Newbie Planner, help and advice welcome!

[SAHMutiny]

I have, after 15 years, found a job. I will be working 3 days a week. DH works full time and wfh twice a week. DC1 is 15 and has dyspraxia and asd; cooking, planning and recognising danger are weaknesses. DC2 is 12 and often out so has little experience cooking. Both DC are at a secondary which does not cater lunch, they come home for lunch. I have no idea where to start to think about meals! At the moment I do all the cooking.
I think our week will look like
Mon: DH wfh. DC home for lunch 12-1320. DC1 home 1530-1650, out home again at 2030. DC2 home at 2030.
Tuesday: DC home for lunch 12-1320. DC1 home at 1700, DC2 home at 2045.
Wed: I will be home
Thurs: DH wfh, DC home for lunch 12-1320. DC1 home at 1530. DC2 home alternate weeks at 14:00 or 1530, out 17:00-2030.
Fri: I will be home.

DH usually takes leftovers for Tues, Wed and Fri.
DC2 needs to take something to eat after school before her sport on Tuesday plus a meal to eat on the way home.
Thursday evening I usually do a pasta salad for DC2 to eat on the way home.
I will need lunch Monday, Tues and Thurs.
We normally eat a cooked meal at midday.
DH won't eat the same meal twice in a row so he takes weekend leftovers for Tues, Tuesday's for Wed and Wednesday's for Thursday.
He also goes running in his lunch break when wfh so won't have long to prepare meals.

help!

ChatGPT can be very useful for this!!

I'd also get a magnetic whiteboard for the fridge - stick inside a cupboard then do a grid for meals that you can write down the plan for each day. Start with the easy bits eg leftover days and then basically stick your post into ChatGPT including information on what you like to eat / have in store cupboards and it will suggest menus.

I’ve actually just been watching Batch from Scratch on channel 4 with the Batch Lady and there are some really great ideas on there to spend a bit of time on a Sunday to batch everything ready for the week. Might be worth a look - I think she has a book out too.

Oh I had no idea ChatGPT could do things like this! Thank you, will take a look.

will check out that book too, thanks.

Play about with the prompts eg “I need help with planning food and menus for my family. I have 2 teens who cannot cook and they will need lunch for 5 days. Can you give me ideas for 10 healthy lunches for them. They do like …. They don’t like …..

Can some of the lunches be soup and bread/rolls? If so then a combination of kilner jar soup that are pre prepared and DH just needs to boil a kettle and fill the jar and hand them bread & butter. Yoghurt or fruit for pudding. Other days DH could put soup ingredients in a soup maker first thing. Then he just needs to remember to turn it on 20 minutes or so before the soup is needed. Pour it out and bread/fruit yoghurt as before.

When making DD's pasta salad make extra for lunch the following day.

ALso when cooking a main meal make some extra portions and freeze individually - basically a homemade ready meal. In the morning each person in for lunch forages in freezer, selects their own"ready meal" and leaves it on the side to defrost. Then at lunchtime all DH has to do is supervise the DC as they microwave their own meals.

Set aside some time at the weekend for you and DD (and DH and DS) to prepare a batch cooked meal so that there is an easy evening meal once or twice a week with extra portions in the freezer. Benefits all round as it won't all be on you, the DC will learn to cook, the children will learn that cooking meals is not just a job for the women and they are far more likely to eat what they make themselves.