I've had an epiphany - cooking varied meals from scratch does not a good mother make...

[handlemecarefully]

I really make the effort with my lo's nutrition. Cook from scratch, varied menu etc. But it takes so much frigging time up - even simple meals from the Dinner Lady cookbook or Ainsley Harriot's 'Meals in Minutes'; there is still chopping and peeling and washing of pans etc.

With an absentee husband (working all hours), two preschoolers, a puppy and 3 chickens to look after it's too much. I feel shackled to the kitchen and find myself snapping at the children and telling them to bog off because I am busy clearing up the post meal carnage.

Yesterday however I was visibly relaxed because Dh was going to be home early (18.00) and suggested bringing home fish and chips. I had time and energy for the children.

Whilst I am not going to go down the turkey twizzler route , I shall be introducing far more fishfinger and (good quality) sausage type quick meals.

I'm also going to cook only a limited repertoire of a few meals from scratch and keep repeating these(so that I become lightning fast at doing these)...I remember suggesting doing this before on here and someone counselled me not to as I would be stultifying my children's 'nutritional' development...however I reckon that's bunkum. I ate only processed peas as a child (eschewing all veggies) and favoured Bernard Matthews turkey burgers - but now have a very refined and adventurous palate.

Have you heard that expression "No one on their death beds regrets that they didn't spend more time in the office" ? I reckon that applies to the kitchen too.

My children won't remember the meals I cooked - just a mother who never had time to play with them. So hang the fecking food fascism. They will be getting healthy food (all the food groups represented) but it will be low effort and simple from now on. And they will have an unstressed mother who will play with them!!!!

I'm not too busy to cook every day, but some days I'd rather be doing other, far more important things like painting my nails or reviewing my wardrobe.

You're soooooooo shallow Puff(ball)!!

yeah, great innit

I just had an epiphany! If I were a SAHP w/a cleaner, I'd cook even MORE yummies!

I llooovee to cook, bake and eat.

Get teh kids involved. DD1 is only 2, but she can stir, pour and press a digestive biscuit crust into a cheesecake pan - 'Big Cook, Little Cook' taught her 'press it down, mash it down'. I put one of those wee tables that folds against the wall in the kitchen, b/c it is a small space. She sits there whilst I bustle about, drawing w/her markers, 'cooking', etc. DD2 I strap in her bouncy chair, then pop in a load of washing. She sits staring at it and cooing away.

Found this thread amusing since I've only just escaped the kitchen from this weekend's 2 hour cooking marathon!

Agree wholeheartedly with SS and am firmly in the "cook in bulk and freeze" camp. Chunky veg pasta sauces and Moussaka are my Lo's favorites, oh and chicken and red pepper pasta.

Ironically, after spending hours cooking healthy food with organic ingredients for my 1yr old, I am now sat with a glass of wine and a bag of Quavers!

I use the slow cooker and do a lot of mashed potato as the kids love it. Their favourite food is spaghetti so if they had that in the slow cooker every day they would be happy and it takes me five minutes in the morning before work. Brilliant invention.

I want a slow cooker now!

My kids are shockingly picky (will only eat a handful of main courses) but the only 'processed' food they get for dinner is sausages. And though we are very skint, I bulk buy beautiful expensive organic sossies from whereever I see them (ie sainsbury's farmer's market etc) and freeze them. the rest of the time it is a sad merry-go-round of fish with pots/noodles/rice and carrots, broc, green beans, sugarsnaps and baby sweetcorn - these being the only veg the little bleeders will eat now. (and not from lack of trying), home made pizza, home made burgers, baked or roast chicken, occasionally lower-salt bacon etc. It's all pretty quick and easy to prepare and (I hope!) nutricious. Takes 10 mins for most of them. Then while they are eating, I whizz up our dinner (usually one-pot something, pasta etc like most of you). Fruit or home-baked summat for pud.
I keep trying to cook extra to freeze - but we keep eating it

Ha ha fullmoonfiend, the first person to say what I had been thinking - I make LOADS thinking I'll freeze it then huge hungry husband and huge (in training) hungry DS just EAT it!

I have been known to cook four different dinners:

DS has severe allergies
DD is a baby with fairly bland tastes
DP loves a good spicy curry or chillie and if I am trying to lose weight then I cook something different.

I used to love to cook but I find it soul destroying now. DP's and to some extent my love of spicy food means that DD can't eat what we eat yet and Ds's allergies means he probably will only occassionally eat what we eat.

During the week I often tell DP to cook his own meal and I end up having sandwiches and then only cook for the little ones.
What is the best cook book for quick meals???

I have to cook from scratch because I have to follow the DASH diet, low sodium for high blood pressure. I also work four days a week so it is a bit of a pain but very good for me and the kids. I have found if you do a roast chicken one day, not much prep then leftover chicken goes in slow cooker next morning with tin of tomatoes and sweetcorn, just do pasta when you get home, then spaghetti in the slow cooker the next day, something with a baked potatoe with a bit of fish the next and finally I do allow sausages and mash one day. It's not very exciting but is cooking from scratch and will only take a few minutes each day. Since doing this my blood pressure is back within normal limits now. (after 2 months on the diet). I just think if it affects my blood pressure this much what does it do for the kids and that forces me to stick to it. My DH hates it though as he is a big salt fan. It really is no harder than a ready made meal. Baked potatoes are really good. Just try it for a week! Also try cooking rice in a tin of tomatoes
(microwave 20 mins) and you have dragon blood rice really good for my DS.

I try to harness my multi tasking skills - yesterday I was cooking a roast (which is v rare for me) and made parsnip soup and cauliflower cheese for the freezer at the same time - well, I was already using the steamer and making a mess of the kitchen anyway, doesn't take any extra time.
I'm a convert to cook from scratch, and in a way I love doing it, but there are weeks when i can't be bothered to think about it and organise it all the time, or be making tomorrows tea at ten o clock at night so its ready when we all get home from work/nursery...those weeks we live off what's left in the freezer or easier options.

When I had my last ds by cs the mums at our church all cooked loads of meals and filled our freezer. It was bliss and lasted for about three weeks. It also gave me ideas for new things to cook for my family. Discovered that ds2 and 3 really love curry!

Yahoo! I'm so for bending the rules and easing up on ourselves a bit!

My quickie and healthy:

Main: Mashed up eggs in a cup with bread soldiers (soft boiled if kids are older - even less work!)

Pudding: banana (chopped), grapes, strawberries (halved) served with melted chocolate (2 mins in the m/w) and a fork - fondue!

Takes seconds, very healthy and lots of time to pour a lovely glass of white and chat with them!! (By the way a couple of eggs have the same amount of omega stuff that a piece of salmon has.)

I loved the "on your deathbed" quote - I'm living round that now too .

Expat - those frozen smoothies sound like a good idea, what do you put in them as a base?

I try to cook from scratch most of the time but some days there just isn't enough time.
Also with me being totally veggie, DH a meateater and 3 children veggie but with fish, makes it all a bit complicated. I try not to do 3 seperate things too often.
I make a huge pot of lentil bolognese (very easy) then use some with spaghetti, make a lasagne with some to freeze and save some for jacket pot topping.
Kedgeree is another good/quick thing. I make a veggie version then add fish for DH and the children.

My problem is having other children for tea. Or worse still, DS going to his best friends for tea !!! Smiley faces ans fish fingers every night!!! That's the adults too !!!
I made lentil bolognese but blitzed it so it looked like any other tom sauce, DS's best friend said "don't like it, is it the same jar as my mummmy gets?" Charming !

Great thread by the way.

I have jus got a new cooker which as a 'slow cooker' setting on it. Has anyone else got one of these or do people all use seperate slow cookers? I just wondered if the cooker would use lots more energy than a seperate one? (already have huge gas and elec bills). Are you able to leave things to ccok in slow cooker all day whilst at work or is it for days when at home? Sorry, am complete slow cooker virgin!

um ... haven't read the whole thread.... but prepare for I am with you handlemecarefully but ...

Granted, there is only me and dd ( and boyf when he is over, about twice a week) but I do cook from scratch almost every time (lunch & tea) and I never do anything that takes me more than half an hour, and it's usually only 15 mins. Nearly all my meals are healthy and veg oriented. Probably 3 or 4 meals a week are chips & fish finger type things, and perhaps 2 meals cooked by someone else eg my mum or a cafe. it bugs me so much that people like gillian mckeith make cooking & eating properly look so complicated. And Annabel Karmel always leaves me feeling pathetic and unadventurouS!

Our staples here are pasta (eg spag bol, or tuna pasta, or just mixed with bits of veg & mayo! - or if i'm very lazy a jar of pasta sauce), rice (often just with tuna & salad type raw veg eg peppers, mushrooms, courgettes, spring onions, sweetcorn etc - I also quite often do red lentils/carrots/red pepper/tomatoes which was originally an Annabel Karmel puree), fish & veggies, the fish baked in a foil parcel for 10 mins. Or just a tin of soup (if can't be bothered from scratch) and cheese sarnies... Also have a stock of tinned mixed beans, simple to add to tin of tomatoes & chopped spinach ... which reminds me, jacket potatoes cooked for 5-10 mins in microwave depending on size. Baked beans on toast of course. add spinach to that too.

Seriously, even chopping veg has seemed to have got quick (though as i said there's only 2 of us here). But also what helps with the guilt factor of leaving dd on her own is , she helps or watches (she loves sitting on the worktop joining in . she's only 2.6 and v chilled out so not likely to jump off! :)) If I had more than 1 kid it would be harder of course, or one that wasn't interesting in cooking...

So, what stops me from cooking from scratch is pure laziness not lack of time or wanting to spend the time with dd!

You can cook the Helen Browning sausages from frozen (I bung them in the freezer after I buy them) in about 8 min. Giving enough time to boil up some pasta to go with. :)

Granary, I always leave the slow cooker on when I am at work and have done for years really. It is perfectly save although I don't know how much energy it uses.

3catstoo, I am so pleased i read this. my situation is exactly the same, veggie dh is meat eater, kids veggie but also fish. i cook the same for all of us, dh only has meat in sarnies at work. but i always get asked aobut it 'doesn't it make life difficult?' We have a 4 week set of menus and shopping lists, i update them for spring/summer and autumn/winter and it doesn't get too boring. once a fortnight ds (3.4) gets fishfingers and chips but he generally eats the same as us. I cook the meal the night before and then heat it up for us to eat.

You can always try and mix - some days when the kids are happily playing by themselves cook something more time consuming - make enough so you can have it for lunch and dinner. That way you won't feel like the time was wasted cooking that meal. On the days you sense kids are playing up, or you wish to spend more quality time together, get a pizza takeaway, or maybe cook some pasta/rice (all quick and easy things) and buy a sauce from supermarket. Altenatively, cook stuff that takes a lot of time - in the evening, and have it the next day.
I'm a big fan of properly cooked foods and will only occassionaly have a ready meal, but we also have off days when we'll have a takeaway, microwave meal etc.
Don't beat yourself up - everyone feels frustrated once in a while. As long as you enjoy the food you make and providing it's not lethal (too much salt, too much saturated fat etc.) you shouldn't have to feel guilty for once in a while let your hair down.
Also, yes, it's a great idea to stick to 5-10 meals that you alternate between. Noone needs french cuisine or some posh Gry Rhodes dish. Shepherd's Pie, Pasta, Casseroles, Lean Steaks, Roasted Veg, Bollognese... All good and easy to make... Each of those take no more than 15-30 mins. to prepare. Jamie Oliver seems to have great easy recipes. If you've ever watched him cook, you'll see that he does all in 20 or so mins. :)

Didn't read all the posts...yes it is hard doing home cooked food all the time - but doing it most of the time is worth it - I certainly remember my mum giving me turkey burgers, jacket potatoes & peas for months I was ASTOUNDED when I went round friends for dinner & their mum worked full time (as a school teacher) & cooked all sorts of goodies - chili con carne, gammon steaks & pototoes. Not fancy stuff, just good honest food.

Did notice that someone mentioned cooking in bulk & that's a great idea, so perhaps that & then every couple of days things like a tuna pasta, fish, veg & potatoes, prawn curry with rice, shepherds pie ? these all take 30 - 40 mins ( thanks to lloyd grossman )

Not sure how old your kids are, but perhaps they could get involved with the cooking too ?

We always cook from scratch because of DS allergies, it takes for ever if you do it every day, we normally cook double of what we eat about 3-4 days a week and the other days we just defrost the extras and have that instead.

Many things can be done in the microwave (but get a good book in the subject) which saves a lot of time and also a lot of the mess.