Greetings!
I need help. I do most of the cooking in my house for my wife and my 2 children (2 and 4). We both work full time, and kids do daycare during the week. Life is hectic to say the least but I strive to cook good, tasty, wholesome food for supper and lunches. Usually meat, a grain and some veggies. I feel like I'm an ok cook, and work quickly enough.
I'm at my wits end however, as I feel I have no sustainable system. I'm endlessly doing groceries... on weekdays I start cooking supper from scratch at 5pm after work. Kids get back from daycare at 5h15 with my wife, and by the time I finish they usually have to wait until 6 to start eating , they get cranky because they are hungry and it's annoying. I try to make a bigger meal to then pack some in Tupperware for lunches for the next day for the 4 of us to bring to work/ daycare ... Kids go to bed at 7h30, then we clean up the kitchen, pack lunches, clean up that mess, and finally done around 9pm. And my day starts at 6am. Go to bed at 10, rince and repeat. This is my rat race, and I feel like I am spending 90% of my "at home" in the kitchen cooking supper, prepping lunches and doing dishes. There must be a better way, preferably one that doesn't involve Kraft Dinner, Dunkaroos and Fruit-Roll-Ups.
I would be grateful for any feedback or advice from the community regarding this matter, especially people that went through this with kids. I mainly have 2 questions:
1. Do you guys have a system? A process for grinding out the work week without cooking overtaking all your free time? This system would need to save time for either supper, or lunches, or the holy grail would be a master system that encompasses both. I feel like "bulk cooking" would be the answer... maybe on Sunday just cook lots of food and divide it into Tupperware and freeze...? Or something else?
2. Depending on answer above, what to cook? Kids have stupid restrictive rules at the daycare because of allergies, no nuts, no sesame, no fish... Any ideas for recipes for bulk cooking? Or prepping large "all in one" meals in advance that freeze well?
- A tired dad
I need help. I do most of the cooking in my house for my wife and my 2 children (2 and 4). We both work full time, and kids do daycare during the week. Life is hectic to say the least but I strive to cook good, tasty, wholesome food for supper and lunches. Usually meat, a grain and some veggies. I feel like I'm an ok cook, and work quickly enough.
I'm at my wits end however, as I feel I have no sustainable system. I'm endlessly doing groceries... on weekdays I start cooking supper from scratch at 5pm after work. Kids get back from daycare at 5h15 with my wife, and by the time I finish they usually have to wait until 6 to start eating , they get cranky because they are hungry and it's annoying. I try to make a bigger meal to then pack some in Tupperware for lunches for the next day for the 4 of us to bring to work/ daycare ... Kids go to bed at 7h30, then we clean up the kitchen, pack lunches, clean up that mess, and finally done around 9pm. And my day starts at 6am. Go to bed at 10, rince and repeat. This is my rat race, and I feel like I am spending 90% of my "at home" in the kitchen cooking supper, prepping lunches and doing dishes. There must be a better way, preferably one that doesn't involve Kraft Dinner, Dunkaroos and Fruit-Roll-Ups.
I would be grateful for any feedback or advice from the community regarding this matter, especially people that went through this with kids. I mainly have 2 questions:
1. Do you guys have a system? A process for grinding out the work week without cooking overtaking all your free time? This system would need to save time for either supper, or lunches, or the holy grail would be a master system that encompasses both. I feel like "bulk cooking" would be the answer... maybe on Sunday just cook lots of food and divide it into Tupperware and freeze...? Or something else?
2. Depending on answer above, what to cook? Kids have stupid restrictive rules at the daycare because of allergies, no nuts, no sesame, no fish... Any ideas for recipes for bulk cooking? Or prepping large "all in one" meals in advance that freeze well?
- A tired dad