Working moms are squeezed every which way. There are so many demands on their time that it’s no wonder some women end up stressed out and miserable. The Women’s Rights Movement may have given us the opportunity to forge careers and ‘have it all’, but somewhere along the way, we have ended up ‘doing it all’, too. Only Superwoman manages to juggle fifty balls in the air without dropping any of them. It’s an impossible task, so the only answer is to look for hacks to make your life a little bit less stressful. Here are five of the best hacks for busy moms.
Online Grocery Shopping
Do not underestimate the convenience of a grocery delivery. These days, having groceries delivered has become the norm for working moms everywhere, so with a great deal of competition, delivery prices have come down. It’s now as cheap to have your groceries delivered as it is to take the car down to the nearest supermarket. And the best bit? You can avoid the queues and do your shopping from your desk. I have been using Hannaford To Go for over a month now and not only am I saving money on groceries because I’m not buying anything I don’t need, but I’m saving a ton of time too!
Bulk Cooking
Cooking meals is time consuming, so it makes sense to prepare the basics when you have time (and are in the mood). Many meals begin with the same ingredients. For example, you could make a basic pasta sauce using cheap tinned tomatoes, red wine, herbs, onion and garlic, and then divide it up into portions and freeze. Then when you need a quick, healthy meal, defrost your sauce and turn it into Bolognese, lasagne, or even cottage pie.
The same applies to veggies. Pre-cook mashed potato in bulk and freeze it in individual portions, so all you have to do is whip a portion out on a busy weekday night.
Double-up
Instead of cooking one meal, cook two or three at the same time. Double or triple the portions you make and freeze the excess for another night. This works very well with simple dishes such as chilli-con-carne or Bolognese. That way you always have meal in the freezer if you are too tired to cook from scratch.
Pre-Make Packed Lunches
You can make sandwiches for the kids’ packed lunches the week ahead and freeze them. Simply pop a frozen sandwich in their lunchbox in the morning and it will be ready to eat by lunchtime. The extra bonus here is that their lunchbox will stay cooler for longer, which is useful on warm days.
Get the Kids Involved
Cooking is a useful life skill, so encourage your kids to help out when you cook or bake at the weekend. It will be messy for a while, but once they know how to make buns and chop veggies, you can get on with your own tasks with the minimum of supervision. And in return for helping out, they get to eat some of the fruits of their labour.
Ready meals and takeaways are a useful last resort if you are exhausted, but don’t rely on them too often as most are packed full of salt and nasty additives.