Category: Saving time

tasty breakfast pic to inspire batch breakfasts

55+ tasty, speedy breakfast ideas

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Dear readers, dear friends – one thing you should know about me is that I put my money where my mouth is. The speed-up-your-routine ideas I provide are only on this blog because I’ve tried them, they actually work, and my life has been made better by them in some way. I want this for you, too. So today, I offer you 55+ tasty, speedy breakfast ideas.

How do breakfasts work in your house? We all know the importance of breakfast, but I bet most of us would raise our hands if we were sitting in a room and someone asked, “Who here struggles to find time to make a good breakfast?” 

And another question we’d probably raise our hands for: “Who here wishes they could enjoy their breakfasts a little more?” I don’t know about you, but the food I often grab to eat on the way to work hardly counts as something I’m enjoying. 

Today, I offer resources that will put some flavor back into your mornings and make it easier to get out the door. You heard that right, getting ready to leave the house will be faster. 

55+ tasty, speedy breakfast ideas

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, batch cooking is a huge time saver. You get lots of meals made at once, and you minimize the amount of dishes later in the week. Surprisingly, most batch breakfasts work really well as a freeze-then-thaw meal. So why not batch for breakfasts? The below blog links have over 55+ tasty, speedy breakfast ideas. One of these should strike your fancy!

Kristin Appenbrink on thekitchn.com has a great article with 30+ batch breakfast ideas. The range from carrot zucchini pancakes, egg muffins, frozen burritos, muesli or oatmeal with fruited yogurt mixes, and for a little fun – yogurt and fruit breakfast popsicles. All of the 30 meals look delicious and are worth a try! 

Kristine at Kristine’s Kitchen Blog has a fun article with some smoothie recipes as well as a breakdown of smoothie basics. You basically get the idea of what you need on hand for smoothies and the different flavor and nutrition directions you can take them. 

Or try this one by Julie from Julie’s Eats ‘n Treats. She’s put together over 25 crock pot recipes that are sure to be easy to throw together, tasty, and filling. 

New habits take time, but you’ve got this

As with anything, it takes a little time to start a new habit like how breakfast is handled. But we both know that it’s something worth doing. After all, if you can do it in a way that not only keeps you and your family feeling full, but saves you time?! That’s a win all around. And I can tell you from recent experience as I’ve made changes in my own kitchen, it gets easier and easier. 

And hey, know what else? In the end, if you pan out a hundred miles, the big picture is that you are doing an amazing job at being a mom. Be it cereal or casserole, the breakfast menu pales in comparison to this monumental thing you’re doing in raising humans who know they are loved. Well done. 

***I’m curious, what are your family’s favorite go-to breakfasts? What fills your bellies and tastes good, to boot? Please share in the comments! May our lovin’ energy inspire and lift each other up. go mama!

Pro Tips to Turbocharge Dinner

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What do you love most about your evenings? If you’ve had a day at the office, are you getting some sweet time with your kiddos and/or getting dinner on the table? If you’re a stay at home mama, do you get a much needed break? Whatever your situation, I bet you are the heroine who gets at least half the dinner meals on the table each week. I bet you’d also love some pro tips to turbocharge dinner.

I enjoy cookin’ dinner. After working at a computer all day, it feels so good to feast my eyes on colorful vegetables and immerse my hands in interesting textures as I chop, rinse, and stir. But I’ll tell ya one thing – I do not love how long it takes to cook! Love doing it, but wish it could go faster. 

For today’s blog, I’ve done some scouring of the internet to bring you pro tips to turbocharge dinner. In other words – it’s time cooking dinner went faster! I’ll share a few of their ideas here and also give you links to the full articles. You should also check out this earlier post with 5 essential time saving tips for your kitchen.

Straight from the pros: turbocharge dinner

Sarah Crow at Eat This, Not That! recommends that we: 

  • Use “mise en place,” which is a french term that means “to put in place.” In other words, get everything ready, chopped, and prepped before you start cooking. Your meal will turn out better and feel less chaotic as it’s prepared.
  • Get some kitchen shears to make cutting faster
  • Make one-pan meals that roast meat and veggies together

In a bon appetite article with a sweetly playful voice, Christina Chaey suggests we:

  • Stock up on ingredients that feel fancy, but are super easy to cook. Ground lamb, anyone?
  • Consider the freezer our best friends. Use it for leftovers, for extra bags of tomato sauce, for extra bags of pre-prepped fresh herbs, for pre-sliced fancy bread that you can throw in the toaster. You get the idea. 
  • Cook grains in extra-large batches. The leftovers will inspire other meals during the week, and the grain part’s already done!

Taylor Isaac at CookSmarts has our backs with an article that talks about saving kitchen time on the cooking and cleaning side:

  • Keep a trash bowl or trash can near you. We waste precious time going back and forth to a trash can!
  • Prep dry ingredients first. This lets you re-use your measuring cups and spoons without washing in-between. 
  • Batch prepping = batch cleanup. (Notice a batch theme across these authors?!)  Batching makes meals big enough for leftovers, and means you’ll have less dishes to wash on those leftover nights. 

Let’s do this!!!

Well, there you have it! Straight from experts who have shortened their cooking time. I’m going to be intentional about employing some of these points in my own home, especially the “mise en place,” – aka prepping before starting to cook. We’ll see how it goes!

***I’m curious, what are your go-to tricks for making dinner quickly? What’s your turbocharge dinner secret? Make sure to write it in the comment box! Give this go mama community some inspiration – after all, we could all use a little more time in our lives! go mama!

How to say “no” with class

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Hey there! We may have never met, but let me tell you something I know about you: you’re a class act. You probably show up every day determined to do your all, and let me tell you – whether you know it or not – it’s working.

Speaking of doing our all, that sometimes mean we let the things we most want to do slip to the wayside because we take on a lot. Saying no can be really hard to do – especially for women. We grow up being taught the importance of pleasing other people and it creates invisible chains on our time. Then, we become moms, and our time is precious in a way it never was before. But saying no?!? It’s hard!

Today, let’s talk about how to say “no” gently and well. In other words – learn how to say “no” with class! We can say no in ways that don’t hurt feelings and that honor ourselves and our needs. We can say no so that we make space to all the things we care most about. 

Three Ways to Say No with Class

Here are some suggestions that you can riff off of. I’ll follow up with an explanation of why they’re good!

  • “I’m flattered that you asked me. However, it won’t be possible for me to help out with X.” 
  • “Oh, that [insert activity] sounds wonderful. I’ve been feeling spread thin lately with everything going on and need to take a pass. I hope it goes really well and I’ll be thinking of you!”
  • “You know I value our friendship/this cause. Unfortunately, I can’t be there. As a rule, we keep Sunday afternoons for our immediate family to spend time together and get ready for the week.”

(More examples for saying “no,” can be found at this blog post by Marie Forleo. Her focus is primarily the business world, but the basic concepts still apply). Using her advice, we can see that all of the above points are great examples because they:

-preserve the dignity of the other person

-are kind

-are honest

-allow you to set your boundaries without apologizing for them, and

-don’t leave an opening for the person to push back

If for some reason the person does push back, take a firm stance and remember that you are a kind and loving person and it’s going to be okay. Say, “I’d rather not,” or, “I’m not able to, but thanks again for thinking of me.”

Remember Your Body Language

While you’re at it, keep in mind that your body language and tone are speaking even louder than your words! Keep your shoulders down and stand confidently. Make your voice drop at the end of a sentence instead of letting it rise. This keeps your statement a statement instead of some sort of iffy question that someone will try to poke holes through. 

Last – don’t for a second feel guilty about honoring yourself and your life and your needs. After all, in the end, whoever you are talking to also wants you to live your best life. You’re a class act. You do you!

***I’m curious, what activities in your life are you ready to say no to? And how will you say it next time the opportunity comes up? Tell me about it in the comment section. May our lovin’ energy inspire and lift each other up!  go mama!

5 Essential Time-Saving Tips for Your Kitchen

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You know those annoying activities that waste your time but keep happening? A few seconds here, a few there…over and over… it adds up. Ready for a few easy tips?


Today’s five tips are for the kitchen:

  1. What state is your Tupperware drawer in? Think about how much time you spend trying to find the right lid to go with your Tupperware or glassware. Annoying, right? 

-Consider how much Tupperware or glassware you really need and then pare down.

-Gave your lids a home based on shape. I use small baskets- one for circles, one for squares. It works wonders.

-Don’t let Tupperware that needs to be returned to someone land in your drawer. It’s just one more thing to fish around each time you’re in there.


2. Do you have a hell drawer for utensils? It used to take me forever to find the right measuring spoon in my own kitchen hell drawer.

-Give those items that are used once or twice a year a separate home. (I’m lookin’ at you, turkey baster).

-Get rid of things that seemed like a good idea when you got them. Nice then, wasted space now.

-Try to place similar-sized things together. Marie Kondo would even recommend using cardboard boxes to compartmentalize things by size inside the drawer. Can’t say I’ve got as far as the boxes, but it’s a great idea. 


3. Next time a pot scorches, try boiling an inch of water, a dash of dish soap, and 2 Tbsp of baking soda before you start scrubbing. Should come right off. 


4. Keep trash liners at the bottom of your trash can, so they’re right there as soon as you take the dirty trash bag out. A little trick I learned working at a summer camp – works just as well at home!


5. Do you spend time stacking and  restacking things in your pantry, just so it all fits? Or just to remind yourself what’s there? Next time you find yourself doing this: 

-Get rid of (i.e. donate) anything older than 3ish months.

-Set a goal to only buy perishable food for a certain amount of time, during which you will make meals that will use up the non-perishables in your pantry. 

Bonus Tip:

When it comes to food, buy only what you need. I know this is easier said than done, but you can do it.


And remember – one thing at a time!

Remember to take a breath as you think about all the things you could do to make your kitchen waste less of your time. Lists are only a tool. You are capable and amazing and a great mom. You’ll chip at this one thing at a time. You’ll be saving time before you know it.


****I’m curious, what do you do in your kitchen to save time? Reply in the comments below. May our ideas inspire each other to save some precious time! Go mama!


Your endless to-do list just expired

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I love to skim read and my most recent skim was a book called, The One Thing, by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan. The main premise is that the easiest way to build the life you dream is by choosing the one thing that, once done, would make everything else easier. You’re not allowed to choose your top five or three to-dos. Just the one, the most important one.

This idea really struck me. I often rush around the house taking care of things, getting sidetracked as I go by this and this and this that also needs to be done. Suddenly, I’m quite off course and have to pause to remember where I started. My spiderwebs of activity leave me feeling a little chaotic. And there is still more to do.

Sound familiar?!

In the brief time since reading that book, I’ve started giving myself a “one thing” that I intend to do each evening after my daughter falls asleep. Once done, I set about other things (or not). The liberating thing is that my one thing becomes my one goal. I can hit one goal! I can hit one goal every day!

It’s become kind of fun, picking my one thing. I scan the areas of my life that I’d love to tend to. I’m so excited about growing a flower garden this spring, so today my one thing was planting flower starts in a pot. One pot. There. Garden started. A different day, my one thing was sitting down to create an invitation to neighborhood women for a small gathering. One invitation done. Future connections underway.

My one thing varies, but it allows me to focus on an area of my life that I want to push forward. An area that might be sideswiped by all the other things calling my name. Give it a try! Post a comment below – what is something you’d like to draw into your life? What one thing would most help you do it? You’ll find it’s easy to make time for one thing. And you’re so worth it.


****What would you like to bring into your life? What is the “one thing” you will do to start down that path? Post a comment or reply to someone else’s comment to cheer them on. May our loving energy inspire and lift each other up.