Co-op Day Meals in a Flash {Dinner}

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Dinner is often the Waterloo of a homeschool mom’s co-op day. The last thing I personally want to do after leading a classroom of kids through eight parts of speech and tin whistle is tie on an apron and start hauling out ingredients. The temptation is strong to say, “Everyone fend for themselves!” and retreat to the couch to put my feet up and go into zombie mode with an auto-pilot knitting project. But seeing as how I’m the mom (as we’ve already established) and I have some kids who are actually too young to forage the cabinets and devise their own meal, that’s not a realistic option.

With some planning, co-op day dinners can be relatively painless, healthy, budget-friendly… and still make a tired Momma feel like she’s had a break. To do this, I rely on the following prep tools:

Instant Pot— If you don’t have one, I highly recommend this purchase. That super easy yogurt breakfast I mentioned in my last post? Those steel cut oats? Both Instant Pot meals. I use mine roughly four times per week. Also, the 6 qt., which is perfect for an average-sized family, is $59.95 right now, and the 8 qt. is under $100.

Pyrex Baking Dishes—Anything I pre-make goes in one of these babies to be reheated. While the 9×13 is the standard size, I love my 10x15s. If you have a larger-than-average family (or want leftovers the next day) invest on some of these!

Roaster Oven— My family outgrew a crockpot, which you can definitely use if you don’t have a roaster. But the results are slightly different. These things are huge, but they are worth their weight in gold if you ask me!

My goal with my meal planning for these nights is either something I can pre-make and re-heat, something that I popped in during the morning rush that can now go straight tot he table, or something I can toss in the Instant Pot as I walk in the door and feed everyone with minimal additional work. I’m going to share 8 of my tried and true co-op day dinners with you— which means that you’re looking at two months of easy peasy, no thought meals to come home to on your busiest nights this fall. Let’s go!

Dinner

Taco Soup—This is a roaster dinner for us, doubled, and served with shredded cheddar and a bag of tortilla chips. It’s streamlined further by browning the meat (I use ground turkey) in advance and freezing, which means that on co-op morning, all I do is put frozen meat and other ingredients in, turn it on, and walk out.

Enchilada Soup—Using frozen chicken breasts and the Instant Pot version means I can literally walk in the door after co-op, pull things together with no prep, dump it in, and have one of my kids’ favorite dinners on the table with zero stress on me. (Side note: I add two cans of black beans, drained, to this to make it go farther.)

Pork Roast with Apples and Sweet Potatoes— Assemble in the morning, eat in the evening. Also makes your house smell like heaven when you walk in from a long day!

Slow Cooker Sloppy Joes—My husband loves this recipe, and I love just being able to have buns and chips on hand to set on the table! I have also cooked this the day before and reheated in those handy Pyrex dishes.

Split Pea and Ham Soup— I’ve made this both with and without a ham bone, and it’s great either way. Bonus points from my family if I’ve made a loaf of crusty bread the day before… because I’m not making one on co-op day. Sorry.

Chicken Tacos– Made in the roaster (or crock pot) means you just warm some tortillas and pull out some toppings you prepped the day before. Super easy and always a hit.

Chili—We serve this version with oyster crackers, and it is an all-weather favorite.

Hawaiian Pork— Apparently most families eat this one buns? News to us. We serve it over rice, and go heavy on the sauce. If I want to make this even easier on co-op day, I pre-make the pork, Pyrex it for re-heating, and use my Instant Pot to make the rice just before serving.

This battle plan for co-op night dinners has allowed me not only to decompress after the (fun!) stress of being out all day, but also to redeem that time that I’d otherwise be scrambling to throw together a meal to reconnect with my kids and hear about what went on over the course of their co-op day. It’s made for a great winding down from the activity of the day, and a sweet “coming home” time that we all look forward to. And that, I think, is worth the planning and prep!