Cooking dinner

How the heck does everyone else manage to cook dinner and look after bub at the same time? I have to have Kynan in his playpen during that time as our house is very open plan. We have no way of blocking off the kitchen from the lounge room and I don't want Kynan under my feet when there is stuff cooking on the stove. I try to have get some of the meal prepared earlier in the day when Kynan's happier but some things need to be done in the late afternoon / early evening and by then Kynan's cranky and just wants his mummy to cuddle & play with him. It's driving me nuts and takes 3 times as long to make dinner!

I have the same problem as you Angel with meal times. If i stick Alex inhis chair he screams until he has food and with it being a rental house we don't want to mark the walls with a baby gate.

Exactly that way LOL.... I often do most of the preparation while Matilda is having arvo tea. And then I wait until DH is home to finish off. Or I use my slow cooker & make it all while she is napping and have it ready for tea!

LOL at least I'm not alone in this! I have been waiting until DH gets home to finish cooking but he has to have a shower first so he's able to pick Kynan up and we don't end up having dinner until quite late. Might have to look into getting a slow cooker... hm, DH was just asking me yesterday what I wanted for mother's day LOL.

Thanks guys :)

We wont be able to block our kitchen off either, I tend to make meals for the following night after we have had dinner & girls are in bed... Then I just have to reheat/finish off, but I have left overs from the previous nights dinner in a bowl for Indah so i can pop her in her highchair with her dinner!!!

I guess I'll have to keep doing that now she is more mobile!!!

Often I prepare in the mornings as Matty is quite content to play by himself... we were able to block our kitchen off also even though it is open plan with a very long security gate LOL.

I used to stick Paris in the Jolly Jumper when it was time to make dinner (athough I think they may be too big for that), you can get gates that don't mark the walls. SLOW COOKER! And prepare things the night before (ie cutting meat, vegetables etc) and then do as much as you can during the day when they are happiest. My gf often makes like the base of the risotto early in the day cooks till almost done and then adds more stock around dinner just to heat it up that sort of thing...

*hugs*
Cailin

i quite often cook dinner when dd is having her nap during the day. plus we live on alot of easy type dinners, chuck all the meat and vegies in a pot and cook alot of casseroles, they tend to take care of themselves.

sometimes i give her pots and pans and utensils and she "helps" me cook.

definately not easy but it does get easier lol.

Yup same problem here. I have a slow cooker in the cupboard. Should get it out :). The The beef stroganoff I cook turns out really yummy and tender, but I've found it hard to find another good recipe. Do you other girls have any favourites? Just a word of advice if you plan to buy one Angel, you don't need to get a really big one. I thought bigger was better, but the one I have came with recipes for 10-12 people! I've had to find recipes elsewhere for 4-6 people, but the larger surface area in my big oval shaped cooker means that the food is more likely to dry out.

Jamie gets really cranky from 4pm onwards. I give him a bath then which cheers him up for a while. Then when it's time to make tea, I sometimes put on his Brilliant Babies DVD. I've also borrowed Baby Einstein DVDs from our local library. Sometimes he watches, but even if he doesn't, the music seems to relax us a bit. It's still a struggle. I sometimes cook soup or Tuna Mornay when Jamie is having a nap. Other times I cook really simple things.

Yes i must admit its the hardest task to do. I work fulltime so by the time i get home Im hungry and so is DS. DH doesnt get home to after 6pm so its better if i try and start something, but half the time DS is tired and cranky he is hanging from my ankles crying!

I love the slow cooker idea, microwaves are great for vegies too or things that go in the oven.. you can simply walk away and bath the kids or whatever.. I guess its just planning simple easy healthy things until they are old enough to entertain themselffs!

Hmmm... To be honest I mainly deal with this by letting DH cook dinner! If I cook, it tends to just be done really slowly :)

I have also been dealing with it by having DH do most of the cooking and when I am by myself with eating lean cuisines, or cooking one big dish at lunch that I eat for the next couple of days.

I now have to take over the cooking, so it will be intersting to see how I cope.

Sana, if you're looking for slow cooker recipies check out this thread. There are probably enough recipies to eat a differant meal every night of the year.
Maybe you could make extra and freeze the left-overs so that you can have night off cooking later. I usually send DH to work with leftovers for lunch and if there is more left Yasin and I eat it for lunch too. It saves money on DH's lunches and also saves us the hassle of doing a lunch box.

Thanks dachlostar! I'll check that thread out. Another money saver is that the cheapest meat is the best to use in the slow cooker. The expensive meat goes tough. I'll definitely have to get mine out the cupboard.

It's a bugger, hey? I remember that it used to be really hard when Charlie was younger, but now he's usually ok to play on his own when I do it. I made a decision one day that he just had to learn to play on his own when I cooked dinner because I can't not cook or do other stuff just because he's around. After a few times of him really throwing a tantrum he realised that when Mummy cooks dinner she's not available all the time - now he's pretty good. And if all else fails, you could pop on a DVD every now and then. If I'm cooking a complicated meal I sometimes do that instead of letting him watch Play School in the morning. Hope that helps! It does get easier as they get older though. Good luck!

Great suggestions! Thanks everyone. He has a Baby Einstein (Mozart) DVD which he loves but I can't put that on too much or he gets bored with it. We're definitely going to have to get a slow cooker. I think we should be able to afford one... you can get them quite cheaply can't you?

Yep you can Angel often places have them on special, Target recently had the ronson 5ltr for $49.95 (as oppose to $89.95). Get online and get some e-catalogues sent to you for electrical retailers & kmart/BigW/Target that way you'll know in advance.

*hugs*
Cailin

Cool, thanks Cai. Will have to keep an eye out over the next couple of days for places having Mother's Day sales LOL!

ETA: Nellbe, did you make the extra long gate yourselves or did you buy one somewhere?

The extra long gate we bought from Baby Bunting. It is a screw in one so no good if you are renting or don't want things in your walls. I have also seen Toys R Us have some extra long ones, for around half the price typically!

I struggle with making dinner to!Gem wants all of my attention and normally I end up cooking dinner after Corey is home or on my days off its earlier in the day when shes having a nap!

I'm pretty lucky as DH is home by 3pm most days so one of us cooks, the other amuses Kenzie. But there are times when he is still at work etc and I am trying to make dinner, keep Kenzie away from the kitchen, help the eldest with his homework, and stop middle child annoying eldest child while doing his homework LOL.

Does Kynan come over to you and hang off your legs from behind? Kenzie does that, she's a little cling-on. She stands behind, grabs my legs, and sticks her head through the middle lol. Then she opens all the cupboards and has a hissyfit coz I'm standing there preparing food with my knees pressed against the cupboards.

I did used to put Makenzie into her jolly jumper while I made dinner, but she's getting too big for that now.

On further thought, an extra long gate won't even work, or not for long. Our dining table is postioned right next to where the gate would go and we don't have enough room to move it. It won't be too long before Kynan's climbing up onto the chairs and over any gate...

Lisa, LOL @ Makenzie hanging off your legs like that. Kynan tried to do that to me yesterday (not whilst making dinner as I have him in his playpen then) but I was wearing a daggy old pair of tracky pants and as soon as he grabbed on the pants fell down PMSL!

Maggie stands at the gate to the kitchen screaming and trying to fit herself through the bars. In the end I have to pick her up for a bit, show her what I am doing, then put her back again for another round of screaming.

I've lost the pair of pants in the kitchen too :cryinglaugh:

LOL @ the lost pants! I've had that happen too! It's a great source of amusement to her big brothers, they run around chanting "We can see mum's undies! She's got red ones on"

Like some of you I let DP do the cooking, he does a great job and loves having set things to do so he feels useful. Otherwise I'd end up snacking and not bothering with dinner.

Lucky for us he works nearby so is home by 5:30-6pm. He couldn't cook at all when I met him nearly 7 years ago and wasn't very keen to start! His last gf did everything exactly the way he liked it and he was sooooo lazy. Looking back I'm surprised he stuck around, I must be good in the sack or something!

One night cooking tea I had my 2 yr old in her highchair, Torin in the bouncer and using my foot to bounce him, had hold of Siobhan whilst stirring the dinner. Lots of fun!!!