GFSF, Homeschooling, and Household Organization

Our daily grind is anything but predictable. Optimistically, I like to say that although we're busy, "At least we're not bored!" Being so 'not bored' though, does present some interesting challenges. Add the usual chaos of kids' stuff/activities to the family schedule of a federal congressional candidate, and you'll likely have a steady routine of fast food dinners, laundry pile-ups, and frustration. Planning and cooking healthy, well-balanced meals for the family had become a challenge. (Especially when one child has complex food allergies) Our main issues have been: meal planning/cooking, housekeeping/laundry, and lesson planning for our homeschool. So, while the daily grind might not be predictable, our routines would have to be. For the sake of peace in our home, I something had to change drastically. Creativity and dedicated teamwork would be vital in our organizational strategy. We'd have to think 'outside the box.' Not even our 3year old would get a free ride - we all work together. Finally, the plan must be predictable and repetitive, yet varied enough to stay interesting. Hmmm.

Here's what we came up with:

• I meal plan, grocery shop, and cook dinners once per month.


• We have a rotating schedule for laundry and a MUST DO chore list for everyone in the home.


• Homeschooling lessons are predictable; the kids know what to expect every day. (Art projects and creative learning games keep it fun.)

Of great interest to many has been my 'cooking dinner once per month' thing. I did not originate this idea, but have made it my own by tweaking the system and preparing most of my meals gluten-free. I started out by assigning each day of the week with a particular dinner type. Monday-gf pasta, Tuesday-mex, Wednesday-finger foods, Thursday-casseroles or barbecue, Friday-stir fry. Then I pulled out a calendar and plopped in our favorites for each day-of-the-week-dinner-type. All that was left to do then, was to list out all of the ingredients, hit the grocery store, and throw everything together into either casserole dishes or bundled ziplocs to store in the freezer. Not bad, huh? My first attempt at 'prep night' ended up lasting until about 2am. Whoops! The benefits of having every night's dinner already made, though, has definitely made the work of it worthwhile!

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Here are a couple of my favorite gluten-free recipes that work really well with the cook-ahead method:

Taco Chicken Chili-

Ingredients: 1can vegetarian baked beans, 1can dark red kidney beans(drained and rinsed), 1can black beans(drained and rinsed), 1can sweet corn(drained), 1can Mexican stewed tomatoes, 1/4cup gf taco seasoning, 2boneless skinless chicken breasts

-When I make this ahead, I just combine all of the canned ingredients with the taco seasoning in a big ziploc and store it with a package of chicken breasts in the freezer. I'll take the bundle out to thaw the day before I need it. The next morning, the chicken goes into the crockpot first, then the bean mix. Set on low, it takes about 9-ish hours to cook, 5ish on high. About 1/2 an hour before dinnertime, I remove the chicken breasts, shred them finely, and return it all to the chili. So yummy! Served with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkling of cheese on top is my absolute favorite!

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Zucchini GF Spaghetti-

Ingredients: 1 sweet onion, 1 or 2 zucchinis, 1lb ground beef or turkey, 1can stewed tomatoes, 1bottle gf marinara, 1 package of gf spaghetti noodles

Chop the sweet onion and zucchini. Saute the onions in olive oil until they're translucent, then add the zucchini. Brown the meat in a medium-sized saucepan. Drain the fat, then add the marinara sauce, and let it simmer. When the zucchini is just barely tender, add the stewed tomatoes. Stir to combine, then add the mixtures together. Let it cool completely, then pour into a ziploc. Bundle with your gf pasta and stow in the freezer. I take this out the morning I need it, and by dinnertime, the noodles are ready to boil and the sauce just needs a quick reheat! The kids LOVE this spaghetti (and get an extra couple servings of veggies snuck in there)! Everybody wins!

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For the housework and homeschooling, we have a 'big board' that details every body's schedules and responsibilities. My kids are pretty competitive, so we also have a side by side comparison of who's done what. It works for us and helps keep the hectic days running smoothly. I love the big board, because it takes the heat off of me! Mommy's not the bad guy anymore, it's the big board!

Organizational side note: with many kids comes lots of stuff! I've learned to keep track of most things by keeping a color code. Works great for the big board, as well as clothes, toy bins, coats, cups, toothbrushes, blankets, etc... At our house, Luci's color is pink, Ani's is purple, Jojo's is yellow, Jed's is orange. They each have a colored shoe bin under their coat hooks, so we tend to not lose shoes. I know exactly who's cup got left in the van and who neatly folded their bath towel. I love this weird little system.

I'm always looking for new ways to streamline the day-to-day process. Any readers with fun or interesting time saving tips and suggestions, please feel free to share in the comments! In any event, it's been fun putting this post together!