I just completed batch cooking for the week. I tend to call myself a batch cooker and not really a “meal prepper” as I am not the meticulous pinterest-asparagus-arranged in a row type mama. I batch cook. That looks like a medium tupperware of cabbage stew, one with veggie rice, another pasta sauce and so on and so forth. Do I enjoy it? mmh I do not mind it. There are Sundays like today I actually forgot its meal prep day and I started late -hence the reason I am here at midnight – exhausted but glad it is out of the way.
I say all that to say in this digitally fortified world. Batch your work as much as you are able to. From sending emails to creating content, batch your work. Batch cooking for me has been a huge screen hack as I realized the times when the kids get home from school is a time where some days nerves are frayed, love tanks are empty, some kids have just had it with being told what to do from where to sit to what time to use the bathroom etc etc. This led me to guard this time. I begun noticing we where settling into a routine of even before the shoes had been taken out people were clamoring for the couch and hopping on to whatever device they could ; each beginning their individual descent into digital vortexes which made getting to the table for dinner a battle. As for me I would head to the freezer and get the meat out if I had not thawed it during the day.
All this long-winded way to say. In this attention seeking economy, batch your work. It need not be fancy. Kids (especially younger kids) prefer small frequent meals. Ditch the gourmet recipes. Maintain your sanity. Prepare soups and meats over the weekend that you can easily boil a rice or pasta to accompany with during the week. The other alternative which I wrote about here is recruit Toddlers inc. to come and help you prep the dinner. Batch cooking has also offered me more opportunities to be less distracted with the kids as it is one mental load off my head.