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Thursday, March 19, 2009

Smart Homemaker Tips

Someone asked me how I manage the morning rush...
So here's my list
1. Prepare prepare the night before itself-
- wash the daal/ rice etc and keep in the fridge
-mix the veggies that go into the rice in a bowl and keep aside in the fridge
- morning just dump them into the cooker
-if the morning menu is to be toaster sandwiches- prepare the sandwiches and leave in the fridge- morning just put them into the sandwich toaster
-I even keep the aataa ready to make rotis for the morning
- if the snack box has to have fry items- I pack them the night before- cake, fried snacks, grapes, papaya.
-water bottle filled night before
-kids' & my clothes ironed, shoes ready & bags packed- leave the clothes ready in the bathroom if you wish
2. Have the quickest menu options for the morning - sandwiches, pasta, curry cooked in pressure cooker, dosa, idly, upma, poha
3. Ready to mix items- always available in the fridge-
- ginger/ garlic paste
-cut onions
-cut and frozen vegetables (I do them all the time, dunno what the nutrition people say)
-washed green chillies/ coriander leaves
-pre roasted sooji/ vermicelli
4. Easily make-able stuff- always available for those days when you are slow and the minutes are whooshing past you-
-eggs
-bread
-jam
-beaten rice for poha
-sooji
-pasta/ noodles
- frozen peas
-may be even sprouts if you are a regular eater
- dosa batter off course
-boiled potatoes - just put in a few extra for next morning incase you are using them today
5. breakfast for kids- have to be such that they can be easily pushed down the throat with minimum chewing- all soft and gooey, fed by spoon

Basically- a minute invested the night before saves more than a minute the next morning!

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

hey thanks for sharing tips...
if rightly follow this can really make working lady life easier..

But dont u feel sometime lazy during night to do this stuff :-)

Monika said...

Great tips & I completely agree with them. I do many of them myself.

IBH said...

phew! sounds tedious but i do the exact same thing...i actually have aatta mixed for next 3-4 days...we eat roti in the night...

i prepare the menyu now a days as u know..and thanks to maid..i cook everything in an hour..and then spend with Kaju...feeding..bathing and such...

Shobana said...

Great tips! No problem with cutting and freezing the veggies...preserves the nutrients well! So keep chopping and freezing.

Itchingtowrite said...

hey rashmi- i do feel lazy but then teh motivation is to prevent the morning rush and that extra half an hour of sleep that i can then manage

IBH- u cud just warm the atta for a few seconds in the micro and the atta will be as good as new- but just 3-4 seconds ok depends on qty of atta though

thanks shobhna...

Mon, A- :)

Anonymous said...

Ahh the "joys" of being Mom. I also keep pre-fried onion, prefried garlic+ginger, and pureed tomatoes, boiled peas in the fridge. Morning is just assembly of all ingredients over the gas .....

And my kids are in their twenties!!!

Subhashree said...

Itchy, great tips. I bow to thee Kitchen Goddess!

Anonymous said...

hey thanks for the tips

Anonymous said...

Its not a good idea to cut onions and keeo in fridge.Onions grow bacteria quickly when cut, than any other vegetable.