New Mum, I need help and advice to prepare dinner! :(

[TheFrenchymummy]

Dear all,

My son is turning 3 months next month and despite being the most happy mother on this earth (this is my first baby..), I am also the most stressed one as it is difficult for me to cope with all the busy schedule...

Main priority of the moment is taking care of my little one, especially still breastfeeding and didn't expected that he would request so much attention in general.. changing nappies, cleaning and so one... I am also running a small business aside and have quite an hectic life trying to be on top of all my responsibilities. My husband is quite busy with work and can't help much and none of our family are here leaving in the UK..

I have a main concern regarding preparing dinner as I don't have much time anymore for it and I am also not really good at cooking to be honest... I wanted to know if some of you feel the same? How do you take care of your family, job and also finding some time to cook? Is there any possibility in London to have an affordable cook coming once in a while to your place to prepare couple of dishes that you could store in fridge or freezer? Any group, forum, platform that you would recommend?

I have a housekeeper coming once a week for the cleaning but ideally was thinking if something similar would exist for cooking?

Many thanks for sharing any advice or similar experience as this is something I would like to solve especially when your husband is a foodie! :)

Cheers,

A.

Why don't you give one of the online recipe places a go? Like Hello Fresh but there are lots out there.

You still have to do the actual cooking but they send all the ingredients so you can just follow the recipe. You will also then improve your own skills for when you have more time to cook again.

Cant help on the cook but surely hello fresh or similar gourmet ready meal would be OK.

I lived off m&s pre-prepared food when i had ds2. I was ok at cooking when i had ds1.

If budget allows what about those meal delivery boxes? E.g. hello fresh, gusto ? They get delivered to your house and everything is ready and portioned. You pick how many meals, what kind of food you like. Cooking time is usually quite low.

I know lots of people here will recommend a slow cooker.

A few really quick meals I like are:

-Pre-rolled puff pastry, cover in a layer of cream cheese, dollop on pesto, sliced tomatoes and some mozzarella. Chuck in the oven for 10 mins.

-In a baking tray chuck a load of veg with oil and salt, peppers, onions, carrots etc (or buy it pre-cut and prepared from the supermarket). After 30 mins add chicken breasts or thighs with oil, herbs, seasoning whatever you like and put back in for 15 (or until chicken is done). Longer cooking time but minimal prep or watching required.

• Cous cous is great because you just pop in a bowl with a stock cube and cover with boiling water. Leave for 10 or until water is soaked up and fluff with a fork. Serve with anything you want, if I have no time I just grab a bag of salad, some pre-cooked chicken and a dip like tzatziki or guacamole.

You could learn how to cook?

Xpost with elzbells. I didn't know hello fresh was self cooking. Maybe not that. I have seen goumet ready meals.

Ready made mash/ herbed potatoes etc, fish or meat in sauce you just bung in oven, steam pots of veg. Pasta is super easy anyway, pre made microwave rice or naan with ready made curry. Moussaka, lasagna, shepherds pie, lets face it its a pain making these anyway even without a 3mo. Salad stuff is super easy, salad and quiche, salad and pizza, stir fry. Not rocket science and cheaper than a chef. You can even buy healthy 'count on us' type meals.

I love cook in the bag chicken recipes, just shove thighs and seasoning in the bag then serve on rice. I also love my slow cooker too, literally throw some ribs in there with BBQ sauce for 5 hours then grill the ribs with some more sauce for sticky melt in the mouth ribs. Diced beef with a tin of chopped tomatoes, some sugar to offset the bitterness, some garlic, mustard and paprika for 6 hours, then toss in some diced mushrooms and cream then serve on rice for an easy stroganoff that can be frozen! Also you can just toss some diced apple, diced pork loins and chopped onion and carrots in the slow cooker with some chicken stock for 5/6 hours then adds gravy for a pork and apple stew to have with some mash (I buy frozen mash or ready made mash when especially tired). Slow cookers are magic and let you get on with a crazy day with minimal stress xxx

Maggi is the brand I buy from Asda for the cook in the bag chicken :)

I think your problem is less about cooking and more that you and your husband need to make some adjustments in order to accommodate your new life.

In terms of cooking - you can batch cook a few dishes to have in the freezer, have a list of 15-20 minute recipes you can quickly put together, buy some ready meals and microwave veg packets.

Cook do lovely home cooked freezer meals, we always have a couple in the freezer as a just in case

Slow cooker. Chuck everything in it in the morning and by dinner you have a wonderful meal. Lots of great recipes on the internet

I agree with PP, your schedule will have to change to accommodate a baby. You and DH will have to lower your standards, at least for the next few months.

Things that helped me:

Prep veg/ meat in the evening when DH was home and start slow cooker before bed. Would feed us 2 nights or freeze spare portions.

Do a big batch cook at the weekend and portion up for the freezer

Oven traybakes - sausages, cod, chicken etc on a bed of root vegetables. Quick to prep then leave to do its thing.

Have healthy ready meals in the freezer for those nights when it was all too much.

Otherwise, if you search 'new mum meal delivery' there are lots of companies that will send ready prepared meals but they're fairly expensive!