| Living Room |

Dinner Diaries: Keeping It Fresh

By Riki Goldstein | March 11, 2025

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.

When I’m too tired to cook:

I find something in the freezer.

If someone’s hungry after supper, they can eat:

An apple. Maybe cookies. My 13-year-old son, a growing teen who needs more food, actually makes himself a salad at around 9 p.m. every evening.

What I cook like my mother:

The vegetable soup with the Kemach split pea mix and kneidlach is my mother’s.

Sunday: Chicken Night

Chicken stir-fry, rice, and green beans

It’s my only day off from work, so I cook fresh. I always do something with chicken cutlets, either sesame chicken or stir-fry, plus a side and a hot vegetable.

Monday: Cooking Smart

Shabbos leftovers for the adults.Macaroni and cheese for everyone else

My kids don’t like leftovers, so I don’t cook loads of chicken for Shabbos — just what I need, plus a little extra.

Tuesday

Meatballs in vegetable sauce

I sautéed onions on a low flame, which produces a lot of liquid. I added squash and ground chicken balls. (I use ground chicken rather than ground meat in this and in my burgers, too; well cooked, it comes out delicious.)

Wednesday: Fleishig Free

Lima bean soup, salmon with vegetables

I used a big, deep, frying pan and sautéed onions, peppers, mushrooms, and squash, seasoned with salt and pepper, then placed fresh salmon on top. Other sides were potatoes and Israeli salad.

This is pareve or milchig day. Other items in the rotation are tuna latkes, fettucine alfredo, penne a la vodka, and cheese latkes. I usually pull something fleishig from the freezer for my husband, but if not, he’ll eat what we have.

Thursday: Easy Bake

Quick schnitzel

I took schnitzel and a bag of frozen French fries. I cut the schnitzel into cubes, mixed with frozen fries. Then I topped them with oil, cornflake crumbs, and spices, and stuck it in the oven. This quick supper comes from one of the cookbooks, maybe Between Carpools?

I have a cleaning lady all day, so I make either roasted chicken bottoms or another quick and easy supper that can go in the oven. That way, it doesn’t use any pots, leaving me able to cook Shabbos, and it’s not sitting on the stove, which is waiting to be cleaned.

(Originally featured in Family First, Issue 935)

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