Anyone interested in a “cooking for multiples” sub?

[mendicant]

@hartsarts Stuffed bell peppers were good the other night. Baked the bell peppers on 375 while I cooked the (instant) brown rice, browned hamburger meat/drained, mixed rice and meat, chopped up some of the peppers for the babies and mixed it in the burger/rice and put a little cheese on top. We put the meat/rice on top of our pepper “sections” and cut them. Because we’re adults and we even know how to not pee ourselves

 

[mendicant]

@hartsarts Someone here gave me a recipe for deconstructed pot pie. I made it for lunch just now and bf and I agree we’d 100% eat it

 

[adoely]

@mendicant I’ll never turn down a good idea, and sometimes it’s useful to learn from other’s progress. Have you subbed r/EatCheapAndHealthy ? It isn’t geared towards parents of multiples, but I’m positive there isn’t much difference between cooking for a family with singletons vs twins (except for the amount of high chairs at the table!)

 

[mendicant]

@adoely I haven’t—I’ll for sure look into it!

 

[kapla]

@mendicant Yes!! I need this. My twins are 13 months and I am running out of ideas that are healthy and not gonna break the bank. Also no shame in WIC. We would not survive without the child benefit credit we get for the twins every month. It's about $500/child in Ontario and honestly such a big help

 

[mendicant]

@kapla I think the consensus seems to be add a cooking flair to this sub rather than create a separate one. I’ll message the mods and ask. There are tons of great recipes posted so far!

 

[mattbraunlin]

@mendicant If you have oats you can add them to the pancakes and it makes them firmer. It does require a blender though. I’ve had good luck finding cheap kitchen gadgets like that at good will for a reasonable price!

 

[mendicant]

@mattbraunlin I have one that’s a great idea. I’m all for methods that allow me to forget the spoon.

 

[chie0801]

@mendicant Omg, yes PLEASE! Before I even read the body of your post I said yes please! My boys are 7.5 months old and it's so hard to find recipes that don't take forever, can be kept in the fridge for more than a day or two, can be frozen, and/or keeps the "often" part of early and often for allergens.

I'm surprised by how many recipes I find that, in all likelihood, are for one baby, but that make much more than a few servings yet can't be put in the fridge for more than a day. Like... Why are you making 6 servings that need to be eaten right away? Maybe that's a me problem since I'm not sharing meals with my boys, but they just starting them out so they barely eat and I'm trying to serve them variety including things I don't personally like. I also don't have time to cook multiple meals every single day and the lack of meal prep and freezing for babies is honestly ridiculous.

I have some recipes I've worked on that are freezer friendly AND including multiple allergens to keep up with the recommended 3 times a week for "early and often." I'd really love a place for us with multiples to share both recipes and also tips for making meal times go more smoothly. One of my boys gets distracted by my other boy and I'm not sure how to handle it, I can't feed them separately when it takes 30 minutes or more to do meals

 

[mendicant]

@chie0801 Idk if the distraction will ever end

 

[chie0801]

@mendicant That's probably the unfortunate truth. He is always watching his brother. It's cute, but little dude, you gotta focus

To be fair, he is my best eater so far. He just spends half the meal staring at his brother and the other half shoveling food into his mouth so fast that he sometimes throws up. But then still wants to keep eating after that

 

[mendicant]

@chie0801 I started telling mine to mind their own business when they were like six months. They’re 13 months now and they absolutely do not mind their own business. They each had their own sippy cups last night, but my daughter generally prefers the weighted straw kind and my song prefers the ones that teach them to drink from cups. she wanted HIS last night so they just kept stealing back and forth. Son usually will drop his on his tray, in the middle of his food, so she was covered in foodx2, but she prefers to fully extend her arm in order to drop hers on the floor after she takes a drink. The rotation was awful. I could’ve just gotten another one but they’d have done the same thing anyway.

 

[soccer2222]

@mendicant Heh, in my house it would just be 2 completely different recipes.

 

[braum]

@mendicant

Use a super thin spatula to flip bc the fuckers are flimsy and will try to fuck around

Finally.. a recipe that speaks to me in terms I can understand!

 

[mendicant]

@braum Hahaha I went back and read my post after I posted it and considered changing it but ultimately decided it was the best way to get my point across

 

[braum]

@mendicant Don't you dare change it, it's perfect!

 

[mendicant]

@braum It really is the best way to convey what they’ll do. Like idk—they’ll slide, ooze, try to fold in half, all of the above, trick you into thinking you’ve gotten down a method before laughing in your face? They fuck around.

 

[stewart858]

@mendicant This is a great idea! I love the tuna recipe. Going to try it! Also, I've learned that WIC is amazing, especially for twins. I know we wouldn't have been able to afford formula for two infants. I was initially embarrassed about WIC, but we have five kids now, last two being twins. It was a lifesaver!

 

[mendicant]

@stewart858 The tuna thing worked great with chicken, too! The canned chicken grossed me tf out but I don’t mind the one in a package and it’s like $1.25 at Dollar Tree

 

[iamdelon]

@mendicant My twins are 4. We do a couple of no-cook meals during the week (sandwich/roll up, canned green beans, cottage cheese; kid-chuterie board with pepperoni, crackers, cheese slices, blueberries, and carrots), and cook really easy meals (chicken nugs and veggies in the air fryer; scrambled eggs with sausage and toast; spaghetti; burgers or hot dogs with steamed veggies). Other "recipes" we regularly use are below.

Deconstructed chicken pot pie:

-Put a sheet of puff pastry in the oven for about 10-12 mins (or biscuits, crescent rolls, etc.)

-While that's baking, ice up a package of chicken and saute in a pan

-Add a bag of frozen mixed vegetables, a can of cream of chicken soup, and some chicken broth or water and cook until bubbling

-Scoop chicken mixture into bowls and top with pieces of puff pastry

Quiche:

-I use store-bought pie crusts (in the frozen section).

-Combine eggs, spinach (I usually use frozen and thaw in the microwave for a couple of minutes), cottage cheese or shredded cheese, pour into pie crust, and bake

Tofu bowls:

-Cook rice

-While that's cooking, cut up some tofu (I like the pre-marinated kind. My kids do not like it cooked, so we just eat it cold) and cucumbers, steam/microwave edamame

-Spoon rice into bowls, top with the tofu and veggies, and top with soy sauce/liquid aminos. We sometimes also add those chow mein noodles