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Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Timesavers in the Kitchen for a Stress-Free Morning

Do your mornings flow as well as you wish they would? I think the responsibilities in the kitchen can be the greatest stressor in trying to get everyone out the door on time and without chaos. I am not a morning person, so I work ahead to ensure my mornings require as little mental function and physical activity as possible.

First, I always ensure that I start the week with the basics: bread, milk, veggies, lunch meat, peanut butter, and of course, coffee and creamer. There's nothing worse for a sleepy morning than realizing you don't have an essential part of a meal.

Each week, usually a Sunday night, I wash and slice all the veggies for the coming week. I recently wrote a post about how prepping veggies ahead is a great time-saver. While I am working on the veggies, I put some eggs on to boil. The boiled eggs are great for extra snacks or on salads through the week. If we want tuna or egg salad, the eggs are ready and waiting.

When all the veggies are prepped, I divvy some of them into bags for lunches, leaving the rest for extra snacks and meal ingredients. I also divvy up the chips or pretzels and cookies into smaller bags for lunches. Not buying the prepackaged individual sizes of veggies, chips, and cookies saves us money and I am still enjoying convenience-size bags by spending just a few extra minutes in the kitchen once a week. When the bags are finished, the only thing left for lunch assembly is sandwiches and any extras a growing boy might need to supplement his lunch.

Each night, I fix the sandwiches for the next day and plan breakfast. Then, I set out the children's vitamins and allergy meds in little sauce-size cups. These are set on the table with the napkin and fork or spoon depending on what will be served for breakfast. Most critical to my morning, I prepare the coffee pot and set the automatic timer.

Ideally, the only thing left each morning is to assemble the lunches that I have already prepared and fix the pre-planned breakfast. This gives me the time to deal with any issues the children forgot to tell me about (because it always happens despite our best efforts) and to chat with them before they leave.

How do you make your mornings in the kitchen stress-free?

This post is linked to:
Kitchen Tip Tuesdays at Tammy's Recipes
Talk about Tuesday at The Lazy Organizer
I am Blissfully Domestic at Blissfully Domestic

Labels: food, plan ahead, time-savers, tips

# posted by Heather@justdoingmybest @ Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Comments:

1) THanks for the tips!
2) I love your blog title! Reminds me of a (Keith Green?) song: Just doing your best - and pray that it's blessed - and Jesus takes care of the rest! :)

# posted by

Conny : March 31, 2009 at 12:33 PM

we do that too! Works so well.

# posted by

SnoWhite : March 31, 2009 at 12:47 PM

I am a firm believer that mornings set the tone for the entire day. These are great tips to ensure it's a good one!

# posted by

Vicki : March 31, 2009 at 5:53 PM

Great tips, sounds like you've got it down!

# posted by

Megan : April 1, 2009 at 11:11 PM

Hello! I am so impressed! What a great example, it must be almost heaven around your place;)

Kristin K

# posted by

alpinekleins : April 2, 2009 at 1:55 AM

Conny,
I have not heard that song. I will check it out!
Heather

Snow White & Vicki,
Thanks so much for reading and commenting!
Heather

Megan and Kristin,
Not really. :) I try though. Somedays are very smooth and some days remind me of the importance of a system and a routine.

Thanks for reading!
Heather

# posted by

Heather@justdoingmybest : April 2, 2009 at 9:58 AM

Just Doing My Best

http://www.justdoingmybest.com

Just Doing My Best

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Timesavers in the Kitchen for a Stress-Free Morning

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