Time-savers

I have never prepared lots of meat like the previous poster, but that's a good idea. I do that with veggies and fruit though. I have the fridge smart tupperware containers, so when I buy veggies, I wash and cut them so they are ready to go for salads, veggie sticks at dinner, can be cut smaller to throw in a recipe. This saves a ton of time at meal time.

ALso, to cut down on clean up after the meal is done, I put the dishes and spoons I use directly into the dishwasher while I cook. Also, as soon as I start cooking, I fill half the sink with hot soapy water, so if it's a pan needed for washing, I can put it directly into the water to soak while we eat. Or if there is lull in cooking, I can start washing some of the dishes. THis really cuts down on clean up time.

GO to Flylady.net she has great tips on house cleaning and doing things in small incrememnts of time.
Also get a crockpot. It will save your life. We love spaghetti in it, just throw all the ingredients in and cook for 4-6 hours. Or a pot roast or pork roast. Or chicken. I love mine.
Get your hair cut into a low maintenance do. It will help a lot too.
I have a moisturizer and foundation that i mix on my facial sponge then apply to my face. HTen powder and a little color. I don't wear a lot of makeup.
If you have a big quilt on your bed just throw it over the bed without spending the 10 minutes to tuck in sheets. THis goes against my grain, but I know it works for some people.

There are two things that I do to help with meal prep, that really makes a difference - brown up a ton of ground beef (or lately I have been doing half and half of ground beef and turkey mixed together). I buy it when it is on sale or at Sams Club, and just brown it up with some chopped onion. I freeze it in zip lock freezer bags and then when I need it for a meal, it is just grab and go. I have used it mixed with sauce over pasta, to make tacos, to make shephards pie, or anything else that calls for ground beef (I know a lot of people that use it for hamburger helper also, but my family objects to HH).
The other thing that I do is my "chicken breast factory". I DO NOT precook the chicken, I think it gets gross and rubbery, but I do all of the prep. Every month and a half or so, I buy 30-40 lbs of boneless chicken breast, and sit there for about 2-3 hours, cutting off all of the fat, and prepping it for meals. I pound some thin for cutlets, cut some in strips for fajitas, cut some in small pieces for stir fry, etc. I put the proper serving size in a quart size freezer bag and lable it "thin" "strips", "stir fry", etc. Then, the morning of, just grab it from the freezer and it is all ready to be thrown in a crock pot or defrosted and ready for cooking at dinner time.

I agree with a lot of the responses about planning out your menu for the week or two. I also try to do some food prep as well. One thing I try to work into my menu is crockpot meals. I find that I have more energy in the morning to get the crockpot going and it is wonderful to come home to an already cooked meal. Also we often get leftovers from the meal that can be frozened, used for leftover night or lunches.

My children do have some age approriate responsiblities around the house and they most of the time feel good about helping around the house. I also agree it is important to let go of having the house perfect. I want my children to remember our times together not how neat our house was.

We actually have a fixed menu for two weeks worth of meals. We only shop once every two weeks, which cuts down on shopping/list-making time. We also get very good at the meals on our two-week rotation so meal prep is very fast. Every so often we find a new recipe to stick into our rotation when we get tired of one. We actually thought we would be bored by doing same meals every two weeks until we actually went through our old weekly meal plans we had been keeping for a while. Turns out we really only had about 10-12 meals that we made that we actually liked!

I just went back to work after having my second child so these things have helped me.

Have an idea for dinner each night during the week before food shopping for the week.

I try to make an extra and easy meal Sunday night like pasta dish (chix, broc, ziti) that we will eat during the week. One night during the week is left overs and we have pizza Thursday nights instead of Friday (I am home on Fridays so easy to make something).

I have my house cleaned twice a month instead of once a month. Even once a month is a life saver.

My husband and I both work too, and are very much into time saving things!

Flylady.net has a lot of great info on it. Yes, it's primarily geared towards stay-at-home moms, but there is a lot of info that you can use too.

We like doing "30 minute meals" or one-pot meals. We'll also make Chili and Spaghetti at the same time...If you fry the meat in one skillet, then put half of it into another pot, then you only use 2 pots/skillets to make them both, then you can freeze the one you don't have that night and just microwave it the next night.

We'll have chili-dogs one night, then spaghetti, then go out on gym-class night to wendy's, then make something we got from Schwan's that has turkey and mashed potatoes, and we'll warm up a can of green beans.

Schwan's is great if you have time to cook it - their stuff takes a while to bake sometimes.

Food Network has some great recipe's too....to make things like chicken pot pies, and you use either biscuits for the crust or a pie crust or even phillo dough. I've seen them use the roasted chicken's that are available in the deli in grocery stores, and then make the sauce for the pot pie, put in the chicken, put it all in the casserole dish, and cover with one of the above options...and bake for about 30-45 minutes until it's hot throughout.

Just a few thoughts for what it's worth - and good luck!

I can understand completely, both my husband and I work full time, and we have 4 kids. So time saving things are always great.
I make lunches, coffee, lay out clothes the night before, this makes for easier morning. I usually get up a little bit for the kids and do a load of laundry.
Depending on the ages of your kids, get them to pitch in, they live there too. Mine help with the dishes, setting the table, putting away their clothes, ect...
I cook from the crockpot, but also do faster meals during the weekends. I usally save the longer prep times for dinner for Sundays.
I have two calenders, one at the house and one in my purse, so I know what days we have appointments, and after school activities.
I also have a housekeeper that comes every other weeek, mainly to clean floors, bathrooms ect. Because my weekends are for the kids.

The number one thing you need to remember, It can't get all done, it's okay if the toys get left out one night, Just remember 20 years from now when the kids are out of the house, they won't remeber if you had everything done, but they will remember the bedtime stories, the laughter and the hugs. So slow down and enjoy even if its for 30 minutes.

I do a lot of food prep too...If you spend one day every two weeks, you will find it decreases your stress level more than you can imagine!

I think the easiest thing to do to start is just to double whatever recipe you are making and freeze the remainder. This works great with chili, chicken and pasta dishes, soups also freeze great (don't forget to label and date your frozen items). The only thing that doesn't seem to freeze well is potatoes.

Unlike the other responder, I do grill chicken and freeze it weekly- I've never had any taste rubbery. I cut it up into cubes and my husband takes a bag or two each day for lunch. But you could truly use grilled chicken for any recipe - and it's great on salads too! I also make turkey burgers and put them into sandwich bags for my husband as well (I add sundried tomatoes, grilled onions, red pepper and garlic to the ground turkey breast).

Good luck!

Set aside some time on Saturday or Sunday and have everyone cook together. Make 2 or 3 of every meal, and freeze the extras. Make several small lasagnas, for example, or make up a pile of chicken and freeze the extra cooked ones. We put a lot of pureed vegies in the lasagna sauce too - butternut squash, spinach, mushrooms, etc. The "experts" are all saying that this preparation time is key family time and just as important as eating together. And the kids tend to eat healthier food if they help prepare it.

My mother always made a week's worth of sandwiches for my brother and me - 10 sandwiches didn't take much longer than 2. Just lay out 10 slides of bread, put on PB&J or turkey/cheese, then top with the other 10 slices, and freeze in sandwich bags. Put all 10 sandwich bags in one freezer bag so you can find them. Then pull out a frozen sandwich every morning- it will thaw by lunchtime.

We also buy the precooked frozen turkey meatballs. While the water reaches boiling for the pasta, we put the right number of mealballs and some sauce in the microwave, and they are done when the pasta is done. We put frozen mixed vegetables in a steamer and start that when the pasta goes in - it all winds up done at the same time. Easy easy, and a full meal.

Get the kids to help, depending on their ages - they can sort laundry, put it away, and bring it to the laundry room. They can set the table and sort the recycling. They can take the shoes from the doorway and get them to a closet (in pairs even!). Have a basket or shelf or hook near the door so each person has a place for gloves, scarves, etc. At least when they are looking for something, they know it's in their own basket. Saves time and aggravation.

Get a microfiber duster that will do a couple of rooms and then just need to go in the wash. It's faster and more effective than cloths and sprays. And everyone is supposed to spend 2 minutes brushing their teeth. To pass the time, I take a used washcloth and wipe down the counter and even get the spit marks off the mirror with my free hand! It beats sitting there for 2 minutes and getting upset at the mess!

And don't obsess too much about everything being in its place. A little dirt never hurt anyone!

Finding systems that work for you are the greatest resource for adding back valuable time. There have been a lot of great suggestions!

I find that laundry saps a lot of my time, that and the frustration of always having a load that wasn't put away or folded, etc I have developed a few laundry tips.

Socks are a downright pain...so if you don't have all the same kind of sock and have to have different sizes for different kids and different types, etc an easy way to save time is to clip dirty socks together. If you go to the dollar store they have plastic clothes pins that are different colors. Each person in my house had their own little container of clothes pins and their own color. Dirty socks get clipped together and thrown in the laundry. They stay clipped throughout the wash and the dryer and neither has ever hurt the socks or the pins. This makes for easy sorting - color coded and matched. Unmatched socks get thrown into a basket where they await a mate or someone to come looking for them (or when the box gets too full I empty it).

Another thing I do is have a shelving unit in the laundry room. Each person gets a bin where their clean folded laundry gets put into. This bin stays there until Sunday (I try and do loads throughout the week as I can). But if anyone is looking for anything in the meantime, they can check their bin. (My kids are 5 and 2 - they aren't usually looking for anything lol)

I have hanging sweater holders in the boys closet. On Sundays before I put away the laundry bins I fill them as much as I can with the clothes that are left in the drawers. One outfit per day per child, socks, underwear, etc. I also put in their overnight and pajama's for the evening. This does two things, one it makes room for the laundry I need to put away and two it makes sure that the kids wardrobe rotates and they aren't wearing the same thing all the time (not that they care but I hate when I realize that they've had a shirt they grew out of and wore once because it was in the bottom of the dresser). Then I put away the laundry from the bins, return the bins to the basement and don't need to worry about that for another week.

I never realized how many times I had to "run to the grocery store" during the week until I had to lug a carseat with me!
1. Plan out your meals for the entire week and do ONE shopping trip. Check the pantry and fridge to make sure that you are current on staple items and that you always have an emergency meal in the freezer. I like the Bertolli pastas- literally ten minutes for a decent meal and they aren't a fortune.
2. Make lunches, coffee, snacks the night before. I have the lunch bags (with non-perishables in them) on the table ready to pack before we go to bed.
3. Check you calendar for the week on Sunday afternoon so you are prepared for "whats coming up". When you make appointments months ahead of time, you may forget that they are there, which can mean running around like a crazy woman trying to arrange for childcare, dinner and rides to soccer!
4. Learn to love the crockpot. We have the Better Homes and Garderns crockery cookbook and use it at least once a week. Chop/prep the night before, put it all in the morning of and come home to dinner ready!
5. Chip away at laundry during the week- I hate doing this, but at least I'm not chained to the house on the weekends.
6. Wipe out the shower and sink after each use and leave some Clorox wipes in the bathroom for the mirror. You'd be surprised by how clean you can keep the bathroom daily with an extra 5 minutes.
7. Shower and do your hair at night- takes less time when you're not sleepy PLUS you get the half-hour back in the morning. I find that if I do my beauty routine at night, I am more likely to file my nails, take a bath and read a magazine in the bath. If I do it in the morning, it's a mad rush out the door.
8. Set a time at night when the "day ends". This was really tough for both me and my husband. We would find ourselves doing things until 10:00 at night and then crashing- no time for eachother let alone ourselves. We have set 9:00 as the end of our night's chores. That leaves us with a good hour before we go to sleep to relax and talk-

I know this may seem like a strange question but How organized is your home? I've organized everything in my home to meet my needs with the most efficiency for when I'm doing anything, especially picking up around the house.

Put everything where you know where it is and in a way that works best with you then let everyone else in the house know where the stuff goes (and teach the little ones!) and not only will you spend no time at all looking for stuff but also spend less time on different activities because the process can run smoother with proper organization. I hope that makes sense... look at it this way.. you spend less time looking for a spot to put something you just finished using because everything already has it's own neat little spot. And like items are grouped together for convenience.

You've gotten some great suggestions!
I too use my crock pot at least once a week and prepare enough for 2 meals. I also make soups and lasagna, freezing the leftovers.
Someone mentioned a cleaning service. If you can afford that luxury, go for it! Even having someone come every other week to clean bathrooms and floors is a tremendous help.
I managed to find an evening yoga class that I go to once a week when my husband is home from work and can put my daughter to bed.
Remember to breathe when you're feeling frustrated. It will all work out somehow. :-)
Good luck,
J.

My trouble was always which meat to cook, since my husband BBQ's all the meat but he gets home too late. Our kids love pasta or potatoes or rice or even just crispy bread with a meal. I use the steambag rice and veggies, and occasional can of corn or peas. My kids love hamsteak quickly fried in a little butter until it is brown (already cooked when you buy the 1/2" ham slab in the bacon section), kielbasa (I buy the Kayam brand without MSG)cooked under the broiler, an already cooked chicken from Shaw's, and any white fish like scrod (that I steam in an alluminum foil "packet" in the oven, seal the edges and include a little chicken broth and celery inside - about 10 min in 400 degree oven per inch of thickness). Besides those meals we get pizza one night and freeze left overs and one night we get chinese and have left overs the 2nd day. That takes care of all our meals. The occasional pork chop or eye round roast in the oven and we have a semi-rotating schedule. I just shop once a week and make sure to have some idea the day before what we plan to eat the next day. Good luck.

I've just gone from a more flexible schedule with my last job to a more rigid one with my current company. I never had to worry about lunch with my last company, but I make sure to prepare it the night before now. We tend to make dinner each night, but we do easy things that don't require a lot of prep.

We aren't as good about this as we used to be, but with our son, we got a sweater hanger for his closet. Has 6 openings to hang sweaters folded. We'd put clothes for each day in there so we didn't have to worry about finding something for him to wear. Socks, underwear, everything for each day of the week.

We split chores pretty evenly - if we had more money, I've flirted with getting a cleaning lady once a week to get the things I just can't get to.

I start the week's laundry on either Thursday or Friday night and do loads all weekend. I fold the clothes downstairs with the kids while they're playing.

Just recently, our kids have started playing well enough to let us work out for a 1/2 hour. We put a movie on for them in part of the basement where we can see them and have lots of toys to keep their attention while we work out. Seems to be working well so far.

Good luck.