When it comes to being a mom, we have to be creative everyday and find different ways to make our life of multitasking a little bit simpler and to save us from unnecessary stress. Our time is precious and it’s always nice to know some tips and tricks for making days more efficient.
So here is my list of top 8 time-saving mom’s hacks to make life easier.
1. Use oven for cooking your main and side dishes. I started regularly using oven only a couple years ago. Before that, I always thought that food that needs to be prepared in the oven is complicated. It was not until after I discovered how it is actually easy and healthy to cook food in the oven. Since then I started experimenting with different recipes, from cakes to appetizers. The main point here is that oven prepared food requires less time to play with rather than regular preparation on the stove top. I usually just pull everything together, throw in the oven and on to my next chore. Easy, fast, healthy, yummy!
2. Relax when your kids are sleeping.Well, even if you don’t want to nap, at least spend this time for yourself. Leave your unfinished housework and just spend this hour or two by doing whatever makes you feel good and energized.
3. Load up your freezer with emergency food. When you are out and about and then back home for dinner, don’t just settle for ordering online. You want your family to eat healthy, right? So next time when you’re prepping meatballs, make some extra and put them in a freezer. And when you’re ready to consume them, just throw them into the oven or onto sautéing pan and your protein is ready.
4. If you’re a working mom and your children go to nursery/preschool, pick out yours and your kids’ clothes the night before. That way, you’ll save yourself a lot of time in the morning and one less thing to worry about. I’ve come up with this simple life hack when I was single, but was working full time. It usually took me at least 10 min in the morning to pick out the clothes I want to wear, to see if the blouse matches the skirt, to find proper shoes, to finally settle with my choice just to find out the blouse had a stain. And everything started all over again.
5. Moms don’t have sick days. Moms don’t have weekends. And while it’s completely and unfairly true, we still have to try making at least one day, that we can call a “day-off,” well, kind of. Of course you’ll still have to feed the baby, bath him and put him to sleep. But try to leave all other home related chores for the next day. Prep all food for your day-off in advance, or you can even opt for a cheat day by ordering online. Mess in the kitchen? Let the dishwasher do its job. Mess in the house? – You’ll take care of it tomorrow. Laundry? – More so tomorrow. My day-off is usually on Sunday and this is the day I anticipate the most, because the whole family is home, I get to have personal time; I do whatever I want and don’t get bothered with home chores.
6. Stock up on ready to eat but healthy choices. I rarely buy something that is precooked, because I want to know what goes inside the food I’m eating. But some items are always in my fridge or pantry and it saves me a lot of time when I need to pull off something fast and tasty. Some of my favorite items are good tomato sauce, that can transform your regular pasta dish; canned beans, canned diced tomatoes, capers, anchovies.
7. Make a grocery list. It’s good for 2 reasons. First – you don’t forget to buy goods you actually need. Second – you’ll save some bucks by not buying unnecessary and impulsive purchases. And while it’s beneficial to train your memory and try to memorize the whole grocery list, it is not always possible given that our regular mommy’s grocery plans go beyond buying cereals, eggs and milk. So it’s very useful to have a list.
Plan your meals ahead. I usually plan what to cook the day before. It really saves me some unnecessary stress by not trying to decide what to cook for baby, adults, and search for recipes.
So, that was my list. Now, I’m really curious to know what are your mom’s hacks? What makes your life easier? Share your secrets in the comment form below.
