Mealtime Hacks for Overworked Moms

Mealtime hacks! I'm sure, as an overworked mom, you’ve got your own. If you think you don't, maybe it's because supermarkets offer convenient food options that just require a quick spin in the microwave. That definitely counts as a hack. However, where I am, supermarkets don't really have healthy convenience food. A lot of it is high in fat, sugar, and salt.

It took some time to find and experiment, but my husband found what works for us in terms of healthiness and convenience. We started off as a family by buying frozen sausages and 3-veg and a different combination of pasta and pasta sauces. We would eat these for dinner on weekdays (peanut butter sandwich for breakfast and instant noodles for lunch) then on weekends we would cook something that takes a bit more effort.

After 2 years of this it got REALLY boring and all 3 of us got REALLY fat. Not exercising much during covid period definitely contributed to this but we also suspected that processed food had something to do with it.

A health scare happened to both of us then we decided we will make healthy eating a priority. That meant more money spent on food. No doubt about it.

Eating healthier requires more money.

I think the traditional forms of convenience food (like nuggets and fries and canned food) are an amazing human invention. It enables longer food storage at lower prices. We couldn't get to the current population the world is at right now, if it wasn't for frozen and canned food. GMO too. I seriously believe this. And I'm looking forward to the day that lab grown meat is in the shops because it will help with the greenhouse gases, pressure on land, and each household has another option of 'meat'.

There are plenty of different opinions out there about convenience food, GMO, and lab grown meat. There's no judgement here, I believe everyone is entitled to their own opinion. This is mine.

Whatever is your politics about food ingredients and method of farming and processing, we can agree on one thing: the healthier the food, the more money it costs. We can define 'healthier' as organic food or fresh unprocessed food or nutritional value.

As aspirational as it is, to suddenly eat healthy for all meals will set you up for failure. Diet-wise and financial-wise. We just couldn't afford it at the time, and we didn't really want to go all out healthy.

After several years of experimenting with different aspects of our lives (food, family routine, exercise, etc) what we find sticks in the long term is if you genuinely in your heart want to do it and enjoy it. If there is an element of resistance, it won't last long.

We started with dinner, and we wanted a solution where our dinner prep time will still be within 30 minutes and we didn't want our food budget to increase (Medium term solution: wait for salary increment from our jobs at the time. So naive, at the time we didn't realise increment only happens due to inflation on basic goods like food).

What we did instead: we bought bulk from a wholesale grocer. A few kgs of raw chicken and massive bags of leafy vegetables. We have to pay the price somewhere and we chose to pay with time. We spent 1 hour driving to this place then minimum 1 hour at the checkout then 4 hours every weekend boiling then freezing the chickens and vegetables into daily portions. It was a whole day activity so that's boredom for one of the weekend days sorted. We pat ourselves on the back each weekend.

Over a year, plain chicken and veg got REALLY boring. We didn't have budget for sauce so its just salt and pepper. But, with more physical activity and healthier eating choices, including stopping mindless eating in front of screens, we all lost weight. Next thing to improve: other meals. By this time one of us changed jobs and we were able to spend more money on better food.

Fast forward a few years, let me share some of our food hacks now.

For breakfast, we usually wake up, get dressed, and go. There's not really time to sit down and eat without rushing, and often, first thing in the morning, we're not hungry. I don't like forcing myself to eat when I'm not feeling it. I tend to get hungry as I'm driving or just as I get to the office.

So, what's something filling and healthy that I can eat on the go? Breakfast bars can be convenient, but I usually need two or three to feel full. They can get costly, and some are high in sugar, so you have to watch out. Instead, every weekend, I make a smoothie blend to last for everyday breakfast throughout the week and freeze it.

I mix in five types of fruits—so that’s my five-a-day sorted—and oats to give it some bulk. It ends up with a malty, wheaty taste, not overly fruity. I also include pomegranate syrup, sesame seed oil, collagen, and chia seeds for some added boosters. I don’t use bananas because I don't like them in smoothies, even though I can eat them all day long. Instead, I add yogurt to help blend and thicken it up, making me feel fuller longer. That's my breakfast hack. And best of all, it tastes sweet with no added sugar.

For lunch, I keep it simple. I cook a dish that can be frozen and defrosted every day. I usually prepare five tupperwares, so I'm ready for the week. Whether you want to eat the same thing every day or cook different meals, it’s up to you. I’m not that fussy, so I stick to one or two dishes, freeze them, and have five days of lunches prepped.

Now, dinner: we now buy pre-cooked chicken in different flavours, also frozen, which can go in the microwave for 10 minutes, or we fry it or eat it cold. We also use pre-cut, frozen vegetables, which keep their nutrients and freshness, making it possible to whip up dinner in just 10 minutes.

Whenever we come home later than planned, instead of choosing to eat out or takeaway, it is now often cheaper, faster and more delicious to whip out our own meals. It took a long time and iterations, now we love our food routine.

I'm not perfect though... I do indulge in chocolate nearly every week!