We’ve been on a slow-paced journey to cooking real food for the past several years. For us, that looks like making a lot of things from scratch, and trying to make smart purchases when we don’t. We’ve started growing our own food, and I’m hoping to learn some preserving techniques later this summer as well.
But real food takes a lot of extra time and extra work.
Homeschooling takes extra time and extra work too.
It can be tricky to balance those things (along with all of the other roles I fill), but I’ve come up with a list of a few things that I do that make finding this balance easier.
Let the kids help cook. This is one that I’m trying to be better about. Turn making dinner into a life skills lesson – after all, don’t you want your kids to grow up and be able to make food for themselves and their future families? I know I do.
Even the youngest kids love to help measure and dump ingredients into the bowl, and older kids can help chop things up. Just last week, after some inspiration from this post, I had Matthew cut up a banana into slices for Elizabeth to eat for snack. It was such a small thing, but it was good practice for him, and he was so proud. If you’re feeling really adventurous, give your kids a baking project of their own, like this gingerbread house. If you’re not feeling so adventurous (I’m not there yet), give them a small task once a day, or once a week, to get them in the kitchen. Eventually their help will be more than just a school lesson, but for now, consider it part of your curriculum.
Let the kids help clean. I may not be great at getting my kids cooking, but I love having them clean up! (You can see our current chore charts here). Teach your kids how to properly sweep up the kitchen and the dining room. It will take some extra time that first week or two, but when they can do it on their own? You don’t have to. Crystal from Money Saving Mom has a great post with lists of chore ideas for different ages, and some of them definitely fit with cooking and cleaning up in the kitchen.
Use your appliances! Things like making your own broth, cooking a whole chicken, or making your own yogurt might seem really intimidating, but all of those can be done in the crockpot. Even while you sleep. A little hands on work at the beginning and end of the process means a batch of something homemade.
Use your freezer. I don’t always love being in the kitchen every day. But I don’t mind taking a couple hours one morning to make several meals for the freezer. Later on, I can reap the benefits of just having to pull a bag down to thaw, dump it in the crockpot or skillet, and be done with dinner.
Finally, realize that you don’t have to do it all. I loved this post from Carrots for Michaelmas, where Haley pointed out that the Proverbs 31 woman had a whole household of servants. (I also appreciated the Downton Abbey reference). You’re not in this alone. Maybe in this season of life you don’t have time to make the tortillas, the yogurt, the bread, the jelly, and the juice. Buy them. Let your maid the dishwasher clean up after dinner and your servant the washing machine launder the clothes, and do what you can with the rest of the jobs you have to do.
You’ll notice that in each of the steps above, I linked to other people’s posts. All of these smart women have given me ideas that I’ve implemented in my own household so that I can feed my family delicious, wholesome food while still being able to spend time on the things I love, like teaching my kids and working on this blog.
These women are my village, but I’m sure I’ve missed some great advice out there. What have you read online that has helped you streamline something in your home? Share your tips with the rest of us!
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