[PWDOhioRaptureReady]

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I spend much more time in the kitchen than I desire to at age 74. I am so done cooking and wish I could hire a cook! Eating out is yuck after so long, I want homemade!

I try to make simple meals now. I can no longer have a lot of comfort foods high in fats, creamy sauces, etc. needing to increase veggie and fiber intake, fresh veggies taste best.

Finding I can buy about 2 meat protein sources and eat from them all week and maybe throw in fish one night and/or eat carry out another night….or not.

I but a rotisserie chicken from Costco or an organic 5# chicken from Aldi and air fry it and we can get 5 meals out of one chicken…..just two seniors here. We may eat 2-3 meals on it fixed different ways and then vacuum seal and freeze the rest. I will take the carcass and pressure cook for 1-1/2 to 2 hours and can the broth or can the broth and some of the chicken in it for a fast soup or white chicken chili later.

I will buy a pork butt and slow cook it, shred and eat that night, vacuum seal some of it and freeze for a fast meal later, and later in the week we will add BBQ sauce and put on Naan bread with sautéed onions, peppers, we even threw on some cooked shredded carrots and fresh pineapple last night, add cheese and air fry and you have a homemade pizza.

Started cooking glass noodles, added some cooked chicken breast, cucumbers, shredded carrots, a bit of kimchee, broccoli, whatever you have and add a sesame ginger or Teriyaki sauce. Instead of noodles could use rice. Any meat or fish in place of chicken.

Trying to make meals that take under 20 minutes to throw together. Learning to cut up veggies the morning of for later.

Having frozen, already cooked meats makes for a quick meal, as does canned meats and veggies.

[HeelerRidgeFarm]

I feel ya! It seems like I never leave the kitchen some days except for barn chores. I did spend a lot of time this week making up freezer meals to hopefully save me time later.

[Sunstone]

That makes me feel a little better lol. I also try to wash dishes as I go but often I’ve got 2 or 3 different dishes going at once so usually if one thing goes into the oven, I switch over to chopping vegetables or adding spices or whatever else. So there’s usually a pretty big pile of dishes by the end of the night, especially once you add the ones everyone’s eating off of.

But I know people who manage with way more kids than me. I have a friend who has 6 kids, one a newborn, and her husband works 2 hours away and so she’s home taking care of them all day with no help. And I’m always thinking, how does she ever manage to get out of the house? How is it she can handle 6 by herself and I can’t seem to keep up with only 3, and my husband working from home and available in emergencies? I just feel like there’s got to be some trick I’m missing or skill I have yet to develop.

[Sunstone]

That sounds like a good policy. I’ve known far too many people who are so used to their parents doing everything for them that they can’t even pay rent, shop for groceries, or clean up after themsevles (because they still live at home and their parents continue to enable their laziness). It’s my eventual goal to have my kids doing more cleaning up after themselves, but right now I only have one that can reach the sink…I should probably make him start getting his own dishes into the dishwasher instead of just taking them to the counter. They do help me a bit with the laundry, mainly sorting and pushing the buttons, and I’m trying to train them to put their clothes in the laundry room instead of all over the floor.

I think I just spend so much time redirecting them and yelling at them to stop doing this or that, I just don’t want anything new to yell at them about. So I pick my battles and hope I’ll be able to add to their chore list later. I don’t know maybe I should be setting higher standard to begin with. But I also don’t want our house to feel like boot camp where they’re constantly being corrected and reminded.

[Sunstone]

Ah, so boot camp at home, regardless? Being a single parent is hard, though. I don’t know how anyone manages to do that, except that some people are forced into it and have to figure out a way. But those people who decide to have a kid on their own without a partner? I feel like they have no idea what they’re getting into. I often feel like we need at least one more parent in the house (or a grandparent) to help with the workload. I feel like in homes where the parent-to-child ratio is lower (as in only 1 parent, or 2 parents but lots of kids), the kids tend to be more self-sufficient, out of necessity.

• This reply was modified 2 years, 2 months ago by  Sunstone.

[Sunstone]

Wow I usually can’t get that much time in one block. I’ve had days where my husband takes the older kids for the day and I make Thanksgiving dinner, or special birthday dinner and cake, or some other long project with multiple items in it. But even then I’m lucky to get 5 hours, and even then I still have the youngest to attend to. Hoping when the kids are older I can do more of those big projects. I recently canned close to 40 lbs of tomatoes, but that took me 3 days from start to finish.