Single Dad Survival

[COWBOYSURVIVAL]

When I had a couple of very picky kids at home I learned to sweeten foods and to hide veggies. Microwaves and crockpots were my best friends. A huge pot of spaghetti sauce with 3/4 cup of sugar and a bag of mixed veggies in the sauce was poured into ziplocks and frozen for quick meals ( pasta boils fast ). Cinnamon, sugar and a butter glaze made bland carrots interesting. Food coloring to change the appearance of foods made it fun to get the kids to try new things. They were very picky eaters so I seldom told them what they were truely going to eat ( Why tonight were gonna have boiled rhino snout with a side of wild afican rooster peas) with some food colorin' they were never sure if I was jokin'.


D.O.M.[/U]

Not sure there is any foolin' this little girl! I'd probably get in trouble for tryin'!

[owl_girl]

Not sure there is any foolin' this little girl! I'd probably get in trouble for tryin'!

lol "hey theres green stuff in my food "

[Durtyoleman]

The idea came when I actually made them green eggs and ham one morning. It was a hit. And blue oatmeal , red grits ect...

D.O.M.

[countrymech]

COWBOYSURVIVAL, I admire your post. I was in your shoes for many years and must admit that my own daughter put up with an awful lot of Hamburger Helper, Tuna Helper, and spaghetti. I also spent many weekend mornings cooking up large batchs of French Toast and pancakes and eggs which I froze and nuked later before school. Fortunately, God answered both our prayers 10 years ago and blessed us with the family that we all share now. Third time truley was a charm and even added 2 sons. Amazing what falling to your knees crying and praying in the middle of the horse pasture can do for ones future. Now my daughter is 18 and will graduate in March headed for college this fall. She does her chores and her fair share of cookin' but she still looks forward to French Toast. It may not always be a perfect menu, yet she will always remember that it came from "Daddy's Hands". Keep up the good work......
P.S. Don't worry about gettin' in trouble, one day she'll be a TEENAGER and you'll never win, but she will always remember.

[Winnie]

Best way to hide veggies in a tomato sauce, blitz them in a food processor and then fry them off in a little olive oil before adding the tomatoes. Worked for me with Winnie jnr, in fact he still doesn't know he's eating mushrooms!

I too was going to suggest cooking at the weekend.

I'll have a think, casseroles can get pretty boring after a while.

If you've cooked a roast, slice the extra meat and freeze with some gravy in individual portions then reheat as you want. Add a few sides and you're good to go.

[COWBOYSURVIVAL]

COWBOYSURVIVAL, I admire your post. I was in your shoes for many years and must admit that my own daughter put up with an awful lot of Hamburger Helper, Tuna Helper, and spaghetti. I also spent many weekend mornings cooking up large batchs of French Toast and pancakes and eggs which I froze and nuked later before school. Fortunately, God answered both our prayers 10 years ago and blessed us with the family that we all share now. Third time truley was a charm and even added 2 sons. Amazing what falling to your knees crying and praying in the middle of the horse pasture can do for ones future. Now my daughter is 18 and will graduate in March headed for college this fall. She does her chores and her fair share of cookin' but she still looks forward to French Toast. It may not always be a perfect menu, yet she will always remember that it came from "Daddy's Hands". Keep up the good work......
P.S. Don't worry about gettin' in trouble, one day she'll be a TEENAGER and you'll never win, but she will always remember.

Thanks CountryMech, Nice to know I ain't the lone ranger! I've gotten better to start out, we ate almost solely off of a charcoal grill. That was 5 yrs. ago, Me and her both have come a long way!

[COWBOYSURVIVAL]

The idea came when I actually made them green eggs and ham one morning. It was a hit. And blue oatmeal , red grits ect...

D.O.M.

I could see how that could be a hit! I cook a big breakfast on Sat. and Sun.

[Rick]

The idea came when I actually made them green eggs and ham one morning. It was a hit. And blue oatmeal , red grits ect...

I did that one morning and the grand kids looked at me like I was nuts. The oldest ask if the eggs were bad.

[Aurelius95]

For about 5 years I was a single dad. Now that I'm married again, I still do a fair share of the cooking. Anyway, my son really liked (still does) quesadillas. Sometimes it was just cheese, salsa and sour cream. Now, he likes chicken, black beans and corn in his quesadilla. Grilled cheese and tomato soup is still a favorite. While I haven't made this in a while, I used to make "spaghetti" pizza. I'd buy low sugar sauce, add ground turkey, onion, garlic to it and made spaghetti. Then, I'd serve it in a bowl and put mozarella cheese and some pepperoni slices on it. Basically, he was eating spaghetti with some moz cheese and pepperoni.

None of these meals takes a very long time, and it's pretty easy not to screw up. Oh, and I'd serve salad with most of these meals, even making him eat a tomato or two!

Good Luck!

[Trabitha]

I hate to cook...so when I do I cook in large batches. Baked ziti is fast and you can make it in large batches. I make a big batch, and cook it in 3-4 smaller containers. One for that night, 3 go in the freezer. (sadly I cooked one BIG batch this last time and we've eaten ziti ALL FREAKIN' week. sucks) Make meat loaf in your muffin pan. That way you can pull out the "meat muffins" as you need them and freeze the rest. Plus they cook in half the time.
Always have cut fresh veggies in the fridge so that you can grab a handful of veggies while your meal is microwaving.
Chili in large batches works because it freezes well and you can mix up one of those "Jiffy" corn muffin mixes in 2 min. and it only takes a few minutes to cook.
Make your own "lunchables" for the lazy nights. Cut up cheese when you get the block of cheese home. Cut up your coldcuts when you get them home, and always have crackers and fruit on hand. Much cheeper than getting those crappy "lunchables". soups and sandwiches are also very good for those fast meals.

Don't forget breakfast for dinner! Add in a tomato and/or green pepper and you have a great meal.

[Ken]

Cowboy, even though you keep writing those nasty pink apron comments about me, I feel for ya'. I did the single dad with custody routine for well over a decade.

Yeah, I did tons of weekend cooking and froze for quick meals. However, some late night prep work makes cooking from scratch the next night pretty easy, too. Get your daughter off to bed and simply prep for the next day. That saves some defrost time as well.

Meatballs and sauce can be reheated the next day while you boil up some pasta. Prep time is about 10 minutes.

A chicken/beef/pork/shrimp stir fry takes about 10 minutes as well if you slice everything up beforehand.

Open-faced turkey or beef sandwiches with gravy also take about 10 minutes.

There are a ton of 10 minute meals you can find on the web. Here are a few sites:

http://lifehacker.com/280005/101-ten-minute-meals

http://www.minnmoms.com/10minmeals/

http://www.redbookmag.com/recipes-ho...t-easy-dinners



And now, I'm gonna' see if I can find a pink apron (I've never seen one) and send it off to ya'.

[Trabitha]

OH!!! And don't forget about some Bisquick and SOS! That's all of 30 minutes from start to finish...add a frozen veggie with it! Yummmm!

[Rick]

Bisquick and a touch of vanilla make some mean pancakes and pretty darn quick, too.

[Ken]

Bisquick and a touch of vanilla make some mean pancakes and pretty darn quick, too.

Bisquick is wonderful stuff.

On Wednesday, 2dumb and I were talking about those lousy flat macaroni-like things some places pass off as dumplings. So tonight, I made me some REAL chicken and dumplings with nice round Bisquick dumplings. Nuthin' like home cooking - even if I cheated and used Heinz chicken gravy instead of making my own.

[COWBOYSURVIVAL]

[/QUOTE]And now, I'm gonna' see if I can find a pink apron (I've never seen one) and send it off to ya'.[/QUOTE]

I'd like a pink one that is designed after an elephant with a trunk! Complete with ears! Let me know when you find it!

[Ken]

And now, I'm gonna' see if I can find a pink apron (I've never seen one) and send it off to ya'.[/quote]

I'd like a pink one that is designed after an elephant with a trunk! Complete with ears! Let me know when you find it![/quote]

I had a girlfriend who bought me some gray-colored underware that looked like what you described. Damn trunk was way too short.

[crashdive123]

You had it on backwards.