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View Full Version : WOHMs - dinner ideas ??



Lynnie
10-23-2006, 02:06 PM
Ok, so I just got depressed reading the what are you cooking for dinner thread. After I get home from work and throw away the rotten meat that I bought last weekend and never cooked all week, I have no idea what we'll have for dinner tonight.

I know its too late now for today, since I am not up for hitting the grocery store with two kids in tow after work, and don't see the chance to get there any time soon since DH is going out of town today, but are there any easy staples that you all rely on ? This goes for SAHMs too, I just can't use something that would require much prep time, unless its done the night before (ha, yeah right) because the boys are starving when we get home, and DH is usually not home until later, so its hard to spend a lot of time cooking when they are hungry and cranky, and plus, I want to spend time with them after being at work all day.

If you listed the recipe already, just name it, and point me to the thread, if you don't mind.

For myself, I think I'll have becky's margarita lime marinated chicken. Minus the chicken, since it is rotten, but that's ok... :)

daisymommy
10-23-2006, 02:25 PM
I'm a SAHM, but I know I've checked out from the library two pretty good cookbooks specifically written for working moms. One of them is something like "The Working Mom's Cookbook", the other one is like "Working Mother Magazine's cookbook".

They both had a ton of great ideas for cooking on the weekend when you could get DH to babysit. Then you freeze the dinners and pop into the crockpot during the week, make several recipes throughout the week from one main meat that you cook on Monday, etc. I thought they looked pretty do-able.

Edited to add links:
http://www.amazon.com/Working-Mother-COOKBOOK-Editors-magazine/dp/0312266987/sr=8-3/qid=1161631546/ref=sr_1_3/002-4453079-6525656?ie=UTF8&s=books

Lynnie
10-23-2006, 02:59 PM
Thanks.

And thanks for not taking offense that I titled the post WOHMs ! In my opinion, it would be tougher to be a SAHM, but that is not the point of the post.

Thank you !!

casey118
10-23-2006, 05:17 PM
I feel your pain! Dinner can be such a challenge. I am trying really hard not to eat out, so here are my two methods of making dinner after work:

1. I have started using "Saving Dinner" by Leanne Eli (the nutritionist that works with Fly Lady) and have found it to be a LIFE SAVER!!! The recipes are generally easy and most take about 30 minutes. Before I grocery shop (usually the weekend) I pick out 4 or 5 recipes to make that week and make sure I have the ingredients or put them on my list. Then on my calendar in the kitchen I list the dinners I have ingredients for, otherwise I forget and am so tired when I come home from work I can't figure out what to make. If the meat is in the freezer I try to throw it in the fridge a day or two before I want to use it.
When I get home I usually try to give the boys a sort of healthy snack if they will eat what I am cooking, or will just fix them kid food like chicken nuggets (I'll admit I'm bad at this part) and make dinner in a hurry so we don't starve and kill each other before eating.

2. If I haven't planned ahead I'm usually in trouble, so here are my standbys (I try to have most of these ingredients on hand just in case):

Chicken Enchiladas- canned chicken (from costco), shredded cheese (costco), tortillas, canned enchilada sauce

Tennesee 4-way (also called Cincinnati Chili?)- spaghetti, topped with canned chili, cheese, sour cream, onions, whatever you like

Chicken, Mushroom and Rice- frozen entree from costco

Chicken taquitas- from, you guessed it, costco

Meatballs (from Costco) with egg noodles, sauce made from cream of mushroom soup and sour cream

tomato soup and grilled cheese

quesadillas

pancakes and maybe scrambled eggs

I try to also keep spinach, or at least romaine lettuce, apples and baby carrots on hand so I can throw in a veggie. I would like to try more crock pot cooking but so far haven't done it. I'll admit to having cold cereal on occasion :)

Good luck! HTH.
Kimberly

tny915
10-24-2006, 07:03 PM
Like you, I buy plenty of food and end up having to toss it because I didn't have the energy to cook it during the week. Anyway, here are my staples.

-Boboli with mushrooms, peppers, and salami. I buy presliced mushroom and then only have to cut the peppers.

-Clam pasta
http://pasta.allrecipes.com/az/ClmScwithLingin.asp?ARBMID=695&ARFMTID=1
I use dried parsley, halve the butter and replace with olive oil, and a little white wine.

-Costco rotisserie chicken - It seems to keep well. We bought it Sunday and am having it tonight.

For something like Cheeseburger Pie...
http://www.bettycrocker.com/Recipes/Recipe.aspx?recipeId=35487
I'll cook the meat and put everything together in the pan the evening before, so when I get home from work I just stick it in the oven.

I try to marinate meat the night before so the next day I can just toss it all into a pan with some veggies and stir fry it quickly.

I have a programmable rice cooker so I can set it in the morning and have it ready when I get home. I'm also trying to get more usage out of my crockpot but haven't done much so far. I bought Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker based on recs from the boards.
http://www.amazon.com/Your-Mothers-Slow-Cooker-Cookbook/dp/1558322450/sr=8-1/qid=1161734207/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-8528043-8930549?ie=UTF8&s=books

elephantmeg
10-24-2006, 08:25 PM
One thing I find frustrating about slow cookers is the amt of prep most recipes take before hand. This is my all time easy one:

Easy Dinner Surprise (I know, bad name but I didn't name it!)

1 1/2 lb stew meat
2 cans cream of mush soup
1 envelope of onion soup mix
1 small can mushrooms

Combine, cook on low 8-10 hours, serve with rice/baked potato/pasta. Throw some green beans in a pan and add a salad and you have a great dinner!

Spagetti is another favorite, I use frozen turkey meatballs. Boil the pasta, Nuke the meatballs for 2 min on a plate with paper towels. When the pasta is done I drain, pour back into the pot add canned sauce and meatballs and heat through. I make easy garlic bread by toasting plain sandwich bread, then buttering (I use brummel) and adding garlic salt and garlic powder and retoasting. It makes it a little crispier that way.

Along the same lines is tortilini with alfredo sauce.

Frozen pizza (love the mystic cheese pizzas from Costco). They were doing a sample the last time I was there and I went through twice and then bought a 3 pack (less than $10 I think). Frozen fried fish filets (I buy van de kamp) and a potato something, chicken tenders or chicken nuggets with tator tots...

Tacos-if the meat is thawed it doesn't take but 10-15 min to brown and season and serve. I use bagged lettuce/shredded cheese/and cut up a few tomatoes while I brown the meat.

Meatball subs (use up the leftover sauce from the spagetti). I put mine in the toaster oven to melt some cheese on it but it would probably work OK in the microwave. I toast the buns first so they don't get soggy. I buy good deli potato salad to go with it. (I think any hot sub/sandwich makes a good dinner-steak and cheese, meatball, sloppy joes)

Taco Salad:

This is a recipe I've adapted from my inlaws-I thought it was really strange at first but I LOVE it now and make it more than they do. Therrs is complicated, this is what I've simplified it down to. Seriously it's a 15 min to supper recipe now and it used to be a 45 min one!

1 lb of ground beef, cooked and drained (ground turkey works OK too)
1 large can of pork and beans
1/4-1/2 cup-ish of catsup
1-2 T prepared mustard (yellow)
1/4 c BBQ sauce
(I just squirt some of each in, really, less clean up!)

Cook together until bubbly, and then cook for 5 min or so. If it needs more liquid add more catsup. Turn to low, you want it to get kind of thick like a little thicker than sloppy joes, so boil out some of the juices.

Serve with (and the order is important)
Doritos crushed (I know, I know!)
Meat mixture
Cheese
Lettuce
Tomato
Ranch dressing (light ranch does OK too)

DH puts in lots of doritos and a little lettuce. I put the lettuce at the bottom and do a couple doritos and lots of lettuce. YMMV. The same meat mixture (if you want to stretch it, add another pound of gound beef) is great left over as sloppy joes. I just re-warm and add some more BBQ sauce :)

Frozen tilapia (usually come individually wrapped within a bigger bag and defrost in min under hot water) with olive oil and lemon juice and seasonings bake up in 15 min or so and are great with instant mashed potatoes (mmm..the garlic mashed potatoes are awesome!)

HTH!

linsei
10-24-2006, 11:43 PM
I work PT, and it seems we are always throwing out rotten meat and veggies that we had good intentions of making something. FWIW, when I cook, I'm casserole queen ;)

This is very quick and easy and a big hit at our house.

Mexican Casserole
1/2 package crushed tortilla chips
1 lbs cooked ground beef/turkey or use a store bought rotisserie chicken
1 can cream of mushroom or chicken soup
1/2 cup milk
1 - 1 1/2 cup salsa
1 (4 0z.) can green chiles
1 - 2 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese (the more cheese, the better, right?)

Instructions:
Put crushed chips in 8x8 or 9x9 greased casserole dish
Add meat of your choice
Mix mix soup, milk, salsa, and chiles together and pour on top.
Top with cheese.
Bake @ 350 F for 20 - 25 min.

Serve with sour cream.

Doubles nicely for a big crowd and it tastes pretty good the next day as lunch.

I think a big timesaver is to buy a bunch of ground meat, cook it all, and then freeze it in 1 lb. portions. Then you could just grab it from your freezer and add it to whatever recipe.

Linda

ETA that I try to cook stuff from scratch, but for times when we are too busy, we also use a lot of premade stuff from Sam's. Our staples are:
Bertolli dinners (I think Jo mentioned this in another post)
Stuffed shells
Breaded veal (add spagetti and mozzerella on top)
Chicken cordon bleu (they have a lot of other varieties of stuffed chicken breast also)
Chicken wings
Chicken tenders
Citrus lime pork chops
Onion rings

HTH!
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firstbaby
10-25-2006, 07:37 PM
This woman at a shower recently told me about the Six O'Clock Scramble and we've been using it occasionally for weeknight dinners. It is a subscription based recipe service and each week you get sent 5 dinner recipes and a shopping list. All the meals can be cooked in under 30 minutes and the ingredients are fairly fresh - ie no convenience products. The meals are not gourmet but it is a nice variety to my tried and true favorites.

Some quick week night meals - salmon cakes made from canned salmon, sloppy joes, meat sauce with macaroni instead of speghetti, chicken and rice, pot roast, etc. I have started to do a lot of cooking ahead so I will throw together the night before dinner for the next night. Chicken pot pie takes time to cook but very minimal prep work so it is a good weeknight meal if made ahead. Also, when I freeze pork chops or chicken breasts, I add a marinade before freezing and then as they thaw out they get lots or marinating hours. Very flavorful!

cmo
10-26-2006, 07:57 PM
I also like the Six O'Clock Scramble, and wanted to add a couple of my old standbys:
Fish tacos: I keep boxes of Gorton's Extra Crunchy fish tenders on hand, plus some tartar sauce. We always have small tortillas (or you could also stash hard shells) and romaine lettuce on hand. Bake the fish, shred the lettuce, heat the tortillas, add tartar sauce, and dinner's done!
Tortellini: I use the fresh kind, such as Buitoni or Digiorno. It freezes easily and you don't have to defrost before cooking. The sauces they make (alfredo, marinara, pesto) also can be frozen. I sometimes add broccoli to the pasta during the last few minutes of cooking the pasta, or saute another veggie separately. Drain the tortellini, add the sauce to the pan to heat it up quickly, then put the pasta back in to mix.
Spaghetti sauce: I make my own in a giant batch that makes 5 meals' worth. We eat one the same day it is made, then freeze the rest for future heat & eat.