preparing ahead

[arabian]

Hasn't your ex ever heard of McDonalds? I thought that is where most young people feed their kids. KFC, TacoBell, etc.

I believe they have frozen premade dinners in most Wallmarts.

Tell her to f-off and mind her own business.

[hadenough]

Once again .. Who gives a crap what your ex "claims?"

I'm quite sure, as you should be too _ that the child won't starve. It sounds like you might miss the home cooking - but your child will be fine.

[hadenough]

What's "Wallmart?" Do they sell walls there?

Iceberg: fruits/veggies, yogurt, cereal. Pasta, soup - tons of easy foods to serve and prepare. There's no rocket-science involved and the Judge won't ask you to provide your MasterChef certification.

[arabian]

If your ex gives you a hard time just tell her not to worry, you'll get the child to do all the cooking.

[OhMy]

If your truly concerned..... Make an appointment for yourself with your child's cancer clinic to meet with the dietician. This will allow you to review some simple meal plans for he that have the greatest benefit and will also shoot her moms 'claim' out.

[caranna]

Show them Dad can cook after all.

Simple Recipes for the Single Dad

[standing on the sidelines]

My folks are going overseas for 2-3 months soon. My ex is going to claim the child will starve or be fed with junk food because "daddy can't cook".

(My mother makes homemade food otherwise)

This will be a challenging one because I can't cook as good as my ex or my mom.

so what if you cant cook as well as your ex and mom??? I am sure you can boil water to make pasta, throw some stuff together for a salad and top it off with some fruit for dessert.

You are worrying too much again. Look online and you will find lots of meal ideas and easy ones that even someone who has a hard time boiling water can do. Most good cooks get that way from practice and experience, time for your learning to begin. You can do this.

[sjandme]

Can't your mom give you the recipes for about the 6 most basic meals she serves? Borrow a couple books from the library about meal planning - try Looney Spoons. They are easy to follow. Have them on hand if possible - to counter your wive's claims.

Every meal - try to include an inexpensive, quality protein (dairy, frozen or canned fish, unprocessed meat, eggs, beans, etc.) + vegetable (kids often eat raw more so than cooked veggies) or fruit + grain (pasta, noodles, brown rice, perogies, pancakes). Have nuts on hand for snacking along with fruit, healthy cookies/crackers. Popcorn is good. Use about a 1/4 cup in a paperbag with a bit of olive oil, tape the bag and microwave it for about 2 mintues.

Aim for 2 servings of milk/dairy daily - more for very young kids. That's how I organize my meals.. must have x+y+z and be something A) I can afford and B) will be eaten... makes the process more automatic as well as healthy.

Have 100% juice on hand (frozen is cheaper), milk, yoghurt, crackers (like low sodium Triscuits), cheese. Buy fresh produce twice a week - grapes, apples, carrots, peppers, broccoli, corn, oranges, bananas... whatever- meat once a week on sale. But frozen and/or canned is ok too - in terms of nutrition. Spaghetti sauce is healthy and useful to have on hand - especially if you can lower sodium varieties - make your own easily with canned tomatoes, etc. and freeze some.

My kids are fussy ... so they end up eating the same 10 or so meals again and again - with a change every now and then. It's OK. We go to McDonalds or Subway about 1x/month on average. So what.

Most of my food prep does not involve hours of cooking - more cleaning, cutting, mixing, spreading. When it does, I always make at least two meals at once and freeze a meal or two. You can do these things .... and at a reasonable cost.

I use Word to create meal plans/grocery lists. If you have a meal plan and put it on your fridge it makes a good impression.

Incorporate any special foods if necessary for your child's particular health situation. (Watch out for drug interactions, etc.)

My stbx has complained bitterly about my cooking for years. He is from Eastern Europe - I am not. I actually am more than o.k. as a basic cook. He was comparing me to his mother who has spent more than half her life in the kitchen cooking for everyone she can - even sending food by bus to us in the past. We're talking schnitzels, baked goods galore, cabbage rolls.... (We used to have a huge freezer.) She did this for her other son's family too.

Even if you mostly eat frozen prepared foods, fast foods, etc. you can make healthier choices. Normally a kid will be fine - if they are getting some variety; some of the healthier foods on a regular basis. Try making one or two meals from scratch if you really are all thumbs in the kitchen. It IS usually cheaper!

Ignore any complaints from the OP. She is looking for trouble more than anything I'd guess.

[standing on the sidelines]

follow slugs advice and give your ex more ammo.

People cannot be healthy on frozen pizza, tv dinners and deep fried stuff. People need fresh veg and fruits, lean meats and things that are baked, broiled, raw or whatever. Deep frying is not a healthy choice for not only kids but adults as well.

[sjandme]

Those George Foreman grills are pretty good if you are not motivated to go beyond one step cooking. Easy to clean, low fat. Just need to make sure you get one of the better models - regardless of the manufacturer.

[arabian]

sjandme has some good points, particularly about making a plan.

Make this a fun activity with your daughter. Learn to cook with your child. Library has some good books for children for basic cooking.

[arabian]

Those George Foreman grills are indoor grilling surfaces that you plug in and use on your counter top. Another good, inexpensive appliance is a crock pot. I've never used one but I'm told they are very, very easy to use: you just put your meat and ingredients in the pot in the morning, close the lid and it slow cooks all day. You get home from work and you have a wonderful stew. Then you'd just need to make a salad. Easy peasy.

[standing on the sidelines]

Those George Foreman grills are indoor grilling surfaces that you plug in and use on your counter top. Another good, inexpensive appliance is a crock pot. I've never used one but I'm told they are very, very easy to use: you just put your meat and ingredients in the pot in the morning, close the lid and it slow cooks all day. You get home from work and you have a wonderful stew. Then you'd just need to make a salad. Easy peasy.

I have both the foreman grill and the crock pot. I love them both. The crock pot is great for cooking meats so they are nice and tender, stews, soups and lots of other things.

[hemademesingle]

Allrecipes.com is a great site, you can search by ingredients that you have on hand

You don't have to make extravagant meals, but healthy,

Homemade soups are easy, you can buy an already roasted chicken use it for a meal the first night cook up some potatoes and veggies, then de-bone it the next day you can use it to make wraps, sandwiches, add it to a pasta dish,use some in a soup, freeze some of it, shepherds pie is easy to make, tacos, lasagna, stir fry's, cook a roast it's really not that hard then you can use the leftovers for lots of different things, stew is easy, you can make homemade hamburger helper easy to do, homemade chicken nuggets easy to make, cut up boneless chicken breast and coat it you can use shake and bake or make your own coating, ham and scalloped potatoes, pork chops with apple sauce, chicken and rice,

A soup that I make that is so simple and super yummy and cheap to make, equal portions of salsa and a liquid, either water or broth, canned beans, you can add cooked hamburger, instead of crackers I use nacho chips, grate a little cheese on it,

I agree a deep fryer is not a healthy choice, bad for everyone, crock pot can be your best friend,

Fresh veggies are best, but if money is tight, then frozen are better than canned, fresh fruit is preferred, but you can buy canned fruit packed in water

[hadenough]

Most ppl don't have their parents preparing gourmet meals for their young kids.. It's ridiculous that the fear of God is put into you by an ex that will bitch about absolutely everything. Between all the good suggestions on here, and re-read OhMy's if you really want to be "extra vigilant" - you will be fine.