I would love to know what you all fix for lunch on Sunday afternoon. Going out to eat is a thing of the past for us now that we have two little ones in desparate need of naps by the time church is over. On one hand, cooking a big meal and cleaning up the mess is the LAST thing I feel like doing after a full morning at church. On the other hand, I know that it is a blessing for my family to come home to yummy Sunday comfort food :).
Our favorite is the classic pot-roast and carrots, mashed potatoes, and rolls. You can peel the potatoes the night before as long as you keep them soaked in water in the fridge. The meat goes in the crock-pot that morning with a can of beef broth, one package of Lipton onion soup, an onion roughly chopped, and baby carrots. I also buy Rhodes frozen dinner rolls. I set them out on the pan that morning so they rise by the time we get home from church.
I'd love to branch out and find some more meals that can wait in the fridge or the crock-pot until we all get home from church. What's cooking at your place?
13 comments:
Hi Leah. This is Shannon McMillen.
I read your blog but don't know if I've ever commented before.
I cheat for Sunday dinner and we usually eat with my parents. It's nice for us since we live a ways from church and we get to spend time with family on Sunday.
But, what my mom always does is use the timer on her oven. She fixes her meal ahead of time, puts the food in the oven and then sets the timer on the oven and goes to church. Our food is ready to eat when we get home and she just has to fix the side dishes which are usually simple.
Another idea if you like using your crock pot, you can buy a cookbook that only has crockpot recipes in it.
Hope this helps!
Hey Leah, Sunday is always a challenge for us too! I usually make "crock-pot chicken" I take chicken breast (frozen usually) put in crock pot with 1 can cream of chicken, salt and pepper on high for 4 hours. Then I make rice and green beans with it when I get home. Comfort food at it's best! We have usually eaten and kitchen cleaned by 1:00! Just in time for naps!
We're usually at our Pastor's house for church since we drive an hour one-way to help with a small work. However, some ideas are - boneless skinless chicken breast in a can of cream of chicken soup which is easy. We do pizzas Sunday night to keep it simple, but some other ideas would be to pick up something (Subway has mgrs special 2 footlongs for 7.99) and have your big meal on Saturday night since all the demands you already have on you as Pastor's wife, and having two little ones. You could also do pre-bake a casserole/lasagna, and just heat it up on Sunday. Hope it helps!
Leah- you've got foo on the brain lately. I love it! Your blog posts are always so interesting and are always helpful for me as well! Thanks. At this time in my life (May '06 to May '07) we have a 45 min drive home after church, so we pack sack lunches for the car ride home for the kids and try our best to keep them awake the whole time! (you know, all the goofy voices and songs and tickles you can muster!) Then after naps we have a nice dinner before getting ready to leave the house again for a trip back to church. It's been working well for us although it goes against the normal Sun. eating schedule! So, no help really, just a story. Sorry.
We usually do the potroast, but instead of mashed potatoes, I just cut up my potatoes and put them in crockpot with the rest of the meal.
Another Sunday lunch that I make is BBQ beef/pork sandwiches. I usually cook the meat the day before in the crock pot, and then pull it Saturday night. Then I empty an entire bottle of BBQ sauce into the crock pot with the meat and have it cook during church. Taste's great, and we always have plenty of leftovers for later in the week.
Leah, thank you for your concern about the game...I was SO disappointed! And so was the rest of Chicago! Oh well...maybe the Cubs will have a good season...
Just a quick cookbook reference I have found valuable for crock pots is called FIX IT & FORGET IT COOKBOOK. Everybody who uses this loves it. It has a ton of great crock recipes. As for the whole SUND. thing...I am with you! I used pack Drew's lunch and have the nursery workers give it to him so by the time we got home he went right down for his nap & I could spend a bit more time in cooking the meal. Now he eats with us and I usually have to feed Jack once I get home...so I will benefit from your post as well bc I have no "solution" other than I just make it simple. A favorite quickie solution is BBQ pork chops: they take 12-14 min under the broiler. (put chops on foil covered pan, baste with sauce, place rack in oven at top position, broil for appx 7 min, flip. 7 more min. done.) Also, a great tip from my mother-in-law is to have the table set for lunch before you leave in the morning for church. (she suggests to do this in the evening for breakfast as well)
Thanks for all the great ideas! I gleaned something from each comment made!
I have the lower-fat version of the cookbook Erin mentioned - "Fix it and Forget it Lightly" and we've used a few from there as well. Praise the Lord for Crock Pots!!!
I've also marinaded chicken in a big gallon ziplock with some dressing (our favorite is Stonewall Kitchen's Cilantro Lime - YUM) and then grilled it when we get home - or, rather, have Michael grill it! We grill all year even in the -10* weather we've been having! It's easy to throw together a salad and steam some veggies while it is cooking!
OK,
I am NO cook, but here is my suggestion -- Bear Creek Soup Mixes! They are found in the soup aisle near the canned soups. I know Weylers makes some too, but these taste much better! There are several different soup mixes and each taste very yummy. I always add some little extras to give it a homemade taste. For example - the broccoli and cheese mix - I add cut up cooked chicken and frozen broccoli florets. I then serve it with rolls and shredded cheddar on the top. VERY easy and QUICK - only 10-15 min. prep time.
:)Steph
Stephanie - you're not a cook??? I beg to differ.
Such great ideas! Jenny-- MMMM cilantro and lime! Stephanie-- soup is a great idea! Thanks!
this post is a great idea.
once in a while we have mashed potatoes (crock pot) and then frozen meatballs (shmieks?) and i just microwaive them along with cream of mushroom soup and a little milk and serve with a veggie...
like somebody mentioned earlier... SOUPS! great idea. and you can always make soups the day before and just warm them up on sunday.
sometimes we jsut have leftovers or whatevers easy on sunday too. sundays are hard. growing up my mom always made amazing sunday meals and we often had company over. i sure hope those traditions do not become distinct.
Janelle-- don't you look back sometimes and wonder how our parents did it?? I remember Sunday dinner being this huge delicious meal. Oh how much more I appreciate my parents now that I'm the mamma!
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