Your mum/life hacks?

[Emlou07]

Aibu to want alllllll the 'hacks' for an easy life

Please share

Garlic and ginger paste

I keep a canvas bag in my bedroom which has long handles. They I just fill it with random items that need to be taken up and down stairs with having to risk life and limb on the stairs carrying it all by hand.

If something's bugging you, ask 'is there an app for that??'

e.g. nagging DP to remember birthdays... Google calendar (and washing my hands of his family)

DP not knowing what to buy at the shops... grocery app that syncs across both our phones

Constantly forgetting to take the bins out... reminder on both our phones

Not knowing what deliveries he's arranged... shared note in 'Keep'

Phone getting full due to forgetting to transfer photos... Google photos auto back up

It's cut down a lot of the "nagging" crappy reminder conversations between DP and I.

Sorry, "washing my hands of his family" sounds really harsh! I mean "not doing the organization for his family, and not fussing if he fails to do it as he's a grown up and I do my (much larger) one" rather than "going NC"

Don't let kids downstairs for breakfast on schooldays until they're dressed and teeth brushed. Revolutionised my life - no more last minute rushing after they get distracted downstairs.

Watching with interest!!

I tried the 10 minute tidy up race with the kids this morning. It was intense. There were full-contact moments, and one asthma attack. But in 20 minutes, 6 carrier bags of crap got tidied up.

I've said it before and I'll say it again; batch cook and freeze a few times a week; eventually you build up such a supply that you can cut it down to only cooking a batch of food weekly (I actually had 2 weeks of not cooking anything and just Heating up stuff from the freezer

Kids toothbrushes are kept in the kitchen. Saves me having to haul them back upstairs to do it after breakfast! Same in the evening, it’s all done before they head upstairs.

Take the lid off your pie and cut it into portions and replace on pie before cooking. Saves a lot of faffing and burnt fingers when out just out the oven

A variation on batch cooking

• When you make Macaroni Cheese - make extra white sauce (before you put the cheese in)
• When you make mash - make extra
• Then you've got the difficult bits of fish pie made, just add fish.

I also do

• Extra cheese sauce, and freeze
• Extra bolognaisse , and freeze
• Then you've got the basics of lasagna, just layer up with lasagna sheets

As soon as the children get in from school, uniform straight in the wash and then in the bath. Then cook dinner, then I clean up and relax for the evening instead of rushing getting everything done before bed.

@happylantern lazy?! He needs one of these. Cutting cheese slices with a knife is madness!

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Loving this thread!
Nothing hugely original here but we each have our own clean laundry basket for when taking items off the airer- saves messing about sorting clothes into 3 separate piles.
Iron as little as possible.
Turbo tidies during ad breaks, never enter or leave a room empty handed.
Cook double portions for lunch next day or the freezer, frozen chopped onions and garlic are a lifesaver.
When online shopping set up your delivery date the week before and add to it as you go along, with a phone alarm reminder for the cut-off- saves random late night trips to the shops for an essential item where you end up coming back with a load of tat/crap.
Local milkman is a godsend.
Keep a dustpan and brush and disposable shower caps in car to clean buggy wheels after a walk and stop dirt and leaves messing up the boot.
Order takeaway when you are 10-15 minutes away from getting home after a long journey, saved faceplanting into a load of snacks.
Get a cleaner/PA (still working on this one) 😁

Freeze leftover wine in an ice cube tray or small tupperware container to add into food.

Leftovers are frozen into large sandwich bags lay flat, makes so much more room in your freezer.

Rather than take the whole packet of baby wipes out, I put a few into a nappy sack

Work out of your oven has a timer. Finding out that mine did revolutionised my life and the dc’s meal times! Either for cooking food while we’re out (eg jacket potatoes) or warming the oven up to cook more quickly once we get in. Defrosted fish fingers and skinny over chips cook in about 10 mins in a preheated oven.

Why has this never occurred to me?? Brilliant tip! Thanks @bikerunski

And I make large batches of tomato vegetable sauce blended and frozen - can do for pasta, a base for bolognese or soup. Sneaky way I can get vegetables into dd's diet.

What would be the benefit of freezing leftover wine for cooking? If it's not getting drunk then it would be fine left in the bottle no?

Click and collect shopping. Saved money and time. I take Ikea blue bags in the car to load the shopping into. Different coloured washing baskets. I will be moving onto different coloured sheets, bedding and towels for each of us very soon. Christmas planner set up straight after christmas with all the good and bad points from this year. Any presents bought through the year saved on it and where they are out.

Love the pesto tip.

I used to forget my own packed lunch about 3 times a week. I now keep my house keys in the same bag as my packed lunch, in the fridge. Never forget my lunch as always need my keys.

Works a treat at work aswell. If I buy something from the supermarket at lunchtime that I need to take home-leave it in the work fridge, with my keys, in the same bag.

the end of a bottle of wine only lasts a few days. Frozen wine is great fro addition to casseroles and gravy etc.

Place marking!

I can go one better (or worse) with the pjs/swimming. I swim regularly and if I go in the late evening I change into pjs afterwards and drive home in them!

MCamp10

But do you stop off at the supermarket on the way? Now that would be controversial

Following! needing some inspiration :)