Getting dinner on the table after a long day at work is a challenge no matter what time you get home, but definitely when the moment you walk in the door your kid is ready to eat. My solution is meal prep! Since I first shared some ideas for meal prep, I've had a lot of questions about how I do it ... practice, experimentation, and planning.
1. Plan your meals.
Every Saturday I survey my fridge to make my grocery list. At the same time, I make a plan for the meals for the week. I have a dry erase board I keep on the fridge that includes the schedule for the week. Who is working when, who is picking up and dropping off Emma when ... and what's for dinner. Planning the meals for the week at the same time as I make my grocery list makes sure I have the ingredients that I need. I first choose meals based on ingredients I have and want to use while they are fresh, and then choose meals that I may need some ingredients for.
While I plan out Monday through Friday meals in advance, I often leave Saturday and Sunday open so that we can assess the leftovers, and still enjoy some spotaneity.
2. Choose meals that don't require a lot of prep time, or cook time.
Based on what time Mark and I work each day, I plan out meals that require different amounts of prep time. Saturday and Sunday meals can take longer because I'm off, and the days Mark is off during the week, he makes dinner and prep is up to him. For week nights, I'm all about meals that I can marinate the chicken or fish over night and chop up the veggies in advance. Days I get off at 5, I choose meals that Emma will enjoy eating with me, but days I get off at 6 and our neighbor is picking Emma up from school and feeding her dinner, I can choose a recipe that Emma might not enjoy because just Mark and I will be eating it ... although let's be real, when Emma sees me eat, she generally wants to try it.
3. Marinate the meat.
After Emma goes to bed is meal prep time (this includes weekends during nap time). I grab a gallon size ziploc bag or a baking dish, mix together a marinade, and then pull out frozen chicken tenderloins. Yup, frozen. I buy big bags from BJ's of Tyson's Chicken Tenderloins. I get 2-3 bags of chicken tenderloins at a time and they last us through most of a month. I can pull out 6-10 tenderloins at a time for a recipe. The chicken thaws in the marinade and is ready to cook by dinner the next night. They cook much faster than full chicken breasts, and make for easy portions.
I do the same for fish. I get bags of individually flash frozen tilapia (or salmon) and pull one or two out at a time to thaw and cook the next night or so. While they can cook straight from frozen, they definitely cook faster when they are already thawed.
Marinading in a ziploc bag or baking dish all depends on the recipe. If the recipe calls for baking, then having everything in a baking dish is perfect to pull it out of the fridge, remove the lid and cook. If I'm going to saute the chicken, ziploc bag it is ... and I recommend flipping the bag in the morning before you go to work. I'm a stickler when it comes to cleanliness and meat, I don't like even touching raw meat, so I put the ziploc bag on a plate in the fridge rather than directly on the shelf. Very helpful when occassionally there is a small hole in the bag or the marinade dribbles out the top of the bag.
4. Slice and dice the veggies.
Chopping up the veggies the night before also helps save time. I don't go so far as chopping up all the veggies for the week though, I've found they stay fresher longer if I chop what I need as I need it only a night or two in advance. I will say however, I've found potatoes aren't fond of being chopped up and stored in the fridge they tend to turn colors. If you chop potatoes in advance, store them in a bowl of water so they don't turn colors.
5. Invest in a slow cooker and liners.
Not just any slow cooker, get one that has a timer on it. You can set the timer before you leave, after it finishes cooking, it automatically switches over to a warm mode. How cool is that?!?! You can have a meal that cooks for 6 hours on low, actually cook for the right amount of time when you are gone for 10-11 hours. And the liners are huge time savers to avoid soaking and scrubbing, and soaking and scrubbing the pan over and over again. Simply put away the leftovers, remove the disposable liner, wash out the pan, and clean up is complete.
6. Cook enough for leftovers for another night or lunch.
I love leftover night! It means dinner is on the table in mere minutes, and there is more time to play before bed. However let's be honest most dishes don't taste as good the next day, so roughly 5 out of 7 days a week I cook fresh dinners.
What's for dinner you ask? Let's check the board.