People always come up to me on the streets and ask “Natasha, you are so amazing! How do you do it?” Hahaha I’m just kidding. No one says that. But it was a great lead-in, right?
My idea of a stay-at-home mom was so completely different before I actually became one. I imagined my house would be spotless all the time, baby would be completely happy because she will have slept all night long, and dinner would be on the table when my husband walked in the door… back then the thought of having to “hurry up and shower before the baby wakes up” never crossed my mind because I would just be showered and gorgeous all the time! lol
One of the things I have always enjoyed has been cooking. I enjoy cooking, feeding people who enjoy my cooking, and eating. Unfortunately, some things change when you have children. There is a short window of time when I can plop the baby into her high-chair or pack-n-play, give her a snack or a toy, and she will be content— I give it 20-30 minutes max. I started looking for shortcuts to try to maximize my time in the kitchen with the least amount of stress possible.
A lot of these are ideas I got from Pinterest. LOVE, love, LooooVE my Pinterest!
- Make-ahead and freeze! This has become one of my favorite things to do while my baby naps since I have some kind of daytime insomnia and can’t sleep! Yesterday morning, I put together a batch of loaded breakfast burritos to microwave and send with my husband every morning for the next week. It was a little time consuming, but totally worth it! Don’t want to cook full-blown meals just to store away in the freezer? Why not make some sides? One thing I like to do is take some veggies or fruits that are on the verge of going bad, steam or bake them however I want and then freeze. I love steaming some baby carrots and then portion them out to give to Hayden for a healthy snack she won’t choke on ;) It never fails that I buy a bag of potatoes and never get through an entire bag before they go bad. So what I started doing was taking half the bag, dice, steam, separate into sandwich baggies, then freeze. I don’t season them at all until I take them out to cook them. That way, I can season them however I want to fit my meal— butter potatoes, garlic potatoes, or country-fried potatoes! Rice is another one. Keith likes regular steamed rice and never eats the entire thing, so I always freeze what is left then take it out the next time he wants some or I can make some veggie-fried rice for me & the baby! See what I mean?
- FREEZE EVERYTHING! Freezing is nothing new. I didn’t INVENT anything here. But it is something I never valued until I had a family and started cooking a lot more and having to stretch dollars… and food. I never realized just how much food I was throwing away! I have started freezing almost everything. Leftover lasagna, taco meat (I always make so much so this is perfect!), pasta, spaghetti sauce (another one I make a ton of everytime!), cooked veggies and fruits, soup, pot roast, etc. Also, if I buy one of those extremely large packs of chicken breasts, I will portion them out in two’s and ziploc them together then freeze. Only need 1/4 cup of canned “whatever”?? Freeze the rest!! You’ll be surprised how that comes in handy!
- Crockpot, crockpot, crockpot. It doesn’t get much simpler than that, folks. Pot roast, sloppy joes, chicken breasts (they come out so unbelievably tender it’s amazing.), pork loin, whole chicken (another huge $$-saver! Need I say it? Cook then freeze! You’ll have so much chicken already cooked and ready to use!), ribs, etc. You just pour everything in, set the timer, and let it work it’s magic. Then defrost whatever side you choose to go with it and boom. Dinner!
- Find uses for the little stuff… hate all those broken pieces of potato chips at the bottom of the Sour Cream & Onion bag? Wouldn’t that make an awesome breading for some baked chicken? What if you mixed together some cream of chicken soup & sour cream, coat the chicken, then cover in those potato chip crumbs? Sounds fantastic, right? Yes it does. I’ve never tried it because I just now came up with it. But I did save those pesky crumbs and now I know what to do with them! ;)
Finding ways to save money isn’t just for poor people. Even if it’s not money you care to save, think of how much longer between grocery shopping trips there would be! Who wouldn’t like that?
I hope these few little tips have gave you some good ideas. If not, well you just know everything then don’t you?! Juuuuuust kidding. hahaha
Until next time,
xoxo,
Sleepless in Los Angeles (yes, again…)
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