Help and Inspiration for working mum

doddsy

I would agree with all the above and would only add - be easy on yourself, trying to do it all leads to feeling swamped and exhausted.
Good luck!

morganb

Yesterday I prepped dinner at lunchtime; diced red onion, red pepper, fried gently in olive oil, added diced bacon and a tin of chunky tomatoes, then when it came to tea time shoved a ciabatta in the oven, boiled up some fresh tortellini and mixed in with the bacon sauce ... delicious and it took minutes!!!

Tonight we are having a roast; chicken breasts which take 15 mins max under the grill, boiled baby potatoes, carrots and broccoli which are all prepped and in the fridge and will go in the steamer when I get home. I got the prep done when OH was supervising breakfast.

morganb

Forgot to say ... tomorrow we are having salmon kebabs; chunks of salmon on a skewer, drizzled with honey and sesame seeds, takes about 3 minutes to get together and the kids can do this one, and then baked in the oven for about 15-20 minutes. Then serve with potato wedges (just wedge up a load of potatoes and/or sweet potatoes, put them on a baking sheet, drizzle in a bit of olive oil and season, bake along with the kebabs) and then serve with a peas, sweetcorn and broad bean medley. Takes minutes and is delicious.

newlywed

On busy days (don't get home from work till 6) I do some quick n easy meals like these: (I don't have a slowcooker unfortunately)

Pasta bakes (where I cooked the pasta night before and just need to bung in oven)
Corn beef hash
Grilled pork chops with tinned potatoes and gravy (and frozen veg) - v quick
Fish (salmon etc can be pan fried or microwaved in very little time)

If I have time at the weekend or in the week to make a curry/chilli/shep pie then I always make double and freeze it and it means a quick easy meal for another working day.

Always mealplan.
Plan the meals that take longer for the weekend/days off etc and make extra if you can freeze it.

Some weekends I chop raw onions and bag them into separate bags and freeze - saves a little time each day - I do the same with carrots but part cook them so they will cook quicker and sometimes with potatoes. Often I bake a batch of baked potatoes for our lunches and then freeze them - once defrosted it only takes 2 mins to heat in microwave.

And the biggest thing for me, it is never to sit down when I come home from work!! Just get straight on and start tea/do whatever else needs doing. If I sit down after a day's work then I really don't want to get up and start cooking etc.

hilstep2000

Try and do some things the night before. I always make the packed lunches and put them in the fridge, then you only have to take out the box. If you are going to do a casserole in the slow cooker, assemble it the night before, then when you get up you just have to bring it to the boil before putting it in the slow cooker.
I also do silly things like emptying the teapot, and filling the kettle. It may seem small, but it gives you precious minutes. I also put washing on as I go to bed, so I can get up and just put it on the line before I leave. I get up at 6.30 and leave at 8, and it's surprising what I get done in that short time!

taplady

I agree with the person who said be prepared for the morning the night before! its a pain doing lunchboxes etc at night but its invaluable come the morning rush!
there is a thread here somewhere about ironing with lots of tips in on how to reduce your ironing!:T

Meals we do and freeze are

cottage pie
stew
lasagne
Hm tuna fishcakes
HM soup
chilli
steak and mush or chicken pies(HM but with bought pastry on top)

Share out the workload.

write lists of jobs to be done and a shopping list as you go along.
also get the stuff out of the freezer for tea the night before in case you forget in the morning!

morganb

A recipe for HM tuna fishcakes would go down well ... please taplady!!

HariboJunkie

I work 4 days a week 10am to 2.30 so not as much as you but I do the following...

Cook double of anything that can be cooked double of IYKWIM.

Batch cook about once a fortnight.

Fry off stuff the night before to put in the slow cooker in the morning.

Delegate chores to OH. So far he only manages the dishwasher and bins but it's a start. :rolleyes:

Lay out uniforms and breakfast stuff the night before. Make packed lunches straight after tea before tea stuff is tidied up.

Make the kids tidy up after themselves. :rotfl: I'm still working on that one.

Do shopping late at night or early morning at the weekend.

Put washing on last thing at night, hang it out in the morning then iron as little as possible when it is threatening to take over the house.

The meals thing is the biggie. I rarely cook a meal from scratch at tea time but have something from the freezer or slow cooker or something prepared the night before.

...........If all else fails.......Pay someone to do the cleaning and ironing, eat ready meals and increase your daily dose of valium.

Good luck. x

sahararose

In my job I leave home at 7am for a two hour journey to work, then get home again at 7pm at the earliest, so I need to be organised !!

*each night leave the main rooms as you want to find them the next morning
*make sure there's a meal ready for hubby and kids each evening by switching slow cooker on each morning, or leaving out frozen home made meal to defrost ready for daughter to put in oven
*at weekend spend 2 hours on Saturday morning doing a big blitz clean - can't face cleaning properly during the week as I'm too tired
* ironing gets left until the weekend..often Saturday afternoon when there's an old film on the tv
*Most of the weekend I have the oven on the go doing simple freezer meals eg lasagne, shepherds pie, pasta bakes ready for the week ahead
*Sundays I have a baking session my girls - great on two scores, because its time with Mummy that they love, and i get a stock of healthy(ish) cakes and cookies for the week
*I shop online with Mr T
*make my own bread each day with bread maker
*every day...make sure I tuck my daughter in bed and read her a story (that's for my sake as much as for hers)

Doing it like this means we still get time as a family, cooking together, playing badminton, and swimming.

We manage and the kids are happy *smiles.

Aril

I too work full time [40hpw] and would say as others before me that being very organised works for me personally.
I sort out the washing the night before and load it so just have to flick the switch. I know I can get it out to dry before I leave for work. OH now works from home so he preps the lunches the night before for us and puts them in the fridge and he cooks during the week [I wash up:D ] I do a monthly menu plan which is pinned up on the fridge and I check it every morning to see if I need to defrost anything. I do housework tasks on set days before I go to work eg Thursday I hoover through and on Fri eve I do the weekly shop. I now do a double bake every other weekend and freeze one lot of cake for lunches. OH is in charge of the BM. I find the slow cooker is great for the weekends but don't have time to use it during the week. All recipes are quick, healthy and idiot proof on weekdays. At the moment I am redecorating the bathroom. I do a certain amount after work but don't push it too hard and make sure I have every other evening off relaxing and doind something I want to do. I have had to learn to hand over the reins a bit on the household front since going full time which was hard at first but OH's very supportive and capable. I expect the small person to clear his floor on a hoovering day [that means hurling it under the bed but hey the floor's clear!] and to pick up his own dirty clothes etc...he's getting better but I'm still working on him!!! I also [sadly perhaps] keep a notebook in the kitchen so I can list bits I need to get done in the forthcoming days...birthdays etc and a whiteboard where I've got a section for Tescos so we can write down when we've run out of stuff, bits to get in town etc. Be careful to pace yourself...I've learnt that the hard way and I've found I've still got time to do things I want to do [last weekend it was making pickle]
Hope you get on well
Aril