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newandlearning
09-07-2009, 05:53 PM
hello there .. well ;) .. yesterday I cooked everyone cottage pie with lamb, aduki beans, onions, garlic, carrots and peppers :phew: and just let kids play in their usual lively manner and watch telly so the kids who wanted to help prepare dinner could.. today I did macaroni cheese with broad beans & bacon.. I thought this would take less time but I decided to use fresh podded beans and so probably wasted time trying to open them... I really want to start doing food so its ready for eating around 4.30pm but sometimes find like today that I start doing dinner, then offer snack then having toileting duties to manage etc etc.. and before I know it its 5pm:panic:

I'm wondering how everyone else manage?? I look after 2 2yrs, one 4 and one 5.. who today threws toys everywhere as I was preparing dinner..

do you prepare most of it (between lunch and school pick up) or after school..

like the lady on the other post.. I begin to wilt around 4pm so am wondering if maybe I need to tweek this dinner cooking thing some how??

what kinda food do you offer.. ?? and how many of you are finding the same as me?? if I prepare after lunch then I get no time to have a cuppa, write up obs etc etc.. any thoughts would be great!

MissTinkerbell
09-07-2009, 06:03 PM
I try to do things like stews and roasts, spag bol, etc that I can prep whilst Little ones are asleep for nap and then set the oven/steamer for it to be cooked for 4.45pm and then all I have do do is cook spag, noodles or veg.

If I do have something that I can't do whilst LOs are asleep its then usually something with jacket spuds which doesn't take much getting ready.

miss mopple
09-07-2009, 06:05 PM
Get a slow cooker. They are fab- I use mine for allsorts and its really handy when Im working, especially if we have had a day out :thumbsup:

I use it for stews, spag bols, sausage casserole, chicken chasseur, curries and roasts

mushpea
09-07-2009, 06:11 PM
i use my slow cooker a lot spag bols which turn in to lasagne for the next day, stews, casseroles, roasts etc
i then do things that are quick to cook or can be left in the oven like fishfingers, sausages, jacket spud, shepherds pie, chciken and mushroom pie, pasta.
my partner is my assistant so if the kids are happy in the garden the he will watch them but if hes at work or out then i get them all to come indoors to play to make it easier.
part of me dosent want to do them anymore but i am the only minder in the area that does them and mine dont go home till 6pm so quite late for dinner when they get in.

georgie456
09-07-2009, 06:18 PM
I cook big batches of stuff at weekends and stock the freezer. Generally things like spag bol, chicken casserole, homemade burgers etc etc
I freeze everything in meal sized portions, so every morning, I just grab one bag per each child I'm feeding that day and defrost it. That way I only have to cook things like rice, pasta or potato and the rest can just be re-heated.

Dragonfly
09-07-2009, 06:32 PM
I do some prep if needed before they arrive ( I get up at 6am) other wise while they are playing drawing etc. I wouldnt spend alot of my weekends doing it.

georgie456
09-07-2009, 06:39 PM
I do some prep if needed before they arrive ( I get up at 6am) other wise while they are playing drawing etc. I wouldnt spend alot of my weekends doing it.

I should add I only cook at the weekends, because I'm cooking for my own children too! I would do the same as you if I wasn't :)

sarah707
09-07-2009, 07:01 PM
I cook big batches of stuff at weekends and stock the freezer. Generally things like spag bol, chicken casserole, homemade burgers etc etc
I freeze everything in meal sized portions, so every morning, I just grab one bag per each child I'm feeding that day and defrost it. That way I only have to cook things like rice, pasta or potato and the rest can just be re-heated.

Wow that is sooo organised!

I wish it was the same here ... organised chaos of who didn't get the chicken out in this house!! :laughing:

Minstrel
09-07-2009, 07:12 PM
Wow that is sooo organised!

I wish it was the same here ... organised chaos of who didn't get the chicken out in this house!! :laughing:

thank god its not just us! i'm forever having to go to sainsburys after school cos the meat hasn't defrosted in time!

newandlearning
10-07-2009, 06:58 AM
great idea with the slow cooker .. and putting stuff in freezer also sounds like a good idea and one of my friends puts everything in her freezer including batched fairy cakes.. she has a 2 tall fridge/freezers which is like having one big freezer in effect.. xx I was beginning to think I was a bit fluffy when it came to cooking dinner but can see that that probably is so..xx

hope you all have a good friday!

mushpea
10-07-2009, 08:47 AM
Wow that is sooo organised!

I wish it was the same here ... organised chaos of who didn't get the chicken out in this house!! :laughing:

nope in this house it gets taken out but i forget to put it in the oven:eek: :laughing:

loocyloo
10-07-2009, 04:18 PM
nope in this house it gets taken out but i forget to put it in the oven:eek: :laughing:

i put it in the oven, and put the timer on, but yesterday forget to actually turn the oven on! got home to beeping and raw sausages !!!! :laughing:

xxx