Dysfunctional Dinner Time?

Yeah, just a bit. My sweet husband called tonight to ask if it was okay to hang out with the guys. If he had been here I would have been shoving him out the door and the poor lad thought I was doing him a favor. So we had chicken tenders, yum.

To add to my patheticness he is bringing me home a bottle of Barley Wine!!!! I get my favorite beer and didn't have to cook!!! Life just doesn't get better than that!

This is why it's always good to have some Marie Calenders in the freezer for the "just in case I don't feel like cooking" nights.

I do understand what you are going through...

times like these it is nice to have a meal in the freezer, ready to cook, or at least basic ingredients prepped so you can do a quick meal.

I like to have ground beef already cooked in the freezer, so all I have to do is pull it out, thaw it, and make something... sloppy joes, quick casserole, a beef and noodles dish, something like that.

Long ago, when I made meatloaf, (I haven't for a long time), I would use 2 lbs, and make 2 loaves. (I don't like using a pan, I just shape it myself and put it on a cooking rack in a pan.. I don't like it soaking in the grease the entire time it cooks.) That way, we would eat one meatloaf for dinner, and I would freeze the other, for a relatively quick meal when I need one handy.

I also frequently have chicken cooked and chopped in the freezer, also, in meal size bags. That can be the basis of a quick meal, also.

I realize sometimes it is hard to get it together and create the meal.... maybe these suggestions will help!

Also, there is nothing wrong with having sandwiches for dinner.... just throw a blanket on the floor and have a "living room picnic" ... fun!

My dysfunctional habit is paper plates, plastic forks, and paper cups. Sometimes they get a dinner of crackers, salami, cheese and pickles.

Um, I also have 3 kids and my husband is not home until late. Tonight I want to pull my hair out. Screaming baby, 3 year old and 6 year old fighting while trying to make dinner and do homework makes me want to drink....A LOT.

I would do something easy, scrambled eggs and fruit
grilled cheese and cherry tomatos
cheerios, and P.B. crackers and fruit

Yep. Kids were crying tonight for cereal and milk.lol..... So guess what they had for dinner?? Cereal and milk. And they ate a good 2-4 bowls each. Plus they had a garlona bar and juice earlier after school as a snack. And I have three kids under the age of 5 also. And know the feeling. Once in a while I do something like this,most of the time I cook,or cook something fast and easy. Busy mommy of 3!! :)

Actually no, I have never done that. But I have figured out an easy schedule that works for me. I only cook "dinner" on Mon, Tues and Wed and make extra for leftovers. Thursday is leftover night from the prior 3 days. Friday is ALWAYS pizza and salad for family movie night. Depending on what is going on during the weekend depends on what I cook but its usually easy things like burgers, hot dogs, sandwiches, pasta, etc. And I dont cook at ALL on Sunday. I also have a Word doc that I have cut and pasted tons of "easy" recipes into. If you or anyone else wants it, just message me your email address and I'll be happy to send it. Good luck!

Once a week we have "kids choice" I love it ( and its tonight :D). The kids get to pick the menu... tonight was ramen noodle, peaches and lettuce salad. What a great menu huh? lol But atleast its kinda healthy. Other choices have been mac and cheese. sandwiches . pizza. microwave meals etc. sometimes its more of a hassle because of the reasons you just said, but atleast its only once a week.

You are definitely not alone! Hang in there!

NO, you're not the only one. I always felt like a horrible mother when it happened, but really I know that I'm not. It is just part of life. It won't cause your kids to develop some disease because they ate snacks all day once in a while. Obviously it isn't a habit you want to fall into on a regular schedule, but if it happens once a month then I wouldn't beat myself up over too badly. This time period will pass (cause it might happen a few times, but it won't continue to go on forever) and you will go a LONG time before you get caught in this again. Usually one day of this was enough guilt to keep me from letting it happen again for awhile... a few weeks at least, lol. But really, there was maybe a 6 month span where I just didn't seem to be able to keep everything "working"... and when we got past whatever it was that had me "off my game" then it wasn't an issue anymore.
When all else fails, make breakfast for dinner: Scrambled eggs, grits and toast with some fresh fruit (I ALWAYS keep an apple to slice on hand and a bag of seedless grapes). They get good protein, and fresh fruit and fiber and enjoy it b/c breakfast for dinner is quite a novelty. ;)

Tonight (my husband is gone this week too) my son looked at his plate and said - "this is dinner? It looks like lunch.". Ha!

I just didn't feel like making dinner and listening to all 3 of my kids complain about what I made, how it was presented, why I made it, if they had to eat it, etc.

USUALLY I make a from scratch dinner for my family. We have a huge garden, I make lots of fresh vegetables, healthy heathy stuff. Even I get burned out on the whole thing once and a while.

My kids are close together (they are now 6, 4, and 2). I will tell you it get's easier as they get older. You'll get it together.

Things that help me are:
Make a menu for the week. Shop for the menu and follow it. Put things on the menu that you can make two meals from (roasted chicken one night, chicken taco's the next). Give yourself a break from things and order a pizza once and a while (look for a coupon). Try to find things that everyone will eat, and make it once a week (for us it's spaghetti - I make my sauce from scratch and it's so nice to know that at least that night no one complains). Plan "sandwich" night. It's easy, and there aren't many dishes.

Three kids under 5 are hard... I know because I just did that :) It will get better.

J.

(((((Hug)))))

It'll get better. Really. Hang in (and I don't know what I'd do without my dishwasher! you poor thing!)

Ummm...yup! sounds like my life...

I would seriously think about using or geting (if you don't have one) a crock pot. You take 5 minutes to throw some stuff in there in the morning and voila...at dinnertime everything is done. no stress & no worries! i have found lots of kid friendly recipes that mine love and it's so less stressful than scrambling when i get home from work to figure something out cause the kids are starving :)

And Amen to the living room "sandwich" picnic! we do that all the time! PB&J! haha

Heck, yeah! I cannot seem to get out of the kitchen most days. My hubby is gone all week, so I'm in the same boat as you are. Thank goodness school is in session, now I have only my tot at home. As I write this response to your post, my 6 year old is asking me if I will make him mac n cheese tomorrow morning so that he can have it for lunch at school! With little kids, I keep the meals as simple and healthy as possible. I get packages of the Tyson chicken strips, ground beef to make spaghetti, tacos, hamburger helper. I always keep yogurt, applesauce, bananas, graham crackers, goldfish, Campbells soups, and stuff for grilled cheese sandwiches on hand. I don't even try to do any "real" cooking from scratch anymore--I take whatever little time I have to relax and log on to Mamapedia!

I was having a bad allergy day. When my husband came home tonight, I told him I felt too sick to cook and I wish someone would just hand me a bowl of soup. Well, he didn't quite do that, but we went out for thai food. I had tofu vegetable soup, and he and our son split a dish of rice noodles, lettuce, and chicken. Relatively cheap, healthy, really fast, and I didn't have to cook. Afterwards we went to the Chucky Cheese next door since our son had finished his homework early at school.