Monday, August 27, 2012

Simplifying life in the kitchen.

I had a couple ideas on how to simplify life in your kitchen and I thought
I would share them and hopefully bless some other Mamas/Wives!

Amazing kitchen time saving tip #1
- Hire a Chef. Just kidding.

Ok seriously one of the things I do to save time is once a month my sweet friend and I get together and we have a massive baking day. We do plan ahead what recipes we would like to bake and make sure we have all of the ingredients we need. We usually bust out approx. 12-16 gf, df, recipes! We make anything from breads, cookies, snacks, coffee cake, muffins, hummus, salsa,  dips, bars, etc. But here's the kicker.... we hardly bake any of it. We just get the batters/dough prepared and then put it in large baggies and then store them in the freezer/ refrigerator. That way we can guarantee healthy, freshly baked yummies all month without messing up the kitchen! It has been an amazing blessing and frees up so much time! Plus I get to fellowship with my friend, our children have all day to play and our husbands usually go fishing, it's a win/win situation for all!  My friend usually brings her kitchen aid mixer (and I use mine) and then we each just pick a recipe and double or quadruple it then put it in 2 different bags, one for her, one for me.  This enables us to get alot more done!

Another tip is to double your dinners. Things like soups, casseroles, batters (such as bread, waffles, pizza crust) and shredded meats ( bbq chicken, shredded beef) all freeze well. Just double your dinners and freeze the other half so you can pull it out on a busy day and still supply your family with a delicious, nutritious meal!

My last tip is to grocery shop monthly. I will never look back and grocery shop weekly again! Some of you may be thinking "Wait! How does her produce stay good?" "What about her bread?" Etc.. Ok so here it is.... I grocery shop the 2nd week of the month and I usually hit Costco, Trader Joes, Target, etc. This is where I spend the bulk of my monthly grocery budget. And yes I shop for the month, and yes I usually only take one child (date time!) with me well because frankly, I couldn't fit anymore in the car with all those groceries!! I also try to get one big roast or chicken that I can use the meat for atleast 3 different dinners but cook it all at once and freeze what I don't need right away. I get enough bread for the month but then freeze what I don't need right away, if I run out, I make some!` Also I order from Azure Standard every month which comes the 4th week of the month. This order consists mainly of gf bread, coconut milk, hot dogs (for lunches), chips, some produce (to ensure we have fresh produce all month!), grains, potatoes, etc. Then around the first week of the month I order from Vitacost, this order consists mainly of vitamins, cereal, snacks, etc. Lastly the 1st and 3rd Saturday of the month I either order from bountiful baskets or on our library days I run into the Farmer's Market store and pick up veggies and fruit. It takes me all of 10 minutes and I am done! So you see we are receiving fresh food every week of the month but it mostly comes to my door, saving on my time, gas money and spending more money than your budget would allow. I admit it did take me awhile to figure out this system and how much money it would take but I will tell you it has been worth every minute it took me to perfect it! Well it's not perfected but it works!

Time is precious whether you have 1 or 10 sweet kids at home, whether you work out of the home or in it, homeschool or not, it's precious. Let's spend it wisely! I hope this blesses some of you! It was definitely not to overwhelm you, if you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask! Blessings!

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