Guess what?! I’ve been working on something for the last year and it changes everything in my kitchen. I wrote about it in 2022 and I’m here to ask: Have you tried it yet? If not, you need to!
If you’re like me, you love learning from someone else’s experience, especially if they learned it the hard way! So here I am, telling you that this hack works.
Back to our hack: Why do we need this hack?
Because we’ve all been there before: It’s time for supper, everyone is hangry, and you realize that dinner is still frozen in the freezer.
Then your “hanger” brain starts the hamster wheel of self-deprecating thoughts…
“Why didn’t you plan ahead?”
“Seriously… How hard is thawing meat? Are you that pathetic?”
“If you were a better wife, You’d __________.”
“Your life is just so busy.”
“If you were successful, you would have a plan”
“This is a disaster.”
“Just grab something and microwave it!”
All the while, if your five-year-old is like mine, they are wrapped around your leg, begging for Cheerios.
I get frustrated at “starving” kid-whining because I KNOW they won’t die. But negotiating with Mr. Impossible at this point feels a little more like trying to juggle a wasp’s nest with a couple chainsaws. It’s not going to end well.
Sound familiar? Hangry was a frequent “guest” at my house – until now!
Living meal-to-meal is sort of like living paycheck to paycheck. It’s stressful. There isn’t any margin in paycheck to paycheck.
If an emergency arises, you’re forced to make unhelpful decisions that you’ll regret later.
Living meal-to-meal is the same – we’re forced to make unhealthy decisions that we will regret later.
“There has got to be an easier way,” my mom-friend shared, “Why mess up the kitchen and dirty all those dishes for one meal that’s devoured in 20 minutes?! I just want to enjoy my kids and feed them nutritious food!”
Yes, and YES Momma! You are asking the right question.
And there is an easier way!
It’s called Meat Monday – and it’s the beautiful answer to shut hangry up for good. If you haven’t tried it yet, here’s your reminder to DO IT!! I dare you!
How does it work?!
1. Take five minutes on Monday morning to visit your freezer.
2. Pull out 5-6 days worth of meat and place it in a roaster pan and put it in your fridge to thaw. (Make sure you put it in something that can catch all the meat juice when it thaws!)
3. As you walk to the fridge, point to the different cuts of meat and name the meals you’re ready to make. It sounds silly, but this step is fun and it will prove to your brain that you are an awesome rockstar. It’s like declaring war over all the negative meal-thoughts in your week. “No matter what happens, I’m ready for burgers, tacos, steaks, kabobs and a hotdish…” Take that, Monday! Hangry isn’t going to know what hit it.
4. Decide what’s for dinner tonight, (I usually do something easy with ground beef) and then I ask the “cook once, eat twice” question: What can I cook once, and make two different meals out of? This is rockstar mom stuff right here. The ultimate question is, how can we make this easier so we have more time for what matters?
I’m telling you, there is nothing that feels better than knowing you’re ready for anything and then have the margin to prove it. When suppertime is coming and I’m already prepped and ready to go, I feel like I’m winning. Not only nutritionally, but relationally.
Mom-life is way too valuable to live meal-to-meal.
If “failing to plan is planning to fail,” (whoever said that didn’t even realize they were talking about mom-life and frozen meat) then let’s stop failing to plan!
Let’s take five minutes on Meat Monday and change the course of our whole week.
Trust me, my year of experimenting proves that this is game changing.
Do you have a different mom-hack that’s saving your life? Tell me! Shoot me an email at elisabeth.gerdes@gmail.com. I LOVE email.
I created a Farmhouse Meal Magic Ebook with all my best farm wife meal hacks and some of my favorite recipes. Here’s one of my favorite recipes from the book!
Meet your farmer – Liz Gerdes. She and her husband run a farm-to-table Raw Milk dairy and Airbnb in Caledonia. If you’re looking for raw milk “fresh off the farm”, visit www.gerdesfreshfarm.com or just email Liz at elisabeth.gerdes@gmail.com. First time visitors – mention this article and get a free half gallon of milk!
Liz’s Favorite Easy Beef Stew
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