Faking It 101 - Cooking
As someone who continues to strive for that unrealistic organizational perfection despite having 2 children and a husband who can't put *anything* away, I've found several tools that are helping me to fake it. For this post, I'm going to focus on cooking.
Now, I must first state that my children have some food issues that make going out for dinner close to impossible. Real, medically documented and treated food issues. As a result, I'm responsible for preparing just about everything they consume from scratch with alternative ingredients. This could be a whole 'nother blog - but I've accepted this as how life "just is" for us. There's really not much to be gained from wishing we were normal or recreating failed attempts to eat like the rest of the world. (Besides - have you researched *your* food lately? It's scary - our food supply is a horror show of unseen health hazards.)
The point of revealing this? Preparing dinner (ok - all meals) was a chore that I dreaded after a long day of chasing after 2 kids. I'm tired. It was so nice to send my husband out for a pizza on those days when pulling my hair out seemed like the only remaining option. Those days are gone.
Now - I'm a pretty good cook when I *feel* like being a good cook. At the end of the day, there's not much motivation to put a lot of thought into what we're going to eat. So - started writing out my menu plans and planning my shopping lists from them. Not only does it save me on the "what the heck am I going to feed them?" dinner scramble - but it saves me a few dollars at the store, too. I have a lot less rotten produce. :)
Also - I'm not a morning person. Never have been, probably never will be. Having a plan helps me plan out a day or so in advance when I'm in a productive mood. My best time for taking care of household things is generally 12-3 , so I can get things in the crockpot for dinner, bake muffins or cookies for breakfast or snack and pull lunch together all at the same time. This doesn't work for everyone - but it works for me.
I've also found http://www.savingdinner.com to be well worth the $. The low carb menu is adaptable to our food issues, so I can print off their recipes and shuffle them around where I need them. After a few weeks, I had enough to start using them for lunches, too.
Favorite kitchen equipment? A microplane grater/zester, my Cuisinart food processor, KitchenAid standing mixer, a hand blender (immersion blender with detachable parts) and my recently acquired apple peeler/corer/slicer.
Having a plan of attack for our meals has really helped me to feel a little more pulled together. Yes - it takes some time to plan this out each week, but for me, it's better to devote the mental energy (usually 30-60 mins) all at once rather than with each meal.
Now, I must first state that my children have some food issues that make going out for dinner close to impossible. Real, medically documented and treated food issues. As a result, I'm responsible for preparing just about everything they consume from scratch with alternative ingredients. This could be a whole 'nother blog - but I've accepted this as how life "just is" for us. There's really not much to be gained from wishing we were normal or recreating failed attempts to eat like the rest of the world. (Besides - have you researched *your* food lately? It's scary - our food supply is a horror show of unseen health hazards.)
The point of revealing this? Preparing dinner (ok - all meals) was a chore that I dreaded after a long day of chasing after 2 kids. I'm tired. It was so nice to send my husband out for a pizza on those days when pulling my hair out seemed like the only remaining option. Those days are gone.
Now - I'm a pretty good cook when I *feel* like being a good cook. At the end of the day, there's not much motivation to put a lot of thought into what we're going to eat. So - started writing out my menu plans and planning my shopping lists from them. Not only does it save me on the "what the heck am I going to feed them?" dinner scramble - but it saves me a few dollars at the store, too. I have a lot less rotten produce. :)
Also - I'm not a morning person. Never have been, probably never will be. Having a plan helps me plan out a day or so in advance when I'm in a productive mood. My best time for taking care of household things is generally 12-3 , so I can get things in the crockpot for dinner, bake muffins or cookies for breakfast or snack and pull lunch together all at the same time. This doesn't work for everyone - but it works for me.
I've also found http://www.savingdinner.com to be well worth the $. The low carb menu is adaptable to our food issues, so I can print off their recipes and shuffle them around where I need them. After a few weeks, I had enough to start using them for lunches, too.
Favorite kitchen equipment? A microplane grater/zester, my Cuisinart food processor, KitchenAid standing mixer, a hand blender (immersion blender with detachable parts) and my recently acquired apple peeler/corer/slicer.
Having a plan of attack for our meals has really helped me to feel a little more pulled together. Yes - it takes some time to plan this out each week, but for me, it's better to devote the mental energy (usually 30-60 mins) all at once rather than with each meal.
posted by SuperMomIsDead | 10:46 AM
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