Saturday, August 22, 2009

First Week as a Blogging Working Mom

Since I started this blog when I was out of school for the summer, I haven't actually posted yet as a "Working Mom". So here is my first post as a "Working Mom with a Stay-At-Home Heart.

I will just start out by saying that last week was ROUGH. I almost deleted this blog because I felt like a miserable failure at managing both home and work. There was a flood of emotions and a shortage of time. But then I remembered that I didn't start blogging to write a manual on how to go about this journey, but to document my journey, which is often times a little crazy..ok, a lot crazy.

Our schedules this year are really tough because of where my two younger kids are while I am at work...in completely different towns. It makes for a rushed morning and a rushed afternoon. But by the end of the week, things began to smooth out a little. Although, we ate out every night last week except for one night when we had leftover Pastalaya. The house was a wreck because by the time I got home I was exhausted. I really wasn't prepared for last week.

So this weekend, I am working hard to be ready for next week. I am hoping our lives will be more peaceful because of a few things I have done to get us ready.

I spent a few hours today preparing meals to freeze or to refrigerate for the week. Here is how my day went:
  • Went grocery shopping for the week.
  • Put together two meat loaves; one to freeze and one to put in the fridge for Monday night.
  • Made two Shepherd's Pie mixtures-minus the mashed potatoes. Froze them both, one for Tuesday night, one for a later date.
**I have class on Wednesday, so Cecil will make pulled pork from the leftover pork we will have after Sunday lunch.
  • Made a Spaghetti meat sauce to freeze for Thursday.
  • Pounded, breaded, fried and froze chicken breasts for Chicken Parmesan on Friday. I will just thaw and add marinara sauce and pasta.
  • Cut chicken breasts into strips and froze for Chicken Marsala.
  • Diced, cooked, and froze chicken breasts for Chicken Pot Pie.
  • Made a double batch of Chocolate Chocolate Chip cookie dough. Cooked one batch for snacks for the week. I will freeze the rest for use at a later date.
  • Making a batch of pancakes to freeze. They are super easy to heat in the mornings for breakfast.

This all sounds like a lot. But it really didn't take as long as I thought it would. I plan to do this for a couple weekends to try to accumulate a few meals in my freezer for really busy days. I just have to remember to take it out to defrost. I am horrible about that.

I already feel better about next week. Now I am off to tackle the laundry and get uniforms ready for the week.

Whether you work outside the home or inside the home, what are some of the strategies you use to help your household run smoothly?

3 Sweet Comments:

  1. Good for you! I find that cooking ahead/doubling things and freezing them really helps on those extra busy days. I know people who swear by the crock pot, but I haven't been very successful with that.

    I'm glad you didn't delete your blog! It's encouraging to me!:)

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  2. Thank you, Stephanie. I really like my crockpot and I have several recipes that we like. But many of them don't cook for as long as we are away so they end up overcooking. I would need a crockpot with an automatic shut-off.

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  3. I love my crockpot too. I use it at least twice a week. I splurged for the good one that just warms after its finished cooking. Definately worth the money. I am easily flustered in the morning too. I found trying to pick out my clothes and ironing them for the week helps big time. Also if I can get up and get my hair and makeup done before Harrison gets up, everything is usually smooth.

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