Location: somewhere between complete exhaustion and utter euphoria
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Evening chaos?
I know most of you do not work outside the home. But, I know from experience anyone's evening can be chaos, even if you have been home all day. I am always reading and after much reading lately, I am not happy with the examples of life I am setting for my girls. I am tired a lot and I do my "work" at home grudgingly. Do you have any ideas to help me change my attitude about my "work" at home, particularly dinner prep? I love to cook. I love to provide quality nourishing food to my family. But, we get home at 6 and I need the girls in bed at 7:30. I feel rushed, overwhelmed and often unappreciated. I am still mastering gluten-free cooking on the fly. I have the time-consuming recipes down but I am working on quick ones. But time is not necessarily the issue. I just seemed rushed and that eliminates my "joy factor".
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Michelle
-- Mom to Beth, 11 and Sam, 8
Ugh. I remember those days from when I was a single WOHM. You are right, that time of day is so hard!
Can you make the food for the next evening after the kids go to bed so you can have it in the fridge ready to reheat when you get home? I know that you probably use that time to get caught up on other chores, but multi-tasking is much easier when the wee ones are tucked soundly in bed. We ate alot of 'fast' foods such as steamed rice and veggies with tofu (or protein of your choice) and other casual meals. We didn't really need a big heavy meal since the kids would go to bed soon anyway. Just something to get everyone the nutrition they need and make my job(s) a bit easier.
Hang in there. I know it is hard, and while it never gets 'easy' it does get 'easier' as you get into a groove of a routine.
Location: somewhere between complete exhaustion and utter euphoria
Posts: 5,883
Good idea. Now I just have to stay awake longer than my children. I usually fall asleep nursing my youngest and am out for the night. Twice in the last week more than one light in the house has been left on all night that way.
You can also take the pressure off and just do really easy stuff like sandwiches on rice bread, soup, salad, or if your budget allows; frozen meals. Or, you could even look into those cooking once a month ideas.
Location: firmly planted in the postmodern pastoral economy
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I would try making crockpot meals (fairly easy to do GF, like a roast and potatoes, or barbecued chicken) that you can put together the night before and just throw in and turn on before you leave in the morning. Or that are easy enough to throw together in the morning.
Or cooking and baking one day each weekend and freezing everything. (I am actually going to try to do this, myself, to try to take some of the pressure off of dh, who usually comes home at around 4 pm and cooks...and it pushes our night later and later.) Then you just have to reheat and make a salad.
Good luck...it sounds tough. I'm home all day and can't seem to get everyone in bed by 7:30!
__________________ Be realistic: Plan for a miracle. ~Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh
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We eat leftovers at least four nights a week. We do all our big cooking on the weekend, so we have enough for four more dinners. Then, the fifth night at our house is almost always pizza, but sometimes, it's eggs. Pizza would probably be too much to do on your own even if you could make GF dough, but eggs are easy and nutritious. Also, this time of year, you could do a fruit salad with a yogurt dressing and call that a meal.
and Sam, 8 
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