Need meal preparation pointers...

I'm having some trouble. Hubby is getting tired of leftovers.  He says he will fall over if he has to eat another piece of chicken.  Now, I am not buying huge packages of meat and cooking them all at once.  I have a small family.  there is me - the WLS patient -, my hubby - eats normally but never goes for seconds, and my daughter  - a 5 year old that we have to force the "2 bite rule" on.  So we always have leftovers, especially meat, that will be enough for 2 or 3 days.  Casseroles are not popular in my house, so I can't do that. I HATE throwing so much food away.  Sometimes I find myself eating more than I should for that reason.  OR, I find myself going for the convenience foods in the grocery store - which made me overweight to begin with!  ACK!.  I don't know if this made sense to anyone.  Can anyone help?

Your problem sounds like mine! I have two preschoolers and a big (eating and physically) picky husband, so I feel your pain!  Sometimes I catch myself making 3 meals...one for DH which is usually something Chinese with tofu and veggies as he is allergic to chicken, a meal for my toddlers, like baby carrots with ranch, PB&J, and fruit salad or yogurt, easy mac, ect, and by the time I prepare all that I am so tuckered out that I have a protein shake and a mini bag of popcorn.  One thing I did LOVE and would continue to do is prepare and buy the ready made dinners from one of those franchises like Dinner's Ready or Make and Take Gourmet Dinners, ect. You could buy 12 dinners and split them up into half portions. They had flank steak, stuffed porkchops, ect. including yummy sides. My DK'swould "help" with meal prep and getting them involved made them more interested in trying the foods once they were on the table.  Sigh...anyway, but the dinners I bought there were a little expensive and I am a SAHM and try not to be tooooo lazy! LOL! Here are a couple ideas I would use if my DH was a "normal eater".  Fix up a big batch of turkey taco meat seasoned real well and ya'll can have some taco salads (no chips for mom) Call it a "nacho bar" for your DD and have her be involved in assembleing her own nachos. Freeze the rest of it and use it later for the same thing or use it for enchiladas or whatever.  You can re-invent a lot of that left over meat for the next night's dinner. Left over grilled chicken can be shredded or cubed up to be used on salads, enchiladas or in potpies or frozen after you cut it up in strips. Leftover steak or whatever can be used for Philly Cheese Steaks with A1 sauce. (No hoagie roll for you mama).  Do you ever use pork chops? They Rock! Marinate them in fresh ginger, crushed garilc and soy sauce and grill them. The next night you can use the leftovers in a stir-fry with some Asian veggies and serve with rice.  Sigh...I should take my own advice too, LOL! Lately I have felt uninspired to cook and we have been at so many BBQ's with friends that I haven't cooked at home many nights!  Good luck! Molly

We are definitely in the same boat.  It seems like I am making seperate meals for the 3 of us.  Something I am trying to stop doing considering my DD already HATES trying new food.  If it is not a nugget, stick or patty, she automatically says she hates it. *SIGH* I think that your idea of having her help cook would work wonderfully! Freezing would be the best I think.  Or breaking down the packages into smaller servings before putting them in the freezer so when I do cook, I'm less likely to cook too much... Your hubby is allergic to chicken?  I don't know what I would do then!  Especially since the boneless skinless chicken breasts have been on sale for every other week at the grocery store a block from my house!! LOL!  (That may have a little to do with the over-consumption on chicken too hehe.) Thanks for the ideas. 

Having your DD help with meal prep is a great way to encourage her to try new things. A lot of times she will sit up at the bar and use a butter knife to cut up fresh fruit and make a fruit salad while I cook a meal for DH. She is almost 5. Also, I cut up strips of cheddar for her to cut into cubes with her butter knife. She cuts up dill pickles too for the family to eat. It's fun and I have a lot of time on my hands, hehe!

Kathy,  Your  not  alone..  I  been  cooking  meals  then  putting  them  in   our  Seal A Meal  and  it  vacume  packs  the  meal  .  I  have my  shelf  in  the  freezer  and  a  shelf  for  hubby's  meals ..  It  has  really   worked  well  for  me  ...  Hubby  still   get  the  variety  and  his  choice  of   foods and  I  make   sure  that  I  have the  protein  I  need  for  my   day ....I   cook  in  quanity  so  for  every  meal  I serve  hubby  I  have  2  of  his meals  in  the  freezer  .  Right  now  he  has  7  different  choices  ..   I  still  bake  the  goodies  he  desires  and  I   freeze  them  also  so  I  dont  have  to  be  tempted  but  they  are  there  for  him ...  I  am  grateful for  the  microwave .. :-) 

I pretty much cut EVERY recipe I make in half.  I would say most of the time it is perfect for my DH, DD (3 yr old) and me.  DH eats normal portion - I feel I pretty much do anymore too - and DD picks up what's left.   About half the time there is enough for DH to have one day of leftovers and the other half we finish everything.  I'm not big into leftovers myself so it works out well.   Any 1 lb meat recipe I just cut in half and use 1/2 lb.  If it calls for a 9X13 pan I make it in an 8X8.  I always cook just two chicken breasts/ steaks / pork chops - etc.  Making sure one of them is plenty big to cut DD off a little bit.   It's seems like a lot of work to cook just for 2 (basically) - but I was throwing away leftovers so the extra food was going to waste.