Creating Simplicity in a Working Mom’s Life
Creating Simplicity in a Working Mom’s Life. In this season of life, I need things to be easy. Though most of my children have “flown” from the nest and life is quieter, I am also busier than I have been in a long time. Busier in a different sense than before.
A Realization of my Reality
The other night, I was sitting in the living room, multitasking, due to the fact that if I don’t do something now, I will forget. I was cooking supper, listening to H chatter, hearing about my husband’s day, answering emails, working on a grocery list, and a menu for the upcoming week.
During this chaos, I stopped working, looked at my husband and said “I have cooked, almost daily, for you and the children for almost 31 years.” Don’t get me wrong, I love to cook. When my kids were young, I would freezer cook breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks for a month. I baked, all the time, breads, cookies, and such.
I loved challenging recipes, shelf-cooking, freezer cooking, and experimenting. Now, I am tired. T.I.R.E.D. I have no desire to plan, grocery shop, or cook. It is SO hard cooking for, as many as, 16 people to cooking for a handful.
Not a fan.
My creative juices are sucked up with my job, exhaustion, lack of appetite, and zero desire to work harder than I absolutely have to work. So, my wheels started turning and I have come up with a plan. We shall see how long it lasts.
How My Mind Works
When I start working on my list, I add to it as soon as I realize I am out of something or need something. If I wait until a “normal” time to do it all at once, I will certainly forget. One of the first things I do is call my son. He comes over during his lunch hour occasionally and I want to make sure I have things that he likes here.
The next thing I do is figure out who, out of my children, gets to pick supper for our Saturday dinners. When I figure that out, they create that menu and I ask if someone else wants something specific. I add that to my order. Then, I order things that my grandchildren need/want to make sure they have plenty of snacks and food they will eat when they are here. Lastly, I work on the menu and order what I need. I am very good at not wasting food.
Sundays, I don’t cook. Tuesdays, my husband makes me a pizza. Wednesday, we eat out (most nights). Saturday, a different person per week chooses the menu. That leaves me with Monday, Thursday, and Friday.
Here’s the Plan
I sat down and listed off certain categories of foods that we like. Soup, Mexican, Italian, Chicken, miscellaneous things, and side dishes. From there, we all picked around 7 (or more) things in each groups that we like. I will use that to rotate throughout the month. For each thing, I will make an editable grocery list for each thing. I will mark off the things we don’t need and checkmark the ones we need. As I cook it, I will post the recipe. I know I have some already posted and I will try and link them back.
Does that make sense? It does in my mind. All we have to do is pick from this list and the grocery list will already be created. I just have to add it to the cart and my husband picks it up. These are SIMPLE things to make and I’m still working on the chicken part. We love chicken but I do not write recipes down, I just make it up as I go. These things, most of them, can be made by my husband if I am just tapped out. That makes it even better.
A “Mostly” List (with the Exception of Chicken)
Soups:
- Chicken Noodle
- Chili
- White Chicken Chili
- Potato
- Lasagna
- Cheeseburger
- Broccoli and Cheese
- Zuppa
Mexican:
- Tacos
- Mom’s Tacos
- Taco Ring
- Chili Cheese Dog Casserole
- Fajita Casserole
- Standing Baked Tacos
- Sheet Pan Nachos
Italian:
- Spaghetti
- Baked Spaghetti
- Lasagna
- Cheesy Chicken Lasagna
- Baked Pasta
- Chicken Alfredo Lasagna with Ravioli
- Coal Miner’s Pasta
- Baked Tortellini
Chicken:
- Alice’s Chicken
- Pan Fried Chicken breasts
- Baked Whole Chicken
- Baked Thighs
- Fried Chicken
- 40 Clove Chicken
Side Dishes:
- Rice (burnt, fried, plain, broccoli & cheese, Mexican style)
- Green beans (plain or green bean casserole)
- Corn (or corn casserole)
- Rolls (cheesy bread, bread, bread sticks)
- Potatoes (so many kids)
- Sweet Potatoes
- Lima beans
- Peas
- Macaroni and Cheese
- Buttered Noodles
Miscellaneous Foods:
- Breakfast
- Philly Cheesesteak Sandwiches
- Kielbasa, broccoli, onion, mushroom, potato, peppers sheet pan
- Goulash
- Steak
- Hamburgers and hotdogs
- Ham and Hashbrown Casserole
- Pizza
- Breaded Chops
- Pork Tenderloin
- Roast
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