Hi Kristen,
I’m nearing the end of my maternity leave and getting ready to head back to work very soon! I’m worried about getting delicious, well-rounded meals on the table each night. I haven’t had trouble with this in the past, but now I will have TWO little ones (3 months and 3 years) vying for my attention when I get home from work.
I usually have the older one watch a tv show while I cook dinner, so I have less than 30 minutes to prep, cook, and get the meal on the table. But if the little one needs to nurse at that exact time, my husband steps in and follows my dinner instructions.
What tips or meal ideas do you have for me? A bit about us: I meal plan every week, shop mostly at Aldi and Costco, and typically cook with whole ingredients (though I’m not afraid of shortcuts).
-Lydia
(note: Lydia sent this question to me at the end of October, so I’m afraid my answer isn’t super timely! Sorry about that, Lydia! But I bet she could still use some suggestions, and I’m sure some of you all could as well, so I thought it would still make sense to answer her question.)
Congrats on the new (ish) addition to your family!
Getting dinner on the table in 30 minutes is a pretty big challenge, especially if you’re wanting to cook with whole ingredients.
Here are some tips to make the job easier for you (and I’ll ask for reader input in the comments too!)
Consider doing a bit of weekend prep.
Give yourself a headstart on weekday dinners by getting part of the work done on the weekend.
Could you chop veggies? Mix up a marinade? Throw a roast into the crockpot for reheating later in the week?
Obviously, you won’t want to spend your whole weekend in the kitchen, but investing an hour or two could pay great dividends over the week.
Make sure you have a plan.
I know you said you plan, but a note to everyone else out there: if dinnertime is stressing you out, try making a plan.
If, at the beginning of the week, you know what you’re making, you can make sure you have the proper groceries, and you can also remember to thaw things in time to use them.
If you’re on a 30-minute deadline for dinner prep, you definitely haven’t got any time to look for meal ideas or wait for meat to thaw, so make sure you’ve got a good plan laid before the week starts.
Make two, freeze one.
I’m not a big freezer-cooking kind of gal, but when I happen to cook something freezer-friendly, I like to make a double batch and freeze half.
Most times, doubling a recipe isn’t that much harder, and you buy yourself an almost effortless meal for the future.
Good freezer candidates: Beef au Jus, Pulled Pork (pictured above), Sloppy Joes, Stuffed Shells, Jambalaya
Subscribe to Cook’s Country
I recently got a subscription to this magazine from my kids, and I love it! Some of the recipes take more than 30 minutes, but inside each issue, there’s a pull-out center section with four 30-minute recipe cards, and I’ve found some great meal ideas there.
Cook’s Country is a part of the America’s Test Kitchen empire, so you know the recipes you get from the magazine are going to be tasty and reliable and they’re not going to call for a bunch of processed ingredients.
A subscription costs $24.95 for a year and I think it is so, so worth it. Highly recommended.
(You can also try out the Cook’s Country website for free here.)
Invest in some speedy/make-ahead cookbooks.
As you all know, I’m a huge fan of America’s Test Kitchen, so of course their quick cookbooks are what come to mind first.
A couple of options:
The ATK Quick Family Cookbook
(You can buy a used copy on Amazon for $5 or so! Such a bargain.)
This spiral-bound cookbook is full of recipes that can be done in 45 minutes or less. I know 45 minutes is a little too long for you, but there ARE plenty of 30-minute options available in this book….45 is just the upper limit.
This book would be my number one pick for you, Lydia, and I know lots of my readers have bought it and found it to be super helpful.
ATK’s The Make-Ahead Cook
This is a paperback $17 book, and it could be really useful if you decide to explore make-ahead options. There are freezer meals, crock-pot meals, cold meals, and more in this picture-filled book.
The Healthy Slow-Cooker Revolution
While I generally think ATK healthy books are a little bit too fat-phobic, this book does have a lot of fresh, veggie-filled crock pot meals, so it may be worth exploring if you need some new crock-pot ideas. But do feel free to use more than a teaspoon of oil when you bloom your spices. 😉
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Alrighty. I am positive that we have some experienced 30-minute dinner cooks around here. If that’s you, could you share your tips in the comments?
Help Lydia (and other rushed cooks) get dinner on the table fast!
(This post contains affiliate links to the ATK products I use and love. Purchases made through these links help keep the lights on around here at no extra cost to you, and I honestly believe that these cooking resources will save you money by helping you cook and eat at home. Good recipes are such a great investment.)
Julie T
Monday 11th of April 2016
I love the idea of making a binder of recipes that work for you. I seem to find something we like, make it a lot, then forget it!
Anyway, the breakfast for dinner option and sandwiches for dinner are great things to have in rotation.
Here are a few easy dinners that satisfy my family:
Salmon drizzled with a little olive oil and seasoning (like Mrs. Dash or chili powder mixed with a little brown sugar) then baked. It bakes very quickly. Can serve with easy veggie side like steam-in-bag broccoli.
Chicken breasts topped with ready-made pesto, sliced tomatoes, shredded mozzarella & baked. Check Facebook for a quick video of this recipe.
Combine chicken breasts, drained canned beans (low sodium), corn, and salsa in crockpot in the morning. In the evening shred the chicken and serve with rice or as taco filling with shredded cheese.
Crock pot chili: Combine crumbled raw ground beef, drained cans of low sodium beans, corn, tomatoes, diced onion and peppers if you have time, and low sodium taco seasoning in crock pot. Will be ready in the evening and can even be prepared the night before and stored in the fridge for a quick dump into the crock pot the next morning before work.
Of course weekends could be used to soak and cook beans in advance, but reduced sodium canned beans are really nice when you're short on time and energy. On a similar note, I have to forgive myself sometimes and whip up instant mashed potatoes. Time with family on busy days AND weekends is valuable!
Barbara Ferguson
Wednesday 6th of April 2016
Also late entry here. Frozen fish fillets from Sam's or other box store are good price and individual portioned, and cook quickly. I use my rice cooker to its full capacity, then portion and vacuum-seal according to number of people I'm feeding. Usually just 2 servings.
Tip from a friend: she buys 2 rotisserie chickens at same time (again with the box store). Cools 1 whole one and freezes as is. When needed, pops it into crockpot whole, and frozen, and cooks on low all day. Thaws and warms it, house smells good! I buy one every time I'm there. After eating on the one I buy, I pick all the meat off, bag it and use it, or portion and vac seal. I start a bag for the bones, minus the skin, then make crockpot stock once I have three sets of bones in same bag (easy to dump in, add small quantity of carrots/celery/onion/peppercorns in a tea ball) + plus water and 8-10 hours. Works great for overnight cook; I cool, strain, refrigerate, skim fat, and portion into 2 c. quantities to freeze in "bricks" (loaf pans) for quick soups or sauces (once frozen, I pop them out and vac seal). Cooks Country also has some great stock recipes--crockpot or pressure cooker. Happiness for me is a freezer shelf of chicken, beef, and veggie stock, with little or no sodium.
Amanda
Wednesday 6th of April 2016
I'm not in this boat, but it seems like a lot of women are taking on the dinner load all by themselves. Why not ask your partner to be a partner? Frankly, everyone needs to know how to cook some basic meals, even men, and they certainly should be able to throw a pan of food in the oven. I of course realize everyone's situation is different, but maybe having your husband pull his 50% of the housework would be beneficial - whether its putting something in the crockpot in the morning or chopping up veggies on Sunday. I always try to have an emergency meal in the freezer (enchiladas, soup & bread). If you want some meal prep inspiration check out shutterbean.com.
Kristen
Wednesday 6th of April 2016
Or it could be helpful to have the other partner take on some other household chore/kid bedtime/errand running etc. to free up time for one person to cook. A split doesn't necessarily mean each task is split 50/50, but more that both partners are pitching in somehow.
Gwen
Tuesday 5th of April 2016
I haven't seen it mentioned, but shortly after my little one was born, I started menu planning and shopping for a whole month rather than just a week. I take about an hour once a month, print out a calendar and input our dinners for every night of the month, and lunches on weekends. I use that menu to write out every ingredient needed to create those meals, plus I add other things we'll need throughout the month, such as snacks, or hygiene items. Then I pick a day and do a monster shopping trip to Aldi and then Weis. The night before my trip I do a quick inventory and cross off things we already have on hand. This saves so much time. I don't have to think about what we're eating for a whole month at a time, and shopping only one day a month is so much nicer than carving out time each week to do it. There is a little bit of thought that has to go into it (bananas and berries are eaten early in the month, apples can last til later in the month), and the freezer gets used a lot, but I find it very worth it. Throughout the week, the crock pot is my friend. I do a lot of veggie chopping on the weekends, and like someone else said, I end up doing a lot of dinner prep the night before, either while hubby is giving baths, or after bedtime. Works for us!
kristin
Tuesday 5th of April 2016
i have found success with prepping the next day's dinner each evening. So prep Monday dinner on Sunday evening: cook chicken, chop veggies, etc. Then the dinner comes together really quickly Monday evening. After you eat and while you are cleaning up, prep anything that you can for Tuesday's dinner. If you keep repeating the cycle, you are doing the prep when things are a little calmer instead of when everyone is starving.