How to win at dinner planning, instantly.

Now that the holidays are over life is starting to get back to it's normal chaos. My husband and I are back to our 5 day work weeks. The kids are back in school and their activities are up and running again. Oh, and it is competition season for cheer and gymnastics so our weekends are being held hostage for the next couple of months. Making it through the week is like a well choreographed dance. When it runs smoothly it looks beautiful! All things come together in perfect time and when the curtain closes at the end of the night we fall into our beds exhausted but exhilarated. There are days however when this dance looks more like your great aunt trying to do the Back it Up dance at a wedding. Our timing is all off, we turn left instead of right and bump into the person next to us. We are running late, eating junk, not getting things done, and ultimately hanging on by a thread hoping no one will notice. Since I am well aware of what is going on but at a loss to save us at that particular time I am always on the look out for ways to prevent us from being in this situation. We have dropped activities. We meal plan which has helped except for the days when one of us forgets to take the meat out of the freezer before we leave for the day. There is nothing like coming home and having 1 hour to cook, eat and leave again and realizing the chicken breast is still in the freezer. Bummer.

As it turns out my husband and I both made sure that Santa understood how dire this situation was. In an attempt support each other we both had Santa deliver Instant Pots for under the tree. Yes, two of them. They were our surprise for each other, a life preserver we were tossing into the choppy water of parenthood in an attempt to save each other. I know everyone has been talking about these things. They are like the gift of the year. But guys, thing thing is the real deal. A life saver. No joke. Chicken breast from frozen in 30ish minutes? Burritos with rice and all in 40 minutes? Frozen pork roast with all the sides soft and tender in 40 minutes? Game changer. It has saved my tail twice this week already. I can't say enough about it. The crockpot was convenient but I never liked the way things came out. So far this has been perfect every time. My husband loved the one pot pasta he made so much that he shared it on his Insta page. Now that's saying something!

Photo Kindly Donated by Husband