I did not get the greatest planning and organizing gene in the world, maybe a B-. The more and more food allergies and restrictions that my family got over time, shoved me into the desperate need to plan and organize. Go figure, I had to first organize who had what allergy and intolerance. This seems like a no-brainer, but with the list of foods my family can’t have, it got complicated quickly. My brain is on over drive often when cooking, baking, and feeding my family remembering who is home and who can eat which foods. Thankfully my kids are old enough for the most part to remember their own restrictions, which is really helpful, especially for friends and family.
Way beyond that though is planning and organizing meals. If you will need to make most of your food, you will need to become great friends with a meal calendar and grocery list. This will greatly help you to know what foods you will be making, what ingredients you will need, how much time each item will take to make, etc. It also really helps me to look really far ahead, when I’m on my A+ organizing game, to know what I need to bulk bake and freeze before I need it.

I also always make huge batches of frosted cupcakes and freeze them all. This way when my kids go to parties, all I have to do is grab one out of the freezer, put it in a Tupperware and send my daughter off to the party. I don’t want to inconvenience the parents of my daughters friends, I want to be sure that my daughters aren’t left out from the food at a party, and I also want to be sure I know my daughters can safely eat at any party as well. In another post, I will be writing about parties and play dates.

I know that for me, when I don’t plan ahead and have safe and quick food to eat, I either end up not eating or I cheat with food that leaves me feeling rotten. Life in our culture moves quickly with many places to go and many things to do. It’s important to keep healthy and safe foods around that can be easily grabbed on the go. I have acquired more kitchen gadgets than I ever thought or imagined, but they each help me greatly with food prep and bulk baking. These items make our lives so much easier and make food prep and baking much quicker.

If you are anything like me where planning and organizing isn’t your “thing” per se, it’s important that you gain the skill anyways. Join the club, it is imperative. Planning and organizing shouldn’t take over your life, it should make it less complicated in the long run. I’m happy to assist in this area or find a great family or friend that finds highlighters, label makers, and excel spreadsheets really exciting. They likely would be more than happy, and even possibly giddy at the thought of helping your poor, not so organized, self out. ☺