Need inspiration on how to feed my family ... busy evenings.

[morningcoffee]

For a long time, I have had a system of precooking/freezing partial meals and cooking up rice or sides when it came time to reheating. But I recently realized that my family rarely eat dinner together and this system doesn't really work for us anymore. 

 

In addition, people don't seem to eat when I expect them to. Dh has now got an unpredictable job and may be running late from one commitment before rushing off to another ... sometimes he wants to take his dinner to reheat where he is going but sometimes he can't or doesn't want to. The kids sometimes decide at the last minute they want to eat after their activity instead of before (and v.v). They don't have time to cook anything up for themselves. Plus there are a few food intolerances and strong food preference issues to deal with .... you get the picture ....   

 

I still like the idea of freezing meals but wondering if I should freeze more complete meals in individual servings so dh and the kids can choose reheat their serving at home when they want or have the option of taking their container with them. 

 

Any other ideas? 

 

 

[happypamama]

I use my magic pot (er, my Instant Pot) a lot because of its keep warm feature. I start the meal (often chicken, rice, sauce, and veggies), feed my older kids a sandwich or other good snack, take my older kids to their evening class, and come home to a hot dinner after DH has fed the smallboys. The food does not get dried out, and my little guys don't have to wait.

 

I think individual portions would work well too. Maybe cook a meal early in the day and portion out containers for those who won't be home for the main sit down part. I often make enough dinner (as a rule) for DH to have leftovers for lunch the next day, and there are plenty of good BPA free microwaveable containers that work well.

 

If I have a lot of a meal left, I do freeze portions so that if one night we have a meal that doesn't make leftovers DH can pull one out of the freezer. Seems to work okay.

Edited October 26, 2016 by happypamama

[HomeAgain]

Busy nights I use the crockpot here.  Yesterday I made a big pot of chicken chili in the morning, headed off to a party, came home, ate, the teen ate later, and then finished it up when he got home from scouts.  It works well for us (mostly because the smell of the cooking food is inviting, otherwise the teen would eat cereal/ramen/whatever he could find to eat quickly)

[bolt.]

I group-together home cooked meats with frozen veggies (still frozen) as individual dinners/lunches that live in the freezer ready to be reheated. It's quick and easy, but uses a lot of containers and freezer space. (Any leftovers join this individual-serving scheme after day 2 instead of being stored in the fridge beyond that.)

 

I also pack home cooked meats into ziplocks 'for one or two'. I try to keep on top of moving these from freezer to fridge, so there is usually some kind of protein thawed and ready at any time. (This is more efficient than the meal-type containers, but not as inviting.)

 

If I have just-meat packs I find it fairly easy to add side veggies (I just use the microwave) and make things into a meal if there's protien available, but I don't always want the bother if it's just one person eating.

 

I don't always have starches, so I don't mind if they are missing from my convenience meals. There's always toast or a quick pot of noodles or rice as time and skills allow.

 

I do pre-cook and freeze giant cauldrons of pearl barley, using serving size ziplocks. I imagine one could go the same for a massive pre-cook of potatoes or noodles... Probably not rice though. I've had bad results with mushy split rice when I've tried to freeze it (though there are a lot of varieties).

 

I make spaghetti sauce and meatloaf for bulk freezing too, but in family size servings.

Edited October 26, 2016 by bolt.

[momto10blessings]

My time savers:

Breakfast for dinner

crockpot

instant pot

tacos

spaghetti

[mmasc]

I make several things ahead of time to have in the fridge for those 'eat whenever' nights. I'll usually have noodle soup in individual containers (heat and eat), a crock pot meal or leftovers, hard boiled eggs, whole grain noodles cooked and ready for butter and parm, and raw veggies. If I have the stuff, I'll make croissant sandwiches or wraps and put in the fridge too. Then we all can quickly eat when/what we want.

[Joyofsixreboot]

I have some individual meals frozen just like frozen dinners. I think even if it's not perfect it beats nothing. I also tend to serve the same thing a couple days ( reheat as you need) and like one pot things. I keep thinking things will slow down but realistically that isn't going to happen. I value family dinner but it seems one or two of us is coming in late or leaving early 😕.

[nd293]

Stir fry lends itself to individual meals: I chop and store all vegetables (and cooked chicken) separately (usually 10-12 including garnish like chilli, ginger, peanuts) then each person makes themselves a bowl of what they want and tosses it into the frying pan for a few minutes. Dd usually just has it raw as a salad.

 

A similar self-serve approach works with wraps or felafel/shwarmas.

[KungFuPanda]

A rice cooker and crockpot would be good for this. Put something to go over the rice in the crockpot and they'll both keep stuff warm. Make burrito bowls, or a coconut curry, or whatever your people like.

[gardenmom5]

we'll do a pulled pork in a crockpot.  after it's been cooked to death, just break it apart and mix in bbq sauce.  they can get their main dish when they're available to eat.