Wohm?

[Altair]

I'm having a hard time integrating working FT, spliting shifts with Daddy (so that he is with the boy while I'm working then he leaves for work when I get home in the afternoon and he's at work all night), having enough time to play with my son, cleaning/laundry/etc... and cooking healthy.

I think I do everything well except for the last one. I am naturally a healthy eater so when I don't cook for the most part I sub healthy take-out (we live in NYC so such a thing is very, very common. Nothing fast-foodish.) or I'll buy a smoothie for lunch at work, or a veggie omlette for breakfast or something. My son is 14 months and eats pretty healthy because he will eat anything and nurses.

But I always have this guilt... I LOVE cooking and eating healthy but I just can't find the time to do everything. I know that as a toddler I can integrate him into the cooking process more, but for now he doesn't like to and just gets angry with me. I'll be buying a Learning Tower when we move (in 2 days) to keep plugging away at that idea. I want nothing more than the 3 of us to sit together every night and eat together, but Dad is never home and half the time I can't get my act together enough to be ready to eat at 6 when my son is hungry for dinner.

I know the advice is often to cook on the weekends and save it... but I actually really detest doing that b/c the weekends are our sacred (and only) family time and we are always out exploring somewhere.

I can give Dad a small job (like a really easy crockpot recipe) to do during the day, but not too much because he does some WAH and has to balance that with childcare. I have access to Greenmarkets and CSAs and no shortage of local fresh foods, but they always go bad in the fridge because my intentions fall flat and I just run out of time to cook. I love coming home at 3 and taking my son out to play at the park for a few hours, then coming home and eating... but then obviously it's not a homecooked meal. I am so tired after he goes to bed I clean as much as possible and pass out. (I'm a teacher for kindergarten students with ASDs so my day is full and tiring!)

What are some tricks other WOHMs use to get dinner ready, esp if you don't have a partner there at night to help? Any really easy fresh recipes to share?

To complicate things, I won't have a stove for 2 weeks once we move on Thursday. And I'm trying really hard to lose 15 lbs of baby fat that are not going anywhere! Getting desperate enough to try Slimfast or cabbage soup diet or something awful like that but I know I can't while breastfeeding.

Would a combo steamer/rice cooker be helpful? Was thinking of getting one for the next few weeks so I can have brown rice and veggies without a stove.

[Alyantavid]

I wohm ft as well and am usually home by 4 at the latest. I meal plan and all weeknight meals are things that cook fast or can go in the crockpot. In the meal planning forum, there are a few of us who have planned out the entire month. In your case, I'd probably pick a few nights a week and make enough to last all week. Like spaghetti sauce in the crockpot cooking all day so you'd just have to boil some noodles and heat up a veggie. Then have it again the next night. And so on.

Can't you throw veggies in a regular rice cooker? I've never tried it but I think I've heard of people doing it. This is a great site for crockpot meals.

[Owen'nZoe]

Another WOHM here. For us, eggs are a lifesaver. Hardboiled eggs will last in the fridge for a week, so I boil up enough for a meal or two and refidgerate them. When we need a quick meal, we pull out some eggs, make some toast, and set out fresh veggies (with or without dip). Dinner can be ready in 5 minutes, and it is healthy. Scrambled eggs are also great - and you can throw in fresh spinach or grated squash or whatever veggies you have on hand. Dinner is ready in 10 minutes.

Stirfry can also be healthy and fast, especially if you have a rice cooker - even better if you chop the veggies the night before after bedtime.

[Rosehip]

Find a couple of recipes that you can cook in bulk (chili, soup, make two quices at once), or that have multiple lives (roast chicken that can then be made into tacos, though with 6 people to feed here, I usually just have a carcass for stock).

I sometimes prep a meal after the kids are asleep - assemble a baked ziti, just have to cook it the next day. If you can get down a basic broiled fish recipe, that is really fast. I also use a rice cooker. It's no faster than cooking on the stove, but requires zero attention & never burns or boils over, so I like it.

I try to cook extra so there are leftovers, and then eat leftovers. This is particularly good for nights when not all 6 people are home for dinner.

I sometimes cook a bag of dried black beans on the weekend, and then use them throughout the week - bean salad, bean tacos, mixed in with quinoa, etc.

Oh, this is a super easy grilled chicken recipe - you don't have to marinate, which is a God send for those of us who have trouble planning in advance:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/fo...Oregano-106742

[texmati]

Subbing to this thread... I feel so guilty about this, and it's gotten so much worse since I'be been pregnant.

[mambera]

Sounds like you need some meal planning. ITK what you mean about buying beautiful fresh food and having it rot in the fridge. Here's my two cents' worth of advice.

I would sit down and figure out 7-10 healthy meals with few ingredients (I shoot for 5 ingredients or fewer, and <45 min prep time). Then when you go shopping, buy ONLY the stuff that you need for those meals. Don't buy three pounds of fresh leeks just bc they look beautiful, thinking you'll figure out what to do with them later. If you're anything like me, you probably won't.

Decide what's for dinner the night before, or the morning of at the latest. (You could plan the whole week of dinners if you are that kind of person.) Then, split the tasks during the day. Like maybe do 5-10 minutes worth of washing ingredients or assembling them in one place before you leave for work in the morning. Then when you get home at 3, before going to the park spend 10-15 more minutes chopping veggies so everything is ready to go. Leave the park 20 min early, get out all your pre-chopped pre-cleaned ingredients, and cook.

I find I really need to split stuff up like this bc my LO can entertain herself for 10-15 minute stretches but gets crabby after longer than that. It works great but it requires that I know what's for dinner by early in the morning.

I don't like using my weekends to cook either - that's family time - but I do routinely make double what I need when I do cook. That way we eat leftovers every other night.

Also if I were you I wouldn't feel bad about healthy takeout. With two full-time working parents something has to give, and home-cooked meals may be what has to give. I think that's vastly preferable to sacrificing family time or leisure time, really.

[mambera]

I'm posting again to give you examples with recipes. If you eat meat I have a delicious and extremely simple Thai chicken crockpot recipe too, let me know if you want it. Of course if you eat meat there's nothing faster and easier than a piece of fish smeared with olive oil/salt/pepper and popped under the broiler for 10 min. Check out the '10 min recipes' thread for some other really good ideas too.

1 - chickpeas with baby spinach

Needs: olive oil, 1 onion, 2 garlic cloves, 1 tsp cumin seeds, 1 tbsp tomato paste, 1 cup stock, 1 can chick peas, 1 bag baby spinach. Salt, pepper, cayenne.

Morning before work: Peel garlic, rinse/drain chick peas and store in fridge. Toast and grind cumin seeds.
After work: Chop onion and garlic. Wash spinach. Put all ingredients out on counter. Throw some rice in rice cooker.
After park: Saute onion 5 min. Add garlic, tomato paste, salt, and cumin; saute 2 min. Add chick peas, stock, cayenne. Simmer covered 10 min. Stir in spinach until wilted. Add salt/pepper to taste. Serve over rice.


2 - spinach or zucchini pie (not much assembly time but needs several hours to drain and 1 h to cook so plan ahead; better for weekends when you have an hour to just be home while it bakes)

needs - 2 boxes frozen spinach or 3-4 fresh zucchini; 1 pkg farmer cheese; 1/2 c breadcrumbs; 2 eggs; 1 onion; fresh dill; 1/2 c olive oil, salt, pepper.

Morning before work: grate zucchini or nuke spinach till defrosted. Salt generously, squash water out and leave in colander in the fridge to drain all day.
Before park: Wash and chop dill. Chop and saute onion. Combine all ingredients in a big bowl, then transfer to a pie tin.
After park (must leave earlier to be home while pie cooks): Dump in oven at 350. Do a planned home-based activity for 1 h while pie cooks.

[Altair]

Those 2 recipes sound so yummy! And I'd love the Thai chicken one.

Thank you everyone!

[mambera]

Crockpot Thai chicken (or pork):

4-8 chicken thighs (or hunk of pork butt or shoulder)
1 can coconut milk
2-3 green chilies (make 2-3 small slits in the sides)
1 tbsp soy sauce (or to taste)
10 whole peeled shallots
1 small piece ginger, minced
1 lime

Dump everything except the lime in the crockpot and cook until done. Add lime juice generously before serving. Yum!