As my kids have grown older cooking dinner has become a lot more enjoyable. E and Mimi are old enough to either help with the simple parts or stay out of my hair which are both good options 😉
Another thing that makes dinner easier is that the kids are both fairly adventurous eaters, especially E. I try (sometimes more successfully than others) to stick to the general principles of the Satter method and the kids get the same food that N and I eat. If we’re having something I’m really not sure they’ll eat I’ll put some fruit or toast on their plate but we don’t make them something separate.
Unfortunately, I’m not one of those cooks who can take a look at my pantry and whip up something on the spur of the moment; I need to plan in advance or else I feel overwhelmed and end up feeding the kids something frozen and then getting takeout for N and I after they’re in bed :/ N is great at cooking up a meal with what we have and we used to take turns with dinner (which I really loved), but he doesn’t get home until after 6pm so making dinner falls to me during the week since we want to eat together with the kids.
Anyway, this is what I have so far for this week:
Monday – Spicy Roasted Chicken Thighs* with brown rice and a veggie side–edamame? green salad? Not sure yet.
Tuesday – Easy Slow Cooker Pulled Pork This is my favorite pulled pork recipe. I make it whenever I see pork butt on sale and then freeze leftovers to make enchiladas. This week we’ve having it on hamburger buns with a cabbage slaw.
Wednesday – Sweet and Tangy Sesame Noodles* On paper this seems like something everyone will like but we’ll see.
Thursday – probably something in the slow cooker since we spend a couple of hours going to the doctor for E’s weekly milk OIT updose and by the time we get home after 5pm I’m wiped out from driving home in rush hour traffic.
Fridays – leftovers or takeout
* = First time making this recipe.
That’s all I have so far. How about you? Are you a planner, or do you like to play dinner by ear?
Our dinner mean routine greatly varies depending upon our season of life. We now have a newborn so having crock pot meals that I don’t have to think about at night, when I might need to suddenly nurse when I should be prepping dinner, is ideal. I’m actually gathering crock pot recipes that I can prep ahead in freezer bags and pull out out the freezer as needed. Actually wishing I had started that at the end of my pregnancy. Before that I did meal planning around our calendar, which was a great success for us. It also meant I couldn’t fall back on chicken, my fav, all the time and encouraged me to get more beef, hubby’s fav, into our menu.
I didn’t know you had a newborn–congratulations! What great news! I haven’t tried freezer-to-crockpot recipes but it sounds so convenient. If you have any favorite recipes I’d love to see them 🙂