Food that is okay, better, best

[saraha]

After a conversation with a young, working mom, I want to survey some more experienced moms/cooks. 
We all know scratch food from whole ingredients are the best option.

Barring that for any reason, time, money, skill

How would you rank

1. McDonald’s mcchicken and fries

2. frozen chicken Pattie’s or nuggets  and frozen fries

3. frozen chicken Pattie’s or nuggets and pasta a roni?

Or all they equally bad and cost should be the determining factor 

Edited April 17 by saraha

[saraha]

I guess what it really boils down to what convenience foods are ok enough to get a meal on the table that will be good for a family. But the conversation really started with eating the above

[Pawz4me]

I don't think of it as what convenience foods are "okay enough" or not, but what percentage of the total diet (on a weekly or monthly basis) consists of convenience or less healthy foods. If 80-90 percent of what I eat is healthy then I don't really worry about slacking off or splurging on the rest.

[Clarita]

Honestly I think they are probably all "equally bad". The only thing is with option 2 and 3 they can either substitute or add some frozen vegetables to the mix so at least there are vegetables. Simply that could be throwing a bag of frozen vegetables (I've seen some that come in microwavable bags) or dish and microwaving it. You can get fancy (and make it taste better) by stir frying those on a stove. 

Convenience foods tends to have a lot of salt and variety of foods. Also, there are ways that some still convenient foods are still more healthy than others because of the ingredients they use. Sometimes though that means additional cost or people are so use to certain flavor/texture they don't "like" the healthy alternative (for example bread whether you get white Wonder bread or wheat bread or some other healthier bread).

[prairiewindmomma]

1. I agree that *processed* convenience foods should be a small portion of the diet. Microwaved frozen veggies or a bagged salad kit are also convenience foods, but much more nutritious.

2. I would choose something like Costco’s lightly breaded nuggets, where I recognize and can pronounce all of the ingredients > the average chicken patty. Things that are oven baked or air fried are almost always going to be healthier than deep fried items.

3. Crappy eating when young leads to crappy health later. Popping brown rice with a silicon steam tray of veg into my instant pot takes just as much time as drive through here. Unhealthy Patterns of thinking/behaviors + lack of skill in the kitchen are often more of a problem than energy, time or money.

[prairiewindmomma]

Fwiw, in teaching my own kids how to cook, taking them through a drive thru with a timer (22 minutes) and keeping the receipt and then showing them several healthy meals that can be made in under 22 minutes and for cheaper was a concrete thing at least one of my kids needed to see. *planning ahead* was the gap in their skill set, so having those be pantry/freezer based foods and training the household to always keep those stocked was key to behavioral change.

[fairfarmhand]

If I HAD to order them:

The frozen chicken with pasta/rice side is BETTER, but would be better with a side salad or veggies and dip

Second would be frozen chicken with fries

McD's would be dead last, not the least of which is that it primes my children to think that a heart attack in a sack is a decent meal option. Even if the prepared at home food is not as nutritionally great, it does get a family in the habit of thinking that most eating happens at home, preparing a meal is a natural part of the day, planning for meals is a normal part of daily living, etc. Also, much more expensive (especially these days)

 

ETA: I understand the appeal of the McDonalds stuff. No dishes, it's already hot, no pans to wash. However, I think often very tired working moms can think short term and miss solutions like using paper plates and only having cookware that is dishwasher safe and getting the kids to clean the kitchen. (no judgement, I miss things like that when I'm tired and overcommited too) Also, it is annoying to fight kids about eating veggies, but they will never learn to eat them if you don't at least put them out and have them try it. Baby carrots, cukes and broccoli with ranch are quick and easy and many kids will at least try one bite. 

Edited April 17 by fairfarmhand

[saraha]

2 minutes ago, prairiewindmomma said:

Unhealthy Patterns of thinking/behaviors + lack of skill in the kitchen are often more of a problem than energy, time or money.

I agree with this for sure. I grew up eating 90% frozen/convenience foods and my older kids started out that way too. For the most part I have been a stay at home mom so had the opportunity to teach myself new skills, which I don’t know if I had had to work full time I would have learned. Lots of time for trial and research and brain space to focus on figuring out better ways are in short supply as a full time working mother if the skills and foundation isn’t already there.

Just now, prairiewindmomma said:

planning ahead* was the gap in their skill set, so having those be pantry/freezer based foods and training the household to always keep those stocked was key to behavioral change.

What foods did you suggest? In this case, the mom was keeping cheap chicken patties or nuggets and frozen fries and pasta roni as a hedge against eating out. 
 

 

[saraha]

1 minute ago, fairfarmhand said:

McD's would be dead last, not the least of which is that it primes my children to think that a heart attack in a sack is a decent meal option. Even if the prepared at home food is not as nutritionally great, it does get a family in the habit of thinking that most eating happens at home, preparing a meal is a natural part of the day, planning for meals is a normal part of daily living, etc. Also, much more expensive (especially these days)

This was the crux of the conversation. Feeling like preparing anything at home was sufficient, as long as it wasn’t eating out. The next step would hopefully be gaining confidence to add frozen veggies. Then trying a recipe that has real food.

[fairfarmhand]

3 minutes ago, saraha said:

I agree with this for sure. I grew up eating 90% frozen/convenience foods and my older kids started out that way too. For the most part I have been a stay at home mom so had the opportunity to teach myself new skills, which I don’t know if I had had to work full time I would have learned. Lots of time for trial and research and brain space to focus on figuring out better ways are in short supply as a full time working mother if the skills and foundation isn’t already there.

What foods did you suggest? In this case, the mom was keeping cheap chicken patties or nuggets and frozen fries and pasta roni as a hedge against eating out. 
 

 

Frozen meal kits work in other ways besides just meat patties. I think I recall seeing frozen stir fry in the freezer. I also keep frozen raw chicken tenders in the freezer. They don't take long to cook and are very versatile. Toss them in a skillet with seasoning and hot oil and you just add frozen cooked veggies and a baked potato. That takes (other than baking the potatoes) like 20 minutes. 

Taco meat can be cooked and frozen for future use.

Same with chicken quesadilla meat. 

A pot of chili is easy to prep in the morning and can go in the crock pot. (Browned packages of 1 lb hamburger meat can go in freezer bags and make meal prep quicker) 

Spaghetti is quick and easy. (Ground beeef, canned tomato sauce, seasonings, pasta) Takes less than half and hour to prepare,

[prairiewindmomma]

1 minute ago, saraha said:

I agree with this for sure. I grew up eating 90% frozen/convenience foods and my older kids started out that way too. For the most part I have been a stay at home mom so had the opportunity to teach myself new skills, which I don’t know if I had had to work full time I would have learned. Lots of time for trial and research and brain space to focus on figuring out better ways are in short supply as a full time working mother if the skills and foundation isn’t already there.

What foods did you suggest? In this case, the mom was keeping cheap chicken patties or nuggets and frozen fries and pasta roni as a hedge against eating out. 
 

 

Frozen veg, but a variety: broccoli, diced mix veggies, green beans, brussel sprouts (roasted or air fried with a bit of olive oil, salt, and pepper is actually delicious)

Frozen chicken breasts boneless thighs, frozen meatballs (clean ingredient list), frozen fish

basmati rice, brown rice, whole wheat pasta, lentils, canned or precooked and frozen black beans

fresh veg: salad greens, carrots, red peppers, cucumbers, onions, garlic

—I have the occasional bag of Costco lightly breaded nuggets and a bag of french fries in my freezer. Every once in a while, we splurge. It’s about how often we do it and the greater totality of our diet. 

[prairiewindmomma]

Look at the Taylor brand stir fry kits. The ginger garlic one is decent. Some have noodles in them as well. We have tried several and they are all yummy. My teens make them when I am out. 

[catz]

I know when I was buying stuff like this, I'd read ingredient lists.  Like there was some frozen chicken available here that had minimal ingredients and a whole grain breading.  I didn't really consider those "bad".  Are the frozen fries just "potatos" that are going to be oven baked and not deep fried?  We do oven fries in the air fryer, keep skins on, a spritz of clean oil, garlic and onion powder, etc .  They aren't a nutritional boon, but I consider those ok.  

I think the problem with any of these choices is the lack of fruit/veggie/fiber.  A plain burger on a whole grain bun with lettuce, tomato, onion would be ok occassionally.  Or pair with some raw veggies, sliced fruit, etc.  a whole grain carb on the side would be better.  

[fairfarmhand]

Also, If I was a working mom, I would totally have theme dinner plans that would repeat

 

Monday, soup

Tuesday, Tacos

Wednesady, Pasta...

etc. Because thinking about what to cook is one of the hardest parts for me. Taking the "What's for dinner" question and deciding it ahead of time would simplify it. 

Even if we ended up eating the same thing every week. 

[knitgrl]

McDonald's on a regular basis is just so bad. We know a family that once their kids got into sports, they did a lot of fast food drive through eating. They all started out as average-sized people. The parents are overweight now, pretty average for rural America, but two of the three kids are now morbidly obese adults.

[Arcadia]

I would pick frozen chicken nuggets, ravioli and gyoza which is probably closest to choice 3 if I have a time crunch but don't need to be penny pinching.  When I am sick, it is still possible to buy the least bad choice from the frozen aisles at supermarkets. I have frozen wontons from Costco currently as time crunch backup food. I often have Trader Joe's gyoza in my freezer as backup.

I think I would start with getting used to reading ingredients list on everything including sauces (and mayonaise) and making a list of convenient store bought food that is relatively safe to eat in a time crunch or when sick. When I am feeling weird while out running errands,  a $1 pack of shelled pistachios from Walgreens help. Might not be the healthiest option but it works as a stop gap when the alternative is either a gastric attack or dizzy spell.

Also, in a power outage, I would consider bread and canned tuna or salmon as real food.

Two common dishes that are fail proof to me for people starting cook are fried rice and stir fry vegetables (with or without meat).  Stir fry to me is basically salvage whatever is in the fridge and fry. Fried rice is kind of like stir fry to me, just with rice and eggs added.

[QueenCat]

6 minutes ago, fairfarmhand said:

Also, If I was a working mom, I would totally have theme dinner plans that would repeat

 

Monday, soup

Tuesday, Tacos

Wednesady, Pasta...

etc. Because thinking about what to cook is one of the hardest parts for me. Taking the "What's for dinner" question and deciding it ahead of time would simplify it. 

Even if we ended up eating the same thing every week. 

I agree with the planning. Both when I've worked & when I don't, I've found meal planning a lifesaver. I shop based on the plan & it just makes life easier. 

[Katy]

I went to help my sister with a new baby once and she was gearing up for hardcore dieting as soon as her milk came in and binge watching some dietician that confronted people about terrible food habits. I think her name was Gillian or maybe Jillian McKee, or something like that. She compared nutrition labels of frozen fries and ones from McDonald’s. The McDonalds ones had much less fat and calories. But I’ve definitely had frozen convenience foods from warehouse stores that were pretty healthy. So I think the answer entirely depends on what it is. 

[Clarita]

33 minutes ago, saraha said:

What foods did you suggest? In this case, the mom was keeping cheap chicken patties or nuggets and frozen fries and pasta roni as a hedge against eating out. 

If you want to start simple one is to look for things similar to that but less ingredients. So like find a chicken pattie or nuggets that have less ingredients or just have chicken breast that you could freeze. For the pasta roni, start with buying higher quality pasta (https://www.cucinabyelena.com/pasta-quality-matters-cheap-vs-expensive-pasta/) and a jar of marinara sauce. I think once a person starts the journey it gets easier to take the next step and the next step. It's how I started to make healthy meals from scratch.

At some point I realized making things from scratch is sometimes easier than the drive-thru or even having the convenience foods. You look up and figure out how to defrost meats quickly (that meal isn't going to win you a Michelin but that doesn't have to be the goal of made from scratch meals). Or because you are doing it you acquire an appliance or two that makes making these meals easier like a rice cooker, an instant pot, a food processor or a smoker. You know what you like and you get the appliance that makes doing that easier.      

I think the mom rightly took the first step and now just needs the next step. So, yes her meals may not be healthier than the McDonalds meal but she is moving in the right direction.

 

[SKL]

1) I would like to know the context and purpose behind this post.  As a working single mom, I feel tons of judgment and superiority in there.  Who exactly are we judging and why?

2) Cost may be a deciding factor for this person.

3) I can't answer the question with the info given, because I don't know the ingredients involved.  When I had young kids and was trying to cook healthy meals daily, I put a fair amount of up-front effort into finding foods that were both easy and healthy.  Believe it or not, such foods do exist.  Even some fries and nuggets are not poison.

4) What are the kids' other food meals like all day long?  Maybe they go to a school or daycare that provides reasonably nutritious breakfast, lunch, and snacks, so one isn't trying to get the bulk of the day's nutrition all into the one meal Mom has to cook.

5) What the kids will actually eat is also a factor, especially if they have been exposed to choices other than home-cooked meals.

6) And believe it or not, there are kids who are too skinny and need fat in their diet.  My sister used to give her kid milkshakes to keep her off the failure-to-thrive chart.

7) And yes, I am sure there are moms who are less educated about what is the healthiest food, even within the range of things they can afford and that their kids will eat.

[SKL]

One thing I used to do about once a week was to go to a family restaurant on "kids eat free" night.  I would order one modest meal and get 1 free kiddy meal, and the 3 of us would share happily.  There also used to be various ways to get coupons for a free kids' meal at Chipotle, which would mean I could feed the 3 of us quickly on $7 in those days.  Another~$7 option (back then) was Panera's half and half meal, which provided a "half sandwich" (pretty large), a salad with various fruits & veggies + roasted chicken, and a baguette.  Choices like these enabled my kids to participate in healthy physical/social activities after the work day.  But I'm sure some of y'all will consider this an unhealthy lifestyle.

(We did do McD drive-thru about once a week when the kids were in KG.  I did this so we could zip to the museums which were open later on Wednesday nights.  The kiddy "discovery room" closed at 7pm or 8pm.  Then we had time for special exhibits, live animal exhibits, maybe a climb to peep out the Hubble telescope or a planetarium show, a quick visit to the next-door art museum, a romp on the green where they had live music, perhaps a chat with the mounted police, and whatever other experiences were offered that week.  It felt worth the horrors of a bit of processed meat and apple slices.  Judge away.)

[73349]

My local McDonalds charges about $11 for a chicken sandwich, fries, and a drink.

I'd rather spend about the same and get from the nearest grocery store one microwavable Amy's Kitchen frozen vegetable lasagna ($7.29 each) per person and a package of Perdue diced chicken breast ($6.99 for 1.25 lbs.) that I could cook for the group while the lasagna is heating. Or especially in warmer weather, the chicken plus a bagged salad  ($3 to $4 depending on type) plus brown Minute Rice ($2.89 for the 8-serving box).

Edited April 17 by 73349

[saraha]

47 minutes ago, SKL said:

1) I would like to know the context and purpose behind this post.  As a working single mom, I feel tons of judgment and superiority in there.  Who exactly are we judging and why?

I’m sorry if I’m coming off judgy, I don’t mean too. I didn’t know how to cook when I got married and grew up eating like 90% convenience food, so had a hard core taste for that. There were so many foods just listed here that I didn’t even try til my 40s. Young mom knew we had a similar background and was asking how did i feed everyone having six kids and not knowing how to cook. That lead to her saying she’s trying to replace McDonald’s with something else and what would be healthier. The wrong answer for that particular moment was baked chicken thighs and roasted potatoes as that is not the kind of cooking she is doing right now. I wasn’t trying to judge at all, just curious about which of those options was okay, better, best. She works full time and that does not leave a lot of brain space for taking on a huge new task

2) Cost may be a deciding factor for this person.

It 100% is

3) I can't answer the question with the info given, because I don't know the ingredients involved.  When I had young kids and was trying to cook healthy meals daily, I put a fair amount of up-front effort into finding foods that were both easy and healthy.  Believe it or not, such foods do exist.  Even some fries and nuggets are not poison.

4) What are the kids' other food meals like all day long?  Maybe they go to a school or daycare that provides reasonably nutritious breakfast, lunch, and snacks, so one isn't trying to get the bulk of the day's nutrition all into the one meal Mom has to cook.

they do get free lunch at school and most of it is frozen and/canned, reinforcing the idea that is what a meal should look like. Their school breakfast one day a week is “super donut”.

5) What the kids will actually eat is also a factor, especially if they have been exposed to choices other than home-cooked meals.

This totally. Mom, like me at her age, has never eaten fresh broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, peppers, any beans other than in chili, lentils, much rice at all and no brown, brussel sprouts, stir fry (she doesn’t like Chinese) any real kinds of ethnic foods you get what I mean. They are used to “kid friendly foods” pizza, burgers, nuggets, American tacos, fish sticks, canned corn green beans peas etc

6) And believe it or not, there are kids who are too skinny and need fat in their diet.  My sister used to give her kid milkshakes to keep her off the failure-to-thrive chart.

7) And yes, I am sure there are moms who are less educated about what is the healthiest food, even within the range of things they can afford and that their kids will eat.

 

[saraha]

4 minutes ago, 73349 said:

My local McDonalds charges about $11 for a chicken sandwich, fries, and a drink.

I'd rather spend about the same and get from the nearest grocery store one microwavable Amy's Kitchen frozen vegetable lasagna ($7.29 each) per person and a package of Perdue diced chicken breast ($6.99 for 1.25 lbs.) that I could cook for the group while the lasagna is heating. Or especially in warmer weather, the chicken plus a bagged salad  ($3 to $4 depending on type) plus brown Minute Rice ($2.89 for the 8-serving box).

Here, the McDonald’s has what they call a $3.50 bundle. It’s the cheapest chicken sandwich and a small fry-no drink. You can also get a 6 piece nugget and small fry or a double cheeseburger and small fry for the same price. She was weighing the cost of McDonald’s vs. cost + time for homemade 

[73349]

How many people is she feeding?

Do you know if she has an Instant Pot, Crockpot, etc.? There may be things she could dump in there in the morning and keep hot until dinner.

Edited April 17 by 73349

[saraha]

7 minutes ago, 73349 said:

How many people is she feeding?

Herself and three little ones, two in school, one in preschool/daycare

[saraha]

Here is their lunch menu, they get two choices a day, but the choices (listed on the right under deli) are literally similar to fast food. Everything comes to the school frozen. Not terrible since they are offered fruit and veg, but it’s just frozen food on top of frozen food

 

Edited April 17 by saraha

[Arcadia]

11 minutes ago, saraha said:

She was weighing the cost of McDonald’s vs. cost + time for homemade 

 

1 minute ago, saraha said:

Herself and three little ones, two in school, one in preschool/daycare

I would bulk buy frozen vegetables, prepacked meat and invest in an instant pot, Then start with one pot meals so that she only need to wash that one pot and plates/bowls. Time is a factor until she is "efficient" at cooking.

[saraha]

To add to the difficulty, we live in Appalachia. The save a lot and dollar stores are limited in offering

[prairiewindmomma]

I grew up in the Midwest with family who do not eat veggies, or any sort of ethnic anything. The cultural background is challenging, and you have to change your palette if you are used to processed everything.

What *does* she have access to? Can she order online from Walmart or the like for home delivery? 

[saraha]

5 minutes ago, prairiewindmomma said:

I grew up in the Midwest with family who do not eat veggies, or any sort of ethnic anything. The cultural background is challenging, and you have to change your palette if you are used to processed everything.

What *does* she have access to? Can she order online from Walmart or the like for home delivery? 

Good question, I don’t know. I know the Kroger in the next county will let you order online and then meet you at a church on the county line, but do t really know how that works. There is a Walmart, she I don’t think she goes there much because of gas and time. There is a save a lot in the town the kids go to school in, so much easier to pop into 

Edited April 17 by saraha

[Bootsie]

I admit to feeding my children all three of these meals at different times.  The nutritional value of chicken nuggets, frozen french fries, and pasta roni can vary across flavors and brands.  Even the time and cost dimensions are not static.  If I needed to pick up one child from baseball practice on one side of town and get another child to a music concert on the other side of town in one hour--there may not be time to go home, heat the oven, and cook the nuggets.  If I am picking them up from school and going home for the evening, it can be faster to go home and pop the nuggets and fries in the oven than sit in line at McDonald's.  

[prairiewindmomma]

Right, but if you have it shipped and you order over $35, it’s free shipping at your door for non-perishables. It’s a way to save money to be able to build up to saving for an instant pot or the like. Target does the same, and same ordering threshold. 
 

The food at Dollar stores tends to be more expensive, fewer choices, and it still takes gas to get there and back. Our Kroger based stores are usually double the store I usually shop at here.

If she plans well she can drive to the city once a month for frozen stuff (chicken, veg, etc.). We used to have a “city day” and then get groceries on the way home. 

[saraha]

7 minutes ago, Bootsie said:

I admit to feeding my children all three of these meals at different times.  The nutritional value of chicken nuggets, frozen french fries, and pasta roni can vary across flavors and brands.  Even the time and cost dimensions are not static.  If I needed to pick up one child from baseball practice on one side of town and get another child to a music concert on the other side of town in one hour--there may not be time to go home, heat the oven, and cook the nuggets.  If I am picking them up from school and going home for the evening, it can be faster to go home and pop the nuggets and fries in the oven than sit in line at McDonald's.  

Me too, today is the day I get home right before dinner, drop kids off at lessons, fly to dh’s work to pick him up, fly back to lessons to pick them back up and then get home at 6:30 to everyone starving. Tonight we are having marked down fried chicken from Kroger, box Mac and cheese and salad from a box of marked down greens also from Kroger.

It all just depends on time. Last night we had a roast we raised ourselves cooked all day in the crockpot and then the juices used to make a ragu that I served with pasta and green beans we grew and canned ourselves. So I, for my family, do t sweat the convenience meals now and then. Just thinking through how you go from always those foods to sometimes those foods

Edited April 17 by saraha

[Arcadia]

Does she have EBT? I would go to Walmart or Kroger monthly or biweekly and stock up on vegetables and meat. Is her fridge big enough to hold two weeks worth of food? How old is her oldest child? When I wanted to save money but too tired to do food prep, my kids when they were much younger would help with cutting carrots and slicing onions. They used a steak knife to cut and just cut thick slices, good enough for me.  We would buy seasonal vegetables because they were much cheaper and my kids would help chop them up and dump the chop pieces into ziplocs.

[SKL]

45 minutes ago, saraha said:

This totally. Mom, like me at her age, has never eaten fresh broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, peppers, any beans other than in chili, lentils, much rice at all and no brown, brussel sprouts, stir fry (she doesn’t like Chinese) any real kinds of ethnic foods you get what I mean. They are used to “kid friendly foods” pizza, burgers, nuggets, American tacos, fish sticks, canned corn green beans peas etc

Then I would recommend they add one thing at a time, slowly.  Many of these listed items are acquired tastes.

I like brown rice, and I served it to my kids, but a whole childhood without brown rice is OK too.  (My folks certainly never served it.)

Speaking of brown rice and beans - I used to buy three different varieties of canned beans and rice, which I would serve with boiled frozen veggies.  This worked great until one of my kids decided she loathed all beans.  It's not a super cheap option, but not super expensive either.

[SKL]

35 minutes ago, saraha said:

Here is their lunch menu, they get two choices a day, but the choices (listed on the right under deli) are literally similar to fast food. Everything comes to the school frozen. Not terrible since they are offered fruit and veg, but it’s just frozen food on top of frozen food

 

Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good.

[saraha]

1 minute ago, Arcadia said:

Does she have EBT? I would go to Walmart or Kroger monthly or biweekly and stock up on vegetables and meat. Is her fridge big enough to hold two weeks worth of food? How old is her oldest child? When I wanted to save money but too tired to do food prep, my kids when they were much younger would help with cutting carrots and slicing onions. They used a steak knife to cut and just cut thick slices, good enough for me.  We would buy seasonal vegetables because they were much cheaper and my kids would help chop them up and dump the chop pieces into ziplocs.

She does have ebt and a regular fridge. Her oldest is second grade. I think the mental hurdle is the biggest part. It still takes energy to oversee helpers, and at least for me, If I’m tired, I would rather not have any help. But thinking ahead, the helping can actually be a nice moment together. It’s the mental block of “we dont usually eat that” “I’m tired “ “ I can’t afford that”

[SKL]

Everyone hates nonperishables, but they can be ordered from Amazon or Walmart and they can be reasonably nutritious.

[knitgrl]

Save-a-lot is pretty limiting, but it used to be the one we have sometimes has better quality produce than the regular grocery store. They do have basic ingredients that are economical. Maybe she can pull together mini omelettes with veggies in muffin tins using frozen chopped onions and peppers? The presentation would be kid-friendly.

[saraha]

5 minutes ago, SKL said:

Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good.

Absolutely. Which is why I asked about the three options upthread. These were her suggestions. She talks about wanting to do better “so her kids dont grow up to be fat”. she has more options than she realizes, it’s the stepping out and trying that is intimidating.

Edited April 17 by saraha

[Arcadia]

1 minute ago, SKL said:

Everyone hates nonperishables

Rice and spaghetti are non perishables 🙂 Besides non-perishables in general are great for power outages and natural disasters.

[SKL]

16 minutes ago, saraha said:

Just thinking through how you go from always those foods to sometimes those foods

If she has 3 young children and a full-time job, she is lucky to have the energy to do "real home cooking" 1x or 2x per week.  I really would not pressure her.  1 home cooked meal per week is a fabulous start.  It should be on a day she doesn't have to go to work, clean house for company, or run a lot of errands.  I would start with a comfort food from her childhood (mom's or grandma's cooking perhaps).  I would not focus on the calories and nutrients, but on trying to live in the moment.  It might even help to have the kids elsewhere the first few times, so she can focus on the basics of cooking.

Rather than pressuring a busy mom to spend much more time cooking, I'd rather educate her about the many options that are reasonably quick, affordable, and nutritious.

[saraha]

1 minute ago, SKL said:

Rather than pressuring a busy mom to spend much more time cooking, I'd rather educate her about the many options that are reasonably quick, affordable, and nutritious.

You get it, that’s exactly what I’m trying to do.

[fairfarmhand]

1 minute ago, SKL said:

If she has 3 young children and a full-time job, she is lucky to have the energy to do "real home cooking" 1x or 2x per week.  I really would not pressure her.  1 home cooked meal per week is a fabulous start.  It should be on a day she doesn't have to go to work, clean house for company, or run a lot of errands.  I would start with a comfort food from her childhood (mom's or grandma's cooking perhaps).  I would not focus on the calories and nutrients, but on trying to live in the moment.  It might even help to have the kids elsewhere the first few times, so she can focus on the basics of cooking.

Rather than pressuring a busy mom to spend much more time cooking, I'd rather educate her about the many options that are reasonably quick, affordable, and nutritious.

Yes, this.

eventually she’ll learn the skills to toss some things together quickly during the week. And her family will develop a taste for more “home cooked” things than convenience foods. It’s not something that can happen super quickly. Small changes over time will add up 

[knitgrl]

I just remembered this book, which might be available at a library -- Good and Cheap, Eat Well on $4 a Day. It was written almost ten years ago, so it might be more like $8 a day, but still.

[Beth S]

There are lots of Youtubers who demonstrate cheap, healthy meal prep.

I like Frugal Fit Mom.  Here's one where she shops for the food at Dollar Tree.
Dollar General has frozen veggies, other helpful items (in a pinch), and a robust Generic brand!

I'd also suggest Breakfast for Dinner, Taco Salad, & Soup.

 

Edited April 17 by Beth S

[Bootsie]

I think that it is easy to start thinking of home-prepped meals as full-blown Norman Rockwell-style meals.  A dinner of salami, cheese, and grapes takes less time than stopping at McDonald's; a grilled cheese sandwich and carrot sticks is not time consuming to prepare; a scrambled egg with an apple; yogurt with granola, nuts, and fruit; oatmeal and strawberries; a tuna fish sandwich, a PB&J sandwich....  These are all fine within a balanced diet (especially if kids are eating a larger meal at school)

I think it is helpful to have a few handy items in the freezer or the pantry for very rushed times (frozen pizza, peanut butter, etc.)--this provides a break from the "we need to stop for fast food routine".  Then I think it is helpful to begin with familiar, low prep items (like frozen chicken nuggets and fries) and add ONE item, like frozen green beans, canned fruit, or grapes to the offering to begin developing broader tastes and begin to see it is easy (and enjoyable) to add some fruits and veggies.  

 

[happypamama]

4 hours ago, saraha said:

After a conversation with a young, working mom, I want to survey some more experienced moms/cooks. 
We all know scratch food from whole ingredients are the best option.

Barring that for any reason, time, money, skill

How would you rank

1. McDonald’s mcchicken and fries

2. frozen chicken Pattie’s or nuggets  and frozen fries

3. frozen chicken Pattie’s or nuggets and pasta a roni?

Or all they equally bad and cost should be the determining factor 

First off, all of them beat option 0 by a mile: you didn't feed your kid at all. You were able to put food in your kid's belly, and that trumps everything IMO. 

 

Aside from that, I would rank them in order of preference, 3 then 2 (probably), then 1. Given the complete option, McD's would probably rank behind the other two for me. And if any of these were happening every day, I'd say it's time to look into some changes if at all possible. 

 

ETA, after reading more: keeping the frozen/convenience foods on hand as a hedge against eating out is a legit strategy that I wholeheartedly support. Again, if it's happening often, what can we do to make the meals more nutritious? 

Edited April 17 by happypamama

[Toocrazy!!]

One substitution at a time is good. It’s very easy to get overwhelmed with change. Veggies are great, but so are fruits and maybe more kid friendly. Real oatmeal and apples, a banana with peanut butter. I just try to eat whole food ingredients and not worry too much about creating a meal. Scrambled Eggs, with fried potatoes, grapes. 
Probably not- but is there an Aldi close by? We live in a smaller town but have one and I’m amazed how less expensive their food is. 
and batch cooking if possible.