Extreme Organization=Good Food!

One thing I am figuring out about this working full time thing is that I must be organized!  One of the key areas of organization is food.  When I was working full time before Rusty was born I was always pretty organized.  I would plan out our meals a week or two in advance and do my best to stick to that.  When I was off with him I sort of wavered from that a bit.  It was easy to run to the store during the day with him and pick up whatever I needed for dinner that night.  Now that I'm working again, it is back to the planning, but to a greater extreme.

This first week went well as far as our food goes.  We did eat home cooked food every single night, but I found something that was pretty stressful for me was thinking about rushing home to make sure I could get this thawed or that cooked in time to get dinner on the table at 6.  To me, it's really important that we are eating by then, so we aren't eating too late AND the even greater thing is that we are all eating together.  I really value our mealtimes together.  We sit and talk about the day, laugh with Rusty, ask him questions about his day at "school," and just unwind after the long day.  I think it is important for Rusty to be sitting with us and eating the food we are eating, rather than making him a separate meal as soon as we get home and eating dinner late after he is in bed.  I'm not saying that's what everyone has to do, but it is what we like to do!

Basically, I was rushing home from work, throwing things together while still trying to hug Rusty and play with him, although Kevin was usually playing in the yard with him too.  He had been away from us all day, he wanted to play with us!  I hated being in the kitchen working over the stove while I could hear them outside giggling and laughing.

This week I have decided to take a different approach!  First of all, my amazing friend Marilee blessed me beyond belief by inviting me over yesterday to have a "freeze a thon!"  We went to town!  She had bought stuff for pot roasts and I bought the items for a wonderful chicken pasta recipe that a friend gave me a few years ago.  We chopped veggies, we cut meat, we sauteed, we boiled and two hours later we were each going away with FIVE pot roasts-complete with veggies-and two chicken pasta bakes for the freezer!  SEVEN MEALS FOR MY FREEZER!  Plus, I had the added benefit of spending a few hours talking with a good friend!

This week I figured out some great meals that I could make up today and freeze for the rest of the week.  Tomorrow it's one of the pot roasts...the rest of the week I have some casseroles and such.  It was all fresh ingredients and I spent about two hours tonight cooking things up and throwing them in the freezer!  Kev will just have to pop them in the oven each night when he gets home and now I can come home and spend time with Rusty and Kev rather than slaving over the stove!  Perfect all around!  I think Kevin and I might even get to have a date night!

Organization is work, but in the end it gives me more time and I can just relax and do what I love the most, spend time with my boys.  I'll check back in next week to let you know how it went!