Before I can store food, I need help with the step before that.

[ThirtySomething]

I'm looking or a blog or information about super simple healthy cooking. I know there have been a ton of blogs tossed around, but I have significant shortcomings in this department. I can't store food because I have no idea what I'd even need. The process is completely overwhelming to me.

To clarify, I can cook, but it's never been something I enjoy so I have put almost no mental energy into it. As a result, our pallette's (sp?) have become really plain.

Can someone offer some tips?

[ThirtySomething]

Ok. I think I can put into words what happens.

I make a menu for 7 days. I purchase items at the grocery for the menu. So, I'm ok at that step.

Executing the menu is the problem. I see what I have to prepare and get competely overwhelmed. It seems like it would take too long or I am just too tired to do it. So, I end up microwaving something and adding a handful of raw veggies. Also, my kids hate nearly everything I make. This doesn't stop me from making it, but it does wear a person down after awhile. Cooking here, is a completely thankless job.

[mamabear]

I want to answer this...I need more time. But really - I would be happy to share what we do for me and dh at least. It's a lot of prep work, but dh likes to do it. I have also taken on parts of it and I enjoy it, and I've never enjoyed cooking (baking yes, not cooking). Right now I enjoy making stock and soup and prepping veggies for the week.

Anyway I will get back to this...it's a lot of beans and rice and quinoa, beef and potatoes and chicken for us - and tons of eggs. We eat really simply and plain too. But have put in a few things to jazz it up and change up how the beans and rice are flavored that give us some variety. I feel like we're really hitting our stride after years of tweaking, though, but I'd be happy to share where we are now and how we got here.

[mamabear]

Oh - and quickly - our favorite first resources were Feeding the Whole Family by Cynthia Lair - if you google it you can find many of the recipes from the book online. And Cook's Illustrated. MIL subs to it for dh's birthday present every year. He reads, studies and experiments. Has for years. So he has a level of knowledge, for sure. (Way more than I do.) But what he does is simple enough that anyone could do it.

[waterlily]

I would love to help with this Stacy. Cooking is me time. It sounds like you are already evaluating where you get off track. Picky eaters definitely makes my job less enjoyable in that department. And sometimes we get so tired of kid friendly food that I just make something I love and buy them hotdogs!

I hear that you want cooking to be simple, healthful, and enjoyable for you and palatable to your family. Does that cover it?

First I would say. . . make your kitchen a place you want to be. Decorate it just for you. Make things easily accessible, and organized. I had a tiny laptop in my kitchen at one time and I would log on here and chat with whomever was in chat (back when we had chat) or IM mom friends while I cooked. It is also kid tv/computer time in our house so I am not interrupted too much. I give myself an hour prep each day. If I don't use the hour I read with a cup of tea while I stand at the counter so I look busy, lol. So in short, pad the time with pampering for you so you look forward to it.

Second make a list of meals your kids like to eat. Ask them to help. When I make my menu and I get a mental block I will often ask each family member to pick a meal they want that week. I also enlist kids as table setters and table clearers. Someday they will have their own day of the week to make a meal. I do not have them help me prep but I do hope to do that some day. That might be something that would help you enjoy the time. I know some people ask their kids to pick out the veggies at the store and say it helps them eat them. FWIW I think a handful of fresh veggies is a great thing that you do and its worth looking at what currently works for you and "plan" for that! If your kids like take-out figure out how to make their favorites at home. So, get family input and help.

Third, let go of perfection. Nobody says you need to be a gourmet or keep a completely organic pantry or anything of the sort. Do what works for you. If you think all you can handle is 30 min of prep, plan meals that only take 30 min. If you have most of your energy in the morning, go ahead and do whatever meal prep you need while you are doing your morning routine. Lots of famous cookbooks out there with 30 minute meal recipes. I have a couple of heavy cooking days balanced with several light cooking days. I get one day off a week and dh makes homemade pizza. Give yourself pats on the back for each step toward your goal and remember the good that you do!!

[ThirtySomething]

Thank you for the tips so far. Lauren and Y. I so appreciate your responses. I'm cleaning and organizing today and trying to stay off the computer. I'll be back tonight to read more.

[Variant]

We do a lot of prep work and batch cooking of single ingredients to make our weekdays run more smoothly. Everybody helps too, age appropriately.

1. Wash all fruits and vegetables that can be washed before they get put in the fridge.

2. Batch cook as much meat/beans as possible.

I buy hamburger in 1 lb packages. It gets fried in 1 lb increments according to what it is for. Like when we have sloppy joes, a chopped onion gets fried with it. When it's done, it gets spread out on a cookie sheet and goes into the freezer for the amount of time that the next batch needs to get cooked. Then it goes into a labeled freezer bag or container: sloppy joes.

When I cook the meat/veggies for pasta sauce, the veggies get sauted after the meat and then added to the bag. (It may seem like we eat a lot of meat, but when you divide 1 lb by 8 it's not so bad, imo. LOL)

I roast 2 whole chickens at one time. We eat from it one night and then meat leftovers get saved for a variety of different meals: chicken salad, pot pie, lettuce salad, pizza, etc. It can be frozen cooked too for later in the month. The next day I cook the bones w/veggies to make broth. Then the broth gets used for soups/pot pie, or frozen for another time.

So when I go to throw together a meal that includes meat, I dump out the frozen cooked portion and add whatever else goes with it.

3. Everybody helps with prep/cooking and anyone who does helps get a huge family "Thank you," at the dinner table. (Dh started the thanking part and it has been a phenominal success. I can see the pride of accomplishment and recognition in all their faces.)

When we make pasta sauce, someone peels and chops the garlic (with the mini-chopper), someone cleans and slices the mushrooms, someone chops the onions. Everyone helps clean up too.

When we make a meal with lots of veggies, again everyone helps. Gryphen, almost 4, can wield a potato peeler. He gets started before anyone else because it takes some time. No one peels over the garbage either. That can lead to lots of frustration. We use a piece of scrap paper or a small cutting board.

4. Use the crockpot as much as possible. I have lots of energy in the morning, but by midafternoon I'm spent. I utilize it for as many meals as I possibly can.

5. Make extra batches of mixes you use often.

I make a quadrupal batch of pancakes. When I make one, I also measure out the dry ingredients for 3 or 4 more batches and put them into containers/baggies. In the morning I put together the wet ingredients and store it in the fridge. Right before lunch, I warm up the griddle and then go and throw the wet and dry together. All the kids like to flip pancakes, so I don't have to do it often.

6. Organize your pantry. I need to do this yet. I just saw a great idea in Better Homes & Gardens. It had breakfast items together, including English muffins, bread, bagels, and cereal. Quick lunches were together. They also had baskets that all the ingredients for a meal. One was tuna casserole and it had the tuna, noodles, peas, canned soup, etc in one basket labeled tuna casserole. All the baking items were together in clear containers so you quickly see what you needed more of.

That's all I can think of for now.

[mamabear]

Oh man I just lost a big post. What Variant described is basically what we do...jazzing it up from meal to meal. So beans are made one night and over salad with cheese, hot sauce and slices of avocado, let's say, then spread in a corn taco with beef 2nd night, 3rd day we might each have them in burritos with romaine and tomatoes and quinoa. The rest get frozen into meal-sized-serving jars or bags and thawed and eaten within a day.

Basically we make big batches of basics, change up how we eat them slightly day to day for variety, freeze extra to thaw for quick meals when we need them. We keep breakfasts really simple - eggs or oatmeal, on weekends a day of pancakes for fancy family brunch. Lunches are quick wraps, hummus (made en masse), veggies, soups or leftovers, so they stay simple as well.

I have to add that we have me, Matt and K (with some alterations for her pickiness, eg she doesn't eat hummus) on this menu...J is another menu entirely based around his extreme preferences. I really wish we could all eat the same thing, and I've tried really hard to accommodate everyone's different needs to get to a menu where we'll all eat it without preparing separate stuff. I don't know if those types of issues are part of what you're dealing with, but in my experience they vastly complicate trying to eat simply and thriftily.

[juliebelle]

Originally Posted by ThirtySomething

Ok. I think I can put into words what happens.

I make a menu for 7 days. I purchase items at the grocery for the menu. So, I'm ok at that step.

Executing the menu is the problem. I see what I have to prepare and get competely overwhelmed. It seems like it would take too long or I am just too tired to do it. So, I end up microwaving something and adding a handful of raw veggies. Also, my kids hate nearly everything I make. This doesn't stop me from making it, but it does wear a person down after awhile. Cooking here, is a completely thankless job.

oh man...i can so relate to all you've said.

[juliebelle]

Originally Posted by Variant

We do a lot of prep work and batch cooking of single ingredients to make our weekdays run more smoothly. Everybody helps too, age appropriately.

1. Wash all fruits and vegetables that can be washed before they get put in the fridge.

2. Batch cook as much meat/beans as possible.

I buy hamburger in 1 lb packages. It gets fried in 1 lb increments according to what it is for. Like when we have sloppy joes, a chopped onion gets fried with it. When it's done, it gets spread out on a cookie sheet and goes into the freezer for the amount of time that the next batch needs to get cooked. Then it goes into a labeled freezer bag or container: sloppy joes.

When I cook the meat/veggies for pasta sauce, the veggies get sauted after the meat and then added to the bag. (It may seem like we eat a lot of meat, but when you divide 1 lb by 8 it's not so bad, imo. LOL)

I roast 2 whole chickens at one time. We eat from it one night and then meat leftovers get saved for a variety of different meals: chicken salad, pot pie, lettuce salad, pizza, etc. It can be frozen cooked too for later in the month. The next day I cook the bones w/veggies to make broth. Then the broth gets used for soups/pot pie, or frozen for another time.

So when I go to throw together a meal that includes meat, I dump out the frozen cooked portion and add whatever else goes with it.

3. Everybody helps with prep/cooking and anyone who does helps get a huge family "Thank you," at the dinner table. (Dh started the thanking part and it has been a phenominal success. I can see the pride of accomplishment and recognition in all their faces.)

When we make pasta sauce, someone peels and chops the garlic (with the mini-chopper), someone cleans and slices the mushrooms, someone chops the onions. Everyone helps clean up too.

When we make a meal with lots of veggies, again everyone helps. Gryphen, almost 4, can wield a potato peeler. He gets started before anyone else because it takes some time. No one peels over the garbage either. That can lead to lots of frustration. We use a piece of scrap paper or a small cutting board.

4. Use the crockpot as much as possible. I have lots of energy in the morning, but by midafternoon I'm spent. I utilize it for as many meals as I possibly can.

5. Make extra batches of mixes you use often.

I make a quadrupal batch of pancakes. When I make one, I also measure out the dry ingredients for 3 or 4 more batches and put them into containers/baggies. In the morning I put together the wet ingredients and store it in the fridge. Right before lunch, I warm up the griddle and then go and throw the wet and dry together. All the kids like to flip pancakes, so I don't have to do it often.

6. Organize your pantry. I need to do this yet. I just saw a great idea in Better Homes & Gardens. It had breakfast items together, including English muffins, bread, bagels, and cereal. Quick lunches were together. They also had baskets that all the ingredients for a meal. One was tuna casserole and it had the tuna, noodles, peas, canned soup, etc in one basket labeled tuna casserole. All the baking items were together in clear containers so you quickly see what you needed more of.

That's all I can think of for now.

what a neat way to organize the pantry..i really wish i had a pantry.

[BlueRoseMama]

I do something similar to MamaBear and Variant. But I have a one day a week cooking too. Where I cut all our salad greens, and peel carrots, wash grapes, etc... so we have quick snack foods at home. I have even considered buying the sliced already cheese, although it seems like a waste with a cheese slicer. lol... I have made my "prep ahead" days Sundays. I used to cut onions and mash garlic at the same time, and should really get back to it, but I haven't done that for quite a while.

So basically, I have one really big cooking day per week, and then the rest of the week, some of my prep is already done. If that makes sense.

I also have tons of simple recipes on my blog... here... let me narrow it down for you:

Hobbies of a Domestic Goddess: Food

Hobbies of a Domestic Goddess: Recipes

These are the two searches that will take you strait to the recipes. Some are REALLY simple. Others are worth making because everyone loves them. But our staple simple meals are fajitas, burritos, beans and rice, asian chicken salad, split pea soup, black bean soup, pasta salad, open faced sandwiches (usually broiled), and pizza night (every friday).

[stephanielynn]

i cook similarly to what mamabear and variant describe too, so i won't say all of those things again.

i went through a crock pot book once and marked everything that looked like something we would like and tried the recipes over a couple of weeks so that i could find some really good recipes to use consistently. i did the same with soups. although it's getting warmer, and i won't make soup very much.

i used to have a once a week crock pot meal, soup meal, breakfast for dinner meal, chicken recipe, very simple cooking night (for me, that was baked potato and toppings w/ salad or spaghetti or some sort of frozen meal in a bag sort of deal, which we don't really eat anymore). that worked well for a long time. it could be italian night, mexican night, vegetarian night...anything! but having a general idea each night/week was very helpful.

now, i keep a notepad with a running list of all the dinners we have in the house. it always has eggs and pancakes and smoothies on it and it always has taco lentils and lentil chili and brown rice on it. i just keep that stuff around. besides that, i rotate things we like and new recipes i see. when i see the list of dinners getting to below 5 or so meals, i know i need to get some more food...lol. but...that also allows me to see meat on sale and then come home and put the chicken meal on the dinners list unexpectedly.

i have really enjoyed freezing things lately. i make 12 corn muffins and freeze half of them to eat with soup for dinner one night. i look for soup recipes that have lots of servings, eat it 2 nights that week, and then freeze enough for a couple of dinners as well. it's heavenly to already have healthy, homemade meals or parts of meals in the freezer.

[3boysnagrl]

Originally Posted by ThirtySomething

Ok. I think I can put into words what happens.

I make a menu for 7 days. I purchase items at the grocery for the menu. So, I'm ok at that step.

Executing the menu is the problem. I see what I have to prepare and get competely overwhelmed. It seems like it would take too long or I am just too tired to do it. So, I end up microwaving something and adding a handful of raw veggies. Also, my kids hate nearly everything I make. This doesn't stop me from making it, but it does wear a person down after awhile. Cooking here, is a completely thankless job.

I feel like that a lot.

You know what my kids love most of all? When I make the simple stuff. Simple steamed veggies, simple rice or potatoes, simple grilled or broiled meat. The devour food when I make the simplest stuff. :P

Heck, this week they even ate salmon - i marinated it with teriyaki sauce, then baked until it was cooked. I made some rice and steamed broccoli. Easy peasy, and they all wanted more.

AND... what has helped me a lot... since dh has gone, I have been doing almost all of our 'big' meals at noon. I can start a nice dinner at 11 am while I am still fresh - and then for dinner we can just have sandwiches. It's working much better for us this way.

[3boysnagrl]

Also, you might want to check out Rachel Ray. I believe she has a basic pantry list.

[Sandi]

Okay - I think this can be a little overwhelming. Let's take a step back.

First and foremost, what do your kids like? List it for me?

(Sounds like it will be a short list)

While I think it's important to introduce new foods, I also want to do this in a way that will make it well-received by your kids and easy on you. So, let's get to the basics. If each of them could pick five meals, what would they choose? Pre-packaged is fine - don't worry about it.