[starryder6]

Hi, I'm a new wife and finished college a couple years ago and am now in the business world. My husband works from 2pm-10pm and I work from 1pm-12am usually. I also have a 30-45 minute commute. We don't usually eat breakfast but end up spending so much money eating out for lunch and end up making dinner around midnight. My husband works where he has to bring his lunch or eat at a work snack shop (not healthy or filling at all! ) What should I make him for lunches?? He's 6'4" 275 lbs and eats a lot. I want to make him more nutritious lunches for him and myself.

I need help becoming more domesticated. Right now I pay a housekeeper to come clean twice a month but usually my husband does the cooking. He's a better cook but we spend so much money going to the grocery store each time we want to cook a meal. We end up going there about 4-5 times a week to pick up items.

Can someone help me with a grocery list, of items I should get along with the meals that they prepare so I can get my butt in gear and start acting like a wife?? We want to have a baby soon and I need to figure this out soon before the kids come. Thanks!

[ISneezeFunny]

I share a similar schedule, as I work from 8am - 11pm, 7 days a week. I own a restaurant, so I find myself eating there three times a day... which has been a bit much for my health. So I changed it up, and this is my grocery list:

Meats: Perdue sells chicken breasts that are nicely vacuum sealed individually. My favorite is the Italian marinated chicken. Just toss it on the pan, cover, and cook for 10.

Fish: I usually buy fish, freeze it, and thaw before cooking. It doesn't keep well for too long, but a week should be fine.

Veggies: I buy frozen mixed vegetable pouches. They keep for a long time, and just microwaving them (or throwing them in with the chicken) does well. I get the one with not just chopped carrots and corn, but with cauliflower, carrots, broccoli, mushrooms, baby corn, etc.

Grains: This is hard to do... so I usually just buy instant rice that cooks in 10 minutes or so. Not the ones you microwave for 2 minutes, but the ones you have to actually cook.

With a chicken breast fillet, plenty of veggies, and a little bit of rice, this does a decent job of a meal. Same with the fish. If you want to switch it up a bit, I usually get up early one morning, prepare a huge meal, and end up eating leftovers for a day or two.

Good luck.

[Becca1025]

I usually go through my cook books or get recipes online. I get about two weeks worth of recipes (usually quick and easy ones). THen once I have the recipes I go shopping for those things. When I don't have my recipes together, I usually buy plenty of meats, chicken, hamburger meat, potatoes, rice, fruits, veggies, soups (mostly cream of something since most recipes call for cream of chicken/celery/mushroom), bread, etc...
One thing I do suggest to look into buying is a crock pot/slow cooker. I love mine. You can put in a roast with a few potatoes, carrots, start it in when you leave for work and it will be ready for you guys when you get home.
You can also get a casserole ready before you leave for work, pop it in the oven once you get home for 30 minutes or so and there is some dinner.

[linnealand]

This is more than doable. Truly, there is nothing in the world like properly homemade meals, and the fact is that it's such a simple challenge that no one should ever be eating dinner from a box, a can or a packet.

I've never owned one, but the idea coming to my mind, as was suggested earlier, is to invest in a crock pot. You can prep everything before you go to work, and when you come home your meal will be ready. Stews, braised meats, chili, soups, tomato sauce... I'm positive you can find sites online that would steep you in crock pot recipes. When making soups or stews, you can make a double batch and bring the leftovers for lunch.

Roasted vegetables are extremely easy and require very little on your part. All this involves is prepping a vegetable (or a variety of vegetables), the use of a cookie sheet, a drizzling with extra virgin olive oil and a sprinkling of salt. Throw it into a hot oven (upwards of 400-450 degrees), shake it once during cooking, and leave the veggies to cook until they start to caramelize. They're healthy and really delicious. You can eat them hot or cold, they work wonderfully as a side dish, in an elegant salad, or as a leftover ingredient you can add to your next meal. Think asparagus, carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes, beets, onions, turnips, squash, brussels sprouts, string beans, etc.. If you toss them with some whole or sliced garlic cloves, fresh rosemary, sage or thyme, you bring everything up to a whole different level.

Salads are very easy, fast, healthy and delicious. Be creative with your ingredients. Goat cheese, prosciutto, mozzarella, tomatoes and basil, roasted veggies, apples, pears, figs, corn, grilled meats or poultry, fresh herbs, pecans, walnuts, pine nuts, pumpkin seeds, poached eggs, boiled eggs... you can mix and match to make a wonderfully satisfying meal. One note, though, is that I always recommend making your own dressing. It takes 5 minutes. That's it. It's tastier and much, much better for you than those bottled concoctions. They also keep pretty well. Just make sure you're using a very high quality extra virgin olive oil as your base. In fact, I recommend throwing butter out of the kitchen and using olive oil in everything. I live in tuscany, so I can't help the evangelical passion for it.

Grill chicken. Roast game hens. These things are really so easy, and you don't have to invest a lot of time over the stove. A chicken in the oven just gets seasoned first. Then you walk away and do whatever you do for an hour.

Cooking well is really so easy. Get back to basics. Stick with quality ingredients. You do not need to be struggling with this, I promise.

There are a couple of sites I think will help you out tremendously in your search for recipes. Here we go:

Epicurious.com: Recipes, Menus, Cooking Articles & Food Guides
All recipes – complete resource for recipes and cooking tips

Promise to tell us how it goes! I wish you luck!