Five-minute dinners

amother

Wed, May 05 2021, 5:28 pm

Had an epiphany today, and realized I only manage to serve a proper dinner if it takes less than ten minutes to prepare. (Shabbat leftovers or shnitzels or something.) Otherwise the kids find their own food or wait until DH gets home to help out.

I need five-minute ideas that aren't too expensive.

We can't do shnitzels, frozen pizza, and hot dogs every day. Kids love salad but fight while I make it (or over who makes it). I can't stand over the stove because while I do that they fight cats and dogs. So it needs to be something that I can do really fast. Nothing that requires freezing because we have a kid who raids the freezer - if I make enough pancakes for a month there will be none left in two weeks because the kid will eat them in the middle of the night.

Ideas please.

mha3484

Wed, May 05 2021, 5:41 pm

Any kind of tacos
Korean beef bowl https://damndelicious.net/2013.....-bowl
There are lots of dump recipes for the crockpot and instant pot that are great
Also you can roast extra chicken when you cook for shabbos and repurpose it so many ways

amother

Wed, May 05 2021, 5:45 pm

mom! wrote:

1 cup rice 2 cups water chicken legs and generous sprinkle of onion soup mix. Cover and bake.

Forgot to mention.
Two kids won't eat beef.
Two kids won't eat chicken.
One kid won't eat cheese (other than on pizza).

amother

Wed, May 05 2021, 5:46 pm

mha3484 wrote:

Some of my kids really like to help me make dinner. Have you tried that with your kids so they dont fight?

So they fight over place at the counter or the table, who does what, etc. It can be done but takes an hour and then I have no energy to be patient getting them to bed.

amother

Smokey

Wed, May 05 2021, 5:48 pm

You can do tacos. One meat filling and one chicken filling. They cook quickly.

Serve with taco shells and store bought guacamole and salsa.

amother

Coffee

Wed, May 05 2021, 5:51 pm

amother [ Smokey ] wrote:

You can do tacos. One meat filling and one chicken filling. They cook quickly.

Serve with taco shells and store bought guacamole and salsa.

How do you make the filling?

mha3484

Wed, May 05 2021, 5:52 pm

My kids love tofu. I made poke bowls monday with tofu and fake crab, sushi rice and different veggie that I had in the fridge. Everyone made their own bowl.

amother

Smokey

Wed, May 05 2021, 5:54 pm

amother [ Coffee ] wrote:

How do you make the filling?

Brown meat with either store bought taco seasoning or homemade (salt, pepper, garlic powder, chili powder, cumin). Once browned, add tomato sauce and cook for a few more minutes.

HeartyAppetite

Wed, May 05 2021, 6:03 pm

Chicken and brocolli
Fry chicken cubes, add
2 cloves garlic 1 cube ginger 3 T soy sauce 2 tsp honey 3/4 cup chicken broth cover and cook 5 min.
Add brocolli cover and cook 5 minutes
Then add 1/4 cup chicken broth with 2 tsp corn starch to thicken the sauce.

mha3484

Wed, May 05 2021, 6:07 pm

One thing that really helps me is cooking on Sunday or Monday for Monday/Tues/Wed. Once my kids go to sleep I turn on some music or a podcast or I talk to my husband and I prepare different components to turn into meals during the week. Its really helpful to not worry about dinner when I come home from work.

amother

Pumpkin

Wed, May 05 2021, 6:19 pm

In a pan or dutch oven:
Canned potatoes or rice/quinoa with water.
Chicken legs or drumsticks (I leave skin on)
Any frozen veggies you choose
Spices or sauce you choose

Bake 2 hours at 350

FranticFrummie

Wed, May 05 2021, 6:23 pm

This will sound like an extreme measure, but it might just do the job.

If you have any room in your house at all, get an extra freezer, and get a padlock for it. Then you can cook large batches of food all at once, and freeze portions. Chili, healthy soups, casseroles, the possibilities are endless. It takes just as much energy to make one quart of soup, as it does to make two quarts.

You can even hire someone to come to your home and cook all of this for you, and stock you up. I do this for people from time to time. Home chefs generally charge about as much as a good cleaning lady. If cooking is your nemesis, it's worth it to have a full freezer for the month.

Then LOCK IT UP so the kids don't raid it. Keep the key somewhere that they won't find it and can't reach. (Bonus, they won't eat all the ice cream in the house when you're not looking.)

amother

Ivory

Wed, May 05 2021, 6:44 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

Forgot to mention.
Two kids won't eat beef.
Two kids won't eat chicken.
One kid won't eat cheese (other than on pizza).

1- kids don't need to have protein for dinner every day. You can do a diff protein every day and they can make it up other days.
2 - you can have cold cuts or something like that to make up for it.

amother

Floralwhite

Wed, May 05 2021, 7:00 pm

Put teriyaki or spices on salmon on a sheet pan. Put french fries or tater tots on a second pan. Put 1 or 2 bags of broccoli on a third sheet pan drizzle with oil, garlic powder and salt. Bake all at 400. Salmon needs 20 min the rest a little longer.

Slice peppers, onion, and sausages drizzle with oil and basil bake on a sheet pan at 400 . Serve in bagettes.

Lasagna can be made without boiling the noodles first. Just layer sauce noodles and cheese mixture ( container cottage cheese, cup of shredded cheese, one egg, salt) add a cup of water to the pan, cover tightly and bake for at least an hr

Brown 1.5 lbs ground beef in a large pan add marinara sauce, some water, and most of a box of raw pasta. Simmer until the noodles are soft

Lentil or pea or bean soup and garlic bread

Baked seasoned potato halves, tuna salad, pickles and cut fresh veggies or canned corn or baby corn.

violet1

Wed, May 05 2021, 7:13 pm

Baked beans and omelette.
Baked potato
Stir fry using frozen vegetables
And I like couscous or bulgur for sides because you just pour boiling water over it and leave it. No worrying about burning it while dealing with fighting kids...