We have fallen into a rut and been having too much fast food. My husband recently started a job where we both get home at 5. We're used to eating about 5:30. He has a genetic disorder that means he can't eat much with a high iron content, so most of the time red meats, spinach, etc is out. He also has severe acid reflux, so things with much spice are out. We have a 1 year old and an 8 year old. I am a pretty picky eater, but willing to go hungry if the rest of the family has food. I'm also willing to do a little prep the night before if that helps. I have a slow cooker, but the recipes all seem to be for 5-6 hours, and I leave for work at 6:55 and don't get home until 5, so about 10 hours. If anyone has great recipes that could fit our weirdo dietary needs that I could have on the table in 30 minutes or less, that would be so wonderful. I would be happy to use the slow cooker if recipes could handle 10 hour cook times. Thank you so much in advance.
Hi S B,
Quick Mac and Cheese. Melt 3 tablespoons.of butter in oven bowl or container. Add one package of noodles (i.e elbows, small shells, or whatever you want) uncooked coat them with melted butter.Then add 16 oz of Colby and Monterrey jack cheese.Mix together. Add enough milk to cover and then bake at 325 for 45-60 mins.Stir and serve.
A slow cooker really is your friend. Many recipes that sasy 5-6 hours will be just fine if left longer. You can always add a little extra water just to be safe. Maybe try one out on a weekend and see how it goes. Also, you can buy a slow cooker that has a timer and a warm setting. Many of the newer models have a timer so that you can set it to cook on low for 5 hours and then switch to warm. That way it will keep your food warm (and perfectly safe) until you get home.
Personally, I'm a big fan of casseroles and other foods that are good when warmed up. When I have time, I like to cook a few dinners on Sunday and then heat them up each night. I also like to cook pasta and rice ahead of time and just warm it up when the rest of the meal is ready.
I have found some great recipes in the "Fix It and Forget It" cookbooks.
Since you have so many restrictions, it would be easier for you to google or look on Pinterest. I have a few quick meals I can do. I keep premade tostada shells and refried beans in the pantry. I always have cheese and lettuce and this is a quick meal in just a few minutes and everyone in the family likes them. I also do chili-mac...make 2 boxes mac n cheese and add 2 cans chili, heat and eat with green beans or salad. Those are my 2 fastest meals in a pinch.
I also will brown 5-6# of hamburger at a time and freeze in 1# servings in zip baggies. Then it's ready to go quickly for tacos (use premade shells), enchiladas, sloppy joes, pastas, soup, etc. Same thing for chicken...cook a bunch of b/s breasts in the crockpot then chop up and freeze and do the same thing.
I am always on the lookout for quick recipes and when I find them, I copy and paste them into a word document so I have a huge collection. You can do the same and then try to see which ones your family likes and put them in a rotation. Also when you find something they like, see if you can double it and stick the second one in the freezer to use another time. I do this with meatloaf. Set it out to thaw then stick it in the oven when you get home. Good luck.
Pasta with chicken is pretty fast - boil the water. While the water is boiling, cut the chicken into bite-size pieces. When you add the pasta, quickly cook up the chicken on the stove, adding whatever seasoning you like. When everything is done cooking, drain the pasta and add it to the pan with the chicken. Dump some sauce on top and you're good to go.
For veggies, I will often buy the precut mix of broccoli, cauliflower and carrots. I just pour on a little olive oil and some seasoned salt and bake it for 10-15 minutes. You can do this while you're making the pasta and chicken.
Jack Daniels makes a really good pulled pork. It is pre-cooked and packaged, so all you have to do is heat it in the microwave. I buy some yummy bread and make sandwiches with that. It is perfect for the nights when we are out late for sports practice and have to have a quick dinner. It is not spicy, and my picky four year old loves it too.
We also have a rice cooker, so at least once a week we'll make rice in there, while cooking up some quick chicken and veggies stir-fry style on the stove.
My friend who works full time does a ton of cooking prep on the weekend. She plans all of her meals. She washes and cuts up all of her veggies and stores them separately for each meal. She marinates some chicken. She cuts up any meat that needs cutting. It saves her a ton of time since, on top of working full time, she has three boys who are all very active in sports.
The last suggestion I have is to make something big, like lasagna or a casserole, that you can eat twice in the same week. Having leftovers to just warm up is so nice!
We have a set schedule each week. Monday is sandwich night, Tuesday is Crockpot (because we have gymnastics) Wednesday is Tacos, Thursday is Salad and Friday is either leftovers or pizza. I never have to wonder what to make on a given night and we change up the type of sandwich (served with fresh fruit) each week and the type of taco. Shopping is easy, prep is easy. I wish I would have figured out this schedule years ago. I save anything complicated for weekend meals.
You can upgrade your crockpot to one with a delayed start, or set it on a timer. You could batch cook and reheat on weeknights. I think a talk with your husbands doctor, a nutritionist, or a trip to the library might be warranted for a condition specific cookbook.
A fast meal we enjoy is south Asian chicken. Cube chicken and sauté with garlic and onion. Add string beans, cherry tomatoes, pepper, mushrooms and pineapple or mango chunks and juice. Add coconut milk and curry and or siracha. Sprinkle with scallion and lime before serving over rice.
Best
F. B.
I think you're husband might need to make himself a sandwich or warm up his own food. I'd want the kids to eat normal food and have plenty of it. Please don't think I'm being mean to the hubby, my husband often makes a turkey and ham sandwich when he doesn't like what I made.
This way he can have a good meal that he can eat and still be with the family during meal times. You can make up a bunch of dishes of stuff on the weekend and then pop them in the oven or microwave when you come in or hubby comes in.
heres 2 of my favorite go to meals when i am pressed for time. if you got time to prep the chicken the night before it will cut your before meal prep time (or use canned chicken for the tacos) and you have a meal made in 10 min
(pm me if you want the breading recipe)
i cut up chicken breasts, bread them with crushed saltines (with parmesan, salt and pepper added) and fry them up in a pan of oil. then i drop in french fries and heat up a can of greenbeans (storebought works but we have home canned) and done. total time is 20 min.
boil a chicken breast till it reaches 180 inside, toss that into the kitchenaid with the paddle wand, sprinkle on thyme, garlic salt and pepper (you can add cayenne too if you want a bit of spice) make 1cup instant rice and add 2tbsp of lemon juice and 2 tbsp of soy sauce. then add black beans and cook till warm. add tortillas, lettuce, tomatoes, and cheese and taco night is done. about 20 minutes total time
The quick and easy dinners my kids love are all so typical. But they are always a hit. These meals are: tacos (your husband can have ground turkey instead of ground beef), spaghetti with garlic bread (the kind you get in the freezer section) you can buy chicken italian sausage, pesto pasta with shrimp (frozen shrimp, pesto from trader joes) with a salad, sandwiches, a frittata with a salad, a quick and easy mild curry (just using curry powder, a homemade cream sauce, sauteed chicken, veggies serve on rice, breakfast for dinner (pancakes, bacon, fruit), soup (when I roast a chicken I always make a big batch of homemade stock and save it in ziplock bags in the freezer. It's super quick to make homemade soup) with biscuits, sauteed pork chops, mashed potatoes, a veggie like steamed brocolli, sausage and potatoes (basically saute onions, potatoes and kielbasa sausage in a big pan), stir fry and rice, sauteed chicken, rice and a veggie. I love to make chili in the crockpot. My crockpot will turn on at a set time, so I can be gone all day and it will start cooking at noon. We bought this timer switch thing that you plug it into and then we set the time...it's easy! We pretty much never eat fast food...maybe once a year. It's just too easy to make a quick meal at home. I hope you have some good ideas. It's nothing too exciting...I have one very picky child and these are the kind of meals he loves.
Buy a new crock pot. They have ones for under $50 that switch to warm when the cooking is done. I used to leave at 615 and get home at 345, I used it 4 nights per week back then (two years ago). Now my husband works full-time from home so he can get things going when we need him to and have dinner ready when we need to eat, sometimes as early as 4.
But it sounds like you need to do a LOT of the prep work the night before, basically have everything ready to go. Meals should be easy (spaghetti , baked chicken, taco's, burgers, hot dogs, jambalaya, pork chops/tenderloin, etc). One of our usual go-to sides is Uncle Ben's steam rice bags...they are done in 90 seconds per bag and come in lots of flavors (we prefer the whole grain or farm vegetable). We also use a lot of steam bag vegetables. We make a fresh salad when we have time though.
You could also switch dinner time to around 6/615 and give the kids a small snack when they get home at 5 (apple, string cheese, yogurt).
I can also tell you that if we want something that takes more than 30-40 minutes to prep AND cook, we plan ahead and do it the night before, then just heat it up when it's time. I'm talking for things like stuffed shells or marinated meats.
We usually smoke meats over the weekend. Whole pork butts, whole chickens, brisket, and usually Sunday is Salmon. Sets up a whole week of foods. Any of those you can make in an oven, ya know? Since your family has unique needs you could cut up, dice, shred, different meats then add cooked veggies, sauces, even spices. Since each person can add what they need or want you control the add ons.
Not sure if that makes sense but you head up a meat and then make it the basis of each person's meal. That way there is no waste and everyone gets what they want.
Fritata in the oven.
6-8 eggs
Onions
Peppers (quick fry first - buy frozen if possible)
Tomatoes
Any veggies of choice - asparagus, peas, whatever
Cheese - 1 cup
MIx together and pour in a greased 8x8 or so pan.
20 mins on 350
YUM!!! Serve with a salad and some toast.
We use our indoor grill all the time when it is too cold to cook outside. Then for sides you could make a salad, cut up fruit or whatever.
