Cooking dinner with new baby

westchestermom

Sat, Oct 26 2019, 6:04 pm

I'm trying to start getting my head ready for my return to work from maternity leave because I'm a planner; otherwise I will have anxiety. Anyway, I usually get home from work around 3:30 PM, which gives me half an hour to prep dinner before the kids come home at 4. By then dinner is cooking and I can go through the handouts, talk about their day, help with homework and talk about plans for the next day. They come home starving and often want to eat a full dinner as soon as it's ready - before 4:30. I used to lay out cut veggies and hummus or stuff like that but now we live in the middle of nowhere and I can't even buy a veggie tray without driving 15 minutes each way so I'd have to take the time to cut it up. If there's nothing ready they start looking for junk food until I give them something filling. I'm not used to doing a big Sunday meal prep thing - I usually buy whatever produce looks fresh and a couple of cuts of meat and cook dinner fresh each day. I can see that I'm going to have to change and maybe cook twice a week or so, otherwise risk eating sandwiches or scrambled eggs now that I'll be nursing the baby as soon as I come in the door. My husband is willing to help but he's a terrible cook. He can prep or put stuff in the oven, make grilled cheese, etc. He does all laundry, cleaning, pickups and dropoffs.
Does anyone have a good plan for cooking ahead and being organized? I'm afraid to make a meal plan and then those ingredients don't look good in the store or that particular type of meat is sold out? I'm used to doing it more last minute. I really want to focus on the baby after work and maintain my milk supply and our breastfeeding relationship. She's my last one!

amother

Sapphire

Sat, Oct 26 2019, 6:11 pm

Plan on doing nothing when home with a baby whose awake. All cooking could and should be done while baby sleeps (either the night before or bulk on Sunday during nap time) cooking the night Of Is NOT a plan

Oh and meal plan based on what is on sale and looks good, not the other way around

You got this momma

applesbananas

Sat, Oct 26 2019, 6:16 pm

Do u have 5-10 mins in the morning to put up a crock pot dinner? Here are 2 favorites.

1. Layer 1 cup rice, 2 cups water. Sprinkle consume mix for flavor. A bag of frozen broccoli, chicken on the bone. On low all day

2. Chicken on the bone or flanken. Potatoes and carrots (drop more time consumming cuz needs peeling and cutting) a can of tomato sauce and water to cover generously. Salt, pepper, garlic

Tzutzie

Sat, Oct 26 2019, 6:20 pm

Can you prep dinner on Sunday and just stick it in the oven when you get home?
Like I made breaded cutlets to be baked. I prepared it like I would put in the oven. On parchment paper and all.
Froze it. Put it straight from freezer into the oven. I just baked it longer.... same with fushirt, chicken bottoms....
Sides, depends on what you family eats.
Like I'd make the crumb mixture for mock shlishkes and freeze it in a 32oz container.
Then all I needed to do was boil the pasta. Strain, add the Crumbs.....
Lots of soups in the freezer too.... one big big pot of soup every Sunday. Freeze in containers about how much you family will eat, if you make one every Sunday, you should be able to alternate every night.

westchestermom

Sat, Oct 26 2019, 6:28 pm

I think my other problem is that I'm not good at repurposing leftovers. I will make a lot of something, like a tray of chicken breasts for fajitas with peppers, and then I blank on what else to do with it. Somehow when I'm staring at the container of chicken I don't realize that I should mix some with pasta and garlic and oil, or have it over salad. Everyone gets bored of the chicken and then wants takeout. Maybe I should be freezing leftovers, but my husband likes to eat hot lunches so he usually has at least part of it during the day and that's another reason I don't want to serve it again for dinner.

amother

Peach

Sat, Oct 26 2019, 6:29 pm

sundays I serve leftovers from shabbos (I cook more on purpose, so that we have leftovers)
monday and thursday I make crockpot dinners (I set the crockpot before I leave the house in the morning, takes 5 minutes)
tuesdays and wednesdays I EITHER cook the night before (something simple) when kids all sleep OR have frozen food in the fridge from my bulkcooking which I do about once per month (I cook for almost an entire day, food kids love and are freezable, SOUPS; GULASH; BOLOGNESE; SCHNITZEL; KZIKZOT; LASAGNA; ROASTBEEF; PANCAKES; WAFFLES...
I cook a lot in bulk many things simultanously.

I only cut up some veggies to go with the dinner or cut up fruit for dessert.

this way I have tons of ready food, im never anxious I cant serve sponatious guests, my kids after school, I can send food to kimpeturim etc.

grocery shopping ONCE PER WEEK (plus one more time for fresh produce) - I go tuesdays, I mealplan monday night and this way I am hardly every stressed out about dinners, breakfast or schoolsnacks.

I just know what to buy on tuesday INCLUDING EVERYTHING. (bread fr a week, milchgs, meat, condiments, drinks, veggies, fruit, diapers, paperware, flour, sugar, oil etc.)

sounds complicated, but in reality this routine saves me so many nerves and time and maybe even money???

dont implement all tricks, but some might work for you.
hazlacha, u got this!

westchestermom

Sat, Oct 26 2019, 6:37 pm

Since I'm still on maternity leave I want to start freezing stuff now - I actually have meals I cooked in August still frozen but not much left. What soups are quick and easy? I usually make roasted red pepper butternut squash and potato leek but I don't think potatoes will freeze well. My only limitation is my oldest girl hates mushrooms, but otherwise I would have tons of ideas like hot and sour soup, mushroom barley, etc.

mha3484

Sat, Oct 26 2019, 7:21 pm

After my 4th was born I embraced Sunday meal prep. I make dinner for Monday Tuesday and Wednesday. Thursday I make an easy pasta or something from the grocery store freezer. Any week I skip it and decide to wing it I regret it majorly. Other bonuses are my kitchen stays much cleaner and my kids like knowing what’s for dinner each night.

I’m not super organized to collect the recipes, make a shopping list and organize the actual cooking so it was with it for me to sign up for prep and rally. She offers a month free to see if it works for you. If your more organized then me then you can skip it and do it yourself.

emzod42

Sat, Oct 26 2019, 7:32 pm

If you don't want to do Sunday meal prep, can you prep the night before? For me, even getting the pot/pans that I'll need for dinner saves me time--I'll leave the spaghetti on the counter and fill my pasta pot before I leave for work so I can just turn it on to boil when I get home. If I need to peel/chop veggies, I'll do that the night before and leave in the fridge. I know someone who actually cooks dinner the night before so it can be warmed the next night. That might work for you.

amother

Amethyst

Sat, Oct 26 2019, 7:38 pm

westchestermom wrote:

Potato leek soup freezes wonderfully
I also freeze
Split pea
Bean soups
Lentils
Onion soup
Mushroom barley soup (of ur daughter doesn't like mushrooms you can make a veggy barley soup without mushrooms)

aycg

Sat, Oct 26 2019, 7:39 pm

When I worked I’d make a soup and meatballs Sunday and freeze. Also, whenever I breaded cutlets I’d bread more then I needed and froze them raw so I can just bake or fry when I get home. Sides I’d put up as soon as I got home like rice, mashed potatoes, baked cubed potatoes.. doesn’t take long. Chicken Marsala freezes very well I love pulling that out of the freezer too.

westchestermom

Sun, Oct 27 2019, 1:52 am

I started cooking simple meals in the third week things to put in the oven etc. My husband asked me to buy something that needed to be fried in batches and I said absolutely not. My mother in law was very kind and brought us dinners about 5 or 6 times for the first 2 weeks but I didn't expect it. I had about 3 weeks worth of food in the freezer I cooked ahead and I still have about a weeks worth left. I'm 5 weeks postpartum now and I still haven't done laundry, vacuumed or any heavy chores. I think it really helped my recovery and it's because I made my husband see how important it was to my mood with the hormones and getting the overwhelmed feeling. I'm tired but happy and have enough energy to care about the little things with my older girls.

Aylat

Sun, Oct 27 2019, 2:27 am

westchestermom wrote:

1) I used to lay out cut veggies and hummus or stuff like that but now we live in the middle of nowhere and I can't even buy a veggie tray without driving 15 minutes each way so I'd have to take the time to cut it up.
....

2) ...otherwise risk eating sandwiches or scrambled eggs now that I'll be nursing the baby as soon as I come in the door.

...

3) I really want to focus on the baby after work and maintain my milk supply and our breastfeeding relationship. She's my last one!

1) Cut veg will last in the fridge overnight or even for a couple of days if you have time to do it in the evening.

2) Nothing wrong with scrambled eggs or sandwiches, especially at the moment! Tuna/corn, sliced boiled eggs/lettuce (prepare lettuce and eggs at beginning of week and keep separately in fridge) sandwiches make a balanced meal: carb, protein and veg.

3) Good for you!