You have to work from home with your kids right now, and you have to eat! How to manage all of the above with more ease.
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Ladies (and gents) it is not easy to be a full-time stay-at-home mom. Never mind build a business, AND make sure you and your family are eating well.
Well, none of that’s easy anyway. I’ve managed to though so far and these are my tips for you.
Plan
Have an idea of a plan at least.
For myself, much to my husband’s dismay, we eat generally the same or similar stuff constantly. It’s not even really on purpose but for me, I am NOT a shopper. Plus, when you work from home with kids you generally spend more time cleaning and entertaining when you’re not working.
Grocery shopping for me is generally knowing what we eat every week. Occasionally throwing some other things in that I see on sale in the cart and making them work.
I go into the store, I hit the same spots, in generally the same order, and grab the same things week after week. If I missed something on the list but I’m already 3 aisles away? Ditch it if it’s not absolutely necessary (like coffee!) and keep going.
You can plan ahead with the weekly circular if you’d like, I think that takes up too much time personally. I prefer to know what the weather is the next week and make it up from there. If I see things on sale that fit the weather (like if a watermelon is on sale and it’s a scorcher) I’ll make burgers that week most likely. Just add grocery items to Alexa if you have one, I highly suggest it!
I also plan for things to work with each other. I bought a whole pineapple so I was sure to get yogurt (even though I usually do anyway). But so that my son would have two ways to eat pineapple since it’s very acidic.
Bulk
Bulk buy always.
It not only saves money, but it saves time. And if you know your family will eat it before it goes bad it’s a no brainer. I’ve had to get creative in space because I always buy things that are buy-one-get-one, buy one get one half off, so on. And when you work from home with kids, time is everything!
Yes, sometimes you might have a little too much, but before things go bad just google a recipe for it. There are recipes for blueberry balsamic chicken, you can throw things together with eggs and call it a hash, maybe make a dessert? Have fun with it! Again, repurposing or reusing things so that you’re saving time and money!
Prep
Prep in bulk too.
When I get home from the grocery store it’s usually about time for my son to take a nap. I plan it that way so that when he’s asleep I put everything away and I prep. We have an inordinate amount of Tupperware’s specifically for this reason.
Last week I bought a pineapple, mango, zucchini, kale, strawberries, sweet potato and avocado. All for my son who ONLY wants to eat finger foods. It took more than an hour but dinner was salmon which takes next to no time to prep and cook. The biggest key was also planning ahead.
First I put the oven on and threw the potatoes in, split the kale and steamed half, cut the zucchini then avocado, the mango, pineapple then strawberries. By the time I cut all of that up the kale was ready to blend (one thing he’ll eat off of a spoon) and the sweet potatoes were cooked. While the potatoes cooled I blended the kale, cleaned up, started the fish and then the potatoes were ready to cut.
For dinner? Kale salad with blueberries, strawberries, mango, pineapple, avocado, slivered almonds and balsamic vinaigrette with gochujang salmon.
It might seem like a lot of work or maybe a lot of food but let me tell you my son eats like a machine. It’s a second work from home job to keep up with the kid.
All of that food and then some is gone in the span of a week before it’s time to start all over again, so one afternoon spent doing that saves me for the week. I do the same with my husbands sandwiches for lunch, I make as many as the bread or lunch meat will make at once.
If I buy enough kale or spinach, then throwing together a salad any day of the week is easy-peasy, even though that’s one that will wilt if you prep too far in advance. Avocados too I will cut up daily because they turn so quickly once they’re cut.
Never underestimate the gift that a crock pot is either, it can make 2-3 days worth of meals. If you make the protein one way, you can change the sides for a ‘different’ meal.
Want more tips? Let me know below!
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