Give up on making meals!!

Diamond Member Joined: May 24 2007 Posts: 4622

ok I'm at my end...
I used to think I could cook - at least I cooked and people ate and I though it tasted good..
now my problem is I work mornings and afternoons and I'm expected to have supper on the table - how am I supposed to do everything..
plus whatever I make there's always a few that dont' like it.
I think even my husband doesn't like any of my cooking anymore..
he made a soup one time and all I could hear was how good it was but my food is always nothign.. I'm getting so discouraged..
today I took time off to make a good nutritious meal and it all burnt...
so ended opening up tuna and corn but only 2 kids would eat that --
im just so frustrated.... what am I supposed to do -- pizza every night??

Gold Member Joined: Jun 08 2007 Posts: 1330

I keep meals during the week very simple. Dont try to be fancy. Fresh simply prepared food is delicious and healthy.

Diamond Member Joined: May 24 2007 Posts: 4622

like what??
they are such picky eaters...

Gold Member Joined: Jun 08 2007 Posts: 1330

baked chicken with rice
fried fish
baked ziti
broiled Steaks
chicken salad
salmon or tuna patties
deli wraps
meatballs
meat loaf
hotdogs
hamburgers
fritata
I can go on and on.....

Posted: Tue, Jan 29 2008, 4:10 pm Post subject:

okay ... you just made cooking harder ...

some people are artists ... while other's need paint-by-number ...

go for the already made things ...

hotdogs & frozen fries or onion rings
fishsticks & canned corn
tuna sandwiches with fresh veggies
canned soup with frozen blintzes
eggs & toast

keep the detailed cooking for shabbos

if you want more you can learn to make burgers simply buy chopped meat and put in spices (garlic, pepper, oregano) and broil on low flipping over in between (if you want more flavor put some bbq sauce and sliced onions)

learn slowly to make simple stuff - but good stuff

I think a lot of it is in the spices - and of course keeping an eye on it so food doesn't burn ...
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don't wonder why people go crazy ... rather wonder why we don't
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NUTso but cute ~ things balance out Nervous

Gold Member Joined: Apr 23 2007 Posts: 2419

My mother who always worked full time would cook on Sunday for the week. She would make things that could be frozen or sit a few days in the fridge and then every night it was just a matter of popping it in the oven and cutting up a salad.

Platinum Member Joined: Mar 07 2007 Posts: 10429

If they ain't hungry for bread-and-butter (or tuna and corn, or cereal and milk, or american cheese and toast), they ain't hungry. And if they ain't hungry, they don't need dinner.

IF DH is such a connoisseur of fine food--let HIM make dinner.

Platinum Member Joined: Sep 10 2006 Posts: 6566

you could just always keep bread/peanut butter/cheese or cereal/milk for those who opt out of your dinner creation. It could be that they even bother complaining bc they know they can get alternatives...if they don't think there are alternatives than those above...well, there's nothing to complain about.

you are mommy not a short order cook! Smile

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Posted: Tue, Jan 29 2008, 9:46 pm Post subject: re: give up on making meals!!

NJ Mommy:
My mom used to say those very words!

My son sometimes likes to have cereal for supper. I cook a regular dinner for everyone, but he gets so finicky. and doesn't want to eat it..but cereal is healthy, so gezunteheit (no more battle over meals with him..I'm not going to win!)

Diamond Member Joined: Feb 20 2007 Posts: 4464

I'm not a working woman at the moment but very busy and I've found that it's possible to make multiple meals at a time and stock up the freezer. The trick is to find the things your kids will eat. I made a couple of weeks ago fried fish cutlets and a week ago vegetable soup. I took them out together made some home fries and voila that was dinner.

I have a book that talks about doing meals every 30 days. I'm not that good but I find that if I take the time, always make a double recipe I can fill my freezer pretty speedily. The book is good on advice but the recipes are blah or treyfe so I end up using my own recipes mostly successfully.

For instance I have now:

2 roast chickens
1 apricot chicken
1 batch of vegetable soup apportioned to containers
1 batch of schnitzel
1 meal of meatballs in sauce
1 medium and one small sweet lokshen kugel
2 small containers of mock chopped liver
Challahs

I keep to simple recipes for the most part with little patchke involved. I think the apricot chicken was the most patchke and that's because I heated up the sauce in a saucepan.

What I like about this system is that you make it work for you. You can do what the ladies do which is they take two days and do all the cooking for the month or you can each time you cook make double and freeze the rest. I do a combination of the two. I don't cook for a month (for one thing I don't have the freezer space)

If you want to try this sytem though the first thing you should do is write the things you make which your family really does like and will eat.

Hatzlacha Raba!

Posted: Tue, Jan 29 2008, 10:51 pm Post subject: re: give up on making meals!!

good point, bashinda

I have a tiny freezer, but I try to make what I can for the week. Even in the smallest places I can manage to fit something.

Diamond Member Joined: May 24 2007 Posts: 4622

I guess these are good ideas -
what do you server with burgers or cold cuts?
I feel like I have no time for anything - it's crazy.. maybe I'm just not organized - I really have to plan a week ahead so I know what to have in the house...

my kids would love to eat cereal every night but that's not real healthy...

Posted: Wed, Jan 30 2008, 10:30 am Post subject: re: give up on making meals!!

In my house where I work full time on Sundays I make a menu with the kids we all decide what should be for supper and then I prepare everything in advance and just stick it into the microwave. I also do a lot of cooking and freezing. Then when ever I have a busy day or week I know I have supper taken care of.

Diamond Member Joined: Feb 20 2007 Posts: 4464

cold cuts: rice or lokshen and a non starchy vegetable so you have a balanced protein, starch, vegi meal. Hamburgers if you serve with the bun I wouldn't add another starch but serve vegetables.

Also I try to do "one pot meals" whenever I can which has 2 out of 3 or all 3 areas in one meal. A stew for instance.

It takes planning and organization but bezras Hashem once you get started it gets easier. Also I sometimes have off nights. Eggs and potatoes and tomatoes also is a balanced meal and as somebody said sometimes frozen food from the store works.

also I make pizza dough (really simple) and keep it in the frezer but you can take pitas and make little pizzas. If you can get them to put vegis on the pizza that's not a bad meal!

Posted: Wed, Jan 30 2008, 11:06 am Post subject: re: give up on making meals!!

when I worked full time, I basically never made supper.
how was I supposed to do everything?
cmon...im not a machine
so we had takeout just about every night
pizza or Dougie's or Subsational or whatever
yeah it was crazy...but working full time was crazy too!
now I work part time and make yummy healthy suppers almost every night B"H!
so im totally in agreement with you that its nearly impossible to make suppers when working full time and still to maintain your sanity...
you should express this to your husband.

Silver Member Joined: May 06 2005 Posts: 698

Here is another idea ....crockpots are NOT just for cholent!!!!
I know a couple of people who actually use them for supper...what a novel idea!!!
In the morning, you can throw in some chicken with some barley, or rice, and some spices,and vegetables and its ready for supper when you come home. You can also go the ground meat/ tomato sauce route and then have sloppy joes or boil up some pasta. My crockpot actually came with a little cookbook with lots of ideas.
Another popular one with us is tortillas or tacos. You can always keep those in the freezer or pantry,along with a jar of slasa. You can get so creative with those with minimal prep and kids love getting to build their own. chopped tomato, avocado, browned meat, refried beans, cheese, shredded lettuce, tuna....the fillings are endless.
A few more ideas....Trader Joes has these boxed soups that are tasty and healthy too. There is an instant side dish / starter.
Our favorite veggie side dishes are the easiest ones to make. Frozen string beans or peas are a staple in my freezer. So are sweet potatoes. You can simply slice them in half or quarters, spray with oil, sprinkle with salt pepper and garlic and bake at 400 till soft and they are sweet as sugar. You can do the same with any squash.
You just have to think outside the box and get creative, also, pay attention to all the cooking ideas on the side of packages- like the soup boxes. There are some really good ideas there.
Another method that helps me... I keep a dinner diary. when I get in a rut I can look back for ideas. Some of my dinners that got rave reviews were born when I thought there was "nothing" in the house.

Here is an example of when that happend. I had one head of lettuce, and a pomegranet in my fridge. In my pantry I had a vacuum packed salmon (its from costco, I always keep a few on hand). So I cut up the lettuce, flaked up the salmon on top of it, sprinkled the pomegranet seeds on top and then made a nice dressing with mayo and drizzled it all over. It looked SOOO pretty and gourmet!!!

Diamond Member Joined: May 15 2007 Posts: 3669

salad mix is my best friend.
I use them in so many ways.
I broil chicken cutlets in a sesame teriyaki sauce from a jar, and slice up the cutlets over the salad, add some scallions a tomatoes, make a simple dressing, and its a filling and delicious meal. I make garlic bread with it sometimes with whatever leftover bread in the house.

I throw feta cheese in, make a greek kind of salad.
I fry bits of string cheese, and make a salad with that, and teriyaki sauce...

freeze soup. if u have no time to peel and chop, they sell ready made soup mixes and chopped veggies in the grocery.
if u serve soup, bread and salad with anything, its a meal.
good luck!!
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Jack of all trades- Master of Some.

Senior Member Joined: Dec 06 2006 Posts: 210

Active Poster Joined: Sep 03 2007 Posts: 86

Milk Munch - I use the crockpot al the time - can you really put rice in there with the chicken? Does it cook all the way without overcooking? Do you think it would work with brown rice, or only white rice?

I always burn my rice. AND rice takes such a long time to cook. I've been thinking about buying a cheap rice cooker (my sis has it and you can time it to finish at the same time as dinner...even if you put the rice in that morning. She said it was only 10-20 dollars?). But if I could do this, it would be even easier!

Diamond Member Joined: Apr 29 2006 Posts: 4774

totally buy the rice cooker, its sooo worth it. and its real cheap too!
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