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| Need to Vent Group |
| Public online group |
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| Ok, so everyone knows u cant have a schedule set in stone when you have babies, but when I was at home w/ my daughter I had more time to play with. Meaning if I cleaned from 10-12 and she was fussy or not napping like usual, I could easily post-pone the cleaning to 2pm-4pm or something. Well, I recently went back to work so the time I have at home to do all the things I usually do has been cut in less than half. I had made a little schedule for myself to follow, but notice if my daughter is not doing what she's "supposed" to be doing from 6pm-6:30pm it completely throws me off and I cant very well push making dinner off from 6 pm to 9pm. Any one have any organization tips they could recommend? How does one go to work 40+ hours a week, come home, cook dinner, wash dishes, do laundry, clean the house, work out and still find quality time in between to spend w/ your baby, all while keeping a positive attitude and being completely energized???????? Is this even possible!!!!???? I mean, am I wrong? Is there not only 24 hours in each day!!!??? |
| Posted by April on 02/06/2009 06:31 PM
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| I try to get as much done first thing in the morning as I can. And I've just pulled out the crock pot again. It's impossible for me to make dinner in the afternoon/evening with the little ones melting around me! Good Luck! |
| posted by gia on 02/06/2009 07:09 PM
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| I bought a Crock pot about a month ago. It's still in the box. I need to find a recipe book for it. I think this will help a lot. I think I'm going to plan my meals for the week once a week. I think this will not only save time, but money as I will only buy what I need at the grocery store and not throw things out because they went bad. And I think my new favorite word is going to be LEFT OVERS. |
| posted by April on 02/06/2009 07:38 PM
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you can find great crock pot recipes online, i have a cookbook, and i still check online. especially if i have a meat that i want to use, i can just look up crock pot recipes with chicken. the other thing you can do is make a few meals in advance and freeze them. that way you can take them out in the morning and they will be defrosted by the time you get home.
as for the schedualing, i cant help you, lol. I still am trying to figure that out myself. i have flipped our scheduale a few times, each time deciding that the other way was better after all. (i am in the process of flipping it now, actually).
and planning meals is a great idea, i have done that a few times and it worked really well. i noticed that i spent less, and had alot more food when i went with a plan. the only downside is actually sitting down and figuring out quick, easy to make, meals. I have a whole list of bookmarked recipes that either i or my daughter liked, were pretty easy to make, and didnt cost much. |
| posted by Becky on 02/06/2009 09:07 PM
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| I heard cooking alot of meals for the week and freezing them is a good thing to do.. all you have to do is heat them up for weeknights... Laundry I would try to do all of it on sundays.. sounds like an overload but atelast it gives you more free time to stay with the kids when you get home.... |
| posted by ellen on 02/06/2009 10:55 PM
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Freezing meals, huh? I've heard of this, but from someone who has one of those machines to suck out all the air & even eliminate freezer burn. Would I need one of these or is tupperware more than sufficient? And let me ask you this, do the meals taste like left overs? (I have a picky eater) I use left overs, but I have to get creative w/ them. If for example we had meat and beans on Monday and Chicken & mashed potatoes on Tuesday, Wednesday I'll take the left over beans and potatoes and make tacos w/ them (Fried, although I need to eliminate this word from my diet). Does this work w/ breakfast, too? I pack my man a lunch every day, but he will always buy something to eat in the morning, which if you ask me is just a waste of money. If I have time, I'll serve him a bowl of cereal or make him a PB sandwich or something, but if I can send him w/ a tupperware & have him warm it up at work, that would be awesome!
The laundry thing, I actually went to the laundry mat instead of washing at home and found you can get ALL your laundry done and folded in 2 hours! Not something I'd consider doing all the time, but this is just great for those times when you havent been able to get to the laundry and washing one load at a time will literally take me all weekend.
Thanks ladies! Any more advise? |
| posted by April on 02/10/2009 11:08 AM
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| when i freeze i pu tthem in glad containers.. the meals dont taste left over to me or my family.. of course everyone is different.. I can only suggest giving it a try.. as for those bags.. ziploc makes them now and you can purchase them at the grocery store.... |
| posted by ellen on 02/10/2009 01:42 PM
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| I have Rubbermaid (I got them during breast cancer awerness month because the lids were pink!). Ok, cool. I'm going to try the freezing and I think I saw one of those Ziploc commercials, so I'll look for them next time I'm at the store. Again, any other tips would be greatly appreciated. |
| posted by April on 02/10/2009 03:28 PM
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i freeze my meals in tupperware too, pretty much any kind would work i think. as long as you arent going to be using it months from now it should be okay.
and omg, my fiancee does the same thing! i tell him over and over to eat the food that we have, to pack it and take it with him. but he still insists on buying all of his food at work (he works at a grocery store). it is infuriating, he will have like $40 for "stuff" at work on a thursday, and by sunday he is asking me for more money!!
my mom has those ziploc bags too, she doesnt use them often, but apparently they do work pretty well. she also got those green bags, i dont know if you have heard of them. use them for fruits and veggies, they really do work excellently (sp?). those would definetly save some money, i dont know about you, but i buy some bananas for my daughter and 4 or 5 days later they are all brown. |
| posted by Becky on 02/10/2009 04:17 PM
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| Ah.. I feel like I can slowly start to breathe again. This is going to save me soo much time, money & the headache of dealing w/ that same o' question "What should I make for dinner tonight?" Yeah, they dont realize how much they spend in just one week on food. Dont get me wrong, I'll go out and spend $5-$10 on a nice lunch w/ co-workers every now and then, but it's to socialize and enjoy a nice meal, not spend $30+ a week on the darn Roach Coach that goes to his job each morning. I dont want to nag him on how he spends his money because if we do the math, of course I, being a female spend more on toilettres, but I think if I can send him w/ a nice ready to defrost breakfast, he will unknowingly be saving money in the long run. I have seen tose green bags, but thought you had to order them over the phone. Can you buy them at the store? (never looked for them). I live in California, so during the summer, fruit doesnt last too long before going bad. |
| posted by April on 02/10/2009 04:38 PM
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im not sure where she got them, i bet you could order them online too. but i will ask her next time we talk. she does order online alot, so that might be where she got them.
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| posted by Becky on 02/10/2009 04:59 PM
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| I have seen those green bags at the local grocery store right near the bananas. Maybe it is a new thing, but before you know it, you will see it at your local grocery store also. |
| posted by Monica on 02/11/2009 03:54 PM
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| Those Green bags are awsome!! I like them for lettuce. You would not beleive how long it will keep your lettuce green and fresh and crisp. I was simply amazed. |
| posted by Kim on 02/12/2009 12:10 AM
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lol, maybe i should get some... i brought up the idea but i dont even have any!
next time i go to the grocery store i will have to look for them, i hate ordering things, so hopefully you were right Monica, and they do sell them there. |
| posted by Becky on 02/12/2009 12:30 AM
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| ok, I looked them up online. They are $9.95 Plus S&H for 20 bags (10 medium & 10 Large) but the great part is they say u can re-use them! I'm going to Wal-Mart today, so I will see if they have them there for cheaper. There is also a "AS SEEN ON TV" store at the mall by my house. I need a new compact so I'll be there this weekend. I'm going to try them because I hate having to go to the market more than once a week for produce. Wouldnt it be lovely if we could go once every 3 weeks! That would give me sooooo much more extra time. |
| posted by April on 02/12/2009 03:37 PM
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Walmart does have them, at least that is were I bought mine. They are $10.
One question I have though is how do you keep fruit in them. I have put some grapes and also bananas and they got mold on them. I don't know what I could have done wrong, but I pretty much just use them for my lettuce like I said. But I would love to be able to use them for fruit also. I did rinse the fruit first, maybe that is what did it. |
| posted by Kim on 02/13/2009 02:39 AM
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