how do you feed yours???

Lyndsay_21

Well since DD has started nursery i've moved her and 18m old ds dinnertime to 5.30 now i have to start dinner at 4.30 normally but i find i am speding all evening in the kitchen as by the time they've had theirs at 5.30 its time to go and make mine and OH's.
tonight wasnt so bad as we had shepherds pie so i just did enough for everyone and kept ours aside but i just wondered if anyone had some ideas/recipes/anything that can help me get out of the kitchen a bit more!!!

black-saturn

Slow cooker recipes are good for this as you can keep it on low in the pot until all the portions have gone.

The option I favoured though is that we started to all eat together. Then theres only one load of washing up and one load of cooking.

Karnam

this is totally stolen from practical parenting annabel karmel's bit....

but chicken casserole, take out the meat and veg, blend for little ones, season the rest and give to OH and yourself.

Lyndsay_21

i would love to start eating together as thats what we were doing before but OH doesn't get in till 7.30 and sometimes they weren't eating till 7.45 and by then they were tired and because they'd been hungry would not be interested in eating by then (iyswim) plus since DD has started nusresy 5 mornings she is getting hungry about 5/5.30 ish. i always sit with them whilst they eat though.

comping_cat

What i used to do when my two were little, was the 3 of us would eat together, i would plate OHs up and he would have his when he came home, then if he did make it for our dinner time, we would all eat together.

livilou

mine have their tea about 4.30pm, I either plan to make a meal that we can all eat and serve theirs up first or else I often will make extra spag bol or csserole or homemade burgers etc and freeze a few meals in the freezer so that they can be fed quickly and easily without spending hours in the kitchen.xx

onestep

Hi all

my daughter is 25 months, and she has her tea around 5.30 - she usually has a cooked lunch so tea time is cheese on toast, or a sandwich etc. I sit with her, and have some rice cakes or similar, but then eat with DH once he gets home (and Eleanor has gone to bed!). I always find she eats better at lunch time (less tired!) so it made sense to shift the cooked meal to then. It may be that a combination of approaches suits you & your family best. Cooking in bulk and freezing the extra portions *always* comes in handy!

onestep

hex2

I try to feed mine their main meal at lunchtime during the week - they are used to this from two days a week at nursery. They then have sandwiches or something on toast for tea, or a small portion of what we are having. It at least splits the cooking up, and we always eat together at weekends.

I do try and do bulk stuff so that there are odds and ends of things in the freezer - eg beef casserole, chicken curry, mince based things.

Sarahsaver

My kids ages 4, 5 and 8, have a snack, like fruit and a biscuit, when they come home from school at about 3.20
We all sit down together to have tea at about 5.30 when OH gets home. I rarely spend more than half an hour cooking, and you can always use the cooking time as a social event with the kids helping out too.

MATH

My kidz are 5,8,10. We eat at 5pm and I always eat with them. Although 5pm is far too early for me and has me pouring bowls of cereal for myself by 10 it is a great opportunity to talk about their day and hear their news/give advice. I also think because I eat with them their eating habits and table manners are much better than if they ate alone. My sister never eats with her children and my parents commented on how picky they were and how they ate everything with their hands.

I refuse to cook seperate meals (you get what's on offer or go without) and I don't do multiple sittings either. Poor old Mrs MATH has always had here dinner neuked when she gets in which can be anytime between 6-9pm, except on Fridays when I give the kids a junky tea and we eat about 7:30pm while the kidz are at club.