Because of study/work commitments, are you doing more easy type meals?

[samy23]

Since I started studying aswell as working part-time, I've found it difficult keeping up with making more time consuming meals for dinner which take longer to prepare and cook. So we are having more easier type meals which take less time to prep and cook.

Anyone else?

[lolar2]

Of course. I take it for granted that those exist for people who are busy. I love cooking but I don't have time or energy for much of it at this stage of my life.

[akind1]

I was, then DH decided to take over the cooking I kind of miss it; but I'd rather spend time with the baby!

I guess he got tired of Spaghetti or Sausage and fried potatoes, tacos, all those easy inexpensive type things.

[GuildJenn]

Sure...but they are healthy and wholesome and nutritious. Generally. I'm all for fast though - gives us more time to enjoy the spring.

Forgive my rant but I honestly think our culture sells us a bill of goods about food. Sure, I'm a fan of slow food and all that but sometimes the choice seems to be presented as:

Quick, easy, and processed/bad for you
Lovingly made and nutritious

I personally think this is sheer marketing - if you were raised like I was then Hamburger Helper was supposed to be "easy" where really it's more work than a stir fry if you ask me, once you've made a few.

Some of our go-to quick meals lately have been:

Fish or scrambled eggs/omlette with veggies and a salad
Black bean, corn, and red pepper salad (made on weekend) with hummus (ditto) and whole wheat pita bread
Crockpot soup of many kinds (can be frozen) plus cheese toast on whole-grain bread, or a grain-based salad

We eat a lot of raw vegetables - I take about an hr on the weekend to do the wash/chop/pat dry for the week and then I can just tilt them into the pot, or stick them on a platter.

Since we're coming into summer, the BBQ saves us a lot of time - we can grill chicken or salmon & veg kabobs and the cleanup's pretty easy.

[~Charlie's~Angel~]

Yup, and sometimes I feel like a bad mother because of it. I try not to dwell.

[Teenytoona]

You know, I've found even oven baking doesn't take too much time. The other night I made roasted chicken and roasted cauliflower/garlic/olive oil. Mised it up, let it go, had some time with kids, then we all ate. It's all perspective focus. It does really help to meal plan and on your less demanding days do some prep like veggie chopping and whatnot.

[lolar2]

I can definitely see that working if you eat fairly late, or if you work irregular hours. We usually eat at about 6 or earlier, so if I were working 9-5 hours, there would not be enough time to get the food cooked in the oven by dinner time. As it is, it's gotten hot here during the day so I don't like to heat up the oven as early as 4 even though I'm home. But that's a whole 'nother story.

[akind1]

I second the grill. Our grill was broken last year and we were busy buying for the baby so we kept putting it off. Now, we have a new grill! and it is so fast to throw whatever - steaks, chicken, etc on it and cook.

Crockpots are wonderful things. I agree you can eat healthy quickly, it does take some prep time, but it can be done!

[Jend1002]

I am all for quick when I get home from work. I want to spend time with DS after being apart all day - definitely don't want to be in the kitchen. We have a freezer stash of food that we make on weekends and it works out perfectly. Currently, we have baked ziti, veggie gumbo (we just add rice), and meatloaf. We also keep pre-made pizza dough in the freezer and just add cheese fresh veggies that we have in the fridge. It's all homemade and all very fast!

I also wanted to add that we portion it out before we freeze so it is that much easier and we don't have to eat the whole dish at one time.

[kirstenb]

Oh yeah. If we did complicated meals it would be 7:30 or 8 before we eat, easily. DS2 needs to nurse as soon as I get home so dinner usually isn't even started until around 6:30. I love having frozen soups and meals in the freezer that I can just pull out. Grilling is awesome now that it is warmer and lighter outside. Crockpots are great as long as I am able to prep the night before so it's all ready to go in the morning. And I love making breakfast for dinner.

[Magistra]

I'm ALL about the crockpot. We probably use it at least twice a week, and most of those meals are decently healthy. My favorite right now (both for prepping ease and flavor) is some ham with black beans and frozen veggies. Splash a little veggie stock and garam masala over it for a great mix of flavors. There's a pot roast in mine right this instant.

[blizzard_babe]

I'm a big fan of quick meals during the week, and then we either cook a roast or a big pot of soup on the weekend to get us through nights when even a quick stir fry is too daunting .

[jkn]

We're all about the quick meals too. A favourite is pre-made pizza dough, or if there's none around I'll make it on a pita. DS (3) loves to help with this and it isn't too much of a mess to clean up. I just cut up some veggies and throw them on. We also do lots of quick rice or noodle stir fry meals and freeze soups that we make on the weekend. It makes those crazy busy nights a whole lot easier.