Parenting Newborns & Infants (0-1) Support Group

Do not feel bad…you are not alone!
I only manage to make 2 or 3 nice dinners a week, the other nights are more like omelets or cheese quesadillas dinners!
Zach is still eating some baby food jars but, every WE, I made some “purees” with veggies and fruits that I buy from the Farmers market every Wednesday.
I froze most of them in those baby food containers or ice cube trays.
Also, if I made a stew, pasta, …I mashed a little for Zach’s dinner. Yesterday, he ate salmon and love it!

What about using a slow cooker?
You put everything in the AM and dinner is ready when you come back from work!
I did get ours out this weekend and will start cooking with it this week. You can froze half of what you made for the following weeks……

When I cook, Zach is in his walker in the kitchen with me, and I give him a wooden spoon or some plastic containers to play with and some little baby crackers.
He can follow me and see me like that.

Anyway, I hear you, between working full time and taking care of a baby, you do not have too much time to do something else!

I'm a SAHM and I have hard time making dinner every night! Natalie is still only on 1 solid meal a day (lunch) so we haven't crossed that bridge yet. I grocery shop on weekends when my partner is home, since there is no way she will sit through a grocery store trip, and I usually make a few meals to freeze then -- pot pies, macaroni and cheese, etc. That is also when I make her baby food. But there is at least one night a week we end up ordering pizza or eating a ready-to-cook prepackaged meal. Since I am at home it's easier to get a meal cooked in time to eat before bedtime (also at 7pm). And I don't buy organic unless it's for the baby -- we don't really have an organic food store near us.

make a crockpot your new best friend!

i agree, crockpots are great! esp if you can find the disposable liners for them, that way you just take it out and toss the mess and you dont have to clean the whole thing every time. casseroles are great too. i also will buy small steaks or burgers or chops and freeze them individually. you can cook them right from the freezer on the broiling pan or i even do it in my toaster oven set to broil and its really quick. im a SAHM and even i still have trouble making time to cook. i try to do as much prep as i can during naptime, and sometimes even make the whole meal and stick it in the fridge til later. if you have a "menu plan" it helps too. as for organic, i wish i could afford more of it, but its not terrible to eat non-organic. most people have been eating non-organic foods there whole life and are still healthy. dont worry, once you find a few great recipes and get your routine down you will be whipping out those dishes in no time!

I have no idea how you're managing at all with work and a husband who's home late. Respect!

I wouldn't bother with buying organic - I don't think that there's any good evidence that it's any better for you (although I guess it could be better for the environment where it's grown).

A good way to make a meal healthy is to keep loads of frozen veg in the freezer. It's so quick to stick some sweetcorn, peas and broccoli in a pan to add to whatever junk you've just bought :) and hey presto 3 portions of your fruit and veg. Sometimes I just have a big bowl of veg like this if I just don't have time for anything else! I'm hoping that I can just carry on doing this once we start weaning and just use my hand blender to mush up a bit for the boy.
I also keep tinned beans rather than tinned spaghetti (because it's healthier) for emergencies and when I do get a chance to cook - make lots and freeze some.
I've also switched to wholemeal everything: bread, pasta, spaghetti and brown rice. Once you're used to it, it tastes so much nicer and has loads more fibre. I mostly did this while I was pregnant to avoid constipation but now I like it! (Warning - brown rice takes a lot longer to cook - but you can cook lots then freeze portions and thaw easily in the microwave) :)

I do buy free range eggs, barn chicken and British pork because it's more humane for the animals but that's my little luxury and I don't always manage it so not on a soap box! :)

Its had, I stay home with the kids and I am very active in the day my daughter is 2.5 and son 6 months, I do go to work at our business alittle each week, its was hard for me to find time to cook when my son was little bc his fussy time was 5:00 when I was needing to cook.
I learned to make things that I can do ahead of time, meatloaf when they are napping and can be put in the fridge till I needed to place it in the oven, you also can do that the night before and when you get home....put it in the oven if your oven has a timer on it have it set to preheat right before you think you will be home to save alittle time.
you can also cook extra of things then freeze or use for the next dinner left overs just add some fresh veggies to give it a feel of something different even though its just last nights left overs.
You can make spag. sauce and freeze I usually make a big batch and freeze the sauce and save for later. same with chili now that its cold.
Most of my things are stuff you can prepare ahead of time, my daughter likes to help me cook so its works if she is awake, you can put your little one in the high chair and let him be with you while you are cooking, give him some plastic tubs or his toys to bang around.
i don't buy organic no real reason why I just don't, we have a garden 2 times a year and i guess you can say its organic we do not spray it but other than that I don't pay much attention, I cook all our meals and don't really use process things.
Slow cooker is a great thing to have too.
Also buy a already cooked chicken from the deli and chop it up for chicken salad and some of it for a chicken noodle casserole you can get a couple meals for it.
it will fall into place and if you can get to make a meal don't feel bad, you work hard and it seems like you don't have much help.
your baby will be fine and you are a great mom to care.

Its hard..I work full time and I tell everyone that my life is so routine I could tell you what I'm doing at any given time of the day..I have to keep on schedule for things to get done.I have a 10 year old,a 20month old and a 3 month old at home.Its tough.Luckily my husband is a big help.Now when he works late things are all messed up..LOL
I do agree about the crockpot.Its a lifesaver at times..

Gee everyone's suggestions are so good! I'm going to have to start trying the crockpot meals. I work full time and my little one is only 3 months old so I'm going to tell you how I work in cooking, but my disclaimer is that I'm not sure if this would still work once she hits 8 months.

So, I use a sling by a company called kangaroo kids (www.kangarookids.com). Instead of putting her on the front of me I make it so that she's on my back (her stomack is to my back and her legs come around my sides). I then turn on music while I'm cooking and just kind of bop around to keep her entertained while I get it done. She's a needy baby and hates to be away from her mommy (I know this is probably bad, but I admit that I love it and will try to stop as she gets older...but for now I enjoy our time together especially since she's in daycare now) so this keeps her happy as long as we're in contact with each other. Will this work for your little one?

Good luck and I hope at least one of these great suggestions from all the ladies works. Also you should never feel stupid! It would be worse not to ask the question and the fact that you care enough to ask just speaks to what a great mom you are! Good for you!

It is tough! I'm lucky that I have a husband who cooks most of our meals now. Right when I get home I take TJ and he cooks, or he'll take care of TJ and I'll cook. If I didn't have him around, it would be horrible!

School is what's put a wrench in our meal preparation. Before I started my Master's program, I did a lot on the weekends. I'd pre-cook chicken so I could easily prepare stuff like chicken pesto tortillini, caesar salads, quesadillas, etc. I'd also brown burger ahead of time for the same reason. Similarly, I'd cut up veggies for stew the night before so all I had to do was add everything to the crockpot in the morning. Freezing meals is also a life-saver.

As others have said, crockpots are wonderful! If you can get everything ready to add the night before and just toss everything in the next morning, you'll be set. Also, maybe you could prepare a meal after your LO goes to bed for the next day? All you'd have to do then is reheat everything when you get home the next night.

One more trick. One of my favorite things to do is cook a small turkey in the crockpot. With the leftovers, throw together a quick wrap the next night with some lettuce, avocado, etc., make a turkey sandwich the following night, make shredded turkey quesadillas a third night, etc. Turkey meat will last you quite a few days and can be used in almost any recipes where you'd use chicken!

And...as others have said, I think all of us resort to at least one pre-packaged or eat-out meal a week, so don't feel bad!

Another SAHM who doesn't have time to cook much either...will agree that you should make frozen veggies your friend...that way you have some kind of veggie on hand even if the rest of your meal's coming from a box. Keeping greens in the fridge is good too (it doesn't take long to "rip and rinse" up a few as a quick salad - the bagged greens are good but I find that they don't keep as well as a head of romaine etc). Another thing I do is cook one big meal on a weekend - say a roast or a chicken etc, and then go about reviving the leftovers in various ways (chicken salad, roast beef sandwiches etc). My baby's not old enough yet, but with my older kids what I'd do is (with the same big dinner on a Sat or Sun) mash up the veggies the adults had for baby food (say sweet potato or squash etc) and store them in ice cube trays for single servings for the babe throughout the week. Also good to brown up a lot of ground meat at once and then freeze in smaller sizes so you have it on hand to throw into casseroles or spaghetti sauces in a pinch.