Balancing work and cooking dinner

[Beth H]

The "what did you have for dinner last night" and weekly meal planning (or non-planning) threads have made me wonder how many folks on the board work full-time, or part-time, and how many are full-time at home? Even as I try to plan meals and cook healthfully, it's still a challenge sometimes after a long or stressful day at the office, when it's really tempting to just pick up some Chinese carry-out. It might be interesting to hear some input about how people juggle their daily routines (whether at work or home) with light cooking. The story that CL ran a few months back (and a big topic of discussion on this board) about balancing was pretty unrealistic.

[This message has been edited by Beth H (edited 08-02-2000).]

[BarbaraL]

I work full time, 8:30 am - 5 pm (I'm a medical writer). Sometimes I go to the gym after work, too! My meals are much better when I plan (surprise). Sometimes I have it together; plan the meals, get the ingredients, come home and go to it! Other times, I can't get it together. Dinner is beef, chicken or fish on the grill with (microwaved) baked potatoes, rice or cous cous (love that 5-minute preparation couscous), and steamed string beans, carrots or broccoli. When I really can't get it together, it's take-out pizza or Chinese. I manage a couple of new CL recipes per month; I'm so impressed by you ladies who try 2 or 3 per week!

[lindrusso]

I am a full-time stay-at-home mom. In some ways this gives me more time to cook (now that the boys are 3 and 6 and can entertain themselves), but of course, that is not always the case.

Like next week - I will be cooking and preparing for my almost-3-year olds birthday bash and a visit from my in-laws, so I will probably do a light cooking schedule and make only one or two dishes that week and rely on leftovers and quick meals/take out for the rest.

I wish I had more answers on how to get it all done, but I think the best thing is just to do what doesn't make you crazy and not be too hard on yourself. Sometimes I cook like crazy and sometimes I just plain don't - and we end up ordering out or eating soup and sandwiches. More and more, I try to relax and not stress myself out by saying "it's okay!".

And it's also a matter of deciding what's worth your extra time and effort and what is not. If a nice, home-cooked dinner is worth it to you, maybe there's something else that you do that you could cut out or cut down on.

I'm not organized enough (nor do I have enough freezer space) at this point to pre-make everything on the weekends and reheat during the week, but this sounds like a great option for those who work full-time (outside the house

Oh, I did think of one tip - I try to cook one "big" thing for a meal and make the rest of the meal easy. For instance, if I'm having a labor-intensive main dish, I make sure I pair it with easy sides like a bagged salad and pre-made dinner rolls. Or, conversely, if I'm doing a big side dish, I'll just have my husband throw something on the grill or have an easy main dish. Of course there will always be special occasions where you want each dish to be special, but on an everyday basis, that kind of in-depth preparation would make me crazy (unless I was staying home WITHOUT kids!!!).

Too many things to do, never enough time....

[lorilei]

I work fulltime as well -- both my husband and I usually get home between 5 and 5:30.

We take turns cooking meals on a weekly basis and both of us have learned to work pretty good "on our toes". Our meals are usually vegetarian (although we're not, strictly speaking) -- lots of stir-fry, pasta dishes and beans/rice. I also like to pick up fresh bread on my way home and cook up soup or vegetable sandwiches. During the summer we grill out a lot during the week (lots of vegetable roasting & creative chicken or fish dishes).

I do most of my cooking from scratch -- because I feel it's worth the time it takes. We eat between 6 and 7 almost every night, which gives me at least an hour to cook something. Some nights, when I'm not inspired, we'll usually have veggie burgers and a salad -- other nights we might have a roast or stew. My husband and I don't have children, so our lifestyle is probably a bit less hectic right now than some other peoples' -- but we are very involved in activities, so we have to plan around meetings and so forth just like anyone else.

Often I'll take one evening a week and bake muffins or treats -- and we'll eat those for the rest of the week for breakfast or lunch.
But I don't do much planning otherwise. I enjoy thinking about cooking during the day, and will often come up with my concepts during my drive home...

[This message has been edited by lorilei (edited 08-02-2000).]

[MrsReber]

I work full time as well- so does hubby, no kids (yet). I just recently got a new job closer to home in May. I am so thankful! I was commuting for 4 hours a day on top of working 10-12 hours. Not good. I was getting home at 8:00 or later. No time to plan meals, or I'd plan them and then get stuck late at work (and still have a 2 hour trip home!!). Now I get home by 6:00 and I try to go to the gym twice during the week and then during the weekend, but there's also food shopping and cleaning and the pets!

I usually don't plan in advance, unless I have to defrost some meat or if I want to try something special. I know if we have a meat dish one night, we will have pizza or pasta the next night. Some of our favorites are pizza (only home made dough or Boboli), tacos (very easy with the taco packages available), chicken marsala (easy to make), chiken peices on the grill, kielbasa, marinated pork tenderloin, or just some soup and a grilled cheese. If it's hot outside, I try to cook everything on the grill- veggies and meats. For side dishes, I buy lots of Green Giant vegetables (the ones in the little boxes that you can warm up in the microwave) so that when we run out of fresh veggies towards the end of the week, we still have something green. I also (ack!!) use boxed potato side dishes like Betty Crocker's potatoes au gratin) and stove top stuffing, in addtion to real potatoes, corn,rice and rolls. I try to be creative since we get stuck in ruts sometimes. We will usually go out once a week, too, to give me a break in the kitchen. We normally eat dinner anytime between 7:30-9:00. My wonderful husband, who used to cook when we first met 4 years ago, now claims that I cook better than he does so he no longer cooks dinner- unless it's fish or venison steaks. I don't really eat those so I just make up some pasta dish for myself on those nights. I am starting school soon, too, so it should be interesting! I do fit some of the quick and easy CL recipes into my week. I tried the peanutty noodles last week and the chicken scampi last Sunday.

Weekends are great because I can plan to try out a new dish that may take extra time and I can also make a nice dessert. We are still working on the last lemon swirl cheesecake. It's slow going with only two of us to eat it!

Of course, some nights I go home and have no clue what to make so we just look at each other and order out from the Italian place down the street! Okay, and every so often, I cave in and we go for McDonald's (maybe once every 6 months).

Whew! Am I long winded or what? Must stop rambling like that!

[This message has been edited by MrsReber (edited 08-02-2000).]

[JodiL]

I also work full-time (as does my husband), but have no kids. I try to plan meals on Sunday, but it's soooo easy to go out to eat after work. We've tried to be better, but we probably eat out 3-4 times per week. Some weeks are better, but we've started going to the gym and when we get home it's late and we're starving and tired.

I was actually thinking about getting the CL 5 ingredient 5 minute dinners, or whatever it's called. Any reviews?

[RunnerKim]

I'm another work's full time outside of the home and has no children (although I do have a dog and 2 cats that I feed a home-prepared diet). My husband also works outside the home. We exercise in the morning. We both enjoy cooking and almost always make dinner together -it's a hobby. We do have no fuss meals though - some we make and freeze (enchaladas, spaghetti sauce, various bread/rolls) and can do quickly on rushed or lazy nights. We rarely eat out, mostly because we're saving money, I'm losing weight and often we prefer our own food anyway. It really makes a huge difference that I have a meal planned and have everything on hand to make it.

Kim

[Danielle]

Both my husband and I work full time, and I usually try to work in some gym time after work, so that gets me home between 6 and 6:30, when my husband gets home. I try to pick meals that are easy to prepare, or I start preparing them the night before. Casseroles I can whip up and put in the fridge, so it's all ready for the next day. Or if I know I'm making something that requires a lot of chopped veggies, I chop the night before so I don't have to do it the next day. It really is a challenge, so it's interesting to hear how other people do it.

[KateH]

This may be trivial and obvious . . .

. . . but when I was working full time, I found that cooking in comfortable shoes helped. It wasn't just lack of time that was a disincentive to cook, it was the pain as well. Our apartment's kitchen floor is not cushioned at all, and I would find myself, tired after work, in either bare feet or the flats I had been wearing all day -- it was a killer on my calves and I knew that all I had to do was pop a few frozen potpies in the micro and I could sit down for the evening. Maybe I am just slow, or maybe I thought that the pain was part of the process, but it took me awhile to recognize the problem and start wearing cushioned shoes.

I am getting nervous now, because in a few weeks I start a new part time job and full time grad school. I have been freelancing for several months, with gobs of time to grocery shop, read cookbooks, and cook. Spoiled! Now it is all coming to a close. Reading everyone's strategies has been very helpful. Danielle, chopping veggies the night before, great idea!

[Pat58]

I work full-time as a paralegal, 8:30 to 5:30 and later than that before a trial. My son and husband are trained to have a healthy snack when they get home (I keep lots of fruit, yogurt, lo-fat tortilla chips and salsa, etc.) around the house. Most nights I cook a fresh meal after work, so I rely on one pot meals, quick meals like fish, steamed veggies and couscous, and "planned overs." For example, I'll make a huge crockpot of chili on Sunday, and we'll have burritos and nachos on subsequent nights. When I grill chicken, I make twice as much and we heat up the leftovers with a fresh salad a couple of nights later.

It helps that cooking dinner is my after-work relaxation, not a chore for me. I enjoy chopping fresh veggies and herbs, and inhaling the aromas as I cook is stress therapy for me. I always aim for color as well as nutrition, so it's a little like art therapy, as well. I never cook "2 cups of pasta," I always cook up the whole 1 lb. box and refrigerate the leftover pasta - it makes a great saute with chopped peppers, onions, whatever veggies and herbs you have on hand, in a large non-stick skillet. Sprinkle with poppy or sesame seeds and Parmesan cheese.

For nights when I come home too whipped to enjoy my "fun time," we keep frozen pizzas in the fridge and there's always a box of pasta and jar of Ragu for emergencies. I guess the bottom line is, enjoy it, keep it simple, cook in volume when you can.

[Angelina]

You are lucky getting home so early...I have to work each night at least until 6:30. If I go to the gym and get out of there by 8:30 I will get home (if subways and buses don't give me any problems) by 9:15. By then, any wish or desire to cook has completely evaporated. Those are the days when I try to have a bigger lunch and more or less forget about dinner. And my husband can eat what he wants. However, if I don't go to the gym, I try cooking. http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/wink.gif
My husband always asks for something 'light' for dinner. But his idea of light is not mine..so I go home with no clue as to what dinner will be. As far as trying the recipes, I am lucky if I can make 1 or 2 from each issue..I wish I could do more! But I can't do it all..

[CATHIEA]

I work full-time, and then some at my "day job" and then am a substitute Weight Watchers leader. I also do volunteer work. My husband is retired and works part-time, and also has volunteer activities. I do my working out over the lunch hour. I'm committed to meal/grocery planning. It's the only way we can juggle all of our mutual obligations and still eat healthy meals. My favorite CL meals are those that can be prepared and on the table in 30 minutes! I love to make soups or stews on Sundays and freeze leftovers for lunches/light dinners. I do most of the cooking, although my husband is good at doing prep work when he gets home first.
CathieA-Who should be going home instead of fooling around on the computer.

[Ohioan]

As a college teacher, I have a very erratic schedule: one quarter, I might teach early morning to mid-afternoon, and another quarter, I might teach afternoon and early evening, etc. And somewhere in there, I have to have office hours. To make it more complicated, we teach two days a week and have committee work and meetings on another day, and after I give back the first set of papers, I usually wind up having extended office hours on the so-called "off" days. What a mess. http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/frown.gif

What I usually do is shop on the weekend for the week, and on my non-late-working days I cook the slow-cooking things (pots of beans, casseroles, etc.) in batches big enough for at least one set of leftovers. The leftovers are what I have on late days.

Actually, I find that cooking pots of beans for two or three times means not so much having leftovers as having easy new meals each time. The only flavoring I use while the beans are first cooking are garlic and onion. Then, once the beans are softened, I lift out the portion(s) I'll be saving and flavor the remainder. That way I can have Italian beans one night, Mexican beans another night, and Indian beans a third night -- all with different rices or pastas.

Good thing I love beans, huh? I also make pasta and vegetable casseroles to save for late nights.

Phoebe

[MaryB]

I work part-time from my home and have one child and a husband. I have worked full-time outside the home before and I pretty much use the same method now as I did then as week day nights are busy with lessons and meeting. I try to cook a couple of things over the weekend nights (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday) which make leftovers so that I have two nights were all I have to do is reheat. For the other nights I have certain standby dishes that are quick and don't require a lot of prep time. Generally we eat out once a week to give the cook (me!) a night off. I also try to plan my lunches ahead of time. In the winter, I eat a lot of homemade soups and in the summer it is salads and sandwiches.

One thing I don't worry about is making something every night that my son will eat. He is a picky eater but I make sure he gets a good breakfast and lunch. If dinner is a little light because its something he doesn't like than so be it. Fortunately he is pretty good about eating most vegetables (as long as there are no spices on them!)

[Deanna]

I, too, work full time. I am really enjoying the schedule I'm on, working from 7 am to 4 pm. The gym is RIGHT across the street from my office so I can do 40 min treadmill, some weight training, and be home by 5:30, latest.

Because I live alone (well, except for Phoebe and Cheeto!) I can cook when I want to and not feel pressured into providing a meal for someone else. (Been there, done it!) Weeknight evenings, its usually something simple; lots of fresh veggies, salads, soups (prepared on weekends). I like to do my "creative" cooking on the weekends and package the meals in three-way divided plates to put in the freezer and pull out for lunches at work during the week.

I can't imagine, even as much as I love to cook, trying to prepare meals from new recipes every evening. First of all...what would I do with all that food??? =^..^=

Cooking is my hobby; not a chore!

P.S. Kate, you are SO RIGHT about the floor causing pain and fatigue! It is a real problem on those marathon weekend cooking binges. I usually love going barefoot around the house (heathen!) but will try wearing some sort of shoes with good support while standing for long periods in the kitchen. I'll bet that will make a LOT of difference! Thanks for the suggestion.

[Laura B]

Right now I am enjoying the bliss of being on summer vacation and working only about 10 hours (or less) per week volunteering for a judge. So, I have been cooking up a storm. At the end of this month I once again become a full-time law student. The well-planned menus and the new recipes 3 times a week will probably be curtailed once school starts. However, cooking is relaxing for me, so I do try to find time to cook most nights during school, just very simple things. My motivation to cook seems to come in waves - one week I will be really gung-ho and then the next week the mere thought of cooking will make me want to pick up the phone and order pizza. And my husband dreads exam time - for a month I don't cook anything because I am frantically studying. Cooking and exercise go right out of the window.

Anyway, I don't have it as rough as many of you do, time-wise. During school, I am only busy studying at home - not in an office with a long commute. And I don't go to a gym, I exercise at home with a wide variety of exercise tapes (gym is too expensive and too hot outside just to walk). So I can't complain too much.

[TamiK]

My fun cooking time is also coming to a close. I'm a teacher, and getting ready to jump back into 70-80 hour work weeks and beginning graduate school. As much as I'd like to do the same kind of dinners, it really becomes simply survival. Last year, my husband and I often found it cheaper for the two of us to eat out (we usually share an entree), but my 19 and 22-year-old daughters are home this year, along with a 2-year-old granddaughter living with us. They're broke, so it means having to fix meals at home. The girls and I sign up for 3 meals each over a 2-week period. The person who cooks doesn't have to clean up (supposedly--somehow I'm on clean-up duty every night!), but is totally responsible for getting dinner on the table.

I imagine we'll rely heavily on the crockpot and the grill. Here in Phoenix, our best grilling weather starts in October and goes through March. I could almost live on grilled chicken or fish and baked potatoes.

I'll be saving up all my "want to try" recipes for next June.

[kentgirl]

JodiL--you asked about the CL 5 Ingred/5 Min cookbook. I highly recommend it. Most every recipe I've tried has been well received by my hard-to-please family.

And it's true----the recipes only take 15 minutes!

As for me, both my husband and I work. My two sons are home from college for the summer. They both work and come home hungry. Between them and my husband, I'm cooking for 3 men! Anybody feel sorry for me???

My husband is a chef--and a very good one. But---he really doesn't enjoy cooking at home. So it's up to me.

Basically---if I plan the meals on the weekends and do the shopping, I can easily serve nutritious and delicious meals every week-night. If I don't do the planning, we don't eat so good. Sandwiches, soup, take-out teriyaki chicken, pizza, hot dogs, spaghetti (I always have pasta & sauce), etc, etc.

Planning is the key--along with some good recipe books. I like CL magazine and I get alot of recipes from Looneyspoons and Crazyplates. Anybody ever cooked from these cookbooks---if so, what's your favorite!

[SueK]

I work part time, and also do technical writing on a contractual basis for a local company. Between the two jobs, it's about 35 hours a week. My husband and I take turns going to the gym in the morning, as our child is young, and so one of us has to be at home. My husband travels pretty extensively for his job, and when he is in town, he has a lot of business dinners. So, most time it's just my daughter and I eating dinner. She's kind of picky, but I've been making CL recipes, and just getting her to try them. She really loves spicy foods (which my hubby doesn't), so I make dishes like that when he's gone. I also rely a lot on my crockpot when it's just the two of us, since I'm busy watching her. But, I'll admit, there are many nights when she and I just forget about cooking and go out to dinner!

[Kristilyn1]

I am really enjoying hearing about everybody's situation. We all have the same amount of time to fill in a day--it's interesting to hear how others fill it. I wrote something recently kinding of poking fun at the whole "simplify your life" articles, etc. that seem to be mocking our pathetic attempts to get everything done. It's long and I apologize if this is the wrong forum for it--and I need to say up front--I really DO like Martha Stewart.


Simply Put

There seems to be two schools of thought on what "simplify your life" means. With the change of a millennium, comes an almost cataclysmic fear of wasting time, wasting life. Or maybe it's just us post-boomers (don't even ASK me to refer to us as Gen-X'ers, a term that makes me squirm) who are anxious to do it all, have it all and above all, enjoy it. We want our high powered jobs, our gas guzzling SUV's and we want our children to be respectful, resourceful, well-rounded and well educated, and we want our personal fingerprints all over them. I can't really speak for a generation (who's got time to figure one out?!) I can only speak from my own observations. Imperfect as they may be.

The Spontaneous Combustion Factor

When you hire someone to mow your lawn, clean your house and pick up dinner at Boston Chicken, you are, in theory, saving time. In my experience these people are the ones that appear to have the least amount of time available. They look at their watch when they talk to you, they drive too fast and love to tell you how they are simply (see word, simple?) too busy to do [insert activity here--cook, clean, vacation, work out, etc.]. This is always delivered with a smugness that is invariably accompanied by a large sigh and they ask "how do YOU find time to do these things?" The implication clear theat you MUST be doing something wrong, if you actually find yourself with time left over. At this time, they may try to suck you into their Time Wasting Voretex. The only way out of doing their favor (which will NEVER be reciprocated even if a matter of life and death) is to fake your own death. These people play "catch up" with time and they never learn that time does not play fair. Prime example, you buy the orange juice with the screw on lid on the side of the carton, because it is designed to easily save at least 12 seconds EVERY time you open it! Nasty old time though, who is incidentally, your mother in law, contrives to make the little plastic ring inside the screw on lid so tight and hard to grasp that not only do you lose the initial 12 seconds, you lose an ancillary 25 seconds, wrestling with it. These "time catchers" if you will, spend their entire lives speeding from one event to another trying to "make up time" that they eventually step into an apparent wrinkle in the time continueum and they end up at a point where they use their entire allotted 24 hours in a day in the first 30 minutes and they spontaneously combust. Unfortunately, the people who manufacture such time saving devices as the screw-on-lid-orange-juice-carton and the already-kabobbed-kabobs know this, but they also know that these people are breeding a whole generation of people just like them, who will not only use the already kabobbed kabobs, they will demand marinated kabobs with built in solar powered refrigeration units and pop-top-screw-on-lid-orange-juice-containers.

The Stepford Conspiracy

Not to be an alarmist, but if there is a sudden change of atmospheric pressure (like what happened on that golfers airplane) Martha Stewart will simply (see use of simple again?) NOT have time to construct an appropriate shelter from scratch and as we all know, scratch is the only way to go. Now, we all have long suspected that Martha has an unfair advantage, but I am here to tell you that I know only TOO WELL, just what an advantage she has. Most of us probably read the Stepford Wives and dismissed it as the sick fantasy of the guy who designed the anatomical measurements for Barbie. Well, it is a true enough story, in the sense that there are people like that--or correction--there WERE. The entire experiment spontaneously combusted for reasons unknown--but one rogue wife escaped. She was an early prototype and as she appeared to be indifferent to men, the Stepford Men put her in a closet and turned their attention to more personally fulfilling projects. Big Mistake. Who would have thought that a woman that hand knit cashmere hot water bottle covers could single-handedly control an entire country's economy? The Stepford Men sure didn't. When they designed the Stepford Women to use a coolly efficient one hour per every 24 actual elapsed hours, they were only thinking of their own selfish pleasure, not the effect that a rogue wife would have on the collective psyche of the entire population's women. Not to mention the stock market. So while Martha is able to appear able to to make 6 course breakfasts, weave her own baskets, de-lint her toilet paper, origami fold her guest towels, hand paint designs on her hand milled soap balls and sewing her own shoes and socks--all in one day--she is setting a standard that NO OTHER WOMAN can match. Not because we are inferior, but because we actually use 24 hours in EVERY SINGLE 24 hour period. So women all across the country are being worked to death by their wish to "simplify their lives", like Martha and growing their own food, and making homemade Phyllo dough. To do less than homemade is unneccessarily cluttering and complicating our lives. It's time to get back to basics and sew our own clothes.

Personally, I don't subscribe to either method. I incorporate the portions of each that I believe, allow me to achieve a balance in this hectic world. I simplify by living like a wild animal from more primitive times in a house with a satellite dish. I let the dirty clothes pile up on the floor, but buy new dishes when the old ones get dirty. We eat our already kabobbed kabobs while squatting on our sticky kitchen floor. See, it's simple.

[Kathy]

Kristilyn, I really enjoyed your post..you should write for a living!
I have to admit, I learned a lot reading all your posts. I am a stay at home mom of three who runs around about as much as anyone else (No more, no less) with all the activities young kids are involved in these days. I just realized my biggest dilemna is not knowing when my husband will be home; I usually don't know until 6:30 or 7:00 IF he is even coming home for dinner. My question is, what would you do in this situation? I am getting sick of frozen dinners and picking off the kids plates( I try to wait until my husband gets home and feed them earlier)I need quick meals for one or two people. If I know he is coming home I pick up fresh fish or something but a lot of food seems to go bad.(And who wants to run out at 7:00 to buy fresh dish with 3 kids!)I would love suggestions! I know the obvious answer is to cook one meal and re-heat but somedays I want something fresh..not re-heated meatloaf.


[This message has been edited by Kathy (edited 08-03-2000).]

[comabri]

I am a single mom of an almost-4 boy. I work often 9 or 10 hours a day, pick him up from daycare, and by the time we get home it's 6:00. I actually provide a well-balanced meal about 2 times during the week and on Saturdays and Sundays. One night though we get pizza with vegies, another night it's Chinese, and the other might be broccoli (frozen) and chicken nuggets. I can't stand cooking during the week because it seems by the time we are done with dinner, he takes his bath, I get the dishes/pots/pans cleaned, and I get the house tidied up (a little), we have very little time to just sit and hang out. I have to say though that when I do cook, sitting down at the table and talking for an hour is wonderful.

So the only time I have to try the wonderful Cl recipes we all talk about is on the weekends - unless it has 5 ingredients and I've planned it well in advance. Oh woe, the life of a single mom... (kidding - I love every minute of it.)


KATHY - Don't eat re-heated meals if you don't want to. Make a good one and let him eat re-heated meals. Make one really good meal for all of you. I think some things actually taste better reheated or the 2nd day anyway. (spaghetti, meat loaf (cold), etc.). OR better yet - let him make his own dinner!

[BarbaraL]

Kristilyn, loved your post! A topic you've evidently spent alot of time thinking about! Kathy, eat a nice dinner with your kids, or by yourself, and reheat when your husband comes home. While your husband eats, sit with him and eat your dessert and/or coffee/tea/beverage of choice. No one can plan around a schedule like that!

[Mandy]

I have a great schedule, I work from 10:00-5:30, since we don't usually take a lunch hour we can come in late. I live about 5 min. away, so I'm home at about 5:40. My hubby is in school right now, so he's in class all day, does a lot of homework at school, and is home at about the same time. So I usually plan all my meals on the weekends, and then I have pleanty of time when I get home to cook. I still plan simple meals for weekdays, and then do some nice big meals on the weekends. In the summer we grill out at least 3 times a week. And we pack our lunch just about everyday, usually just a turkey sandwich, or leftovers.

[Kathy]

Thanks for your supportive responses! I was feeling a tad guilty about not being able to do it all, but you are right! By eating earlier with my kids I may also drop a few pounds!Thanks again!

[Beth H]

It's been really interesting to read the diversity of answers to my original post. It's really amazing what people (I've noted so far, women) balance -- jobs, kids, family responsibilities, exercise, other activities, etc. I think Cooking Light needs to do a monthly feature on "real" readers -- people who may look a bit frazzled by the end of the day, who sometimes order pizza and Chinese and skip their excerise class, but who still try to cook healthy recipes when they can. The problem I sometimes have with CL feature articles on scheduling/life improvement(even though I enjoy them) is that they do not seem too grounded in reality. It's a little bit like watching Martha Stewart -- you wish you could be making a quilt, canning preserves, planting your garden, and fixing a five course meal all in one weekend, but it just isn't going to happen!

[SueK]

Kathy-I have to agree with the others. I posted earlier in this thread about how my husband isn't home much for dinner. I used to wait until he was home (sometimes 8 or 9) and then I'd eat with him. Well, I discovered that eating that late at night is a great way to gain weight, which I sure wasn't trying to do! So now I tell him "Dinner will be ready between 6 and 6:30. If you want it then, come home. If you want to reheat it, come home when you can". That way my daughter and I eat a good, hot meal and I don't go to bed with a full stomach. And my husband knows that I mean it! He's reheated many a meal!

[This message has been edited by SueK (edited 08-03-2000).]

[This message has been edited by SueK (edited 08-03-2000).]

[Maggie]

I am married and don’t have any children—yet. Both my husband and I get home around 5:30 and eat dinner around 6 or 7 (or 8). Right now I work 32 hours a week and my husband works 40-50 hours and he in grad school. We also run a small business from our home. I spend about 8-12 hours a week dealing with our side business so I guess I should say that I work about 40 hours a week. When my husband started back to school, I agreed to take over pretty much all of the household duties until he graduates. Sometimes I get tired of it—but I know he’ll be done in less than a year and life will return to normal. So, right now I‘m on a tight schedule—some days it’s all I can do to open the Boboli crust, top it and throw it in the oven! Add a little bagged salad (even if they do smell funky) and call it dinner.

I grocery shop every Friday. I try to plan at least one good meal for the weekend—that’s when I have time to try a few new CL recipes. Then I plan about three old standbys for during the week. One of which being a one-dish-meal type thing I can assemble on Sunday (like the Spaghetti Pie or Vegetable Lasagna) so I’ll have something pre-made for those nights that I don’t even have a Boboli in the house. For the other two I just try to keep it simple and use fresh ingredients—whatever is in season. I also love the 5-Ingredient 15-Minute Cookbook; so far everything I’ve tried has been good and fast. We either go out or order out once or twice a week—usually Thai or Italian since they are close to our house. But I think food that I prepare is better for us, so I’d prefer to keep eating out to a minimum. I also have a small herb garden (plus tomatoes) and I really try to plan meals that include whatever herb is prolific at the time.

Now, keep in mind that I TRY to do all of these things. If all of this planning worked out during the same seven day period, it’d be one unusual week. And if I actually got to spend 20 minutes a day on the treadmill, I’d think that the world was about to come to an end!

Wow, sorry y’all. I didn’t mean ramble on so much!

[food girl]

You said it Beth! I read this month's spotlight to my husband and we both got a chuckle out of the whole novel-writing-yoga-gardening image that is completely unattainable for most of us.
Kristlyn, what do you think about the motto for this Simply Living magazine, "Do less, have more"? I think if I had less stuff I could do more. Just think about how much free time we would all have if we didn't have to dry clean, fluff, dust, vaccume, fold,repair,polish and rearrange all of our "stuff". Not to mention buy new "stuff" just because some magazine told us our perfectly good "stuff" is out!!
I did want to write about my cooking preparation. I cut recipes out of CL. I have my husband pick a few that he would like to try. He sits at the kitchen table and reads off the ingredients while I scan the fridge and pantry to see that we have everything. He writes down what I we need to buy. We go to the store together. This has really made things easier. I still throw away perfectly good food because I sometimes get home late and we have cereal.

[Anne]

Looks like you all are pretty busy folks. My husband and I both work outside the home - usually 8-4 with no lunch break. We have an 11 yr old daughter and a 9 yr old son and about a one hour commute each way. Since our commute is generally on foot we don't need to visit a gym. We alternate cooking and cleanup and do most cooking from scratch. We often make at least one really large dish so can have left overs at least two nights. We buy bulk dry goods - grains, beans, fruit and other items from a food coop, grow our own veges and have a freezer full from hunting and fishing so we don't have to spend much time shopping (which we both hate!). We find our bread machine a real time saver (with growing kids we go through a loaf a day). We go heavy on salads during the growing season and veges from the freezer or root cellar the rest of the year. Once every week or so one of us cooks a really special meal, generally for company.
The kids are cooking one meal a week (with parental support and supervision) - and believe me, that is not a time saver but I have hopes for the future.

[Kristilyn1]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by food girl:

Kristlyn, what do you think about the motto for this Simply Living magazine, "Do less, have more"? I think if I had less stuff I could do more. Just think about how much free time we would all have if we didn't have to dry clean, fluff, dust, vaccume, fold,repair,polish and rearrange all of our "stuff".

You said it! I think a magazine that promotes a lifestyle that is based on some ephemeral ideal--waste of time! Why is CL different? It's a solid, real concept. Healthy eating and healthy life and they don't (usually) try too hard to promote cokamamie concepts. Nobody wants to hear about how some smug weirdo has time to meditate--garden--sew own clothes--cook gourmet meals all while standing on their head and living in a house they carved out of rose quartz. I think an article about comfortable shoe wearing while cooking is more interesting, or how to work around a small kitchen. I find time to exercise and even fund raise for a charity and train for a marathon (Natasha can attest to how that works out) but it's because my house is usually a disaster--I work a low pressure job and have a husband that helps out around the house. I don't have one picture on my walls right now and my decorating scheme is reminiscent of Motel 6. Is my way the right way? Please. We are ALL doing it right--cause there is no "right". I never buy magazines like Cosmo, Simply Living, Martha Stewart Living, Parenting etc. as I hate reading them and being left feeling inadequate. If you notice, the people who are the subject of ridiculous articles promoting some half-baked idea usually come off as the most pretentious, boring people you ever met. I know I sound all jacked up about these ideas but I talk to people and can't believe how they let themselves be set up for misery. We had a discussion the other day at work about having parties and having people over and 4 out of 6 of the women said they hated having people over (their FRIENDS for gosh sake!) because they worried about doing a good job, how their houses look, having their decors not "done", etc. How sad is that? I have a perfectly nice house but the office consists of a desk with one of my kitchen chairs pulled up to it. Call me crazy, but I love having people over--I know they come to see me, not judge my decor!? So, I think I will go take a deep breath....talk amongst yourselves.......

Kristi

[Susann]

Here, here-Kristi!!!! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

[Kathy]

I say we order in some Mexican, fire up the blender for frozen margaritas, and call it a night! Always the perfect "fiesta" at my house! Who needs Martha Stewart? I have better things to do with my time than make my own stoneware!

[BethH]

Hip Hip Hooray!!! Here's to being strong, intelligent women!!!

Now, how about those margheritas? I'll bring the tequila and lots of it! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/eek.gif

[Kristilyn1]

I'm not a big fan of margaritas--but every gathering needs some low-class spunk.

I'll man the blender for you all--and guzzle my beer right out of glass bottle. We can even have it at my house--if you guys don't mind a stack of dirty dishes in the sink.

Kristi

[Anne]

I'll join Kristi with the beer - I think tequila would knock me on my woops. What is a clean house anyway? Our house is clean enough to be healthy and messy enough to be happy.

[Anne]

I'll join Kristi with the beer - I think tequila would knock me on my woops. What is a clean house anyway. Our house is clean enough to be healthy and messy enough to be happy.

[Kathy]

We have a party every Memorial day weekend that includes, Margaritas, kegged beer and rum punch..oh yeah..ribs and chicken too! I must say, I enjoy them all!

[MrsReber]

Can we come?

[Kathy]

Absolutely! I have to warn you..my friends and I are not at our most responsible at this party! We think we are in college again!

[MrsReber]

hey, sounds like me and my hubby will fit right in!

[Kathy]

Always welcome, Mrs.R!

[shortcook]

Originally posted by JodiL:
I also work full-time (as does my husband), but have no kids. I try to plan meals on Sunday, but it's soooo easy to go out to eat after work. We've tried to be better, but we probably eat out 3-4 times per week. Some weeks are better, but we've started going to the gym and when we get home it's late and we're starving and tired.

I was actually thinking about getting the CL 5 ingredient 5 minute dinners, or whatever it's called. Any reviews?
I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THE 5 INGREDIENT 15 MINUTE COOKBOOK. SO FAR I HAVE TRIED 5-6 RECIPES AND HAVE GOTTEN RAVE REVIEWS FROM MY PICKY HUSBAND AND DAUGHTER. IT TRULEY IS A GREAT COOKBOOK FOR A QUICK DINNER. I EVEN KEEP IT IN MY CAR - SO I CAN STOP AT THE SUPERMARKET ON THE WAY HOME FROM WORK AND GET THE 5 OR SO INGREDIENTS. GO FOR IT, YOU WON'T REGRET IT.

[Hayduke]

I have also struggled with my diet. Since I am a competitive runner and work 50 hours a week, its hard to know exactly what I'm getting when 'grab anything off the shelf'. A company called Food Intake Nutritional Services www.foodintake.com (http://www.foodintake.com) has helped me out, analyzed my diet to show me what I was missing, and also presented great ideas and tips on eating in general.

Check them out!


Aaron