While the Baby Naps

As a still-relatively-new mamma, I’ve learned that the hours while the baby naps are some of the most valuable of the day.  Since my son is now 18 months old, he takes one good nap in the middle of the day – usually a good two hours.  I’ve learned that if I take advantage of those two hours one day a week, I can really get a ton done!  On most days, I use those hours to catch up with work, run some laundry, and sometimes do a little pre-prep for supper.

But on that one day a week, I really take advantage and rock-and-roll through some big time prep.  You’ve read before about my focus on preparing in advance and this is usually when I do that.  In two hours, I can get a ton of prep done.  This was my list this week>>

So how do I organize a list this ambitious?  Here we go:

1. Start with grinding the flour and getting the bread baking, since that takes several hours to finish, but only about 5 minutes of active time.
2. Next come the beets and sweet potatoes, since they are quick to prep and take a long time to cook — they can also be cooking while I’m doing other items.  A quick scrub, trim and wrap in foil and into the oven at 350 for 45 minutes.
3. Steam the spinach by tossing a big package of fresh spinach into a pot with 1/2 cup of water.  Bring to a simmer and then turn off and cover to allow it to wilt and cool for pureeing later.  The pureed spinach will be frozen in cubes and used for smoothies and in my tot’s oatmeal.
4. Cut the butternut squash in half crosswise at the point where the long straight part begins to become bulbous.  With the straight part, peel and chop into sticks for “fries”.  Cut the bulb end in half and toss in the oven with the beets and sweet potatoes for pureeing later.
5. Make banana bread.  I like to make mini-loaves so that I can share with friends and family or freeze for later.
6. Peel and chop the beets.
7. Puree the spinach and divide among ice cube tray for freezing.
8. Prep the ground turkey with Gorgonzola cheese, onions and spices and pat into patties for dinner later.
9. Puree the roasted butternut squash and divide among ice cube tray for freezing.

I didn’t get the sweet potatoes stuffed and frozen, since I ran out of time.  Also, I decided not to make the roasted Brussels sprouts for dinner.  Overall, it was a busy, but super-productive two hours.  Most important tips for making the most of your short time while the baby sleeps include plan your work in advance and clean as you go.  Good luck!