Family First reader Esther David shares her real-world meal strategies

Job: Office manager

Lives: Monsey

Family: 9 people, including myself, my husband, and kids aged 7-22

I really enjoy cooking; it’s always been one of my “things.” I’m quick and efficient in the kitchen, and I read cookbooks for leisure. I make supper when I come home from work at 3:45 p.m. That means I have to either defrost a protein in the morning (if I know what I want to make) or I have to buy fresh on my way home. My local married kids know that if they want to drop by for supper, they have to let me know before 3:30 p.m. I freeze single chicken cutlets in bags. These defrost in just minutes so I can easily add portions to supper. When my other marrieds go back to Lakewood after a Shabbos here, I send them with a supply of cooked food, too.

When we eat:

Supper is in shifts all through the evening, starting when the kids come home from school at 5 p.m. and going until my yeshivah bochur arrives at 8 p.m. If I skipped lunch, I’ll eat with the kids, but the rest of the time, I eat with my husband.

Always in my freezer:

I’m known for my soups, which I cook in a 16-quart pot and freeze. I always have loads of soups in my freezer, from chicken to split pea vegetable soup with kneidlach to mushroom barley. I usually only take out a portion for my husband, but when the married kids come, I take out more. Recently, I wanted to show appreciation to a busy working lady who has all she wants. Instead of a gift, I brought her a box with a selection of portions of my soups so she could microwave a hot, hearty lunch. She loved it.