Tips for the Week

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kgillikin
kgillikin Posts: 191 Member
in Motivation and Support
Those of you who have kids and full time jobs: What do you do to get ready for the week to make life easier? Do you make meals for the week? Lay out clothes for the week? I am just looking to make my life go more smoothly and would like a few tips. I work 8-5 everyday. I get home around 6pm. I then have to get dinner ready, feed kids, bath kids, clean, do laundry, get kids to bed, etc...

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  • sweetheart03622
    sweetheart03622 Posts: 928 Member
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    I don't have kids, but I do work 8-5 and have an hour and a half commute each way. I rely on leftovers. I'll make one big meal on Sunday and make sure there's enough leftovers for a day or two. Then I'll plan a crockpot meal and put it all together on Sunday night and cook it on Monday. We rotate through the leftovers through the week and throw in something quick and easy if we get bored (turkey burgers, salad with grilled salmon, etc).
  • Setof2Keys
    Setof2Keys Posts: 681 Member
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    We had to make lists of what the kids are responsible for doing. It cuts back on me having to Boss them all the time. I have to remind them if they want to EARN THEIR REWARD they need to complete the list. I never threaten to take things away. I just hold the best things hostage for rewards. It is more positive that way, then they have to decide to help. Yours look a little younger so it could be like putting toys away or hanging their jackets. I found a magnetic dry erase list for the fridge (dollar tree) that they can check off when they complete tasks. They love it. You could also draw little pics for your young one's. Hope this helps. I def fell like less of a gripey Mom and everyone knows what to expect for the evening.
  • Amandac6772
    Amandac6772 Posts: 1,311 Member
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    I do my workouts in the morning before I get my son up. It means I get up at 4:15 but it also means I have tons of energy for the day. I also plan all my meals for the week, chop the veggies I'm going to need for the week, try to plan at least one meal that we can eat on for two nights so I'm only heating up and making sides or bread (spaghetti is one of the things we do, pintos beans is another). Pack my lunch and snacks the night before. I also do a load of laundry almost every night so that we aren't piled up with laundry on the weekend...who wants to spend the weekend doing laundry. I only have the one child though so it's a little bit easier for me.
  • wheels999
    wheels999 Posts: 2
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    Hi,

    In terms of cooking and food, we always try to cook for more than one sitting so we don't have to cook every night. Aim for food that re-heats nicely or doesn't need re-heating (eg. salads). Depending on the type of food you can keep it in the fridge for at least one or two days, in some cases longer.

    We recently bought a slow cooker which is big enough to prepare around 8 to 10 portions (individual meal portions) in one hit. It also allows you to buy cheaper meat as the slow cooker will make it tender. Preparation time is about 30 to 40 mins and it'll take about 6 to 8 hours to cook. We usually get ours setup on Sunday mornings. One important thing with the slow cooker meals is that you need to be tough with portion sizes, as it usually smells and tastes great and its easy to overeat.

    Cheers, Markus.
  • NoExcuseTina
    NoExcuseTina Posts: 506 Member
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    Cook chicken on the weekend and cut it up and store in packages enough for one meal (you could even do this for two weeks at a time if you freeze the cooked meat)...then while the kids are in the tub, throw the chicken in a skillet with frozen veggies for stir-fry...if you want rice, get the boil-in bags or prepare it on the weekend and just re-heat!

    Lots of chili, soup or casseroles...make them on the weekend, then just re-heat!
  • crackerjack345
    crackerjack345 Posts: 129 Member
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    I don't work full time, but with 5 young kids and homeschooling my oldest two, I can completely understand the shortage of time. I have been looking into freezer meals a lot lately. I buy lean ground beef in bulk at Costco, then brown the entire package and break it up into individual freezer bags, so I already have the meat cooked for spaghetti, tacos, hamburger stroganoff or any hamburger helper. It saves a lot of time. You can do the same with chicken. Throw it in the crock pot or grill it and freeze it already cooked. A big time saver. I made homemade 'uncrustables' for the kids using whole grain sandwich thins. It's fast, easy and so much healthier and cheaper than buying the expensive ones. I also made mini meatloafs and froze them last week. You could use any recipe. I'm going to try a shepherd's pie recipe using ground turkey breast today.

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