What's for dinner?
I really should start writing more about things other than baby stuff--but who am I kidding: nothing else is going on in my life, really!!
But I'll try :)
So I'll admit, since having the baby, my culinary chops have decreased due to just being exhausted and not having enough time to both grocery shop and/or prepare restaurant-worthy meals. Now, it's all about what is easiest and least time-consuming while also being somewhat healthy at the same time.
Now, I'd normally resort to the crock pot, but I've also been avoiding using any kind of cookware that is heavy due to my baby related tendonitis (aren't I making motherhood sound awful? but I swear, there are upsides to this and it is SO worth the pain. I swear.) so lately I've been making a lot of easy chicken, fish and beef dishes. I never really used to cook with ground beef a whole lot, but I recently tried it in fried rice and it is yummy, I must say.
Some of the more common meals I've been making that can be made in 30 minutes or less:
- Broiled salmon (takes less than 15 minutes!) with whole grain mustard and brown sugar glaze. I usually pair it with roasted broccoli and sweet potato, but obviously you can use any side you like.
- Fried rice with whatever I have lying around in the fridge: ground beef, rotisserie chicken, sausage. Any kind of protein, really, goes well in fried rice. Veggies I like: green onions, yellow onion, minced carrots and frozen peas; grape tomatoes or broccoli (for a Thai version), garlic, ginger and scrambled egg.
- Chicken thighs. Oh gosh, I used to overlook thighs because by themselves they just don't seem all that appealing, and I made the error of thinking that just because they were cheap, they sucked. Couldn't be more wrong. Broiling them in a garlic butter sauce renders an outstanding dinner that only required 3 or 4 ingredients. I also have used them for a crockpot chicken teriyaki recipe. The meat just falls apart. I know you can find countless other recipes for chicken thighs that would probably be scrumptious.
--Pasta. Recently I made Chicken Lazone with pasta shells and added grape tomatoes, red onion and mixed greens. It tasted great and looked pretty, too. The husband said he could eat something like that at least once a week. That's probably one of the better compliments I'll get from him, haha.
For any future first time mamas or new mamas out there who are overwhelmed with taking care of a baby but also want to still whip up healthy meals for the fam (on top of taking care of everything else!), I promise there is light at the end of the tunnel! It definitely helps if you have a spouse who is willing to help. My husband does work long hours during the week, but on the weekends it helps when he takes me out and I don' thave to worry about cooking. I don't expect him to cook at all during the week so I try to plan things out on Sunday, otherwise if I don't get around to it, I'll go to the store once or twice during the week and buy ingredients for the next few days. Luckily, Maddie is great going out. My only complaint about going to the grocery with her is that her car seat takes up the whole/ cart :( I can't wait until she can sit by herself and I can put her in the front seat.
Typically, I'll wait until she falls asleep to start dinner. Yes, there are times where timing doesn't work out and she either wakes up earlier than I anticipated or doesn't fall asleep at all, but I HAVE to get something started or else we'll starve, lol. I'll admit--sometimes I do let her cry, but I'll try to rush through my prep twice as fast and then tend to her; sometimes I'll bring her little chair into the kitchen or lay a blanket with her toys to keep her preoccupied. But it's always more relaxing for me to work on dinner if she is asleep.
The biggest piece of advice to moms that I really didn't want to accept at first is this: IT'S OKAY TO LET THINGS GO!!!! For an OCD person like myself, I was so completely irritable those first few months over not being able to keep the house completely spotless, getting behind on laundry and just not being the most perfect wife and mother that I imagined being back before I actually became a mom. As I type, there are baskets of piled laundry that needs to be ironed, dust on the furniture and dirty dishes on the stove waiting to be washed. It still bothers me...but I know spending time with my baby is more precious than spending it agonizing over keeping everything perfect. She is growing and changing so fast and I do NOT want to look back in ten years and remember myself scrubbing and washing more than I did hugging, kissing and playing with my little girl. My mother was like that and she always regretted it. I can get to that stuff later; my baby girl, however, will not stay little forever.
Well, better get to SOME of those things so when the babe wakes up we can cuddle before bedtime :)
But I'll try :)
So I'll admit, since having the baby, my culinary chops have decreased due to just being exhausted and not having enough time to both grocery shop and/or prepare restaurant-worthy meals. Now, it's all about what is easiest and least time-consuming while also being somewhat healthy at the same time.
Now, I'd normally resort to the crock pot, but I've also been avoiding using any kind of cookware that is heavy due to my baby related tendonitis (aren't I making motherhood sound awful? but I swear, there are upsides to this and it is SO worth the pain. I swear.) so lately I've been making a lot of easy chicken, fish and beef dishes. I never really used to cook with ground beef a whole lot, but I recently tried it in fried rice and it is yummy, I must say.
Some of the more common meals I've been making that can be made in 30 minutes or less:
- Broiled salmon (takes less than 15 minutes!) with whole grain mustard and brown sugar glaze. I usually pair it with roasted broccoli and sweet potato, but obviously you can use any side you like.
- Fried rice with whatever I have lying around in the fridge: ground beef, rotisserie chicken, sausage. Any kind of protein, really, goes well in fried rice. Veggies I like: green onions, yellow onion, minced carrots and frozen peas; grape tomatoes or broccoli (for a Thai version), garlic, ginger and scrambled egg.
- Chicken thighs. Oh gosh, I used to overlook thighs because by themselves they just don't seem all that appealing, and I made the error of thinking that just because they were cheap, they sucked. Couldn't be more wrong. Broiling them in a garlic butter sauce renders an outstanding dinner that only required 3 or 4 ingredients. I also have used them for a crockpot chicken teriyaki recipe. The meat just falls apart. I know you can find countless other recipes for chicken thighs that would probably be scrumptious.
--Pasta. Recently I made Chicken Lazone with pasta shells and added grape tomatoes, red onion and mixed greens. It tasted great and looked pretty, too. The husband said he could eat something like that at least once a week. That's probably one of the better compliments I'll get from him, haha.
For any future first time mamas or new mamas out there who are overwhelmed with taking care of a baby but also want to still whip up healthy meals for the fam (on top of taking care of everything else!), I promise there is light at the end of the tunnel! It definitely helps if you have a spouse who is willing to help. My husband does work long hours during the week, but on the weekends it helps when he takes me out and I don' thave to worry about cooking. I don't expect him to cook at all during the week so I try to plan things out on Sunday, otherwise if I don't get around to it, I'll go to the store once or twice during the week and buy ingredients for the next few days. Luckily, Maddie is great going out. My only complaint about going to the grocery with her is that her car seat takes up the whole/ cart :( I can't wait until she can sit by herself and I can put her in the front seat.
Typically, I'll wait until she falls asleep to start dinner. Yes, there are times where timing doesn't work out and she either wakes up earlier than I anticipated or doesn't fall asleep at all, but I HAVE to get something started or else we'll starve, lol. I'll admit--sometimes I do let her cry, but I'll try to rush through my prep twice as fast and then tend to her; sometimes I'll bring her little chair into the kitchen or lay a blanket with her toys to keep her preoccupied. But it's always more relaxing for me to work on dinner if she is asleep.
The biggest piece of advice to moms that I really didn't want to accept at first is this: IT'S OKAY TO LET THINGS GO!!!! For an OCD person like myself, I was so completely irritable those first few months over not being able to keep the house completely spotless, getting behind on laundry and just not being the most perfect wife and mother that I imagined being back before I actually became a mom. As I type, there are baskets of piled laundry that needs to be ironed, dust on the furniture and dirty dishes on the stove waiting to be washed. It still bothers me...but I know spending time with my baby is more precious than spending it agonizing over keeping everything perfect. She is growing and changing so fast and I do NOT want to look back in ten years and remember myself scrubbing and washing more than I did hugging, kissing and playing with my little girl. My mother was like that and she always regretted it. I can get to that stuff later; my baby girl, however, will not stay little forever.
Well, better get to SOME of those things so when the babe wakes up we can cuddle before bedtime :)
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