Uhh... How do you guys eat things other than take out?

[xxkimmy8xx]

Sooo.. For those of you that did not have the foresight to make freezer meals, are you cooking? What's your routine? Mine consists of me or DH getting carryout. Super healthy.

[sunshineshades]

DH is the cook in our house so dinner hasn't changed at all since E was born. I've managed to still get lunch going for dd1 and I. I froze some muffin tin pot pie before E was born. So we eat those or make simple meals.

[sctiger]

I meal plan and try to prep dinner when I can throughout the day. I pick easy things and work quickly when she's napping or when I can put her down. My husband does grilled stuff a couple nights a week and we cook at home pretty much every night. Baby wearing also helps!

[carissa325]

I try to get as much done as possible during naps and wear her when it's time to cook.

[SheilaTheTank]

We did freezer meals but they are running out.

I dont meal plan as it never works for us. I buy pantry staples and whatever meat and veggies are on sale. I buy in bulk and freeze what i can to have on hand. My usual go to for dinner is a simple formula of meat, grain/starch,and veggie.

Meat = chicken sausage, pork chops seared and finished in the oven, shredded chicken or pork done in slow cooker, anything on the grill, meatballs

Starch/grain = egg noodles, pasta, baked potato, perogies, couscous, rice

Veggies = cut up cold veggies, salad, frozen veggies heated in the microwave.

Mix and match as you see fit. No dinner takes more than 20 minutes. If you make rice, I recommend making a big batch and freezing it in 1 cup portions. Then you only need to heat it in the microwave.

I put K in the bouncer and talk to her while cooking or I wear her.

[zombiesquad]

I do a little meal planning before I go to the store each week. Now that I'm back at work, it's imperative that I not only plan ahead, but cook ahead. So if we're going to have spaghetti one day, I try to prepare the meat the night before so only the noodles have to be prepared when one of us gets home. If I know one evening is going to be busy, I plan a crockpot meal so neither one of us have to cook when we get home. It's a lot of work, but so worth it when you're getting home at 6 with a hungry kid.

[arbe]

Babywearing, I don't nap, Wegmans has a lot of prepped meals. Crockpot. I rarely to takeout, im too cheap.

[nexttonormal]

Do chicken nuggets and PB/fluff count?

But seriously, I'm right there with you in the "need to eat healthier" department. It's tough for me because my kids aren't very adventurous eaters. They'll eat broccoli, bananas, and a handful of other healthy foods, but besides that, any meal I try to make goes uneaten. So I stick with what I know they'll eat, which leaves me with their leftovers.
So if I do actually cook, it's only for me and MH. But by that point in the day, I'd rather just drink a glass of wine haha.

[ironmom]

Ever seen Chopped? That's me.

Luckily, I can cook with a million distractions because of my restaurant experience. But grocery shopping? With a grumpy baby and spirited preschooler? Hell to the no. And we don't live anywhere that has grocery delivery, so that's out. So it's become a once a month thing.

Last night, my mystery basket was like cube steak, polenta, vanilla pudding and potato chips.

We got pizza.

[jewel441]

Easy fast things. Now LO goes down pretty early so we eat after but before that H would hold LO while I cooked for as long as she would tolerate it then I would swap in and hold her when she lost it and H would take over at the stove if needed. It's definitely easier with the earlier bedtime though! We still do take out sometimes. I also suggest buying lots of frozen veggies bc then if you don't use it it doesn't go bad.

[britts22]

Blue Apron has been a lifesaver! We just signed up after LO was born and are loving it. All the ingredients for 3 dinners a week are delivered to our door.

[rachelilly23]

K typically naps around our dinner time, so that allows me to cook. If not and she won't sit happily in the swing or bouncy seat, I wear her. I meal plan before I go to the store. We go out to eat usually once a week.

[halfahippy]

I have my own personal chef

But really, DH does most of the cooking. I maybe cook once or twice a week if A will let me. We usually eat after DS goes to bed, but I feel like his bedtime is getting later and things need to change soon. But time sucks. We get home too late for anything that isn't fast.
Some of the quick meals that I make are skillet meat sauce on garlic toast, Panko chicken filets on English muffins, and carnitas nachos. I can baby wear if I need to for 2/3 of those meals.

[adorebel]

I actually cooked a lot on the 6 weeks of maternity leave, especially because she was sleeping more hours of the day so I could cook while she napped, but then I used the freezer meals I'd made for dinners the first couple of weeks I was back at work because I was just so tired while establishing a new routine (and DH does a lot of things, but he does not cook).

Since then (now at 10+ weeks), H and I make a grocery trip together with the baby in the carrier on the weekends and stock up on essentials, rather than carefully meal planning. Then I try to make relatively quick things, like a mushroom risotto, pasta carbonara, tofu and kale bowl, a big taco salad or salad with chicken, etc. - things that don't require more than 20 minutes of active time and 40 minutes total. 

I put the baby in her swing or on her playmat while I cook. If she's fussy, DH takes her or I wear her in the carrier. We usually eat around 7, then when we're done, one of us gets her bathed and dressed for bed while the other does the dishes and then we put her down together with a book and a song between 7:30 and 8. I guess we could eat after she goes to bed, but I'm always ravenous because #breastfeeding.

[jewel441]

May 12, 2016 8:11:56 GMT -5 britts22 said:

Blue Apron has been a lifesaver! We just signed up after LO was born and are loving it. All the ingredients for 3 dinners a week are delivered to our door.

How much work is each recipe? I have been curious about this.

[SheilaTheTank]

May 12, 2016 10:03:00 GMT -5 jewel441 said:

May 12, 2016 8:11:56 GMT -5 britts22 said:

Blue Apron has been a lifesaver! We just signed up after LO was born and are loving it. All the ingredients for 3 dinners a week are delivered to our door.

How much work is each recipe? I have been curious about this.

+1 is it worth the cost? Do you have leftovers?

[rosetyler72]

Meal plan easy things, crockpot meals, lots of sandwiches, salads, burritos, and pasta here.
Those of you that baby wear - does LO cry the whole time? C only cries or sleeps when I wear him, never just chills. Is that normal?

[xxkimmy8xx]

May 12, 2016 16:58:31 GMT -5 rosetyler72 said:

Meal plan easy things, crockpot meals, lots of sandwiches, salads, burritos, and pasta here.
Those of you that baby wear - does LO cry the whole time? C only cries or sleeps when I wear him, never just chills. Is that normal?

My kid only cries or sleeps in general, being worn or not.  Is that normal? haha. 

[britts22]

May 12, 2016 10:18:54 GMT -5 SheilaTheTank said:

May 12, 2016 10:03:00 GMT -5 jewel441 said:

How much work is each recipe? I have been curious about this.

+1 is it worth the cost? Do you have leftovers?

Each recipe isn't too much work, about 30-45 minutes.

I generally think it's worth the cost ($10 per meal per person) because the meals are yummy, there is a good selection of meals weekly and the convenience of having all ingredients delivered is amazing. I will say that some of the portions aren't huge and we've never had leftovers so that's a downside. I've heard that Hello Fresh has slightly better portion sizes.

Even though it's a bit pricey, its actually helped our spending because we would go to the grocery store blindly (instead of meal planning in advance) and end up with junk food and not a lot of meals. I'm also trying to cook more (DH does 99%) and this makes it easy.

[chatterbox]

I try to get everything ready early in the day so I just have to heat it up at dinner time or throw it in the crock pot. It's still been a little difficult to get done though because I'm by myself with 2 under 2. I think this week I'm going to try to prep as much as possible on Sunday night for the week.

I baby wear too, and he almost always falls asleep within five minutes.

[michelleca]

Today was my first day flying solo with the kids, DH's leave ended. I didn't even try to make dinner. I am too afraid to get groceries with DS, he has been throwing tantrums like you wouldn't believe.
But I'll just be making simple meals during the week, with the baby in her bouncy seat on the floor, and the TV babysitting the big one..
MOTY.

[xxkimmy8xx]

Seriously though guys... My kid cries a lot... Like... I only get 5 mins of lucidity at a time... 3-4x a day.. I'm assuming that's not normal? Kind of going crazy.

[rosetyler72]

May 12, 2016 20:18:12 GMT -5 xxkimmy8xx said:

Seriously though guys... My kid cries a lot... Like... I only get 5 mins of lucidity at a time... 3-4x a day.. I'm assuming that's not normal? Kind of going crazy.

This is us too, except right when H comes home from work C suddenly has like 45 minutes of happiness and just hangs out on the play mat, cooing and smiling. I keep trying to tell H that he is NOT this easy the rest of the day! 
I'm honestly not sure there is a "normal" anymore. 

[paloslee]

Sometimes I eat PBJ or cereal because I don't want to cook. But I try to cook Monday-Wed. Crockpot meals are my go to. Or I look up 30min meals.

[sunshineshades]

May 12, 2016 20:18:12 GMT -5 xxkimmy8xx said:

Seriously though guys... My kid cries a lot... Like... I only get 5 mins of lucidity at a time... 3-4x a day.. I'm assuming that's not normal? Kind of going crazy.

I think this can be common. My niece cried a ton her first few months and slept little. In nor sure I'd say it is "Normal" in the sense of all babies doing it. Could it be colic?

[jewel441]

May 12, 2016 20:18:12 GMT -5 xxkimmy8xx said:

Seriously though guys... My kid cries a lot... Like... I only get 5 mins of lucidity at a time... 3-4x a day.. I'm assuming that's not normal? Kind of going crazy.

I would definitely talk to your pedi about it.

[SheilaTheTank]

May 12, 2016 20:18:12 GMT -5 xxkimmy8xx said:

Seriously though guys... My kid cries a lot... Like... I only get 5 mins of lucidity at a time... 3-4x a day.. I'm assuming that's not normal? Kind of going crazy.

How old is your kid? Fussiness is said to peak around 8 weeks. Ours peaked at 10. My kid HATES being a baby. She gets frustrated because she can't do things yet. You can tell she wants to sit and creep but is still to young. Because of this we get super cranky meltdowns. She also gets pissed when im not paying all my attention to her.

Things that are my friend: Binkies, swaddling (can get her to focus long enough to redirect her), the fan above the stove (the most amazing magical thing ever!)

[xxkimmy8xx]

May 13, 2016 9:44:48 GMT -5 SheilaTheTank said:

May 12, 2016 20:18:12 GMT -5 xxkimmy8xx said:

Seriously though guys... My kid cries a lot... Like... I only get 5 mins of lucidity at a time... 3-4x a day.. I'm assuming that's not normal? Kind of going crazy.

How old is your kid? Fussiness is said to peak around 8 weeks. Ours peaked at 10. My kid HATES being a baby. She gets frustrated because she can't do things yet. You can tell she wants to sit and creep but is still to young. Because of this we get super cranky meltdowns. She also gets pissed when im not paying all my attention to her.

Things that are my friend: Binkies, swaddling (can get her to focus long enough to redirect her), the fan above the stove (the most amazing magical thing ever!)

He's 6 and a half weeks... He sleeps great at night and will nap if he's laying on me.. Just hates being awake. Little stinker.

[SheilaTheTank]

May 13, 2016 10:44:59 GMT -5 xxkimmy8xx said:

May 13, 2016 9:44:48 GMT -5 SheilaTheTank said:

How old is your kid? Fussiness is said to peak around 8 weeks. Ours peaked at 10. My kid HATES being a baby. She gets frustrated because she can't do things yet. You can tell she wants to sit and creep but is still to young. Because of this we get super cranky meltdowns. She also gets pissed when im not paying all my attention to her.

Things that are my friend: Binkies, swaddling (can get her to focus long enough to redirect her), the fan above the stove (the most amazing magical thing ever!)

He's 6 and a half weeks... He sleeps great at night and will nap if he's laying on me.. Just hates being awake. Little stinker.

That is about the time K really started to wake up and discover her surroundings. She also had no idea what to do with herself. Babies man, if they weren't so god damn cute.

[jess9802]

When my stepson came to live with us full time we had to stop eating out and having fend for yourself nights very often. I started planning our meals for the entire month. We go grocery shopping twice a month (I LOATHE grocery shopping) and I buy all of the ingredients I need for dinners during that two week period. we've had varying levels of success at it over the years, but since we ran out of the freezer meals we've been very good about not having take out. It's not always easy, especially now that I'm back to work and tired, but eating out regularly is such a budget killer.

I try to plan more elaborate meals or meals with long bake/cook times on the weekend. I'll double the recipe and freeze the extra for later (like meatloaf, chicken enchiladas, etc.). Crockpot meals can be great, but I've made a few that had such long prep times that it made my morning more stressful trying to get everything pulled together. The best crockpot meals are those with very little prep. The ones I like to make that can be thrown together in five minutes or less are: (1) Apricot glazed pork roast; (2) Easy Family Burritos; (3) Shredded French Dip sandwiches; (4) pulled pork sandwiches.

For a basic weeknight meal, I make pan-fried chicken breasts that are done in 21 minutes and are amazingly tender and juicy: www.thekitchn.com/how-to-cook-moist-tender-chicken-breasts-every-time-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-36891 Great with steamed veggies and rice.

We tend to stock up with a pound or two extra of ground beef or ground sausage to make tacos, Sloppy Joes, or spaghetti, plus we keep Boboli pizza shells and pizza toppings on hand for homemade pizza (faster than delivery!).

I'm happy to share recipes with anyone who might want some.