  • VeryKatie
    VeryKatie Posts: 5,952 Member
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    Darn. I was going to say crock pot. How about.. More crock pot? Do you have a deep freezer that you could use so that you could freeze and rotate meals?

    Sandwiches are quick. Maybe use your crock pot (oh my) to cook something like pulled chicken or pork (but without any sauces). You could save that meat and turn it into various meals. Eg:

    - Pulled chicken fajitas
    - Buffalo chicken lettuce wraps
    - Chicken Caesar (vinaigrette) salad (use a mix of leaf types like spinach, kale, romaine and add in things like snap peas, tomatoes, etc.
    - Chicken quinoa salad
    - Sloppy Joe's but with pulled pork instead of ground beef
    - Mix the pulled pork in with a chilli type food

    There are recipe cookbooks you can get that are centered around planned leftovers. One recipe will lead into another... eg, using left over rice to make fried rice (with egg and frozen veggies).
  • Amitysk
    Amitysk Posts: 705 Member
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    Darn. I was going to say crock pot. How about.. More crock pot? Do you have a deep freezer that you could use so that you could freeze and rotate meals?

    Sandwiches are quick. Maybe use your crock pot (oh my) to cook something like pulled chicken or pork (but without any sauces). You could save that meat and turn it into various meals. Eg:

    - Pulled chicken fajitas
    - Buffalo chicken lettuce wraps
    - Chicken Caesar (vinaigrette) salad (use a mix of leaf types like spinach, kale, romaine and add in things like snap peas, tomatoes, etc.
    - Chicken quinoa salad
    - Sloppy Joe's but with pulled pork instead of ground beef
    - Mix the pulled pork in with a chilli type food

    There are recipe cookbooks you can get that are centered around planned leftovers. One recipe will lead into another... eg, using left over rice to make fried rice (with egg and frozen veggies).


    Great suggestions!!

    OP- you could also pick a day (like Sunday) and cook up several dinners and freeze so you can defrost. There are a ton of recipes and ideas on Pintrest. Just search for freezer cooking!
  • Josh_2099
    Josh_2099 Posts: 2,073 Member
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    Hello, I know I am not a lady, but when my wife is out of town I have to prepare things on my own. I don't have as many activities as you do at the moment, but still have soccer two nights and swim lessons. I make a list of the meals for the week (like a menu) of what is to be made, pre-prep some the night before (cutting veggies or even cooking meat.). Sometimes as long as they eat I cook, clean, and eat as I go. For nights that there is an event/sport/etc I will pack a dinner like I pack my lunch - fruit, sandwiches, healthy granola bars or sometimes whatever that will get me by (goldfish crackers, fig newton bars, etc).

    Easy items to heat up:
    Homemade pizza or pizza english muffins with turkey pepperoni
    Turkey Tacos or Quesadillas or Grilled cheese
    Mac & Cheese
    Spaghetti

    Hope this helps & good luck.
  • knitapeace
    knitapeace Posts: 1,013 Member
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    I agree with the tacos/fajitas suggestion. We do "make your own" and just set out all the toppings and let the kids assembly line whatever they want. It only takes a few minutes to brown some ground beef or turkey, or saute some chicken breasts (or tenders, more expensive but cook faster).

    Another quick meal we throw together is Indian. Real Indian, of course, is not fast food! But we've found several jar sauces which are fairly tasty, can be high in calories but just watch your portions. Again, saute the protein with whatever veggies (I like onions and peppers) and simmer a few minutes in the sauce. With a rice steamer going in the background we have dinner in 20 minutes.

    If I know I'm going to have the crock pot going the next morning, I often prep the next day's food as I'm making the current dinner. So any browning of meat or sauteing of vegetables gets done, then I stow the stuff in the fridge and pull it out the next morning to throw in the crock before work.
  • acollis1
    acollis1 Posts: 167 Member
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    thanks ladies & gentlemen! There's some good ideas here :)
  • GuybrushThreepw00d
    GuybrushThreepw00d Posts: 784 Member
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    Grilled chicken with brown rice and veggies. Takes like 5 minutes to prep and 15 minutes to cook. Of course i cheat and use microwave rice, brown rice on the hob takes forever!

    One my son loves for a super quick dinner (like 5 minutes end to end), is Gnocci with tomatoes, ham, garden peas and pesto. Boil the gnocci and peas together, 3 minutes then drain and dump everything else in for 2 minutes.
  • FJcntdwn2sknyluv
    FJcntdwn2sknyluv Posts: 651 Member
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    My easiest one besides taco salad is my Black Bean and Chicken salsa casserole...basically i throw 2 frozen chicken breast in a dish with 1 can of black beans and 1/2 cup salsa, in oven 400 degrees for 40 mins flipping chicken 20 mins in... if I manage to get the chicken thawed then it's only 20 -25 mins..it'll be liquid-ey but I just used a slotted spoon and dump the juices. Serve it with steamed broccoli or canned green beans...
    Cold cut sandwitches work too..
  • LULUREBEL
    LULUREBEL Posts: 86 Member
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    We grill a lot on the weekends so that we can have some leftovers throughout the week.

    BBQ chicken potatoes made with leftover grilled chicken - not kidding these are divine! Bake a potato and top it like you normally do. Add a little BBQ sauce and the chicken.

    We like doing BLTs as welll - pretty fast and satisfying. Steamed veggies as a side.

    And we're a big fan of brinner! - Eggs, bacon and biscuits/gravy, grits - whatever you generally like for breakfast - have it for dinner!
  • AlysonG2
    AlysonG2 Posts: 713 Member
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    I definitely need to come back to this thread.
  • enterdanger
    enterdanger Posts: 2,447 Member
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    I'm in the same boat as you. Kids and I get home about 6:30 (I have 2 under 4) and they are starving and need to go to bed around 8pm or they get crazy. I highly recommend www.skinnytaste.com. I make a lot of stuff from this website from the crock pot section. Try the chicken thighs and salsa in a crock pot. It doesn't get any easier than that. I'll usually make tacos (which all kids love) or put it on top of rice I make in the rice cooker. You can also make lettuce wraps with it.

    Also, things that are fast...use your grill. Also helps with minimal clean up.

    The other thing I do is cook once and eat twice. I made a huge london broil the other day on the grill. You have to marinate it for a couple of days in the fridge to make it tender but it's super cheap and flavorful. We ate it the first night with corn on the cob and sweet potatoes. (all cooked on the grill). Last night I just reheated it with some cumin and garlic powder and made it into beef tacos.

    Use some cheat items too. That pre-shredded broccoli slaw or cole slaw is great for salads and stir fries. I tend to make a citrus dressing for tacos with the juice of a lime and some adobo.
  • nicholjenny
    nicholjenny Posts: 74 Member
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    Bump
  • ASKyle
    ASKyle Posts: 1,475 Member
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    CROCKPOT + Pinterest
  • laura3773
    laura3773 Posts: 67 Member
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    My daughter is almost 2, so no activities yet, but every other week my husband works until almost 8, and a couple nights a week I work until after 6, so we have trouble getting food out before 7 or 7:30 on a good day. Salads in the summer are super fast. We grill chicken on our george foreman for 10 minutes or so (or the outside grill, but it's hard to be in the yard and watching a toddler for me so the foreman usually wins) and put it over greens with whatever veggies, a little freshly grated cheese parmesan or romano and some balsamic and/or olive oil. Easy to make that lower calorie if you leave off the oil and for me a good balsamic is enough extra flavor. I buy baby spinach or baby spinach blends prepacked at my grocery store (not the cheapest but still not that expensive) so I have the whole salad put together by the time the chicken comes off the grill.

    It's a little boring but you get a lot of food, a good amount of protein, and some fat in a short amount of time.
  • acollis1
    acollis1 Posts: 167 Member
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    I feel my stress level going down :)
  • knitapeace
    knitapeace Posts: 1,013 Member
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    Oh! I also want to share an oldie but goodie, for when you forgot to thaw the chicken breasts the morning you want to make a crock pot meal.

    Put FROZEN chicken breasts in the crock pot, cover with one can of cream of chicken soup, a small container of sour cream, and a packet of onion soup mix. You can sub in healthier versions of each item (low sodium soup, plain Greek yogurt, a seasoning blend without salt). Cook on low all day and it literally falls apart when you're ready to serve it. Amazing and creamy over rice or noodles. But yeah, watch your portions. :)
  • melimomTARDIS
    melimomTARDIS Posts: 1,941 Member
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    breakfast for dinner, ie, scrambled eggs/frozen waffles, bowl of cereal/oatmeal....
  • pamelas9
    pamelas9 Posts: 29
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    We pack perishable snacks in an old fashioned cooler (about a 6 pack size) and leave it in the car. It's nice to have cool fruit and water when the HUNGER hits.
  • acollis1
    acollis1 Posts: 167 Member
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    They have pre-cooked chicken that Tyson makes, and they have Uncle Ben's rice that is already made, you just microwave it for 90 seconds. All pretty good, and make a really fast meal.

    PB&J is fast and easy.

    You can pre-make a giant thing of spaghetti on Sunday, and eat it all week. Sometimes, I make the pasta plain and put it in a container, then add sauce that's heated in the microwave, and sometimes, when I have time, I add meat.

    I also buy pre-packaged salads and have those too.

    You can boil eggs and keep them, and have those for snacks.

    There are lots of ways to do this.

    There is also such a thing as working dads. It's not just a mom thing.

    Thanks Guys! I guess since my husband doesn't cook or ever has any dinner suggestions I didn't think about you, my apologies :)
  • RavenLibra
    RavenLibra Posts: 1,737 Member
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    I always (forgive me for not being a lady:oP...thppptttt!!!) grill up some boneless skinless chicken breasts on a Sunday ... so I can just cut them up quickly during the week for Fajitas ( I can quickly stir fry up some peppers and onions to go with the chicken... anyway within a 1/2 hour BOOM!!!... all done)... I will also fry up some ground beef and prep for tacos during the week too... fill a container with a couple pounds of cooked hamburger... easy peasy...and it is summer so NOW I will also smoke a beef tenderloin every couple of weeks on Saturday... then on Sunday... make a savoury pie or two with it (steak pie) ... and set the oven timer so it's baked when I get home...

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