Working Mums/parents (especially 9-5’ers) how do you plan your dinners for kids?

[Lifewithcherryd]

Hiya,

this is for the OG’s (everyone that has either already been there, done that) or for the parents currently figuring it out, how do you plan your dinners for your family for when you return home from work (especially if you have younger ones I.e toddlers etc)?

do you always batch cook on weekends or meal prep really well so you don’t spend too long in the kitchen (and if so, how long do you spend cooking when you return from work)

i return back to work in a few months and I’ll have 2 under 4 and will be picking them up from nursery around 5.30pm so that’s fairly late already so I’m after all the tips, advice that you have either for young ones or even school aged kids.

im terrible with meal planning and I don’t want to spend forever in the kitchen after work either so any tips would be much appreciated

thank you!

Mine had light tea at nursery so I just gave them a supper eg cheese and crackers, toast, yoghurt or fruit and milk. I'd have something that had been batch cooked or egg/beans on toast.
Slow cooker was also useful.
Always meal planned because then I had no decisions to make when I was really tired and wrangling 3 tired dc.

@RewildingAmbridge i use ice cube trays/ smaller weaning pots for my 9 month old now too. Will deffo start marinating bigger batches of poultry from now on too. Seems to be a common thing.

@ohmyohmy123 this sounds amazing! 10 Meals in 1 hour! I need to look into this too lol

@foodtoorder honestly, the fear is what gets you most! I don’t want to be stressed with hungry kids by my feet lol
i need dull and organised! I want my sanity to stay in check lol

When my youngest was at nursery they never stopped feeding her! She seemed to have 6 meals a day.
When the older 2 was that age, their tea during the week was something quick and easy. Cheesy toast, beans on toast, those frozen jackets with tuna, that sort of thing. Yoghurt for pud.

@3partypics Will definitely check her out. Thank you!
your routine makes sense and at least your get your ’me’ time from 6.30pm!

@Edwardwilliamnancy the mental load of parents is already a lot.. we don’t need the added stress of being tired and trying to think/ be creative with meals too lol

@FirstnameSuesecondnamePerb lol at least she was being fed which hopefully resulted in her not being too hungry on returning :)
thanks for the speedy ideas!

Mine are 6 and 2 now; the 2 year old has dinner at nursery at around 3:30, then omelette/scrambled egg/porridge when we get home.
older ones eats a meal with us - we all sit together for it though and sometimes little wants some of what we have but not regularly.

home at 5:30, dinner at 6:15, bath 7:15 kids both asleep by 8:30

I used to be in the office 4 days a week and had a one hour one way commute. Nursery fed them tea so I won’t cook for them again. Once they are primary school, I had to feed them. DH did pick up, drop off and homework. I did the food. It’s a team effort. If I start cooking at 6 and I can get dinner on the table between 6.20 to 6.30. They had a 7.30 bedtime in reception so 6.30 dinner wasn’t too late.

I don’t batch cook in the weekend because my weekends are too busy. I meal plan however. Also if it’s the kind of food that freezes well, I will cook double the amount.

I am not great at this at the moment. I'm in a bit of a cooking slump so we're having a lot of freezer crap tbh.

When i'm doing better, I definitely do the batch cooking thing. Mine love homemade soups and are ok with simple curries, bolognese etc. Then you only have to make the rice/pasta/salad for the side. I find the Pinch of Nom website quite good for ideas and they tend to bulk their recipes with lots of veg which makes me feel virtuous.

It always pays to have emergency fish fingers and pizza in the freezer just in case though. Sometimes you just haven't got time to stand over a pan so something that will sort itself while you deal with the children is a must.

@QforCucumber thank you. I like the timings as it gives enough time to get food out & also bath time isn’t too late.

@NoMoneyForFancyStuff love the team effort and I’m all for not spending the whole weekend cooking too!

@glamourousindierockandroll lol @ virtuous. This is me whenever I feel they are having a balanced meal too. Will deffo check out the pinch of nom website. Thank you