Best domestic cheats, please share.

[farmersdaugther]

Basically I need some tips on how to make me look like I'm an utter domestic goddess but without all the faffing about!

Don't get me wrong I'm fully capable of making my home lovely (clean and tidy etc) cooking and baking but I struggle with having a young family.

So what are your best domestic cheats?

I've started with a bread maker and a slow cooker.

Oh and it may be boring but I usually buy packs of socks for ds (and dh) where they are all the same so they are easier to pair up. In fact I don't pair dh's - just put them away and he can find his own pair!

When you've hoovered a room, stick on the little brush attachment and whiz over the windowsills, door frames, radiators, bookshelves etc - and hey presto - you have dusted a room in less than two minutes!

For meal shortcuts cook double but use the second half for a different meal so:

Bolognaise becomes lasagne for the freezer
Beef stew becomes beef pasties the next week
Chilli becomes taco pie with tortillas and cheese on the top second time round
Roasts turn into several other dishes easily

The Economy Gastronomy book has some good ideas for this.

I do that all the time Helenagrace

"Tescos do a pre prepared scone mix. You pour it into a bowl and add milk. Everyone will marvel at your scones."

I don't want to pour cold water on your idea, but making scones is such a quick and easy job anyway that I lump scone mix in with dumpling mix and pancake mix as the biggest cookery cons ever.

I'm loving the ideas on here. I must get another laundry basket.

Easy mince beef & veg pie: preheat oven and cut a sheet of ready made rolled pastry in 4 and bake according to instructions. fry chopped onion ( these can also be bought frozen) in oil add 500g mince beef and cook until browned add 2 handfuls of frozen mixed veg. Make up 1/2 pint instant gravy and add to mince & veg. Simmer for 10 mins and plate up. Top the mince with the cooked pastry lids. Voila!
Ps can also substitute mince beef for frozen quoin mince

Quorn

Nigella's pancake mix is good. You mix all the dry ingredients and store in a jar.

Then when you want to make pancakes, mix one cup of dry mix, with one cup of milk and an egg. Then make. Very quick.

I do them when one of the DC unexpectedly has a friend for tea.

Only read the first page so may have been said already. If no time to clean bathroom wipe taps. If they are shiny it looks clean.

The duvet bed sheets inside the pillowcase thing is fab. I've extended this to when you wash swimming sports kits etc just put them straight back into their bags so you're ready to go rather than faffing about in the mornings before school looking for kit.

The children help alot with the tidying. After dinner the girls put their toys away. They got them out... they tidy away! They are only 4.5 and 2.7 but have done it from day one so used to it now.
After bed i'll sweep round and grab any missed bits.

A packet of Bathroom wipes is kept in the bathroom cabinet. A daily wipe round works wonders and they are handy when people come round, you can freshen up and it smells fresh too.

I meal plan too each week. Find it much easier. I use this

yy to bedding trick

yy to "don't put it down, put it away".

yy to tidying away at night, so you start the day well.

yy to opening windows but DH goes nuts about the gas bill if I don't close them again soon enough.

yy to "cook double and freeze" - this saves time and washing up!

Having places to put things away is the dealbreaker for us. Things that have homes get put away. Things that don't... well they accumulate. Creating homes (organised toy storage, magazine box for paperwork, old naice biscuit tin for crayons, etc) aids tidying.

Meal planning, buying a slow cooker, only washing clothes that are actually dirty (pants and socks fresh very day!), colour-coded socks and this 15 minute a day cleaning schedule organizingmadefun.blogspot.co.uk/2010/11/15-minutes-of-cleaning-how-to-have-fake.html?m=1 make life bearable for me.

Cleaning spray and a square of kitchen roll does the same job as a wipe and is cheaper. Keep spray plus a roll in the bathroom and you have it to hand

Everyone (not in my family) thinks I'm a domestic goddess.

I am, in fact, bone idle with a good line in optical illusion.

My tips are

Shove things in drawers

Shove things in cupboards

Sometimes, shove things into the car

Have a sparkling dstairs cloakroom and lots of fancy fresh flowers.

I can't believe how many of you do your DH's laundry. Mine does his own...or at least, I thought he did...turns out he's persuaded the cleaner to do it for him :-0

"I can't believe how many of you do your DH's laundry."

Why would you not? I think it is odd not to and not very cost effective or environmentally friendly. Isn't it usual to just wash all the family's whites together, coloureds together and darks together? If I left OH to do his he would run out of clothes or run the washer on half washes. What a silly idea. Do you tear the bedsheet in half so he can wash his half separately?

No Bunbaker - we always run it full. Always seems to be plenty to fill a load... If DH runs out of clothers, I reckon that's his problem!

Clean the loo whenever you go - I have a box in the downstairs loo with spare loo rolls, cleaners etc.
Clean the bathroom when the dc are in the bath.
Put away anything you have used as soon as you are finished with it (e.g. cereral boxes, juice cartons etc)...do wish the dc and dh did the same!
Do a load of laundry a day and hang up overnight.
Cook double and freeze.
Bag on back of kitchen door with hats, gloves, scarves etc so ready for rush out of the door in the morning.
Pack bags for school, nursery, work night before and lay out clothes for me and dc (dh can sort himself out!!).
Multi-task always - I change beds, do ironing and dusting whilst making work phone calls (I work from home).
Baby wipes are a godsend for emergency dusting, cleaning tables, taps, etc.
However my cupboards are a nightmare...you risk life and limb just opening one...any tips?

Have friends with more dcs and busier lives. My house is, to be honest, really quite messy, and not on the whole cleaned often enough. Dh & I run our own business, so generally it is over-run with work stuff and as well as dd we have too many hairy animals.

I love my ft woh friends with 3+ dc who come round and marvel at how nice and tidy my house always is

theowlworrier LOVE the lifehacks. Have posted to Facebook so I don't lose it. Have you managed to fold the tshirt?

"No Bunbaker - we always run it full. Always seems to be plenty to fill a load... If DH runs out of clothers, I reckon that's his problem!"

So, do you have his and hers laundry baskets? Do you have any children? If so, do you wash their clothes separately as well?

"Baby wipes are a godsend for emergency dusting, cleaning tables, taps, etc."

Microfibre cloths are even better and work out cheaper and less harmful to the environment.