Episode 111 Living in the Nooks and Crannies

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This year is like no other and most of us have had to adapt and change. I count myself as lucky because my twins are in school full time and my high schoolers are in school part time. It is better for them to be in school, but it means that I have kids coming in and out of the house several times a day.

The constant interruptions mean I have fewer large blocks of time to work. I have to fit all of my home and work tasks into nooks and crannies in my day.

Are you experiencing the same thing?

When interruptions come and I have to readjust my plans for the day I feel like it is shuffling a deck of cards. Each card is a task that I want or need to accomplish and I am constantly moving the cards to fit in little spaces of the day. This takes a lot of brain space.

 

Here are three tips to help you when you don’t have large blocks of time to fix meals.

• Meal Plan

I know I sound repetitive, but it really is important. Even if the plan changes (which it does at least once a week in my home) you have the plan to fall back on.

 

When life is extra busy and you spend fifteen minutes at the beginning of the week planning your meals you can look at your calendar and plan super simple meals on extra-busy days.

• Adapt

You may have to change your meal plan during the week. Maybe you panned to cook something in the oven and you ran out of time. You can still quickly cook it in a skillet or in your instant pot.

 

Try to prep a meal earlier in the day. Get everything in your slow cooker liner and put it in the refrigerator so all you have to do is move it to the slow cooker base and turn it on. Maybe you can prep a roast in the morning and put it in the oven in the afternoon.

 

Most of your meals are made with the same “base” ingredients. For example- Chicken and pasta can be chicken parmesan, chicken piccata, or chicken noodle bowls. It only means changing a few ingredients to get different dishes. Adapt around the base ingredients.

• Always have a backup

This is key to the Feed Your Family Tonight philosophy. You need to have 2-3 meals that you can get on the table in 20 minutes or less with ingredients you have in your house all the time.

 

Life is going to happen and if you have a backup you will be ready.

 

This also means use the food you have in your freezer. If you have made extra meals for your freezer, use them during this busy time. That is what they are there for. It is okay to eat them when life is busy.

 

For a full transcript of this podcast click here.

Marie Fiebach is a married mother of four active kids. She helps busy families plan and execute weeknight dinner so they can recapture a little calm in the crazy. You can see her every week on KAKE TV’s Good Morning Kakeland or listen to the Feed Your Family Tonight Podcast.