Please help me manage

amother

Sun, Jun 13 2021, 10:17 pm

I'm wondering if anyone can help. I grew up in a mildly dysfunctional home... Dinners were pretty much nonexistent and the house was on wheels. I'm having a very difficult time managing my own home and it is seriously depressing me. I've never seen what a normal home looks like and don't know where to begin. I bought several cookbooks but most of the ingredients were either ingredients I've never heard of or loaded with sugar. I'd rather feed my family sugar during snack time vs during dinner. I can't figure out what to cook for my family. I have no recipes or ideas of what to cook. In addition, I can't figure out a cooking system that works. I work all day and then start preparing dinner. The food is only ready right before bedtime when the kids already loaded up on snacks and are not interested anymore. Can anyone share what meals (without sugar) work for their families and what cooking system they have in place? I would greatly appreciate it.

Frumwithallergies

Sun, Jun 13 2021, 10:27 pm

There was a thread here a while ago about dinners (not the 'what's for dinner' thread but a thread with 365 recipes, one for every day of the year, or so I think.
I looked but couldn't find it for you.

I am sure that some talented Ima will find and post the link.

One of my strategies is to find 10-14 recipes that my family loves and that I approve. I keep those staples in the house and rotate those recipes most frequently.
Hatzlacha. I am still learning, after 15+ years.

amother

Sunflower

Sun, Jun 13 2021, 10:58 pm

I aim for supper to be same time every night 530-6. They get dessert after (2 cookies or something)

Schnitzel and sliced vegetables
Mac and cheese (I like making with fresh pasta and cheese) and whatever fruit or vegetable they eat
Dr pragers broccoli or spinach dinosaurs and fish sticks
Chicken and rice - different varieties
Baked ziti
Sloppy Joe’s

Quick and easy has good easy recipes

amother

Seafoam

Sun, Jun 13 2021, 11:05 pm

What time do you get home? What can you prep in advance and have in the freezer?

I never use sugar in real food, I usually replace with honey or maple syrup depending what it is. Some staple dinners in my house are:
Sweet and sour meatballs
Schnitzel
Grilled chicken
Pasta and meat sauce
Tuna patties
Sloppy joes
Tacos
Pizza
Pasta and cheese
Paninis

For snacks, I would say have a healthful snack that includes a protein ready when everyone gets home and aim to serve supper at 6 and no other snacks.

amother

Nasturtium

Sun, Jun 13 2021, 11:11 pm

I make a huge batch of meatballs and freeze them in dinner size portions. On the night I want to use it, I just empty one bag into a pot with tomato sauce and water to warm up, and make spaghetti in another pot. Easy and quick.

ra_mom

Sun, Jun 13 2021, 11:24 pm

Is it possible to season 4 raw proteins after going shopping and freezing them, so they're ready to bake?
Put frozen in the oven in the morning. Set it to delay bake so it turns on before you come home. It will thaw until the oven turns on.
It's very nice to come home to hot dinner.

tichellady

Mon, Jun 14 2021, 2:14 am

Prep and rally might be good for you ( https://prepandrally.com/). I didn’t like it but it sounds like it might be useful for your situation.

I think you need to find a time to start cooking, either on the weekend or day off so you can have dinner ready before you get home. When I worked I made a pot of soup, lasagna or quiche and a chicken, bean or tofu dish over the weekend for the week and then would make a quick salad or rice, veggie etc after work. The day I did Shabbat shopping I would also buy fish and we would have fish and brown rice or sweet potatoes and broccoli for dinner that night. There are also lots of crockpot or instant pot recipes that you can prep the night before - chicken, meat, beans etc and put up before work. Do you have a husband or kids who can also do some cooking?

Dina2018

Mon, Jun 14 2021, 3:12 am

I also would advise crockpot, preparing everything at the evening (meat / chicken/ vegetables / potatoes), empty the bag into the crockpot before going to work, returning hone to a warm dinner. Also generally cook dinner the night before and reheating the next day is another idea if you don‘t want to freeze. Make a list of what you think is easy and children would eat.

amother

NeonPink

Mon, Jun 14 2021, 8:43 am

I make a weekly menu and grocery list every Wednesday including shobbos food and then get delivery for Thursday. If you need more time for dinner cut up some fruit for the kids to nosh on when they get home so they don't go running for the snacks.

Some easy dinners:
You can serve any with salad, coleslaw, or cut veggies
Chicken and rice
Soup and garlic bread
Salmon, tater tots, broccoli
Meatballs ( make a big batch and freeze half for another day) and spaghetti
Sushi bowls- Salmon/ Kani, sushi rice, avocado, cucumber, carrot, sauces
Prebreaded schnitzel from the store baked and sweet potato rounds
Baked spiced potato halves, tuna salad, cut veggies and pickles
Pasta with meat sauce in one pot
Crockpot stew

amother

Burntblack

Mon, Jun 14 2021, 9:13 am

Basically you want a protein, starch or veg, and soup or salad, plus bread and a spread for whomever doesn’t like dinner

Protein
Meatballs / Meat loaf
Beef - pepper steak, steak, shredded
Baked chicken
Shnitzel
Fish
Cottage cheese
Eggs

Starch
Bread/rolls
Rice
Pasta
Potato
Couscous

Veg- too many to name- pick favorites

Salad- something leafy

Soup- big batch in the freezer - some of my favorite - I try to keep these parve so I can use for dairy and meat. In a parve pot
Red lentil
Butternut squash
Chunky vegetable
Ministroni

So mix and match - meat loaf, mash potato, corn on the con, green salad

Another thing I did when the kids were little was to put together a 6 day menu
Sunday chicken
Monday meatloaf
Tuesday omelets
Wednesday shnitzel
Thursday Mac and cheese
Friday (lunch) Lasagna

Frumme

Mon, Jun 14 2021, 10:40 am

Love Burntblack's advice! OP, you can do this!

A meal should have protein, veg or fruit, carb. It's ok if occasionally one is missing, depending on what was eaten earlier in the day (for example, carb heavy dinner is ok if lunch was carb light or carb free)

What I love to do and what really helps is to menu plan and then repeat the menu. Yes it can be boring but it's reliable especially when you work all day. Things that are super helpful but not necessary: rice cooker & crockpot. Both of these you can set earlier in the day to be ready later (delayed start on rice cooker & long cooking soups in crock pot)

Example menu
Sunday: broiled salmon, rice, & zucchini
Monday: pizza with Israeli salad & melon
Tuesday: taco Tuesday!
Wednesday: pasta Bolognese with side salad
Thursday: rice or pasta stir fry with leftover veggies from the past week. Add egg for protein