Having supper ready on time. Pls share ideas!

amother

Wed, Dec 03 2014, 12:40 pm

This is a vent anda call for advice.
I grew up in a home where supper was never ready on time. Supper was usually put up at 5 or later and it was always a pressuring task (Even though mom was a sahm).
As a kid, growing up, I vowed to myself that I will not do that. Guess what? I am not as bad but pretty bad. I have this mental blockage and am unable to think of or put up supper early. I usually start at 3-4 and really I'd love supper to be ready at that time. I hate myself for it. I have a hard time thinking (even in advance) what to make and rrrr it's such a pressure! Exactly how I did not want to be! I work from home full time, I can technically take a break and go prepare supper. But I don't. I feel like there's something wrong with me!
Can anyone relate?
And for all super organized balabustas can you share tips how to have a healthy supper ready on time?

debsey

Wed, Dec 03 2014, 12:48 pm

I'm not a super-organized ba'alebusta, but I'm raising a much larger family that the one I grew up in, so I can relate. My mother would just broil a steak or a piece of chicken whenever a kid would come home, there was no set "suppertime" or "this is for supper." But you can't do that with a big family or with multiple small kids.

What I learned to do is to write my menu, in conjunction with my kids, on Motzai Shabbos. Then I make a shopping list for Sunday.
I cook the next night's supper while I'm serving that night's supper. For example, on Monday night, I cook Tuesday night's supper (or at least prepare it so it can be popped into the oven today)

This week, we had:
Baked chicken cutlets, ceasar deli salad on Sunday night. I breaded the cutlets motzai shabbos, they sat in a pan in the fridge. I also prepared the cesar dressing. I made the actual salad right before supper time, at about 4:30, when I got home from work. My earliest "shift" for supper is at 5.

Monday - slow-cooked pot-roast. I peeled the veggies, but left the meat searing for the morning because it wasn't defrosted enough. Also veggie sticks, which I made early in the morning.

Tuesday - chicken and mashed potatoes. I cleaned the chicken, spiced it, put it on trays, and mashed the potatoes on Monday night.

Tonight is fleishige spaghetti sauce (with kielbasa and ground meat) made it last night during supper time.

tomorrow night is milchigs. Make your own pizza and greek salad. I bought the Archer Farm's (Target) whole wheat pizza crusts, Dom Peppino pizza sauce, we have lots of toppings, everyone can put on whatever toppings they want. I will chop the greek salad in the afternoon.

There's something that feels so ORGANiZED about making supper the night before, that I don't feel in the morning. Plus, mornings are work time, and I want to protect that. I'm not as sharp at night, so it's a good time to cook.

Good luck.

iamamother

Wed, Dec 03 2014, 12:49 pm

I will be following this thread!
but one thing I find so much easier (but due to picky eaters I cant always do it) is crock pot suppers! I prepare it the night before! I put everything in the pot and keep it in the fridge and then just place it in the insert part and turn it on!
I dont use meat during the week and a lot of recipes r with meat- like stews and pot roasts... if anyone has chicken cutlet, bone in chicken or ground chicken recipes for a crock pot- please share!

saw50st8

Wed, Dec 03 2014, 1:01 pm

Start by making a list of suppers your normally serve. You will probably see a pattern of meals you use a lot. Then pick from your list.

I'm not very organized so I can't do a week's meal plan or anything like that, but I try to plan a day in advance so I can take out stuff to defrost or prep.

Also, cook your meal first thing in the morning, so it just needs to be reheated. Or have it fully prepped so you just need to cook it last minute.

amother

Wed, Dec 03 2014, 1:02 pm

Op here
Thank you debsey for the detailed post! I like the idea of making the menu with the kids. Maybe that way they'll actually eat it! (That's a whole nother story...I can turn gray before they finish eating it takes foreeeeever). And I agree about the morning thing. It's precious work hours or if it's earlier than it's pre busses rush hour.
I just feel so stupid for having this "supper making blockage".
Iamamother, crock pot recipes would be great but dh hates those. My kids would only go for a simple chicken and potato crockpot dish. They are very picky eaters. But then I need to make an entire other supper for dh so that takes away the crock pot convenience.
I know I need to get more organized with this. Sigh.

amother

Wed, Dec 03 2014, 1:09 pm

Saw50st8 am I crazy that I find it so hard to THINK what to make? I know part of it is because I can't just think of 2 things and I'm done. Everyone needs to like it. Kids are picky. Dh needs variety and doesn't care for soup. If I'll make just a soup and chicken that won't be enough because some won't eat the soup and some won't eat the chicken! And each alone is not enough for a full meal....
Good idea to make a list of past suppers that have worked.
Keep the ideas coming!

debsey

Wed, Dec 03 2014, 1:11 pm

amother wrote:

I will often make something else for DH......but he's happy with a grilled steak or grilled piece of chicken. One other time saver - I clean chickens before I put them away, so I just have to pull it out, take off the plastic, and broil it up for him.

mummiedearest

Wed, Dec 03 2014, 1:27 pm

I made myself a form on google docs for menu planning. it covers kids' lunches (I send from home), snacks, and supper. lunch and supper are broken down into starch, protein, and fruit/veg. I find having a form to fill in with everything categorized makes it easier. I plan the whole week's menu on sunday, then make my grocery list.

if you're really not happy making supper in late afternoon, consider using a crock pot. there are some really easy and quick recipes for crock pots. take fifteen minutes in the morning (tops) and you're done.

btw, I don't necessarily stick to the planned menu exactly, but the food I have in the house is based on that. so I can change it up if I want, but it's pretty easy to stick to the menu.

saw50st8

Wed, Dec 03 2014, 1:35 pm

amother wrote:

Did you flip through the imamother cookbook? Try that for ideas.

Also, try to make a category list like:

Chicken: shnitzel, baked on the bone (list your favorite varieties here), stir fry
Ground Beef: Meatballs, Meatloaf, tacos
Pasta: mac and cheese, baked ziti, lasagna, pesto pasta

Also, you can try to batch cook so if one kid will eat vegetable soup, make a huge batch and serve it multiple nights. You can also make large batches of things like rice or mashed potatoes and serve it with different main dishes and veggies.

morah

Wed, Dec 03 2014, 1:40 pm

I also find it hard to think ahead. BUT here's what is always true: meal contains a protein, a carb and veggie. Leaving out Shabbos, one of those nights might be chicken, another night might be quinoa, another night fish, or eggs etc. Carbs might be pasta, potatoes, rice. You get the idea. Monday night is always a weekend leftover- either from Shabbos or Sunday. Then Tues-Thursday one will be a pizza (homemade) or pasta (with homemade sauce) night, one will be a chicken or fish night, one will be a breakfast food night. I always have one breakfast food dinner a week, and it's so easy, pancake batter can be made ahead, eggs take just minutes to prepare, and everyone loves that stuff. And you don't have to prepare a special side, you can put the veggies in the eggs or in the pancakes. So I don't plan ahead that much, but I have a rough idea of what "class" of dinner I'm making.

Heyaaa

Wed, Dec 03 2014, 1:44 pm

I have three suggestions to figure out how to cook and get it ready on time.
1) The way I decide what I want to cook is I open up a cookbook and read page by page until I find one that I'm interested in.
2) use the suppers for a year cookbook. There are some awesome recipes in there.
3) set an alarm or two to ensure that you will start to cook at the right time. I would set 2 for myself. One to warn me that the second one is going to ring in a couple minutes and at the second one I can't press snooze.

nyer1

Wed, Dec 03 2014, 1:47 pm

I am far from being super organized but I started this two weeks ago and I can't believe how much my life has already changed for the better.

I basically did all my food prep on sunday night.
chopped veggies. washed and checked lettuce. breaded chicken cutlets. made a soup. put together a casserole.

then, everything just needed to be actually cooked (but with EXTREMELY limited prep time) or simply reheated. it worked really well. the soup I served only one night and froze the rest in separate batches, will probably take out one for shabbos. I didn't plan much for thursday because when I'm cooking for shabbos (which I'm also trying to cook in bulk and freeze small portions of kugels etc) , but thursday will be something SUPER easy like grilled cheese or pasta or the like.

here was my menu for this week just to give a sense
monday: chicken cutlets with a big salad and roasted potatoes
tuesday: baked (frozen) tilapia filets with broccoli florets and cut up sweet potatoes
wednesday: milchigs - bean burritos w cheese, guacamole, rice, salsa, sour cream and salad
thursday: pasta or grilled cheese and leftover fish

amother

Wed, Dec 03 2014, 2:05 pm

just wanted to let you know this is one of my major struggles. and I'm a sahm now. I always blamed it on working, but I'm home now and still struggle to make regular food for me and DH. the kids don't eat regular supper food and takeout gets expensive! its hard to think about making two diff. suppers each night.

I've started prepping the raw chicken and meat so it goes faster. like I made meatballs and froze them so I just need to cook up a sauce and make spaghetti. I cleaned chickens so I just need to sprinkle spices and stick in the oven. I try to make soups and freeze in containers so I can just take out and re-heat. I've been better than I was lately with these things, but its still hard.

For my kids, we just do simple breakfast and lunch food, that's all they eat anyway and its really fast to prepare at the last minute. I try to cut up peppers and cucumbers or some fruit with it, but honestly it doesn't always happen and they don't always eat it.

We do:
1. pasta & cheese
2. tuna & rolls
3. pancakes & yogurt
4. French toast
5. toast and scrambled eggs
6. pizza from the store or frozen pizza
7. sometimes breaded chicken cutlets and rice
8. Shabbos chicken on the bone they eat on Friday night.

amother

Wed, Dec 03 2014, 2:49 pm

Challenging for me too. Cooking is so boring unless you're trying something new, but if it's a new recipe people probably won't eat it. So cooking is just the same old same old boring boring boring. But I try to consciously let myself feel the joy of nourishing my family, I thank Hashem for giving me strength and health to cook, and thank Him for giving me food to prepare, and it helps a lot.

I try to make double what we need and serve the same supper the next night, or use it differently. Like tonight is vegetarian chili, cornbread muffins, and salad. Tomorrow I can either serve leftovers or use the leftover chili to make burritos.

So cook Sun, eat leftovers Mon; cook Tue, eat leftovers Wed. Thurs is something easy that everyone will eat, like ww pasta (dh might have a veggie burger instead). Voila.

myself

Wed, Dec 03 2014, 3:00 pm

Do you have time on Sunday? I usually purchase a large amount of chicken/meat to last me several weeks and then prepare them as follows -

~ Clean chicken bottoms and cut as required. Take a roasting bag or foil tin, place cut up onions at the bottom, place chicken on top and add spices / marinade / sauce. Freeze. A few hours before supper you take it out of the freezer, place it in the oven and voila, fresh chicken.
~ Bread all chicken cutlets and freeze in single layer (you can put parchment paper on top and then keep layering until they're all done). Once they are frozen toss them all in one container or freezer bag and then take out how ever many you need on the day. Bake or Fry straight from the freezer. I find this perfect for unexpected guest that way I always have a decent meal in no time.
~ Prepare meat/chicken ball mixture. I know some people freeze the balls raw but I prefer to cook them immediately. Once cooked I divide them per meal.
~ I also often cook a large amount of goulash for an hour of two and freeze. On the day I defrost on the stove and continue cooking for another hour, then I add potatoes (sometimes some vegetables too) and cook for another 45 minutes.
~ Chicken and/or carcasses for chicken soup get cleaned and bagged according to the amount needed per week so on Thursday all I need to do is take one bag out of the freezer and add it to the boiling water.

Adding a side dish doesn't take all that much time so prep time is drastically cut on the day.

Raisin

Wed, Dec 03 2014, 3:58 pm

I don't really have a menu but sunday or monday is something based on shabbos leftovers, (eg chicken pot pie) one night is usually something with ground meat, another night chicken breast, another night pasta for kids and salmon for me and dh. Less often I do lentil curry, hot dogs, pizza, fried fish, lasagna, eggplant parm etc. we might eat the same food twice on occasion if I made a lot. Motzei shabbos is often eggs and chips. (still fleishig but no one wants to eat meat again)

Something like meat sauce is great to make a lot of and freeze for another meal.