Adventures Of A Stay At Home Dad

Any stay at home parent will know how tough it is to keep you children entertained even if you are able to give them your full attention.  As long as you are able to focus on them 100%, everything is fine.  The phone could be ringing, someone’s at the door, dishes are in a pile, dirty diapers, and (for those that work at home) you have a deadline to meet . . . as long as you give them total attention, they will allow you to retain a shred of sanity.

This is what can make dinner time a bit of a hassle.  Its not the eating of dinner that I am talking about; although it tends to go rather quickly, eating dinner with my toddlers usually goes off pretty smoothly.  When it comes time to make dinner, it is easy for little ones to be left out and lead them “need you” more than usual.  This is very frustrating as a parent and what has led to the explosion of fast and easy dinner “food” you find in the grocery store freezer.

Not only is this stuff absurdly expensive – 2–4 times the ingredient cost – it generally does not taste anywhere near as good as fresh, home made food would taste.  Stay at home parents feel compelled to buy this junk because they just don’t have the time to make great tasting food for dinner but I have one secret that has enabled me to make great food and save hundreds of dollars in the process.

One very simple thing I have done to alleviate the dinner time crunch is to start early.  Very early.  Like 9 in the morning early.  A strategy that has worked for me is to cook in 3 minute intervals throughout the day so by the time my wife gets home, dinner is ready (and not a tear was shed from my toddlers).  I make fresh food using real ingredients – nothing from a box.  The secret is to use a slow cooker or a crock pot.  My slow cooker ( a $15 investment) has become the most used appliance in my house.  Just Google slow cooker recipes and you will find thousands of potential dinners.

What I do is very simple – once I pick a recipe to go with, I use the first couple hours of the day preparing it.  However, I only do a little at a time so I keep the boys happy.  For example, while they are eating breakfast, I can cut up some veggies or prepare and season the meat.  Honestly, within 3 minutes I can have a great, home cooked meal going in the slow cooker that will be ready by the time my wife gets home.  Another option, if you don’t have a slow cooker, is to use your oven as a slow cooker.  Just set the temp really low – say 250 degrees – and you can cook a pot roast to perfection in 3-4 hours.