Hello Mommies!
I am going to skip a recipe this week and tell you three things I have done recently to TRY to make my life a little less hectic with a 2 year old and an 8 month old.
Organize and Save:
I am not a very organized person but when I have the time, I do go a tad overboard. This is an idea I had that made me so proud of myself. (I really thought this was genius! J) How many times are you at the grocery store with a recipe and you wrote down all of the ingredients but you didn’t have time to check your spices? Your standing in the isle thinking “Do I have parsley?” But you aren’t 100% sure so you buy it and sure enough- you wind up with 5 parsleys! (Is it just me? This happens a lot!) Ok, so first- I cleaned out my spice cabinet -that was cleansing and eye opening. I’m pretty sure I had spices from the early 90’s in there. Then, I took inventory and typed it up (in alphabetical order.) I taped it to the spice cabinet drawer to make checking ingredients before I go to the store easy. And if I forgot to do that… no worries! I have a picture of it on my phone! Tada! OOooh the simple things!!!
Keep on Track:
This idea isn’t as brilliant, but it helps. I try to map out my meals for the week and write them up so I don’t forget during the “Mommy, Mommmy, Mommmmmmy I’m hungry!!! witching hour at home. It keeps us on track from both a sanity and budget standpoint. All my meals have 2 sides: a starch and a veggie, but my chalkboard isn’t big enough to capture that. This also helps because no one will ask me “What’s for dinner?” 
Be Prepared:
Lastly, I now have a new way of avoiding giving my son junk food out of desperation while I am being tormented as I’m trying to make dinner. Telling a hungry two year old that patience is a virtue is just not an option. So, before I boil a pot of water or preheat the oven- the very first thing I do is fill up a plate with fresh veggies (carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers) so he can feel free to nibble away while I get dinner prepared. I have no guilt, he gets fed well (and has no other option so he will eat it)… life is good!
Have a great weekend everyone- squeeze those kids!
Karen