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Cooking and Eating Better
Apr. 20th, 2009 11:19 amI originally posted this on my blog, but since I rarely get comments there, I thought I'd re-post here as well:
One of the things I love about moving is that it's sort of like New Year's on steroids. You get to fashion your new life from scratch and decide what you don't like about your current life and try to fix it. I'm very excited about Ft. Carson's running trails, for example, and our plan to get my parents' tandem and a Burley and start riding more with the kids.
But the thing I want to fix the most is our dinner eating situation. I want everyone to get healthy dinners in under an hour (prep and eating). I want dinner to be enjoyable and not stressful. I want to eat food that has not been highly processed (i.e. meals in bags, frozen food, etc.) Now, I get almost no comments on this blog, and that's fine, but I'm really looking for input this time around. So, here are the pertinent facts:
1. Joe is a much better cook than me but he can't guarantee that he will be home at dinner time.
2. I enjoy cooking, but don't like it when I'm feeling stressed by tired/crying kids, etc.
3. I suspect that a portion of the solution to this issue lies in planning meals in advance and grocery shopping over the weekend. I think I can do that, but I'd love any tips about making it actually happen or helping me plan out meals.
4. I'm philosophically opposed to making two meals or feeding my kids a diet of McNuggets and frozen fish sticks. However, Ellie, who used to love everything, has reached that three year old stage where she wants to eat pasta, pizza, and fruit. Most of the time, even if we are having chicken, which she likes, she wants plain, baked chicken with no yucky spices, grill marks, or sauces. Well, I don't want to eat that. I don't want to do a lot of work to make dinner for me, Frisco, and Ellie, especially if Ellie won't eat it. There's not a lot of enjoyment to sitting down and eating with the kids at this point in their lives. Joe can't always be home though when the kids need to eat. I guess what I'm getting at is that if it's just me and the kids eating early, I'm tempted to make macaroni and cheese. They like it, I can survive, and Joe can fend for himself later. If I make a meal for Joe and I, it seems they won't eat it. So, while I don't like the idea of cooking two meals, maybe we need to eat later, after they are asleep? For a while? I don't know.
So, send me all your ideas, links, meal-planning suggestions, and so on so I can start things off well when we finally get to Colorado.
One of the things I love about moving is that it's sort of like New Year's on steroids. You get to fashion your new life from scratch and decide what you don't like about your current life and try to fix it. I'm very excited about Ft. Carson's running trails, for example, and our plan to get my parents' tandem and a Burley and start riding more with the kids.
But the thing I want to fix the most is our dinner eating situation. I want everyone to get healthy dinners in under an hour (prep and eating). I want dinner to be enjoyable and not stressful. I want to eat food that has not been highly processed (i.e. meals in bags, frozen food, etc.) Now, I get almost no comments on this blog, and that's fine, but I'm really looking for input this time around. So, here are the pertinent facts:
1. Joe is a much better cook than me but he can't guarantee that he will be home at dinner time.
2. I enjoy cooking, but don't like it when I'm feeling stressed by tired/crying kids, etc.
3. I suspect that a portion of the solution to this issue lies in planning meals in advance and grocery shopping over the weekend. I think I can do that, but I'd love any tips about making it actually happen or helping me plan out meals.
4. I'm philosophically opposed to making two meals or feeding my kids a diet of McNuggets and frozen fish sticks. However, Ellie, who used to love everything, has reached that three year old stage where she wants to eat pasta, pizza, and fruit. Most of the time, even if we are having chicken, which she likes, she wants plain, baked chicken with no yucky spices, grill marks, or sauces. Well, I don't want to eat that. I don't want to do a lot of work to make dinner for me, Frisco, and Ellie, especially if Ellie won't eat it. There's not a lot of enjoyment to sitting down and eating with the kids at this point in their lives. Joe can't always be home though when the kids need to eat. I guess what I'm getting at is that if it's just me and the kids eating early, I'm tempted to make macaroni and cheese. They like it, I can survive, and Joe can fend for himself later. If I make a meal for Joe and I, it seems they won't eat it. So, while I don't like the idea of cooking two meals, maybe we need to eat later, after they are asleep? For a while? I don't know.
So, send me all your ideas, links, meal-planning suggestions, and so on so I can start things off well when we finally get to Colorado.
