meal ideas

[janny108]

For those women who work outside the home, what kinds of dinners do you have? I'm looking to simplify meals but would like some feedback here....

 

[peckaboo]

We use the slow cooker a lot (do you call this a crock-pot in the States?), especially in winter. I just chuck a bunch of stuff in there before going to work and it's done by the time we get home. We often have stew or chilli from the slow cooker, but I know some people who cook bread or a whole chicken in there so I guess they're more versatile than what I use them for!

We also eat a lot of rice, partly because we were both brought up in Asia and partly because it's versatile and quick to prepare. Sometimes we just cook ground beef or lamb with some spinach, tinned tomatoes, and/or kidney beans (plus the appropriate seasonings) and serve it with rice. Sometimes we make dal (lentil soup), which takes about 30 minutes if you remember to soak the lentils in the morning before you leave the house, and have that over rice.

Salads are quick to prepare, and can be varied easily so that you don't get bored of them. They also lend themselves well to the addition of protein, to make a more complete meal.

Stirfry is another quick and healthy option, especially if your local grocery store sells pre-cut vegetables to cut down on the prep time. Again, this is easy to vary just by changing up the meat and vegetables you use.

What kinds of dinners do you currently eat? Do you have kids or picky eaters in your house? I guess that would complicate things a little.

 

[janny108]

My teen is a bit picky and I want as least fuss as possible when I start on Monday. I don't have a crock pot, guess I'll have to buy one.

 

[peckaboo]

How did it go yesterday?
Would your teen have any interest / ability to help you with some of the dinner preparation? Perhaps you can use his pickiness as leverage - he can choose what vegetables to have with dinner if he cuts them up and prepares them ready for when you get home, or something along those lines depending what it is he's picky about.
(Oh - one note about the crockpot if you haven't used one before: always be sure you have adequate liquid in there or it's a HUGE pain to clean. Plus the dinner ends up dry and burned :/ )

 

[Sonnet]

Pasta is always quick and easy. You can change it up each time too.

Rice, chicken, sweet corn and peas is a favourite of mine at the moment.

 

[Mrs. Luther073082]

Pizza and salads, stir fry with chicken and veggies, pasta, hamburgers or hot dogs with fries, baked potatoes with green beans and chicken or steak (we use the broiler for steaks in the winter), etc.

 

[Woven]

Stir fry is usually quick and easy to make.

I'd definitely get a crock pot if I were you. They're so handy!

I also make a lot of stews. It helps to just be able to chuck all the ingredients in and just let it cook without having to check on it or do something every few minutes.

 

[Inkachu]

Slow cookers/crock pots are the BOMB! Throw your stuff in and leave it alone - ta da! You can find whole cookbooks dedicated to slow cooker ideas.

I am NOT handy in the kitchen, and I don't enjoy "cooking", so when I was a single mom, I did lots of salads, sandwiches, whole grain cereals, fresh fruit, etc. If I wanted something to last for more than one meal, I'd just nuke a few chicken breasts, dice them up, and mix that with a big dish of rice and mixed veggies, and that would last for several meals.

 

[akmom]

I have to second the stir-fry idea. It's quick and healthy.

You can buy the frozen bags of stir-fry vegetables and use pre-cooked shrimp for the protein. The little salad shrimp are great because they're small and heat up quickly like the rest of the stir-fry.

Buy a pre-made stir fry sauce like teriyaki, so you flavor it quickly too.

Throw it all on a bed of rice. I suggest you get an electric rice cooker. It makes cooking rice so much easier! The instant rice is not as good, in my opinion (too chewy or starchy). Cooking rice from scratch is much tastier, and you can also mix it up by using long or short grain rice, brown rice, red rice or wild rice. Just add the rice, water, and oil to the rice cooker and set the timer. It will automatically make perfect tender rice and you don't have to check on it; it just turns off when it's done! (You can get really little ones that don't take up much space at all but still make 1-2 cups of rice at a time - perfect size for a family.)

 

[Inkachu]

We didn't know what to cook last night, so we just gathered up what we had on hand: potatoes, bell pepper, onion, and carrots, chopped it all up, threw it in a casserole dish, and baked it. It was delicious!

 

[peckaboo]

I second the rice-cooker suggestion. I was brought up to cook rice in a saucepan (double the volume of water to rice gets it nice and fluffy every time). When I got married, I inherited my husband's rice cooker, and at first ignored it as "another useless kitchen gadget". BUT one thing it's great for is keeping the rice warm until you need it, so if you don't all eat at the same time, or if you're cooking without really knowing what time everyone's going to be home in order to eat, you can leave the rice sitting in there for a while without it getting cold.