Kids Cuisine

We just moved, and our house is further from my work. It used to be hectic making dinner with three hungry, whining, and, at times, screaming kids. Now that they are getting home a few minutes later, it is downright psychotic in my house during the time between arriving home and shoving food in front of the kids.

I haven’t wanted to surrender entirely to convenience foods. So for the first couple weeks in the new house, I kept buying dinners that required actual preparation and cooking. Then, as I threw away meat pack after meat pack that went bad before I found a night when I actually had time to cook it, I finally realized those involved dinners would have to wait for weekends.

There are a couple tactics I’ve learned under fire to actually get food to table fast enough for these hungry kids. It is probably something helpful for those nights when you’re running late and the kids are starving…. or if you’re like me, and get home later than your kids like. These are tips for preparing dinner when you need it ready in a matter of seconds, not minutes.

• I’ve given little kid appetizers to settle everyone while I make some real food. Finger foods work great for this, and I’ve tried to differentiate this from dinner by putting a couple things, maybe diced fruit and cheese, on one big plate for the kids to nibble. There are a couple downsides to this. For one thing, it can become a survival of the toughest situation with the kids fighting over the food. I also find they eat less dinner because they’re filling up on the starters.
• I’ve foregone dinner for the adults and made quick-serve but semi-healthy food for the kids. Some good options for this are chopped fresh fruits and veggies, diced cheese, grape tomatoes, or even canned (but organic, just to make you feel a little better) fruits and veggies. I’ve also diced up meat or served it all with canned organic beans.
• I’ve fed in “courses,” serving up what is ready fastest first, then handing over food items to my husband as they are prepared, until all the food is served. Since our new kitchen is kind of long and narrow, and I’m passing through a doorway with a child gate, my husband and I noticed that it turns me into a bit of a line cook. I told him to 86 the juice boxes.
• Give small and light food items to the twins, who are 1-year-olds and much more demanding, while my 4-year-old daughter helps me cook dinner. She tends to nibble as we cook, but that is OK. She is more patient for dinner when she’s helping to prepare it.

I would like try to make it so they can actually get better meals in the evenings. I plan to spend weekends and evenings after the kids go to bed making better meals ahead, and refrigerating them for a fast warm-up on work nights. I mean, at some point we have to all eat together (a big deal to me!) and eat well (also important).

Photo of kitchen timer, © Rainer Berg