Big Fat Lie

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-03-2003
Big Fat Lie
870
Sat, 09-11-2004 - 1:41pm
I'm the mother of 2. I have 2 boys, one is 2 1/2, the other is 4 months old. Before I had my second baby, I was a full time nurse and was making more money than my husband. That being said, he never really had a problem with it. The extra money helped us pay for extras. Well, I decided after the second child, that I would stay at home most of the week. I work only 2 days a week, 6 hours a day. Now all of the sudden, I do EVERYTHING. He does not get up at night with this baby, he does not keep the house clean with me, NOTHING I do is important enough. (He plays softball once a week, goes out with the guys after etc.) I do not do anything. (Actually I get to go to Weight Watchers on Fridays while my mom watches the kids.) I have no life anymore, and his life is fantastic! I tried to take a class, but he wouldn't help with the kids enough so I couldn't stick with it.

When we got married we were going to share all responsibilities, take care of the kids TOGETHER, do the housework TOGETHER. It was all just a BIG FAT LIE!!!!

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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-31-2003
In reply to: debcote
Thu, 09-23-2004 - 12:03pm
My lasagna takes 30 minutes; I pre-prep the components. Great low-fat recipe, too. The slowest thing is cooking the pasta and laying it out. (If anyone wants the recipe posted, let me know, I don't have it with me at the moment.)

What I do is make a huge pot of super-thick meat red sauce, then separate it out. I leave part of it thick, and freeze it marked for lasagna. Then I thin the rest of the sauce to the level I would use for spaghetti, and freeze that marked that way. I always freeze these things in a ziploc that is pressed flat; it thaws more quickly that way, and stores more compactly.




iVillage Member
Registered: 09-04-1997
In reply to: debcote
Thu, 09-23-2004 - 2:34pm
I'll tell you what I did -- kept track of what I routinely was making for the family over the course of a month, which was basically about 20 different dishes rotated over the course of a month. Then broke them down into categories: Chicken based, ground beef based, etc. Then took all the chicken recipes (in my house it's barbecued leg quarters, two different chinese stir fries, a thai curry, an Indian curry, two different marinades, a marsala dish, chicken enchiladas and chicken pot pie. Then looked at what they had in common.....several of them require that you cut cooked chicken into 1 in cubes. Some needed raw chicken cut into cubes for stir-frying. Several require diced onions, etc. Break everything down into steps...Step One, separate twelve pounds of chicken into the right piles for how they are going to be treated. For instance, for oven-barbecued chicken, all I need to do is spice up some leg quarters, pour sauce onto them, and freeze that way. Step two, boil the rest of the chicken for the pot pies and enchiladas and what not. Put it all together and freeze. You defrost it all together and pop it in the oven that night. Other dishes need pounded breasts, so you do that...then cut up the stuff for stir-fries, add the marinade, freeze....etc. By the time "chicken day" is over, I have about fiteen different dishes either fully or partially prepared.

I usually freeze my stuff in gallon freezer bags -- takes up less room in the freezer. You just have to label and date everything.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-28-2003
In reply to: debcote
Thu, 09-23-2004 - 2:58pm
I admire the amount of variety you have in your family meals. Very impressive. Right now, I only have about five or six standards. I haven't had the foresight, inclination or time/energy to meal plan in a long time. Glad to see someone else has it all figured out.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-18-2004
In reply to: debcote
Thu, 09-23-2004 - 3:06pm

Alright. I'm sold. Would you consider writing this up and posting it for a fee (I mean writing it up in step by step

Mondo

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
In reply to: debcote
Thu, 09-23-2004 - 3:20pm

Mondo, is the back problem going to be fixed once you give birth or is it something that just flares up?


It sounds miserable and I am sorry you are having such a rough pregnancy emotionally and phyisically. With Alex, I could barely walk. He was laying on some sort of tendon in my pelvic area and I would just collapse. God, it hurt so I can't imagine back pain.


Hang in there and give yourself a hug from me. Poor baby..one more month left!!

"You just have to keep making decisions. Even wrong decisions" Joe Simpson in "Touching the Void" about surviving climbing down a mountain with a shattered leg.


Kristi

"I do not want to be a princess! I want to be myself"

Mallory (age 3)

      &nbs

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-18-2004
In reply to: debcote
Thu, 09-23-2004 - 3:30pm

It had BETTER get better. Otherwise I'll be in for surgery, extreme weight loss options (if it will help), a personal trainer, or whatever it takes.

Mondo

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-31-2003
In reply to: debcote
Thu, 09-23-2004 - 3:37pm
You can also do these projects in groups. Generally what will happen is that you pick out about 5 recipes, and then you make enough so that each family can have each recipe 2x per month. Maybe you could get a couple of friends together and they take most of the standing chores while you sit and chop?
iVillage Member
Registered: 09-04-1997
In reply to: debcote
Thu, 09-23-2004 - 3:47pm
I've been cooking a REALLY long time -- don't particularly enjoy it, but I have developed some competence. I mean, it HAS to be done....this summer we had a run of sick/injured friends, unexpected company and what all and I ran out of pre-made meals for the first time in about a decade. I was lost.
iVillage Member
Registered: 09-04-1997
In reply to: debcote
Thu, 09-23-2004 - 3:49pm
Only one warning -- I tried doing this with a friend, but she had some really lax hygiene standards...like she'd take a chopping board where I just did all the raw chicken, and rinse it off, and then chop veggies on it. Ewwww.....if you work in groups, which sounds like fun in theory, you have to be really clear on the "rules." I learned the hard way!
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-18-2004
In reply to: debcote
Thu, 09-23-2004 - 3:51pm

How do you handle veggies?

Mondo

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