Tell me how often you cook ??

[bettyflinn]

I am really struggling with how often to cook to feed my family ! We are 4 people, 1 year old, 3 year old and two adults.

1 year old eats everything. I eat everything but try to keep it healthy/ low calorie. 3 year old is fussy and husband is fussy.

I'm cooking twice a day at the moment and it's really frustrating.

I need to work on a better routine. I work from home, just often cook in my breaks and it's annoying.

The evening meal will usually be two things at least. I don't want to cook twice a day. Or is this what everyone does ?

I think cooking once a day should be enough. The kids eat lunch at nursery etc. husband doesn't want to eat what I give my kids or what I eat. So it's still two meals. I'm tired.

Every other day, DH does the other days.

We have a 4 year old and a 1 year old and we eat early so they can eat the same meal as us, because I am not cooking twice!

Like others said it’s six nights of home cooking a week for me, and one treat night/night off (pizza or cheese on toast)

lunch is sandwiches or something very simple (omelette on toast or scrambled eggs)

But usually sandwiches.

Toddler should eat what I eat but when he doesn’t I have some frozen batch home cooked pots of food he will usually eat.

I don’t have a fussy eater so I sympathise because on the rare occasions when toddler refuses to eat I totally panic. And then get really exhausted trying to offer him lots of options that all end up on the floor. So I do feel for you.

It sounds like you need to address the husband issue .. he can cook for three of the six nights for a start!!

I cook the dinner everyday. I enjoy feeding my family and we all meal plan togther so usually no complaints. I use a Google sheet and link in the recipes I use. That means if one of us is delayed at work for any reason - the other person can get on with it and follow the recipe with no issues. We always try and make double portions and freeze half for another time.

I cook once a day and have a fussy 2.5 year old. I try to rotate things I know he will eat but sometimes he’ll refuse that, as well as new things. Sometimes he’ll try everything, toddlers are exhausting 🙃
I try to include bits I know he will eat every dinner e.g. new recipe main he will probably refuse but include side of carrots that he likes so he’ll at least eat those
Or I make extra of the meals he does like and have an extra portion in the fridge/freezer so I can always give him that if he’s clearly really hungry and not going to try - this has resulted in him eating pesto pasta for 2-3 consecutive days in the past but hey, he’s fed at least 😂
But generally if he’s eaten lunch & snacks well in the day then I won’t bother making him something else, will give him a yoghurt or fruit etc after dinner

My husband isn’t fussy so don’t have that issue there, but if I did I’d tell him to make himself something else if he doesn’t like it!

Could you get a whiteboard/put a menu plan for the week on the fridge and then he can see ahead, if he knows he won’t like a certain day then he knows he will have to sort himself out?

Never, DH does it all.

More often than not I cook a meal for the kids and later on a meal for me and my husband. It’s a routine that I’m fine with but I certainly wouldn’t be cooking my husband a separate meal, he’s a grown man not a child I’m sure he can manage what you eat unless it’s health related.

DH cooks an evening meal every day. Once or twice a month we might have a bung-it-in-the-oven meal, eat out, or get a takeaway. He batch cooks things like spag bol, burritos, shepherds pie etc, 1 to eat 3 to freeze.

I batch cook my own lunch. Depending what it is, I'll need to cook it once to 3 times a week. DH generally eats fruit and chocolate on the go at work (NHS, no time to stop for lunch most days)

Weekends, we don't tend to eat lunch, but DD (11) will make herself something. DH cooks a breakfast on a Sunday (full English, or bakon black pudding pancakes, or waffles with fruit)

DD eats what we eat.

Just me and 2 kids. 10 and 13. 10 is fussy and restricted in what she eats. I make an evening meal. Kids have packed lunch or school lunch in the week and generally on a weekend will make themselves a sandwich at lunch time - or a pizza bagel seems to be the teen’s current thing. Often hummus and bread sticks or cucumber sticks.

when I say make an evening meal it’s not always cooking properly. Tonight I made a spag Bol. Monday is always another pasta meal. One night we usually have eggs - boiled/scrambled/fried with toast or omelette (smallest is fussy so I do often end up making 2 types of egg). One night is sometimes left overs from another meal. Saturday we usually have pizza - bought from supermarket not take away. And Sunday can be hit n miss but try and do a chicken dinner or a pulled pork with crispy potatoes or something. Friday is always fish and chips - sniper market not chippy!! So not loads of onerous standing at the stove.

I hate deciding what to eat. Youngest won’t eat any veg but does eat fruit. Eldest easts most things. I’m not a massive veggie eater either but have been trying to do one of those steam bags now and again to add to meals. None of us are into curries - in fact I realised a lot of curries contain cashew which eldest has an allergy to. We’ve always got fruit in the fridge and fruit bowl for extra eating. I quite like some Chinese or stir fried but neither of the kids will eat them. We sometimes might have fajitas- although youngest ends up with a chicken wrap 😂😂.

Yep.

Lunch for me and family meal 6 nights a week, Saturday we have adults only so DH cooks or we have a takeout

I organise four weeks of meals at a time. Week one I will have one day that I cook for a half day or slightly more, then I'll cook maybe twice more through the week. I'll cook maybe two days on weeks two and three, and by week 4, everything is cooked so I have a week off - I just need to reheat and add veg/salad/pasta if needed.

What will your DH eat/not eat?

Once a day generally, sometimes twice as I have a 2.5 year old who eats earlier than us but I normally save sone of the previous day.

can you work out meals where you can serve items separately so 3 year old may eat at least one aspect eg spag Bol - pasta, meat sauce, cheese, veg all separate. 3 year old can mix up if she wants. Fajitas so she can choose what she wants to have in (sometimes my ds has just had a cheese salad wrap while we have fajitas), baked potatoes and fillings etc.

also batch cook so you don’t have to cook every day? I often do a big chilli and you can vary the sides.

dd has these plates that are quite useful if you want to keep things separate: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Munchkin-3-Lil-Apple-Plates/dp/B00QTXZO62/ref=asc_df_B00QTXZO62/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=310223050498&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=18242556996312726353&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1006631&hvtargid=pla-563495308926&psc=1&th=1&psc=1

also don’t worry too much about her eating, it will improve. I think it’s an evolutionary thing so that they’re less likely to wander off and eat poisonous berries (it helped to tell myself that anyway!). My ds grew out of most of his fussiness around 7.

Once a day, every other week (we share the cooking!)

I cook a meal once a day, unless we order in or husband cooks occasionally (he's not usually home early enough).

Even if I'm not cooking a full meal, there's still some element of preparation and/or heating up for the one year old 3x a day.

Is there a reason your cooking twice a day? We just have a normal lunch like a sandwich nothing hard and then I cook every night. I have a 1 year old who will eat anything, my 5 year old is fussy but I adapt her meal depending on what we are having so I know she’ll atleast try something on her plate then the definite things she’ll eat. My partner usually has whatever I cook and if he doesn’t want it he’ll make his own. We usually have hello fresh or gousto 3 out of 4 weeks for 4 days of the week. I prep the veg for it when I get home from the school run then I just Chuck it all together and it’s usually cooked within 20-30 mins. Weekend it’s usually a shop bought pizza on a Friday then pasta for the kids Saturday then whatever we are having on a Sunday. Usually a roast.

Young children really do see what their parents eat and refuse. Your young daughter is "difficult" bjt maybe she looks at her dad as an example? If the dining situation is giving out mixed signals she'll probably continue to be fussy around food. As a test : could you try and eat alone with the children just a few times, just to see how your 3year-old reacts?

We don't often eat together unfortunately. Dad gets home after their bed time 5-6 days a week. We only eat together once or twice a week. Other than that it's just me and the kids.

The times we all eat together, she actually eats better. Dad never refuses food in front of her. He just complains after to me, but he always eats what given:

If dh is picky then he cooks for him and the kids what he likes. You make yourself healthy dinners to eat at the same time, and make enough so the kids get a small dollop on their plates too.

This in spadefuls, he can make enough for the fussy one.

About once a night. Maybe twice on the weekends.

If my DP didn't want to eat what we did, then I'd try and find a meal that suits all. Or simply tell him to cook himself.

One family friendly meal for everyone. If DH doesn't want it then he will make himself something after kids are in bed.

We've had a lot of success with the pasta and chicken dishes on the Taming Twins website. The one pot pasta dishes are really quick and everyone has liked those, which is a miracle!

My daughter has 3 sons age 17 15 and 14... all ASD.. Every meal time is a battle.. cooking something different for everyone.
But when l had my family at home I'd cook an evening meal.
Breakfast was cereal/ toast.. lunch was sandwiches and then our evening meal.. think that's the normal these days.

Everyone makes their own breakfast and lunch. We cook one evening meal. I will generally cater to everyone's personal taste and not cook things people don't like. But I just cook one meal. If you don't like it tough.
I have never cooked multiple meals per day.

Cook one meal. As others have said, kids should try, but if they don't like it, there's fruit and yogurts. They'll live. Husband can feed himself and he really should cook at least on weekends to give you a break.
I had an incredibly fussy toddler and pre-schooler, I just kept cooking our usual meals. And we eat a very varied diet - all kinds of salads, curries, loads of vegetables etc. My DS now eats absolutely eveything and prefers green salad to junkfood.