I do a lot of 'cook once, eat twice (or more)' type cooking.
I work 40 hours a week and only cook for me and DH. Adult DD#2 lives with us, but works graveyard and is rarely around. The food seems to disappear, however! LOL
I cook on weekends for eating during the week.
I use my freezer alot!
I garden and can my own fruits, veggies, jam, etc. Saves many trips to the store (good since the closest one is 5 miles away).

Deanna

I'm a working mom too. Although DS is now 8, those early years were challenging. DH is self-employed and due to his hours, we rarely all sit down together for dinnner.

I now work from my home office, but still find it challenging to prep and cook dinner, and have us all fed before DS's bedtime. But I've come to regularly rely on some quick meals that seem to please everyone.

DS loves rice, so I always cook enough so I can use the leftovers for dinner the next day. Fajita night is a favorite for all three of us, and is so fast! Grilled meat or fish and vegetables, tossed on a big green salad has been a favorite this summer. Sausage and peppers over pasta is another one we love. And then there are the Cooking forum recipes that have made it into our regular rotation like the Sicilian chicken (Joe's?), or Marilyn's salmon cakes, or Sol's caramel chicken.

We eat very few convenience foods. But that doesn't mean we don't have simple dinners either. One of DS's favorites is Sandwich Night, where I make tuna salad, egg salad, a meat and cheese plate, and he can build his own sandwiches with wholegrain or rye bread and condiments of his choice. Growing up, we did this once a week and it was one of my favorite family meals.

I'm a whole foods person and consider whole foods the original "FAST FOOD". Why peel, boil, or "cremate" it when all you need to do is wash, slice and serve. I'm more likely to be found in the kitchen baking bread and other baked goods, so between a large variety of homemade breads (fresh and stored in the freezer), cheese, an assortment of fruit and veggies, add a meat or meat substitute, and you're ready to eat. I like to use a lot of whole grains and legumes in foods.

The freezer is my friend. Cook once and freeze in user-friendly size containers. Take out the night or morning before it's needed and thaw in the refrigerator. Heat and eat.

I use a loosely structured menu pattern for the evening meal only. Breakfast and lunch generally don't take a lot of planning at our house. I can switch up any one night for another without upsetting the whole thing, but it gives me a general idea for meal planning and grocery shopping.

MONDAY: Big Meal (this could also be during the weekend when you have more time). This includes a large portion of meat (roast beef, turkey breast, meat loaf, etc. and all the trimmings. From the leftovers, I provide for other meals during the week. The meat is sliced, ground, or shredded to be used for sandwich meat, added to salads, casseroles, soup, etc.

TUESDAY: Leftovers from Monday. It may or may NOT look like the original meal. Roast beef may become hot beef sandwiches, bbq beef, hash, etc... Mashed potatoes are made into potato patties, etc.... I also freeze dollops of mashed potatoes for easy fixin' for another meal.

WEDNESDAY: Stir-fry. This can be a good way to use bits and pieces of veggies and leftover meats. Cook extra chicken or beef and use it in salads and wraps later in the week.

THURSDAY: International. How about tacos (with taco meat from the freezer), or taco salad... Meaty Spaghetti sauce from the freezer. I cook ground beef stroganoff and freeze the stroganoff in small containers. All you need to do is prepare the pasta of choice for spaghetti or noodles (I also like penne pasta) for stroganoff and heat the topping.

FRIDAY: Vegetarian. This can be everything from a great salad with beans to breakfast-type foods. I make bean burgers and keep a stack of them in the freezer and they make a great vegetarian meal served on a homemade multi-grain burger bun (found in the freezer), a tossed salad or sliced veggies and Ranch Dressing Dip, plus fresh fruit and cheese.

SATURDAY: Soup and/or Sandwich. I keep a variety of soup/stew/chili in the freezer in single servings so we always have a variety. They make quick suppers or lunches. Top a baked potato with chili. Chili can also be used in a taco salad (similar to Wendy's). Use tortillas for a wrap. Good old tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches....

SUNDAY: Homemade pizza (I use a simple whole wheat sourdough dough recipe for the crust) or a salad meal. This is a good way to use up small amounts of veggies, pre-cooked hamburger or other bits of pre-cooked meat. We also have "scrounge night" on Sunday. That's another way to clean out the leftovers in the refrigerator and freezer.... Eggs are also a Sunday night choice. If they are already hard-cooked and in the refrigerator, use them for egg salad or sliced eggs to top a salad. Toast and boiled eggs or toast points and poached eggs, scrambled, veggie omelet or fritta. Add some tomato slices (or other veggies) and some fruit and you've got a meal.

-Grainlady

We're a commuter family & spend our time living between two residences plus a boat. The trick is to have the food where we are & not at one of the other locations! :)

We keep a mid-size food storage program with basics that I 'shop' from for each location. I do virtually all of our cooking mid-week in CT & freeze in individual portions. I don't really have much in NY to cook with...we mostly nuke in NY. By freezing in individual portions, we don't even have to eat the same meal. DH can have pasta & I can have chicken. It also works well when we're separated & at different locations. We raid the CT freezer transporting via ice chests. We have several of those large 4-day chests on wheels.

On weekends, I usually cook Saturday night either at the house in CT or on the boat. We spend many Saturday nights onboard so Sunday breakfast is on the boat. Sometimes, I'll spend an entire week on the boat even though the house is just a 2 minute walk away especially if some of my marina friends are down for a week. Keeping basic ingredients in the right places is my biggest challenge.

I may go a few weeks without cooking much of anything if I've got the freezer full with enough to last 2-3 months. Then, it's just cooking on Saturday night. Organization is my best friend! We are very unpredictable with our eating habits since the kids left home. When we eat we want good food; but we don't want our lives to revolve around cooking. I love to cook; but hate the daily grind of meal preparation. I want to cook when the urge hits rather than because it's almost time for another meal. DH & I also both love the spontaneous nature of our meals now...we've both always had bad cases of wanderlust & don't want our lives tied to a growling stomach. :)

Today, I've made roast chicken & green chili. I shredded the chicken & topped with the chili. It's in the freezer for quick individual portions of enchiladas verde or tacos. Yum.

/tricia

Hey Amanda - nice to see you here, my friend.

Get an inexpensive subscription to a food magazine, there are plenty for $12 a year or so. They are totally inspirational. I keep a stack by my bed for nighttime reading. They aren't as much of a commitment as a cookbook and even if you aren't making the recipes now, you can plan for later months when you're a little less strapped for time.

Your own food frozen is great, but I can completely empathize with nights when even putting something frozen in the oven seems exhausting. Those are my cheese sticks and crackers nights.

AM
The Dinner Chronicles

PS Email me when you're ready to make babyfood. I know that you know how easy it is, but I have good tips and recipes for you.

Most of my heavy duty cooking is done on the weekends and put in the freezer or refrigerator to consume during the week. I try to keep enough of my most used staples so I can fix whatever I have a "hankerin'" for. I hate to go to the store every night after work just to get something for dinner and I don't get take-out or fast food all that much.

I always have single portions of pork chops, chicken pieces, hamburger patties, salmon, cubed steak, etc. in the freezer along with frozen spinach, peas, green beans, and red potatoes and sweet potatoes in the pantry. I make homemade tomato sauce, meatballs, soups, taco meat, stewed beef cubes, etc. and keep in the freezer as well. My dinner planning is pretty much whatever I feel like eating. If I can plan ahead, I have my main meal at lunch and a lighter meal in the evening.

I also make homemade bread, biscuits, and cornbread on the weekend to have ready for meals during the week. If I have a pretty full freezer and pantry, I can put together a meal that will satisfy me. But I know to be prepared!

I couldn't get by without a fully-stocked freezer, fridge and pantry, and a fair idea of what I'm going to make each week with the ingredients at hand. I can whip up a meal much quicker than going out to eat, and much better too.

With a baby and a commute - meal planning and bulk shopping to keep the kitchen stocked is essential. Post a weekly meal plan on the fridge for both you and DH, and divvy up the duties. After shopping for bulk meat and veggies - "break down" the bulk stuff into meal-sized portions to freeze.

Anything slower-cooked like a stew, chili, etc. can be done on the weekend and frozen for the week.

Get those special bags that make your produce last longer if you need to (I forget what they're called).
Make your time work for you - if you or DH are going to cut up any veggies - cut up extra while you've got everything out and washed, then bag the extra chopped veggies for next time. Use leftover cooked veggies to puree for a soup or babyfood another time.

I make a bunch of meatballs at one time and freeze them in meal-serving-sizes. They can be thrown into a spaghetti sauce, made into meatball and mozzarella sandwiches, crushed into tacos, sauteed with mushrooms and cream, etc, etc.

Costco rotisserie chix are great - they are big, juicy, tasty and cheap. You can strip the meat off and make into tacos, enchiladas, tikka masala, Asian noodle salad, etc. When the weather cools down, throw the carcass into the crockpot with water overnight for chicken soup the next day.

I spend it quickly in the kitchen....got it down to a fast routine now. The rest of the time we go out to eat. Being retired is wonderful.

SharonCb

Thanks y'all! This is helpful.

Grainlady--I'm the same way. I have veggies washed and cut up in the fridge and sometimes I go through an entire pound of carrots, peppers, whatever without cooking any of it. If I don't have time, I eat them raw. (Plus a lot of veggies taste better raw, anyway.)

Thanks for posting your weekly break-down. That plan looks like it'll save time AND money. Also, we are renters and we have a tiny freezer compartment, so one big meal in the fridge for the week will work best for us.

Gina--I got those bags in a swap once and they are wonderful!

Sharon--retirement sounds fantastic!

~Amanda

After being a stay at home mom/wife for 30 years I started working about 18 months ago. I thought that I would really have to adjust the way that I liked to cook, but that really hasn't been the case.

For me, cooking is what I like to do. Probably because I love eating. So I still shop and cook the same way I have always done. I either stop on the way to work or on the way home at a grocery store/butcher/vegetable market to pick up what I need for dinner. If I know what I want to make the next day, I might also pick up something for that dinner too. Most meals I can put together from scratch, after I get home at 6:00. Sometimes we eat before 7:00 and sometimes it is closer to 7:30. If I'm making a stew or something that needs to roast longer, I just get everything ready before going to work and Moe will either put it in the oven or take it out for me. Then I just have to prepare the sides when I get home.

I've never liked leftovers, or preparing meals to freeze. About the only things I freeze after cooking is pasta sauce or chili. And the only reason I do that is so I can take them to Matthew. I don't keep a lot in the freezer, although I usually have a few chicken breasts, steaks, and pork chops in the freezer to pull out for a quick to put together dinner. And we love pasta and I can have a quick sauce made, and sausages or chicken grilled to serve , in the time it takes to boil the water and cook the pasta.

Ann