I actually cooked a real dinner tonight!

[FrenchHen]

My poor family; I'm working full time in the first time ever, and we're still figuring out schedules and food.
But darn it, I made dinner today. Meat loaf, churchladybread, and buttered veggies.

So, working folk, how do you feed yer families when you're beat?

 

[Ms.FuzzyButts]

Schwans!! Order online and they UPS it to me or buy it straight off the Schwans truck every two weeks when he comes by my neck of the woods.

 

[PotterWatch]

So what is churchladybread, and where is the recipe?

 

[3goodeggs]

crock pot during the week.
On weekends make a bunch of everything and freeze it into weeknight portions. Then the evening before, take it from the freezer and put it in the refrigerator to thaw.
And... On Monday night we usually eat a bunch of popcorn. Grandma would shudder. (Or be slapping her head that she should have tried to get away with that.)
Also, we eat a lot of omelets for dinner, and pancakes and eggs for dinner. no one complains. because they know they'll get popcorn.

 

[AngieChick]

MMM, I knew I smelled something delicious wafting in from the east.

When I was teaching full time, I would make large portions and freeze half of it. On weekends I would make very large batches of chili or soups and freeze the extras in containers sized right to feed my family. In any week, a number of the meals were frozen from before. I tried to save them for the truly crazy days, but sometimes I was just too exhausted to cook.

I also made large batches of rice and froze them in serving sized containers. That way at night I could just steam some veggies, bake some tofu and have a faster meal. It also came in handy for quick stir fry meals or with beans and tortillas.

If you want to get all fancy and Frenchy, you can make some crepe batter ahead and keep it in a jar in your fridge. Make a veggie filling and a quick sauce for a super fast meal. Grab some nutella and some fruits for dessert. Yum yum yum!

 

[flakey chick]

Mostly we have bag dinner. (Wan Chai, Bertioli, etc.) Sometimes I batch cook stuff on the weekends, like making and freezing meatballs at the same time I cook meat loaf. Sometimes we just have hotdogs or peanut butter sandwiches. Sometimes we have breakfast for dinner: Cereal or eggs and grits. Monday is often crockpot stew day. Wed. is often pizza day (frozen pizza).

BTW, congrats on full time employment!

 

[FrenchHen]

Churchladybread:

For a White Bread version, just sub out ALL the flours with bread flour.

2 Cups Oat Flour (or two cups oatmeal)
4-5 cups Whole Wheat Flour
1 Tablespoon instant yeast
1/4 cup olive oil
1/3 to 1/2 cup honey
1 3/4 cup warm (like a bath, but not scalding) water
1 1/2 teaspoons salt

Combine oat flour, honey, and oil in the bowl of a KitchenAid. While the mixer is on, add the water then the yeast. Mix for about a minute. Let the mixture sponge (bubble up) for 8-10 minutes.

Turn the mixer on again and add the salt and wheat flour a cup at a time until the dough almost comes off the sides. Switch to the dough hook and knead for 10 minutes, adding only enough flour to keep the dough off the sides of the bowl. A bit on the bottom isn't bad.

Shape the dough into a big loaf shape, or two smaller shapes, or a bowl shape, or into dinner rolls, or into a braid or, whatever.

Allow the dough to rise in a warm spot (like the back of your stove as it's preheating) for a half hour.
Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes. Brush the crust with melted butter for extra church ladyness.

For cinnamon rolls, shape the dough into two rectangles as tall as a loaf pan is long and as wide as you wish. Mix a mostly melted stick of butter, one cup brown sugar, and 2 teaspoons cinnamon together and spread half of this on each rectangle. Roll up short end to short end, and let rise in the loaf pan. Bake this for 40-45 minutes or until golden on top. Or cut the log into 1 inch chunks and bake in a 13 by 9 inch baking pan. Cinnamon rolls can rise overnight in the fridge for fresh baked breakfast that will make you a kitchen rock star.

 

[redhen]

Crockpot meals.. set the crockpot in the morning and dinner is done when you get home from work..
Casserole dishes.. You can make a few different casseroles during the weekend and freeze them... then pop in the oven during the work week.

 

[Mandalina]

crockpots= amazing!
I make roast beast in it and it makes 2 nights worth of dinner with literally no effort. That to me is pretty darn near perfection.

 

[KatieH]

Ditto crockpots. I cook chicken thighs in the crockpot and then pull the meat off and throw it into whatever (chicken thighs are so greasy any other way, but all in the crockpot and they're great and not greasy at all). Easy protein addition to simple things like pasta, and I can make easy chicken and noodles real quick (egg noodles, canned or frozen mixed veggies, chicken boullion and water, voila!)