When you just can’t do homemade…

Ok, I’ll admit – there are some days when the supermom cape must come off. Usually that happens around 5:30 p.m., when I hang up the phone from a business call that went longer than planned, my preschooler is bounding through the front door with my husband behind her, carrying the baby in his car seat on one arm and bookbags/briefcases on the other, everyone screaming: “we’re home!” And while the schedule says we’re supposed to have meatloaf (or chicken curry, or homemade pizza, or whatever…) for dinner, I just don’t feel like cooking.

It’s days like those when a well-stocked pantry and freezer come in very handy.

Yes, we have some go-to dishes for nights like those, but we’re all getting a little tired of spaghetti and meatballs or chicken-apple sausage and orzo. That’s why I’m so glad to have found Mom Made Foods.
Mom Made is a local company, but its frozen meals, munchies and snacks are found in grocery stores around the country. The “mom” of Mom Made is Heather Stouffer, company founder and mom of two. Many of the dishes are organic and/or made with antibiotic-free meats, and contain a lot less sodium than most packaged foods. And while I’m usually not much of a proponent for hiding healthy foods in kids meals, most of these foods are loaded with vegetables – some you can easily see, some you can’t.

Take for example, the Cheesy Mac. It’s what most kids would expect from a mac & cheese – elbow pasta, orange, cheesy. But unlike monotone macaroni and cheese, this version is dotted with green peas, and the orange color is as much from the cheddar cheese as it is from the butternut squash. In fact, this mac & cheese wasn’t overly cheesy at all, which I like. And at 230 calories per serving, it’s a full meal for a kid that also provides a good source of fiber (3 grams). If you do have any leftovers it tastes really good cold, straight out of the fridge!

For dinner the other night, my 3-year-old and I set up a buffet of several of the munchies, cut into quarters for sampling. I had a hard time picking a favorite, though the cheese pizza munchie is definitely at the top of my list. Now, I make homemade pizza fairly often, but in a pinch these little snackers would make a great little nosh in case someone took the last of the leftovers (again!). My daugher’s pick? The apple pie munchie (big surprise – she has a sweet tooth that’s stronger than mine!) I had to agree…it’s pretty amazing.

It’s just nice to know that if I can’t do a homemade dinner, there’s another mom out there making homemade food for me to heat and serve. Thanks, Heather!