Food and Stress: Cooking as a Working Mom

by Kelly · 2 comments

in Thoughts On Food & Cooking

I went back to school earlier this month. Before that I had been on maternity leave, at home with my kids, for over a year. There have been many changes, not the least of which are food related:

  • grocery shopping
  • menu planning
  • meal preparation
  • doing the dishes

My whole routine is up in the air, and I need to relearn everything that I had somewhat managed to become remotely proficient in! No more shopping on one set day of the week, now I’ll need to fit it in to my time table. No more letting the dishes slide until the end of the afternoon, now the dishwasher needs to be run every night and emptied every morning to avoid evening meltdowns (both parent and children related).

I’ve already implemented the following changes:

  • looked at my schedule for the week, and planned which evenings were for what meal
  • made several meals in advance to freeze
  • cooked dinner the night before several times, for evenings when we were going to be home late
  • planned a few ‘really easy throw together meals’ like mac n cheese with hot dogs

Luckily I don’t need to worry about packing lunches for my kids; the nanny picks them up from school and feeds them at her house. My husband and I have also been able to eat leftovers for our lunches. If there ever aren’t any leftovers- well my husband’s a big boy and can fend for himself!

How about you? How do you deal with food and stress, juggling working, cooking and family (kids or not)? I want to hear all your brilliant advice, tips and suggestions!

{ 2 comments }

1 Amy September 22, 2008

It is tougher when you’re working! I go from summers at home to the school year, and it’s always a transition. I try to plan for meals that take thirty minutes or less during the week. Now, I’m also trying out baking on Sundays. I made pita bread yesterday that I’m using for lunches and dinners this week.

Amys last blog post..Homemade Breakfast Bars

2 Helene October 6, 2008

Since I must prospect between 6:30 and 9 p.m. every night with my Ameriplan business, I’m afraid that it is frozen dinners and the microwave on many nights. Great idea to prepare homecooked meals in advance and then freeze them.

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