Sunday, October 21, 2007

Ugh, rainy weekends!

Okay, I confess. Feel free to laugh, judge and ridicule, but it has been a LONG rainy weekend here in Portland Oregon (the first in a long line of them this winter!), and not only did I not go out and be healthy or productive, but I have fed my children candy and cookies. Yep. They've had meals too but nothing remarkably healthy. I've been a poor role model. My youngest daughter truly only plays with her little kitchen's microwave oven. She tosses a plate in, pushes a few buttons, hits "start" and walks away. We've watched videos upon videos, made blanket forts, chased each other around, and colored forever. I showed my older daughter the food pyramid and felt like our family's was upside down. And it's finally Sunday night. Wow.

I feel that I can say all this because I plan to make big changes in how we eat. But does anyone know good websites that make healthy meals fast? I work outside the home 40 hours a week on top of being a mom and trying to launch my freelance graphic design business. I've enjoyed www.mealsmatter.org but am looking for something fresh. Ideas (but no ridicule) welcome!

6 comments:

Trice said...

You must know we ALl have those weekends and yet our kids will grow up ok!!! I've found the more I can prep ahead of time, the more likely they are to get fed well. I try really hard to cook chicken/meat ahead of time and then use it during the week. Did you know broccoli can be microwaved too? 6 minutes in 1/2 cup of water :)

There is a great recipe for oatmeal pancakes online and most of it can be done ahead of time. You soak oatmeal in buttermilk and get a bunch of fiber in those pancakes. Also, the whole grain frozen waffles are pretty good and have calcium too. I'll think up more and get back to you.

Jumpin' On My Last Nerve said...

We had one of those upside down foor pyramid weekends too. I always feel guilty and try to shove a raw carrot in their mouths to at least off-set whatever those 2 cookies, 3 brownies and handful of candy might be doing to their bodies (lovely).

I don't have any other great websites to suggest, but I appreciate the mealsmatter one you mentioned. Hopefully others will have more useful information.

Kimberly said...

We are lucky if we get Harry to have a bite of 1 begetable a day. Usually it is a bite of a mini baby carrot. Not just a regular baby carrot, but the runt of the pack.
I'm just jealous you had rain. It's been roughly 78 and sunny for 6 months or so now. Normally I'd lov eit, but I'm 21 weeks pregnant and want it to rain for teh next 4 montsh straight! And I can't even get a good solid weekend of drizzle!

Laura said...

Hi I'm new to this site, but saw your post. I really love to cook, but with the kids it is difficult. For healthy recipes, try cookinglight.com...they have a recipe finder where you can look up recipes by ingredient, or make ahead, or quick. Then you can print out the recipe and a grocery list. For me it is a time saver and I really like the variety and quality of the recipes. Good luck -- it is difficult!!

channelmarker said...

I used to be in your shoes too (working full time, finishing my Master's, and by the way a single mom of two at the time). My God sent was a book called "One a Month Cooking". For some reason it is usually found in Christine book stores but maybe amazon carries it too? Anyways, it allowed me to have great meals with minimal time. I heard of it at a "Woman's retreat". Hope this helps

Anonymous said...

You are all wonderfully supportive - thank you for the tips and warm thoughts!! So good to know I'm not alone here! And Kimberly, I'm sending lots of rain-making clouds your way!!