Getting help in the kitchen is so important. As wives and mothers, we can’t spend all our time working in the kitchen. We have those husbands and kids to tend to. Getting help is important for our sanity and our health. But it’s also important for our husbands and kids.

How so?

It’s important that we let our husbands step up and help us when we are very busy, or sick. Our husbands need to know that they can take care of us physically and emotionally, not just financially.

The kids need to know that Dad can cook for them, feed them, and take care of them, too.

Our kids need to know their way around a kitchen. They are all going to someday, go to college, move out on their own, or get married. Yes, our sons need to know how to cook and clean also. What a gift you will be giving to your future daughter in law, when she marries your son who knows how to cook and clean.

Now, how can they help?

If you have a dish washer, even toddlers can help load and unload.

When started working in the kitchen at a young age, kids become great food prep helpers. Peeling fruits and veggies, cutting out biscuits with a cutter, mixing by hand, kneading dough, getting things out of the cabinets or fridge. The list is really endless.

We don’t have a dishwasher, so my kids help wash and put away. The washing has mostly been since I’ve been sick lately. But because they knew how to do it already, they could step up and help.

My teenagers can cook healthy meals. In the past I have put teenagers in charge of planning and preparing lunches. I need to start doing this again. 🙂 Breakfast is another meal that is easy for teens to plan and prepare. Or how about putting them in charge of meals, and clean up!, on Saturdays?

Many husbands like being in charge of supper one or two nights a week. They like making things their way sometimes!

We women need to let go of our perfectionism in the kitchen, and let our families help. It’s good for everyone involved.

For more kitchen tips, visit Tammy’s Recipes

My menu starts on Saturday, as that is when we go shopping.

BREAKFASTS –
French toast
Hot Chocolate and toast – the kids love this on cold mornings
Eggs
Oatmeal
Fruit, fresh and home canned

LUNCHES –
Soup and grilled cheese sandwiches
Ham sandwiches
Mac and Cheese
Leftovers
Fruit and veggies are also served 🙂

SATURDAY – Jag using the beans I cooked and froze. That’s not the recipe I use for Jag, as mine came from my mother in law. I’ll have to type that up and share it another time.

SUNDAY – pizza from Walmarts Deli – Not as good as homemade, but LOTS better than frozen. Much cheaper than delivery, but since we live out in the hills of Kentucky, delivery isn’t an option.

MONDAY – Crockpot Chili – using cooked hamburger and beans from the freezer

TUESDAY – BBQ chicken, rice, green beans and corn

WEDNESDAY – Crockpot roast with carrots and potatos

THURSDAY – Stir fry with left over roast, and rice from the freezer

FRIDAY – Spaghetti with meat from freezer, broccoli

This is my first time participating in Menu Plan Monday over at I’m an Organizing Junkie.

I keep a calendar hanging on my fridge. A calendar is really an invaluable tool in the kitchen.

It’s easy to see at a glance when an upcoming holiday or event is. That way we can plan to do some of the prep ahead of time.

It’s easy to write the menu right on the calendar. Maybe the family will see it, and not eat any of the food you planned to use for dinner!

It’s easy to keep track of leftovers. You won’t have to think “What night did we have that? Is it too old to use?”

We have chickens, and it really is a must to have the calendar in the kitchen. I have to count the days, to write the date on the carton of eggs.

Not only is a calendar an invaluable tool, I think it is a necessity to have in the kitchen.

For More Kitchen Tips visit Kitchen Tip Tuesday at Tammy’s Recipes

We wanted biscuits for lunch today, so I made a quadruple batch of my regular recipe. I used half white and half whole wheat.

I baked 12 biscuits for lunch, and put 35 in the freezer.

I freeze them on a cookie sheet with each layer separated by waxed paper. When these are frozen, I will put them in a freezer bag. because I froze them separated, they will stay separate in the freezer bag.

It is so nice to have prepared biscuits in the freezer. They make a quick addition to supper. And it’s nice on cold winter mornings to bake them for breakfast.

I just had a cooking and baking day last week, but I need more meal starters in the freezer. It makes meals so much easier when you can pull out parts of the meal that have already been cooked.

I often make completed meals for the freezer also. Lasagna, meatloaf and the like. I like having the meal parts frozen separately so I can mix them up to make different meals.

Here’s what I’m going to make today:

Brown rice
White rice
Kidney beans
Great northern beans
package up chicken broth that I made on Tuesday
debone and package chicken that I cooked on Tuesday

Yesterday, when I was cooking the meat for spaghetti, I cooked extra and put it in the freezer.

One 3 cup bag
One 4 cup bag

I will be happy to have all these in the freezer, just waiting for meal times.

UPDATE 4:30 – the brown rice, white rice, kidney beans and great northern beans, are all cooked and bagged. I’m going to debone the chicken now, then get it and the broth bagged.

I’ll be back later with a final count and pictures.

UPDATE 7:45 – I ended up using some of the chicken and broth to make soup for supper. Frozen veggies, and cut up leftover baked potatoes make a quick soup.

Here’s the count:
3 – 2 cup bags of Great northern beans
3 – 2 cup bags of kidney beans
2 – 2 cup bags of brown rice
2 – 3 cup bags of brown rice
2 – 4 cup bags of brown rice
1 – 2 cup bag of white rice
4 – 3 cup bags of white rice
3 – 4 cup bags of white rice

1 – 4 cup bag of diced chicken
2 – 3 cup bags of diced chicken
1 – 4 cup bag of chicken broth
1 – 8 cup bag of chicken broth

I’m glad to have those in the freezer. Next week, I think I’ll try to get some assembled meals in the freezer.