One of the hardest things for me about being a working mom is making dinner. I have found that our biggest dinner time successes with our toddler are when we all sit down together: He eats more, experiments more, and we all have a great time.
I also think this is an important part of family life and want to maintain sit-down, no TV, family dinners as often as we can and for as many years as we can.
It is challenging because getting home from work and cooking a meal we can all enjoy before bed time is tough. This is also the time when I want to spend some time with my toddler. I have found planning the week's menu ahead helps a lot and I find Sundays are a good day to do this, but you need to pick a day before grocery day.
I also find that engaging my toddler in making supper with me helps me spend time with him and get supper ready. But it all depends on the recipe how well this works out!
Here are some helpful links I found:
Epicurious - When you pick a recipe you can automatically create a shopping list.
Today's Parent Menu Planner
Here's a free menu planning system Busy Meals (this web site is strange - I can't figure out why it is free or if there is an ulterior motive, but in the meantime the system looks decent.)
Here's a pay per use meal planner that looks great but costs a lot of $$ Menu in a Box
Erika, I definitely feel you on this. My slow-cooker has become one of my best friends. Baby M. loves pulled pork- have you tried it?
ReplyDeleteI don't have a slow cooker, but I have made a slow braised beef for tacos (better than ground beef BTW) and it had the texture of pulled pork. So far my kid is not a big meat eater. But I'd love to do a pulled pork for me and my husband.
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