need help, work 12 hour shifts so family not eating well when im not there to cook...

ragstoricheswannabe

I need your advice and wealth of knowledge.

I work as a nurse but do 12 hour shifts, 8am till 8pm which means for 3-4 days a week i am not home to cook the evening tea. This means leaving it up to my fella, so he eats crisps and my ds1 has something out of a tin. ds2 has pureed fruit/veg in freezer so know at least one of them eats well.

My shifts generally are together so unable to prepare something the night before (get home any time from 8.30pm onwards depending on how hectic the shift is and whether i get all my paper work done on time)

Was thinking of investing in a slow cooker, can it be left on all day (will have to go on at 6.30am) and does everyone not get sick of casserole type meals???

Treid doing a meal plan that my fella could follow with food from the freezer but no joy. This makes my food shopping hard and pricey.......

Any ideas/advice will be gratefully recieved.....

love rags
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blueberrypie

Slow cooker can indeed be left on all day - or use with a plug-in timer so it comes on later.

You can make things like batches of pasta sauce in it as well as casseroles - use some for dinner, freeze the rest for another time. Also things like whole chickens etc.

Have you looked at the OAMC )Once-A-Month-Cooking) websites for ideas?

I think it's easier to make-ahead if you start with what you know and like. Could any of the things you cook when you are off freeze well? For example, make two lasagnes instead of one, and freeze the second, or double a recipe for burritos, or make a bigger pot of soup, etc.

Why did the eat-from-the-freezer plan not work before? If it's blokey refusing to turn on the oven, I'd be having stern words...

anguk

Would you be able to batch cook once a week and portion it up for the freezer. Then each morning take it out to defrost then all your partner has to do is stick it in a microwave for a few minutes? You could do loads of different things, curries, casseroles, chilli, lasagne etc.

I even batch cook potatoes! Par boil & roast for half an hour then stick in the freezer, they can be cooked in the oven from frozen in about half an hour. Or make some mash as normal, then shape it into disks and freeze (that's all aunt bessie does), all you need to do is take some out of the freezer, (maybe 3 or 4 per person) and microwave for a few minutes giving it a good stir every now & then.

Keeping_Motivated

The four days that you are at home make double of the meals then get OH to reheat when you are working, surely he will do that? Just freeze and then pull them out before you leave for work so all he has to do is heat it. If he moans about eating the same thing its better than eating crisps or your daughter eating a tin of something.

He would be better off making her beans on toast or cheese or scrambled egg on toast (brown bread) if thats all he can manage followed by fruit coz at least they are healthy?

Keeping_Motivated

I suppose it also depends on the type of food your daughter will eat?

Poppy9

My OH is a cookaphobic and works shifts so sometimes he's in charge of feeding DD evening meal.

His menu is limited to beans or egg on toast or tuna pasta, jacket potato and tuna.

I often make extra plates of food that work well like sausage and mash.

thriftlady_2

I'm not a slow cooker fan but I think in your situation they are brilliant;)

Maybe you won't want a casserole type meal 3-4 nights running so batch cooking for the freezer is also a great idea.

You don't have to make this too much of a chore. Build up a stock of hm freezer ready-meals by simply cooking a double/triple batch once a week when you're at home to cook the evening meal-eat one portion that night and freeze the other portions. It won't take long to fill the freezer. Obviously this will depend on the amount of freezer space you have. You can also use the slowcooker to batch cook if you get one of the big ones.

Pink.

Hi rags,

A slow cooker is a good idea and they can be left on all day, but as you have said there are only so many casseroles that you can eat.

This thread has lots of threads with suggestions for different things that can be cooked in the slow cooker:

The Complete Slow Cooker Collection

Do you have some free days in the week? Do you have a freezer? If you do could you spare some time to make 'ready meals' that could be defrosted the night before and left for your partner to reheat for him and your sons?. I work unsociable hours - one week on, one week off so on my week off I cook for the freezer so I have quick and easy meals at hand for the nights I'm at work.

This thread might give you some ideas of things that you could cook:

Cooking for the Freezer..

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ragstoricheswannabe

Thanks everyone for yor replies, the tinned food is indeed beans/beans and sausage and pudding is usually yogurt.

Have loads of freezer space as have an integrated one in the kitchen (was in when we bought the house) and a huge chest freezer in the shed.

Will def look into the cook for the freezer thread, thanks. one question, what do you freeze the stuff in?? them metal things with the cardboard tops??? bought the plastic tubs some time ago but found they dont fit alot in and work out pricey if doing a lot of batch cooking. Currently frozen soup in them.

TBH, not really sure why taking the food out the freezer to cook didnt work, i even bought frozen chips (shock of all horrors) may be word is needed!!!!!!! (besides, he always moans at the amount spent on the food bill)

Keeping_Motivated

Maybe you should show him this thread and let him get involved in the type of things he wants to cook/reheat etc?

Pink.

ragstoricheswannabe wrote: »

Will def look into the cook for the freezer thread, thanks. one question, what do you freeze the stuff in?? them metal things with the cardboard tops???

I use all sorts to freeze food in; freezer bags, old marg / ice cream containers, washed out takeaway containers etc or line the dish it's been made in with tinfoil. Freeze the food in the dish and once frozen remove the food so that you can still use the dish for other meals. When you want to defrost the meal, remove it from the freezer and, place in the original dish to reheat.

This thread might help: Freezer containers (merged threads)

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