I don’t have the time nor the money to live like I may want to. Lets face it, MOST of us don’t. So I’ve learned to find a compromise between my expectations and reality.
I can’t afford a maid, nor do I have the time to keep my house as immaculate as I’d like. Compromise… teach the boys how to do the basic cleaning (vacuuming, toilets, sinks), keep the house as uncluttered as possible (I got 10 under the bed drawers for the boys’ crap) and I do one extra cleaning chore a week (dust, floors, walls, etc.) In two hours, on the weekend, my house is clean. (For about 2 hours!)
The furniture is mis-matched crap and there is no decorating coordination, but I still got 3 boys under 13 doing damage! Someday I hope to at least coordinate the furniture in each room! And repaint! Ugh, I so want to repaint.
When it comes to cooking, that’s where I’ve found my best efficiency. I love a supreme pizza but I need the cheap pricing of Costco bulk sales and the best pizza they sell there is plain pepperoni. Solution, add my own veggies and sliced frozen breakfast sausage to the pizza. Oh and pineapple! Viola, my favorite pizza. The kids pick off what they don’t like, complaining for hours. I don’t care, they aren’t buying and cooking it. (yet!)
Chicken legs are an amazingly delicious quick meal if I’ve got them defrosted. You can throw them in the oven with almost any sauce and if the kids don’t like it, cover it in BBQ sauce. Of course, most people do BBQ them, but my grill is broken. (Actually, it caught fire, but that’s another blog.) Whenever I can’t decide what to cook, I throw in chicken legs.
Salad is so convenient when its pre-packaged, but there is no reason you can’t pre-package it yourself! I have a very large Tupperware veggie container I use for salad. I chop up a red/yellow/orange pepper, radishes, maybe mushroom and throw in several types of lettuce. Add lots of grape tomatoes and you have instant salad whenever you need it. Just portion out what you’re going to eat, dress it and let them serve themselves.
Rice is my favorite permanent dinner carb. I can cook a HUGE batch and it’ll keep for almost 2 weeks. Put it in a nice Tupperware microwave container and just zap it a few minutes before dinner is ready. My kids LOVE it because I cook it with salt and powdered garlic. They eat it plain or with soy sauce. I enjoy it with my homemade salad dressing.
I think one of the reasons I’m so efficient is I get soooo tired making decisions all day. It’s easier to roughly plan a meat, always have a carb and salad ready and just wing any extras when I get home. I think, it’s because everyone is tired after a day at work, and preparing a large meal is MORE work, it’s just easier to go do fast food!
But I’m cheap! Ha ha, and so I’ve found a way to make half the dinner decisions thoughtless. So I can have more “me” time. And it’s worked. Now I’m starting to even turn that chore over to the kids. I told my middle one today, “Go see if there’s anything in the fridge or freezer you want to cook for dinner.” He came back with, “Um, I can microwave those tamales?” I told him, “Great! Do it for everyone!” And off he went. Decision made!
Now, if only I could get them ALL to coordinate that EVERY night!