How do people get dinner on the table by 6:00?

[Anonymous]

We try to eat around six. I will cook very simple stuff during the week or items I have prepped ahead of time. There are lots of reasonably healthy dinners that don't take much time. Think a protein and veg on a sheet pan with rice, chicken sausage with protein pasta and a veggie, grilling something quick, shrimp tacos. I meal plan on the weekends and get all the food so whoever is WFH that day can prep dinner sometime in the 5-6pm hour and isn't having to think about it. It takes some forethought and I often prep at least one thing (a soup, a protein, a side) on the weekends, but family dinner is a priority to us. For some families it is not and that is totally fine!!!! To each their own.

[Anonymous]

We try to eat around six. I will cook very simple stuff during the week or items I have prepped ahead of time. There are lots of reasonably healthy dinners that don't take much time. Think a protein and veg on a sheet pan with rice, chicken sausage with protein pasta and a veggie, grilling something quick, shrimp tacos. I meal plan on the weekends and get all the food so whoever is WFH that day can prep dinner sometime in the 5-6pm hour and isn't having to think about it. It takes some forethought and I often prep at least one thing (a soup, a protein, a side) on the weekends, but family dinner is a priority to us. For some families it is not and that is totally fine!!!! To each their own.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They ‘work’ from home so they have all day to prep for dinner.

I'm the PP directly before you, and no I don't. I leave the house by 7:30 every day so that I can get my 8 hours in and be home by 5:30 or maybe a little earlier. Commuting sucks.

But by eating at 6, we're done with dinner and dishes by 7. I have time later that evening to prep. It's just rearranging: cook/eat then prep for the next night, rather than prep/cook/eat every night.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks for all of the great ideas! I really like the cook/eat then prep for next night idea as well as eating after the kids go to bed and making extra for their earlier meal the night before. When the baby is older I'm guessing I'll make some very simple dinners like scrambled eggs on some nights. I have to say I'm impressed that people are getting home and immediately starting to cook! I couldn't do that. But I guess it gives you more time to relax after dinner instead of before.

[Anonymous]

I WFH so I prep during the day on my lunch break.

Cook about 5:30 eat at 6:00.

[Anonymous]

I cook before work.

[Anonymous]

We eat between 5:30 and 6:30. We both WFH and DH is reliably off at 5:00, I'm usually off by 5:30. We don't prep or do workday cooking, we just eat very simple meals: usually chicken and a vegetable. Takes about 30 minutes to put that together. Kid showers after dinner and bedtime starts at 8:00.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I start cooking around 5pm/5:30, and dinner is ready an hour later. I don’t work so I have the time.

Same

[Anonymous]

No one does. Most folks arent home from work or done working. If you have a little one - just feed them and then take your time with dinner. There are no dinner rules.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No one does. Most folks arent home from work or done working. If you have a little one - just feed them and then take your time with dinner. There are no dinner rules.

+1 or prep it the night before. I would much rather eat reheated food soon after I get home rather than mince an onion when the kids and I are hangry.

[Anonymous]

We eat around 530 to 6 PM by prepping and sometimes starting dinner during my lunch break. I work from home so I can do this. When I’m not able to get to dinner during lunch, then we are eating around 630 to 7 and that feels very late to us!

[Anonymous]

There are many different ways. When I telework, I often make portions of the meal during the day. Tonight, for example, we are having lasagna. I'm about to start the sauce. I will play with it throughout the day and have it ready for dinner. I will freeze another one for a day when I don't have that flexibility. Some days I do marley spoon, so that I can just have the ingredients ready. Sometimes I have meal prep. I can't imagine how stressful it would be if I only started thinking about dinner each night at 6.

[Anonymous]

work 8-4
home by 4:30
hang out for an hour
cook 5:30-6
eat at 6
I cook M/T/W
th is left overs
F pizza or sushi or chinese.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We eat late in my house. Like 8:00 or 9:00 most nights. I have a child but she’s still a baby so I haven’t had to worry about eating with kids yet. I grew up eating pretty late because we would wait for my dad to get home to eat as a family and he worked until 8:00 or 9:00 most nights. My husband grew up eating dinner at 5:00 or 6:00! I didn’t even know that was a thing but he says it’s normal in most of America. He doesn’t mind eating late, but I’m concerned about how things will work when I have older children. How do people get dinner on the table so early?? Both of us work but in pretty non demanding jobs with lots of telework. I cook and my husband cleans. I cook mostly from scratch. I understand that the answer is just start early but are people really starting to cook at 3:30? And how did that work before telework? Both of my husband’s parents worked out of the house and they somehow got food on the table very early. He does say that they ate fast food somewhat often. Is it really normal to eat dinner at 5:00 or 6:00? I didn’t grow up in America.

Leftovers, one-pot (crockpot meals) started early, simple fare. But it's not true that busy families generally eat at 6 p.m. Many are eating either at like 5 or after, especially when the kids are older and in activities like sports or music practice.

It does take planning.

Don't worry what others do. Worry about you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They ‘work’ from home so they have all day to prep for dinner.

Hardly. People working from home work. No time for that. Typically, they're working more than office dwellers, who have to commute.