To rarely cook from scratch?

I cook from scratch but have no kid and struggle to get dinner out before 8pm sometimes even 9pm. So kudos to anyone that can cook from scratch while also seeing to kids homework, activities etc... and still get them to bed at reasonable hour.

What do you eat?
also do you really need to do laundry every day? And can you not get away with just cleaning the kitchen daily?

We do a mix - but often do “cook once, eat twice” with things like lasagne, chilli, curry etc. Tonight was a shop bought quiche with jacket potatoes and salad.

What are you giving your DC to eat?

no one needs complicated recipe meals at all, but especially not in the week!

but I'd prioritise DC eating fresh food over a load of other things.

my airfryer is an absolute godsend! In 20 minutes from fridge to plate I can have a variety of veg & protein (vegetarian in my case). Much better for you than beige freezer food!

but 'from scratch' doesn't mean the same thing to everyone. I Love homemade humous But I don't consider it the work of the devil to buy it sometimes. Or have beans on toast.

I’m a mix and match - some nights we have what I call kids dinner - nuggets, sausages etc but I found batch cooking helps spag bol, chicken casserole etc carbonara from scratch is a quick win, on wfh days I’ll shove a chicken on in the oven, frozen veg and new potatoes or salad, baguettes for tea, fajitas are quick too. It all depends on what you like to eat though. Slow cooker is also a winner. Ultimately you’re not a bad mum though!

I get how hard it is because I am a single mum of a 6 and 2 year old with a full time job which includes lots of evening time to be spent on it outside of working hours.

I got stuck in the rut of convenience foods and not wanting to cook. But actually I wanted to make more fresh food and incorporate more veg so I bought a couple of 15 minute meals type books and you can do so much actually so quickly. Like the other day I dumped mestballs in the air fryer for five minutes then tipped in chopped courgette, mushrooms, tinned tomatoes, a few herbs and some fresh pasta and made a pasta bake with v little effort. Chicken breast under the grill and whatever vegetables you have chopped up, drizzled with oil and chucked in the oven on a tray for half an hour. Slow cooker where you put a load in raw and cook it all day.

I think there’s probably quite a few good options for a halfway house where you’re not slaving over the stove for hours but also making sure freshly cooked food is eaten.

Obviously very busy nights warrant nuggets and chips or oven pizza and that’s 100% ok too!

Don't feel guilty. Sometimes, something's just got to give.

There's plenty of healthy, balanced meals that don't need to be cooked from scratch.

Cooking from scratch can just be grilled chicken and salad though. It doesn't have to be fancy. We cook everything from scratch, but often very simple meat/fish with veg or salad. Or a quick pasta.

What are you eating and feeding them?

I prioritise cooking from scratch over quite a few things. But I like cooking and my family eating healthy meals is more important to me than a messy house!

Defo not a bad mum. I prioritise cooking from scratch but DH helps and I don’t work f/t. I don’t clean, tidy as much as I probably should & I can’t exercise as much as I would like.

Fridays are freezer or a takeaway so there is a break.

Depends what you’re eating really. Cooking from scratch can be as quick as the alternatives.

You can buy everything prepped for convenience, Mediterranean veg, baby potatoes and those trays of Cajun chicken or whatever are literally just bung in the oven.

Also nothing wrong with Egg, chips and beans or jacket potatoes and that’s no effort.

I've got a child with possible ARFID so no cooking from scratch in my house either. I haven't got the energy or inclination to bother anymore. If that makes me a terrible parent in some people's eyes so be it🤷

You’re not a bad mum, you’re just in survival
mode and home cooked food isn’t your priority it sounds like. Personally food from scratch most of the time is more important than a tidy house! Mainly as it’s what I prefer to eat. But it’s often batch cooked food or v simple meals, when things are busy.