Anyone with a long commute to work?

I also commute from office to home but on mornings I go along with my Dad on his car but still I have to get up 5:30am, leave home at 6:30am then get home at 7:00pm. What I do is once I get home, I go straight to our fridge to find something in the freezer & immediately soak the frozen fish or chicken in a big bowl with water to thaw it fast & at the same time I prepare other ingredients while waiting for the main ingredient to thaw. Afterwards I just either steam the fish or stir fry the chicken, veggies plus a few marinade sauces. Only takes me 15 minutes

I have a one hour commute one way, so I hear you.

I keep apples and nuts in the car, too, and for dinner I prep ahead of time. I make sure that I have cans of tuna and salmon in the cabinet, along with beans and cut up fresh veg.

A typical dinner for me might take five minutes to prepare. I open a pouch of salmon, add it to a cup of black beans, some greens, and zap for 1 min. 30 seconds. It's fast and good.

Yep! I get up at 4.30 and get home between 7.30 and 8pm so pretty much the same as you.... weekends I cook and freeze portions of soup/pasta sauces/stews then its a lucky dip into the freezer for dinner

Crock pot gets used a lot and left on all day Chicken breasts with chopped tomatoes herbs = quick to throw in and endless possibilities

If i've nothing in the freezer and couldnt be bothered to throw things in the crock pot then its cook something quick like a stir fry, or a salad

I have a 1-hour commute each way too so I feel your pain. Dinner is the worst for me. I come home and I'm starving and I grab whatever I can get my hands on. Not good. And it's only worse when the kids have sports stuff we need to go to right after I get home. BUT I'm bound to change this and I plan to start using my crock-pot more and batch cooking on the weekends.

What/How do you plan for dinner? My day usally starts 4:30 am and I'm home by 7:30 pm and honestly don't feel like cooking when I get home. Anyone in a similar situation, do you cook daily or one batch a week? And what are you cooking? My dinner usually blows my cals and/or sodium because I just grab whatever is already cooked or quick.

Thanks!
-Chantel

I'd suck it up and cook. It's best for you.

I don't have a long commute, I'm just lazy. But I get Great Value frozen stir frys. They take like 12 minutes max to make, are under 200 calories per bag and I can put spices like basil, oregano, etc on them to mix up the flavaaahhh

My commute is not really that long but my day is. So yes, I can't wait until I get home to decide what I'm making for dinner. Part of what I do on the weekends is plan my meals for the week. It takes a bit of time but it saves time throughout the week so it balances things out. I cook on the weekends and freeze the dinners in glass caserole dishes or I have dinners that I can put in the crockpot for the day.
Planning ahead of time is the key for me.

I have a long way to commute home as well. My schedule is from 10 am to 7 pm so I leave about 8:50 am to drop my son off from daycare and to get to work on time by 10 am and then by time i get home from work and getting my son at daycare from his grandparents its about 8:00pm so it's hard to get a workout in, clean, and cook. Im really trying to find answers on how to balance my schedule out so I can't fit everything in without being overwhelmed???



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I am home late too, but every night I figure out what we are eating the next day, I get the meat out of the freezer and put it in the fridge so it is thawed when I get home. We eat a lot of taco salad, either chicken, elk or beef, so you can cook that on the weekend. I chop vegies and stuff on the weekend too, that way all I have to do is cook it up and dinner for a family of 4 is done in 15 to 30 min.

No so much a long commute as I am working two jobs so there are nights that I go from one straight to the other... so I have really got into the habit of planning and shopping once a week. I save so much money this way...(Everytime you go shopping you buy more than what you thought at least I do) I make a list. I now do not make a list as I know what I buy and stick to it... I know that sounds boring but I do pick a new recipe now and then and shop for it. Anyway... what I am trying to say is the nights that I do not work and I am able to cook. I cook for the next few days. Reusable lunch bags are my life... If you use that evil 4 letter word...PLAN! Then it works. It is not perfection as I don't always practice what I preach those are the days you see a meal bar on my diary... I keep those on hand too.

GOOD LUCK!

My husband takes two trains to and from work. He leaves the house at 3:00 pm and returns the following morning at 11:30 am and does it all over again. Fortunately for him, I make his meals! Planning is the key. I pack his salads in quart sized mason jars and layer them: dressing on the bottom, followed by firm veggies like carrots, radishes, celery, broc, then softer veggies like mushrooms and tomatoes, and top it with the greens. Salad in a jar will keep for up to a week. I over-cook for dinners in order to pack him the left overs. I also pack fruit and yogurt for snacks.

My commute is only an hour. I bring my food to work on Mondays: salad fixings, healthy snacks, sandwich stuff, cereal & milk. And I also bring left overs from dinner.

planning, planning, planning.... you just have to decide to do it.... good luck!

I drive an hour each way to work, so if I dont cook for the whole week on sunday I'll be bad and grab food on the way home

With commute I am gone 12-14 hours per day, but I love to cook so found a variety of strategies works best:

1. At the grocery store, I buy with "meals" in mind - fresh stuff for about a week, then frozen stir fry, etc. to keep me going if I can't make it back to the store.

2. I ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS have plenty of frozen veggies, so even if I heat up frozen pizza or make pasta I can throw in a few servings of veggies.

3. I try to cook for at least two meals at once. So instead of making two pieces of chicken, I'll make a whole package and then eat it over several dinners. Or I'll make a whole cabbage into cole slaw. Note that sometimes this does get me in trouble though, as I sometimes struggle with portion sizes. I found that acknowledging portions "I am making 4 servings of chicken" helps because if I say it then I have mentally put the extra aside for another meal.

4. This all works better if you have a plan - even if it is done on the train/'car on the way home, plan out what you are going to make, and if you are me, what you are going to eat as a snack when you get home because you will not be able to keep away from the junk food if you don't eat something asap.

5. Share the load - whether with a significant other or getting together with friends, I try to have at least one "home cooked" meal a week that I don't make (and of course reciprocate by cooking for them!). Tonight, my sister and some friends are coming over so I'm already brainstorming what I can put together with the stuff in my fridge.